Ecotourism and Agritourism: Possibilities for collaboration

I met Irene Lane last September at the International Ecotourism Conference. She recently launched an ecotourism website called Greenloons, and she got in touch with me to ask if she might write a guest post for The Farm Stay Project. Here are her compelling suggestions for ways that agritourism and ecotourism might be better integrated.

Michelle asked me to provide some suggestions for how organizations that promote agritourism can better cooperate with organizations that promote ecotourism considering consumer confusion about both types of tourism and the overlap of social and environmental goals.

As a manner of introduction, earlier this year I founded an ecotourism travel services company that specializes in offering independently certified, family-oriented ecotours.  I became interested in ecotourism when I noticed my own young son’s wide-eyed fascination with nature whether we traveled across an ocean or across the state.  Nothing delighted him more than visiting zoos, hiking through the wilderness, or kayaking through scenic waterways.

 

Consistently, my husband and I noticed the absolute wonder and amazement he had for the music, art, flora or fauna he saw in front of him. His wonder was almost always followed by an onslaught of illuminating questions about people and the natural world. 

These were 'teachable moments' for my son that marked his personal growth, and it occurred to me that other families might benefit from an opportunity to experience nature in a way that would be educational, inspirational, safe and fun.  In this way, agritourism and ecotourism are very similar. To answer the question at hand, there are some fundamental ways the industries can work together to promote our common sustainability goals, including:

• Incorporating farm stays into ecotourism itineraries
• Developing relationships with ecotour operators
•  Targeting promotion to urban areas including international cities
•  Promoting of the educational value of farm activities 

Incorporating farm stays into ecotourism itineraries

Earlier this month, the University of Costa Rica published a study that discussed the agritourism and ecotourism marketing efforts in that country.  Costa Rica has both strong agricultural traditions and a thriving ecotourism industry. 

The study delineated some interested examples of how cross-industry promotional efforts have helped farmers as well as ecotour operators. These examples included incorporating ½ to full-day coffee plantation, traditional fishing, dairy, and pineapple tours. Ecotour itineraries featured local guides and accommodations as well as meals made with, of course, local ingredients.  

Developing relationships with ecotour operators

With the exception of Alaska, the United States is relatively new to the concept to ecotourism and where there is chaos, in my opinion, there is opportunity.  Ecotour operators are looking to provide their customers with unique experiences in the United States that will set them apart from the traditional mass-market tourism that has existed in this country.  Therefore, it would be worthwhile for farm stay operators to contact ecotour operators (which I could help with) to see if the farm can be included as part of an itinerary (i.e. providing accommodation, providing local farm lunch, helping with some light conservation work, conducting a tasting of local farm products, attending a farm food festival).

Targeting promotion to urban areas including international cities

What is additionally interesting about the University of Costa Rica study is that the majority of agritourism visitors in Costa Rica are international visitors.  Most of the locals did not see a need to pay for a rural experience since they could visit their relatives in the countryside.  I think there is a marketing lesson here when promoting agritourism, namely to target urban populations and publications that have a critical mass of environmentally-conscious consumers.  An example in the Washington, DC region is Flavor magazine, an independently run publication dedicated to sustainable food, gardening, local farmers, and organic restaurants. 

Promoting the educational value of farm activities 

Many school curriculums are beginning to incorporate the use of a school garden into their science, health, nutrition, and math lessons.  What better way to bring these concepts to life than to have a designated farm stay school program that teaches about farm traditions and food production?

Basically, for both ecotourism and agritourism, it comes down to increased awareness and better perception of the industry’s economic, social, and environmental benefits.  Since my family ecotour destinations company, Greenloons, has launched, the site has been phenomenally received.  It’s been very exciting and proves that there is tremendous market potential for these unique, educational, and fun tour experiences.

-Irene Lane

Stonehaven Family Farm

Stonehaven Farm is a gem of a farm stay in a gem of a spot. Westport, where Stonehaven is situated, is in the Southeastern corner of Massachusetts, 60 miles south of Boston, and 30 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island. Only minutes away from Stonehaven Farm, Horseneck Beach State Reservation is a beautiful, 2-mile long beach on Buzzards Bay with 600 acres of salt marsh and sand dunes. Horseneck Beach is most popular in summer, but the off-season holds its own kind of magic. I was there in late September, when the oblique fall light shone golden on the dune grass. To my surprise, the bay water was plenty warm for me to venture in for some delighted wave jumping. The public washrooms were closed for the season, and only a handful of cars littered the windy parking lot, but Horseneck Beach in September felt like heaven to me.

Back at Stonehaven Farm, the guest suite has a big, airy bedroom with a cathedral ceiling and a view past gently sloping sheep pasture and all the way down to the wide Westport River. Windows on all sides, plus a sliding door to a small balcony, let in the ocean breeze. The beds are made with crisp white sheets and an off-white blanket for warmth -- it's woven from the wool of the farm’s own Dorset Horn sheep, a dual-purpose heritage breed good for both meat and wool. 

