Farm Fun — a.k.a. "Argi-tourism"

Visiting a working farm, picking fruit and vegetables, feeding animals, learning the ways of agriculture — past, present, and even future — are just a few of the fun and educational activities you can experience while participating in "agri-tourism."

When you buy your food from local farms, you help preserve open spaces, you support only the businesses (and their practices) you choose to support, and you lower carbon emissions (especially if you get there on a bike, or in a carpool). Farmers are less likely to sell their land to developers if they are making good profits. Local produce requires less fossil fuel consumption, and thus, there are fewer emissions to get produce from the farm to your kitchen. So go ahead and plan that trip for the family to the local apple orchard or the pumpkin patch (your kids will have a blast and you can feel good about yourself because you will know you are doing something healthy for yourself as well as Mother Earth!)

Here are some of the various ways to enjoy "Agri-tourism" or Pick Your Own Outdoor Activities:

• Picking apples, oranges, peaches, strawberries and/or other fresh fruit is a great activity for kids to enjoy with mom and dad (families having fun outside - it's a beautiful thing!!)
• You can pick pumpkins from the patch in the fall, or cut-your-own trees at Christmas.
• Feeding livestock, like sheep, goats and chickens is also quite enjoyable with young ones, especially at petting zoos, which are offered at some farms.
• Riding horses, going on pony rides, horse-and-buggy, hay-rides, tractor rides will offer excitement and (in the case of horseback riding) it’s great exercise for the kids.
• Or let the kids get lost and found in the corn maze, or a haunted corn field.
• Visiting historical farms, colonial working farms, farm museums, real working farms — there are so many different options to choose from — it's hard to decide!

We suggest you get outside today and enjoy the fruits of the great human endeavor known as agriculture. Did you ever think how much goes into it all?

Agriculture includes:

• planting,
• growth,
• harvest and processing
• distribution and marketing of food (produce)

And it’s all derived from the sun’s abundant energy: fruit and vegetables, oats and wheats, plants, herbs and spices, etc.! You'll have a blast getting outside to the farm; and at the same time, you’ll teach your children (or maybe yourself too) about the wonderful and important practice of farming! Only together can we inspire a generation of Sustainable Earth Minded and Bio_Balanced+Life_Focused individuals.

Go Green! Get Outside!

Or you're welcome to go back to GettingOutside.com's Activities Section to learn about even more Outdoor Activities!