Along the Farm Trails

They come from the valley – families seeking a simple lifestyle – perhaps treating the kids to a day on a working farm. Urban dwellers find that the rural farms, orchards and ranches are magical places filled with attractions that tug at the heart strings – especially if you grew up or spent your summer or holidays visiting a relative who owned or worked a farm.

Back in 1990, in an effort to promote the direct marketing of farm products throughout this diverse county and to bring together the county’s agricultural community, the El Dorado County Farm Trails Association was formed. Since that time, the Trail has continued to grow, embracing agriculture and the lifestyle of a farmer.

Can you expect to bite into an apple that’s been tenderly plucked from a tree earlier that day? Yup. But you can also expect to taste peaches so ripened by the sun that they melt in your mouth. Or bite into pears that don’t need to sit in a paper bag for a number of days, waiting to grow soft enough to eat.

In the spring, cherries bring folks to EDC while peaches ripen by early summer. Vegetables are grown by some of the farmers with many of the ranches offering sweet corn, vine ripened tomatoes, fresh green beans, chestnuts, persimmons, zucchini, pumpkins and colorful flower bouquets. You can even dig your own Iris rhizomes or learn the art of Bonsai. Dip your finger into some honey fresh from the hive or sip a deep merlot in one of the many wine-tasting rooms along the Trail.

Berry picking begins in the spring and continues during summer. No one walks away without at least two purple fingers. The petting areas are the perfect way to introduce little ones to friendly barnyard critters. Learn all about the “wild things” like a herd of gentle alpacas or get up close and personal with a miniature horse. Wine tasting continues year round but harvest is in the early autumn and many of the tasting rooms are showing off the multiple awards they’ve earned at the State and County fairs. Pumpkin patches and sunflower mazes open in the fall. And in winter, when the days cool down and a jacket or at the very least, a warm flannel is needed, the Christmas tree growers open their farms, welcoming winter and the holidays. As you will see, Farm Trails has a little something for everyone.

For information about the members of Farm Trails, visit the website at www.edc-farmtrails.org.