By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com
For an outing that yields farm-fresh produce, honey, grass-fed beef and more, the Yachats River Valley Farm Tour offers other bonuses too — you can support local farmers while cruising through beautiful country.
The 11th annual tour runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, when nine farms and nurseries will open their gates to visitors. Admission to all the farms — up from last year’s five locations — is free throughout the tour, which stretches almost 11 miles from downtown Yachats.
“Come on out and support your local farmers — we’re all small,” said tour organizer Catherine Lucido of Forks Farm.
From locally-grown fruits and vegetables to baked goods, eggs to house plants, the tour sites offer a wide variety of items. Visitors are urged to wear masks, and to bring cash (or checks) if they buy anything from flowers to beef to produce.
The tour stops, offerings and special attractions are:
- Seeds of Oregon and K&R Beef, 1603 Yachats River Road. Vegetables, plants, grass-fed beef and eggs for sale.
- Blossomwood Farmstead, 6971 Yachats River Road. (At seven-mile mark; not on tour poster). Goods to be determined. Guests can see sheep, dogs, chickens and a honey bee house.
- Dragonfly Farm, 5985 Yachats River Road. Eggs, tomatoes, vegetables.
- Forks Farm Flowers & Gifts, 8 North Fork Yachats River Road, at the “T” intersection seven miles upriver. Blueberries, cut flowers, jams, produce and aprons.
- Starshine Farm, 7611 South Fork Yachats River Road. Guests can visit with llamas, alpacas and peacocks.
- River Wind Farm, 8402 South Fork River Road. Naturally-raised vegetables, fruit and beef.
- Yaquina Nursery and Greenhouse, 9724 South Fork Yachats River Road. Cacti and succulents from all over the planet; many propagated here.
- Yachats Forest Farm, 10140 South Fork River Road. Vegetables.
- The Ranch, 10740 South Fork River Road, just beyond milepost 10. Organic blueberries, blackberries and summer apples (you pick), baked goods and jams, grass-fed beef. There will also be music by One added and unique feature here will be live music by Jim and Shirley O’Brien on accordions, the Oregon Coast Recorder Society on a variety of instruments, and the Drum Circle.
