photo by: Mike Yoder

Trestle Wrencik, 2, delights in picking an apple out of a tree with the help of his grandmother Vicky Logan, Kansas City, Mo., at the Vertacnik Orchard during the Kaw Valley Farm Tour in 2010. At left is Trestle’s grandfather Jay Logan.

The Lawrence area will play host to the 12th annual Kaw Valley Farm Tour next weekend, Oct. 1 and 2. The Farm Tour is an opportunity for the public to visit and tour a variety of farms in the region and learn firsthand about their farm practices. Seeing animals, fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other farm products where they are grown and produced can be fun and educational for people of all ages.

The 2016 tour features 32 farms and is centered around Lawrence. The farthest stops span from Ozawkie to Basehor on the north corners and from Olathe to Auburn in the southern region of the tour. The tour is self-guided and tourgoers are encouraged to plan their route in advance because it is impossible to visit all 32 farms in two days. Information about the farms and their offerings is available in the ticket booklet or on the tour website www.kawvalleyfarmtour.org.

Ticket booklets are $10 each, and one ticket admits an entire carload of people to as many farms as they wish to visit over the course of the weekend. Tickets are available at The Merc, 901 Iowa St; K-State Research and Extension-Douglas County, 2110 Harper St; Lawrence Visitors Information Center, 402 N. Second St, all in Lawrence; at participating farms during the tour; and online on the tour website. Proceeds from ticket sales support printing, advertising, and other operational expenses.

Longtime favorite stops on the tour feature alpacas, cattle, goats, horses, pigs, poultry, and sheep; plants, produce, flowers and herbs; eggs, honey and wine.

New to the tour for 2016 are Country Road Farms, 991 East 2400 Road, Eudora; Happy Valley Farm, 29080 W. 95th St., De Soto; Haven Pointe Winery, 961 East 1600 Road, Baldwin City; and Next to Nature Farm, 23338 Kissinger Road, Leavenworth.

Country Road Farms produces wheat, corn, soybeans, grass hay, alfalfa, beef, pork, all-natural turkeys and chickens. Their meat, eggs and fresh baked goods are often available at area farmers markets. Happy Valley Farm is a pick-your-own berry farm that also sells local produce, pumpkins and honey and operates a cider press in the fall. Haven Pointe Winery is a brand new Kansas farm winery featuring wines made from Kansas grapes, fruits and honey. Next to Nature Farm produces honey and a variety of honey products, eggs and produce, jellies, fresh apple cider and mums, and will have holiday-themed painted gourds available during the tour.

Breakfast on the Farm, a longtime special event associated with the tour, continues at Vesecky Family Farm (1814 North 600 Road, Baldwin City) on Saturday morning and Pendleton’s Country Market (1446 East 1850 Road, Lawrence) on Sunday morning. Vesecky’s breakfast on Saturday is served from 8:30 to 10 a.m. and features eggs, sausage and cinnamon rolls; it is $5 for adults and $3 for children. Pendleton’s breakfast on Sunday is served from 9 to 11 a.m. and features local ingredients from Pendleton’s, Flory Family Farm and STiCKS; it is $10 for adults and $3 for children.

Farms are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days of the tour, although wineries are prohibited from selling wine until noon on Sunday.

The Kaw Valley Farm Tour is organized by the Kaw Valley Agri-Tourism Council, which has representatives from The Merc, the Community Mercantile Education Foundation, K-State Research and Extension-Douglas County, the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau and several area farmers.

This year’s tour is also sponsored by Crown Automotive; Baldwin State Bank; Quality Structures, Inc.; Merchants Pub and Plate; Cromwell Environmental; Heritage Tractor; Frontier Farm Credit; Douglas County Farm Bureau; and Homes by Ken Hayes, Realty Executives.

— Jennifer Smith is a former horticulture extension agent for K-State Research and Extension and horticulturist for Lawrence Parks and Recreation.