photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

The Compass Prairie Art Farm on Monday, September 23, 2024.

Farms and heritage sites across the Kaw Valley will welcome visitors in October for the annual Kaw Valley Farm Tour, offering hands-on experiences, local food and a behind-the-scenes look at the region’s diverse agricultural landscape.

This year, there will be 33 farms and six heritage sites participating in the tour, which will take place on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 5, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The farms featured on the tour showcase the diversity of agriculture in the region, from vegetables to livestock, orchards to vineyards.

All of the farms are located within the Kaw Valley – or the Kansas River Valley – and they will offer a variety of guided and self-guided tours, demonstrations, interacting with farm animals, pumpkin and flower picking, local food and drink tastings and more. All ages are welcome on the tour.

Because there’s so much to do and so many sites to visit, it helps to plan your weekend in advance. Here are some tips:

Itinerary planning

Douglas County K-State Research and Extension recommends visiting between four to five farms each day of the tour to make the most of your trip. In a news release about the tour, Extension said there are six farms new to the tour this year, including three urban farms in the Kansas City area. The other three new farms are located in Douglas County: 39th Parallel Orchard and Nursery, Baldwin Family Farm and Larios Family Farm.

You can view the descriptions of farm offerings, heritage sites and a map with every destination at kawvalleyfarmtour.org. The live digital map gives up to date listings of special events at farms, such as guided prairie tours or goat milking viewings.

A few of the farms and heritage sites in Douglas County include:

• Juniper Hill Farms, 1547 North 2000 Road in Lawrence — a first-generation farm that focuses on sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. The farm will have fresh-harvested vegetables for sale, and tractors, a combine and vegetable production equipment will be displayed in the yard.

• Winter School, 744 North 1800 Road in Lecompton — a historic one-room schoolhouse built in 1870. The land also features an old prairie remnant. There will be several special events during the tour, including a musical performance by Nichols & Millspaugh, a prairie tour with a talk by Courtney Masterson and a jazz picnic featuring the Jackson Graham Trio.

• Dancing Cow Farms, 36 East 2200 Road — a farm raising Highland cows. In addition to trailer tours where people can see and feed the cows, the farm also is planning to have a pumpkin-picking area and a photo area with sunflowers.

Purchasing tickets

One ticket covers an entire carload of people and is required for entry to the farms. Each ticket costs $15, and they can be purchased on the farm tour’s website. When arriving at the first farm in your itinerary, show your receipt for the ticket purchase and they will give you a physical ticket/guidebook that you will present at the other farms that you visit.

For those interested in purchasing a physical ticket/guidebook ahead of time, both can be purchased at the following locations:

• Douglas County Extension Office, 2110 Harper St. in Lawrence

• The Merc Co+op, 901 Iowa St. in Lawrence

• The Merc Co+op, 501 Minnesota Ave. in Kansas City, Kansas

• Cottin’s Hardware, 1832 Massachusetts St. in Lawrence

• Vinland Valley Nursery, 1606 North 600 Road in Baldwin City