Mark your calendars: Loudoun County Farm Tour

For folks in the DC area: Mark you calendars for the Loudoun County Farm Color Tour on Oct 17 & 18. We have really enjoyed the Loudoun County Farm Tours in the fall and spring. Hopefully it'll be warmer this year - last year it was frigid outside, so we didn't do much on the tour.


Here's a repost of the announcement I received:

Loudoun’s Farm Color Tour October 17 and 18 - Spend a Weekend in the Country!

Fall is a beautiful time of year in the Loudoun Valleys, with views of the Blue Ridge, Short Hill and Sugarloaf Mountains. From 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, enjoy this free self-guided driving tour down tree-lined country roads to privately owned Loudoun County farms. Thirty-one sites, including 13 wineries, are participating in this year’s tour. Visit horses, chickens, sheep and alpacas in their natural environment. Take a hayride or have lunch by a scenic pond. Pick your own apples and pumpkins. Tour a winery or a nursery and talk with the proprietors about their specialty products. Enjoy the colors, people and products of the Loudoun Valleys!

Three news stops are included in this year’s Farm Color Tour. At Ballentine Farm in Waterford, visitors can take a hayride, visit the pumpkin patch, dig potatoes, and learn about the lifecycles and basic care of the farm’s cows, horses, chickens, and turkeys while enjoying fresh-pressed cider and home-churned ice cream. Edgegrove Farm in Purcellville will be offering pony rides and horsemanship demonstrations, and visitors will be able to pet many different breeds of horses. And at Rock Hill Farm in Leesburg, visitors can see the collection of late 18th and 19th century brick and stone buildings, tour one of the few pre-Civil War bank barns remaining in Loudoun County, and enjoy a glass of lemonade while watching horsemanship demonstrations at Rock Hill’s new indoor arena.

Returning farms include Ayrshire, Alpacas of Middleburg, Butterfly Hill Alpacas, Chicama Run, Crooked Run Orchard, Equine Rescue League, Grandale Farm Restaurant, Heritage Farm Museum, Ivandale Nursery, Loudoun Nursery, Master Gardeners, Northgate Vineyards, Sunny’s Corner, Sweet Home Alpacas, Temple Hall, Wegmeyer’s, Willow Hawk, and Zephaniah Farm Vineyards. In addition, several wineries and country stores will have special events throughout the weekend.

Brochures for the Farm Color Tour, including a map and directions to all participating farms, are available at the Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum, Loudoun County libraries and community centers, and the Loudoun Convention and Visitors Association. Up-to-date tour information is also available at www.LoudounFarms.org, or request to have a brochure mailed to you by calling 703-777-0426 or email info@loudounfarms.org.