In 1995, Virginia Merlier moved to Stonehaven Farm from Cambridge, Mass., where she worked in Financial Administration at Harvard for 15 years after a shorter stint as an assistant professor of Medieval French literature. Virginia grew up on a 312-acre farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where her father also raised Horned Dorsets. Originally from France, Virginia’s father came to America when he was 18, marrying Virginia’s mother in 1941. At that time in France, Virginia tells me, having a farm was a dream common to many. Though her father was raised in the city and studied business in college, he decided to buy a farm in America. He essentially learned to farm from USDA pamphlets, says Virginia, and he did well at it, supporting their family of 5 and sending Virginia and her sister to college.

Virginia tells me that she always wanted to get back to farming, but her father wouldn’t give or sell the farm to her because she was a girl. Once she had her own 7.5 acres, Virginia started gardening and raising chickens, then sheep, and finally ducks. Today she has a flock of 20 permanent sheep, which are kept in line by a friendly border collie named Cody. Virginia tells me, “You look at a happy sheep and it’s almost meditative.” The 35 free-range chickens on the farm include American heritage breeds like Delawares, Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshires, and Ameraucanas. The wide variety of breeds presents a pretty palette of brown, light peach, and light green shell colors in the gathering basket. Virginia sells eggs, in addition to seasonal vegetables and berries, to customers who stop by the house.  Lambs or half lambs for the freezer and ducks are available by order, as is yarn processed by Bartlett Yarns in Maine. Virginia started offering a farm stay in 2009, after being inspired during an agritourism conference by a keynote talk by charismatic Beth Kennett, who has hosted guests at Liberty Hill Farm in VT since the 1980s.

Agritourism beyond Stonehaven Farm includes the Westport farmers market every Saturday, pick-your-own berries at Berry Hill Farm, a brewery called Just Beer, the Westport Rivers Winery and Coastal Wine Trail, and Orr’s Farm Stand. Virginia is a generous and informative guide to the area. Though Westport’s population swells with beachgoers in the summer, the town has maintained its unspoiled feel, with beautifully preserved 1700s homes and buildings and strong farming and fishing communities. The Point, where the fishing boats dock, is an active lobster port. Around 12 percent of Westport’s current farmland is protected from development thanks to groups like the Westport Land Conservation Trust.  Westport prides itself in being the home of a variety of turnip called the Macomber turnip, which has its own dedicated historical marker. Dairy and crops like potatoes, squash, corn, and hay are also important. A not-to-miss Westport edible is Hannahbells, a soft-ripened, bell-shaped cheese crafted at the Shy Brothers Farm from the milk of the brothers’ 120 grazing cows. While the farm is not open to the public, the cheese is available at specialty shops and by mail. The farm also forms a lovely picture for those who drive by.

If you go:

A spacious guest suite sleeps four on one double and two twin beds, and offers a fantastic view. The suite is $150/night for two, plus $25 for each child. The suite includes a mini-fridge and large private bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub. Children are welcome to stay in the main suite or down the hall, in a smaller guestroom with two twin beds. Virginia is an accomplished cook, and she invites guests to share breakfast (included) and dinner ($35/person) with her. Almost all of the dishes she makes – from roast chicken with fingerling potatoes to juicy fresh melon for dessert -- are raised right on the farm when the season allows. Guests are welcome to harvest all the garden vegetables they can eat, and to help with gardening, egg collecting, and caring for the sheep. Contact Virginia for rates.

Web: http://www.stonehavenfamilyfarm.com

Phone: (508) 636-1361

Email: vmerlier@verizon.net

Virginia Merlier

Stonehaven Farm

1506 Drift Rd

Westport, MA 02790

Berry Fields Farm: Our Family Farm Vacation

I had visited lots of farm stays on my own, so I wanted to see how my parents, sister, and her two cutie pie kids liked the experience. Last August, I planned a farm vacation to Berry Fields Farm in North Central PA for the five of us. I especially wanted to see how my nieces Skylar (5) and Ruby (2) took to gathering eggs and feeding the animals, and to snap a few adorable pictures of them along the way.

My parents live in Western PA, my sister and her kids live in Connecticut, and I live in Maryland; Berry Fields Farm was almost equidistant for the three of us. In addition to the location, I loved that the farm had a tiny field-to-table restaurant, a farm store, and a focus on growing diverse crops and livestock sustainably. Plus, my family and I are blueberry fiends and figured the berry bushes at the farm would be heavy with fruit, and we could pick gallons of them to take home and freeze. The drive to Berry Fields winds through Pennsylvania's beautiful Endless Mountains region, with the last two miles climbing a gravel road up the side of K-hill Mountain. I arrived to the hill farm just after dusk, and my sister pulled in with the kiddos a few minutes later. My parents would arrive a few hours after us.

