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Farming community comes together

Laura Garcia | Laker weekly

Brad Woods, Stephanie Wimbush, Lewis France and Taelor Woods at Hickory Hill Vineyards for the Aug. 17 Bedford Farm Tour.

Laura Garcia | Laker weekly

Master Gardener volunteer Jim Revell shows insects to Keith Johnson and Annabel, 5, of Pittsburgh, Pa., at the Bedford Farm Tour.

Laura Garcia | Laker weekly

Denise Overton and Landon, 14, of Powhatan pet a sheep from Little Doc's of Huddleston.

Donald Lowry with daughters Morgan and Taylor of Fredericksburg relax at the Bedford Farm Tour with their 8-year-old bloodhound Duke.

Laura Garcia | Laker weekly

Volunteer Paul Boone answers questions from Linda Breckinridge about pickle barrel composters.

Bedford Master Gardener volunteer Phyllis Turner shows a hypertufa leaf, which is a man-made rock used in garden ornaments and pots. She has hypertufa leaves that form a waterfall in her garden.

Laura Garcia | Laker weekly

Extension agent Susan Prillaman serves a purple cow smoothie to Cindy Yoo, 8, of Forest.

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Laura Garcia | 721-4675 (ext. 406)

Friday, August 23, 2013

Damp weather hampered attendance at Saturday’s annual Bedford Farm Tour, hosted this year by Hickory Hill Vineyards in Moneta.

Members of farming and nonfarming families came out for the event, where they enjoyed free purple cow smoothies, samples of Hickory Hill wine and food from Bruno’s GastroTruck.

Virginia Extension agent Scott Baker said, “The nonfarming public is genuinely interested in what kind of food is grown in their community. Usually people are real curious .

“They may be two or three generations removed from farming families.”

Gardening sessions hosted by Bedford area Master Gardeners offered a hypertufa demonstration and a look at how to create a composter from a pickle barrel.

There also were information booths from area conservation and safety agencies, and several members of the Bedford County Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Bedford 4-H/FFA were on hand.

Children and teens showed their farm animals, including chickens, llamas, miniature horses and pigs.

Susan Tinsley of Moneta brought her 2-year-old grandson, Liam, so he could see the animals. He got a chance to feed a goat named Cookies and Cream.

“This is what it’s all about,” said Ashley Heffelfinger, 19, of Thaxton.

She’s been active in 4-H since she was 5 years old and now is a member of the Young Farmers.

“Some of these people don’t even know what an alpaca is,” said Heffelfinger, who has four alpacas on her farm. There were others like her who grew up raising farm animals and now advocate for the farming community.

“It’s really nice to see the community supporting everybody,” she said.

Saturday, September 14, 2013