What is Agritourism and Why Should You Try It?

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Looking for ways to make your family travels more fun and educational at the same time? You might want to look into agritourism. If you’ve never heard this term, you’ve come to the right place! Here we will discuss what agritourism is, how to incorporate it into your travels, and the benefits of doing so.

What is Agritourism?

First and foremost, we need to answer the question, “What is agritourism?” Essentially, agritourism involves visiting farms, ranches, wineries, and other such places during your travels. Sometimes this might mean picking fruits or veggies; other times it might involve a tour.

In all cases, agritourism is an excellent way to connect with nature, learn something new, and meet and support the locals.

Ways to Incorporate Agritourism into Your Travels

If you think agritourism sounds like a fun addition to your RV travels, you might be wondering how you can go about adding some agritourism stops to your travel itinerary. Fortunately, there are tons of different ways to experience agritourism.

Make Use of Harvest Hosts

Our absolute favorite way to enjoy agritourism while traveling in an RV? Harvest Hosts. This awesome membership gives RVers access to dry camping sites at farms, wineries, and more all across the US. The hosts are always welcoming and often invite guests to join in farm activities.

Best of all, once you pay your yearly membership fee, you will not pay to camp at these amazing campsites!

Attend Farm Tours

Another option is to attend farm tours. These happen all over the country, but our absolute favorite is the Braum’s farm tour in Tuttle, Oklahoma. This tour allows you to see how dairy products are made from start to finish. It’s an excellent roadschool lesson on where food comes from, and it ends with a complimentary ice cream. Just be sure to reserve this one in advance!

Go Produce Picking

U-pick farms are found in pretty much every state, and there is almost always some sort of produce in season. This means you should be able to enjoy this activity almost all year long, especially if you follow warm weather.

Our family has enjoyed picking blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, apples, and more over the years. It’s always a blast and we always love leaving with a stash of delicious produce to enjoy.

Step Back in Time

Living history farms are another fantastic example of agritourism. These are real working farms that are run using methods and technologies from the past. We especially loved Living History Farms in Iowa, as it featured farms from several different time periods and offered guests a chance to see how farming has evolved over the years.

Check Out a Pumpkin Patch

Visiting a pumpkin patch is a fall tradition for many families. These fun family attractions tend to pop up in October and often offer kids a chance to pet farm animals, play in dry corn, ride ponies, get lost in a corn maze (and see the plants that corn grows on) and even pick their very own pumpkin(s) to decorate for Halloween.

Cut Your Own Christmas Tree

Another seasonal agritourism activity that is a must-do for many families? Cutting a Christmas tree. This can be done at Christmas tree farms in nearly every part of the country. It’s an excellent way to kick off the holiday season and is a fun way to bond as a family. On top of that, your kids might get some practice using tools!

Benefits of Agritourism

There are several ways agritourism can enhance your travels as a full time RVing family. Below are some of the reasons you might want to wrap farms and other similar destinations into your travels.

Learn Where Food Comes From

One of the biggest benefits of agritourism is the fact that it gives kids a chance to learn where food comes from. While visiting farms, they can get up close and personal with the various plants and animals that provide us with nutrition. Often, this helps foster a new sense of appreciation for food.

Meet the Locals

In my opinion, meeting local people and getting to know them is one of the most amazing things about full time travel. It allows you to really connect with each place you visit.

When you get to know the people in a region, you get to know about region-specific foods, traditions, and more. It also means you are always growing your friend base, something that really can’t be a bad thing.

Try New Foods

If you have picky kids, taking them to pick their own produce might open them up to the idea of trying new fruits and vegetables. On top of that, visiting local farms and farmers’ markets can give you access to foods you never knew existed. Because of this, wrapping agritourism into your travels is an excellent way to expand your palate.

Fill Your Home with Farm-Fresh Foods

We all know there are few things better than food fresh from the farm. When you make agritourism a regular part of your travel schedule, you will always have a nice supply of locally grown, farm-fresh foods. Not only is this a delicious benefit, it’s also super healthy!

Have Fun Outdoors

Getting out in the sunshine and breathing fresh air is good for the body and the soul, and reconnecting a family works best when in the great outdoors. Obviously this can be done in national parks and on epic hikes, and we absolutely recommend adding those things to your travels as well. That said, agritourism can be just as good for refreshing yourself in the outdoors.

As you can see, agritourism is a really neat thing that can enhance your travels and your roadschooling experience, allowing you to get even more out of your RV travels. Why not add a stop at a farm to your itinerary today so you can give it a try?

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