After stepping out of my car, the warm lights of the restaurant and farm store guided me inside, where I met Barbara Gerlach, who was finishing serving coffee to her dinner guests. She pointed me towards the stairs to my family's home for the next three days, a one-bedroom apartment that the Gerlachs renovated for guests just this year. It's the second apartment they have built on their farm. Our cozy place was just big enough for our group of 3 adults and 2 kids. My parents took the bedroom, I slept on the futon in the small entrance room, and my sister and nieces slept on the pullout couch in the living/dining room/kitchen. The farm's other apartment, which the Gerlachs opened to guests about ten years ago, sleeps up to 10 in three bedrooms and sits on the second floor above the farm store and restaurant. 

In the 1970s, Charlie Gerlach bought the property where Berry Fields Farm now stands. The land was much different then -- it was covered with forest and only had a primitive hunting cabin. Charlie and Barbara spent decades clearing the land, and building their house and barn using recycled materials from Charlie's design-build general contracting business. Charlie describes his desire to build things as almost a compulsion. He plans to add at least one more guest apartment to the two others already on the farm. Charlie and Barbara have slowly built up their poor mountain soil to grow their lush, 1-acre organic garden, and have planted a small orchard of apple and pear trees as well as putting up fencing for their grazing beef cattle. Down the farm's driveway and across the road, a field of blueberry bushes invites u-pickers. Weekly, Barbara and Charlie sell meat and produce at a farmers market in Eagles Mere, a nearby resort town.

Day 1

In the morning, we woke to a big, wonderful view out the living room window. Skylar was jumping to get outside and see what animals she might find, and Ruby was excited to be a part of it all too. Once we met the bunnies, it was hard to pull the kids away. Skylar and Ruby could have fed them for hours, poking grass and weeds through the wire cages and watching while they chewed. Barbara and Charlie also introduced us to the chickens and showed us how to collect eggs, pointed out their huge pregnant Tamworth pig, and found a hidden pile of kittens for us to cuddle. We all had a great time wandering around the farm. We decided to venture away to visit the nearby World's End State Park, where a s-shaped bend in Loyalsock Creek that forms a big, scenic swimming hole. After a dip in the chilly water, we headed back to the farm for a field-to-table dinner in the little restaurant. We had a lovely meal of greens, beef, mashed potatoes, and corn, all raised on the farm, with locally-made goats milk cheesecake and hot drinks for dessert. 

Day 2

The kids headed out again for their dose of animal feeding and petting. Charlie and Barbara told us that the blueberry season had ended early, and that the bushes were pretty much bare, but we were unshakable and went to forage for leftovers anyhow. We managed to wrangle a few berries, enough for a little taste. We asked Barbara for hiking recommendations, and she pointed us towards The Haystacks, where a gentle, relatively flat trail along the Loyalsock River and rounded rock formations make for picturesque pools and rapids. The trail was a great choice for hiking with kids. 

Day 3

For our last day at the farm, we stayed put and found plenty to do. We harvested a bed of onions, with Skylar taking the helm and pulling almost all of them by herself. Charlie rewarded us with a loaf of bread that he had made that morning. We pulled spent cornstalks and threw them to the cows. We helped Barbara search for ripe carrots in the greenhouse. We watched the beautiful changing sky as a storm blew through. And to end the day, cozy again in our apartment, we cooked up a feast in our little kitchen.

It was a great vacation.  We loaded up our coolers with beef, pork, and chicken from the farm since the quality was great and the prices were much better than what we could find at home, bid the farm goodbye, and went our separate ways. For more photos from our stay at Berry Fields, check out my Berry Fields Farm album.

If you go:

Berry Fields Farm has two guest apartments. One can sleep 10 in three bedrooms; the other can sleep a very cozy 7 in one bedroom, a futon, and a twin and double pullout beds. Both apartments have full kitchens. Rates start at $100/night and $600/week. Meals are available ($15-30) on the farm with advanced notice; non-guests are welcome to reserve dinners in The Strawberry dining room as well. The farm’s beef, pork, chicken, sausage, vegetables, and fruits are available at the farm store. Berry Fields also offers u-pick berries in season.

Note: some of the material on the website is outdated, for example, the farm now has two guest apartments instead of one. Also, it’s a great idea to ask what fruits and vegetables are in season before you go, so you know what to expect and don’t suffer from blueberry disappointment.

Web: 
http://www.berryfieldsfarm.net 
gerlach@epix.net


Postal/Physical Address:
 
Charlie and Barbara Gerlach
Berry Fields Farm

New Albany, PA 18833
Telephone:
 570-924-3019