When: Sunday, October 1.  11:00 am to 5:00 pm  

Where: Southwest Marion County and adjoining Lucas and Warren Counties. Maps online www.farmcrawl.com and signage along the route to direct traffic

What: Tour the farms, visit the animals, meet the farmers, sample the goodies, listen to live music, discover locally grown & produced products and lots of fun in the beautiful Iowa countryside as you drive yourself from farm to farm!  Several of the host farms will include other area businesses and farmers that produce fiber/yarn, photo cards, artisan beer, honey, desserts, wine, sausage, pork and more.

Below is a summary of this years stops:

Blue Gate Farm - Certified Naturally Grown, chemical-free produce, pastured eggs, and honey bees benefit our CSA and markets.  Sample homemade jams; guided tours of the gardens; visit our chickens and alpaca.  Guests: Peace Tree Brewing Co. (Knoxville), Aunt Louise’s Cinnamon Rolls (Russell), Glorybe Photo Cards (Columbia) and Still Waters Fiber Farm (Pleasantville).  Homemade cookies & herb lemonade available.  

Coyote Run Farm - A 110 acre chemical-free, sustainable farm growing chemical-free produce, eggs from hens on pasture, hormone-free/grass-fed beef, and mules. Walk the farm, see the livestock, learn about our integrated production systems including a high tunnel, and enjoy complimentary borscht (beet and beef soup) and desserts.

Crooked Gap Farm - The Book family raises heritage and rare breed animals including woodlot pigs, grass-fed cattle, pastured lambs, pastured rabbit, pastured broilers, and laying hens.  Purchase meat and hand-made soap.  Guests: Story City Locker--classic abattoir and artisan butchery, Marion County 4-H, and I'm in Stitches--crochet gifts, patterns, and classes.

Pierce’s Pumpkin Patch - Thousands of different pumpkins, squashes, gourds, decorative corn and Halloween celebration décor.  Enjoy brisket or pork sandwiches, jumbo hotdogs and all the fixings.  Guests: Nearwood Winery (Knoxville) and Wallace Kettle Corn.  

Schneider Orchard - Stroll through the orchard, enjoy fresh fruit pie ala-mode, apple crisp and caramel apples. For the kids: tractor wagon rides through the orchard, take a scenic sky high look from the tree house and games and activities with the Chariton FFA.  Rope making demonstrations.  Guests: Pipers Candies (Chariton) and Thelma Saxton's fried chicken (Chariton).   Live music from Albert Butler and friends.  

Trojan Iron Works the Pleasantville High School FFA Students - Come and enjoy the family oriented stop.  Students will be selling metal artwork including barn quilts and fall décor.  Also for sale will be steak sandwiches, hamburgers, and hotdogs.  They will be taking orders for beef and pork raised at the Pleasantville FFA Teaching Farm.  Children activities including calf roping, cheese welding, face painting and a big corn pile to play in.  Musical guest Royce Johns from 12:30 to 2:30.

White Breast Pottery and Weaving - Visitors will see how local clay, from beneath the waters of White Breast Creek, is used in making pottery that reflects the area.  View the beautiful loom-woven rugs made onsite.  Visit a herd of miniature horses.  Pottery, broom-making, rug loom demonstrations and live music. Guests: basket weaving by Marlys Sowers.

Farm Crawl 2017 is sponsored by Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) and South Central Coop.