With the popularity of the eat-local, 100-mile diet, Abbotsford's farm to fork tourism is growing in leaps and bounds. Many farms have retail outlets and they cover the gamut from organic poultry to flowers, fruits and vegetables.
Circle Farm Tour
This self-guided driving tour (link to VCM Driving Routes) is the most popular way of exploring Abbotsford's agricultural bounty and studios. Stops include a trout hatchery, Tanglebank Country Gardens, a cottage-style family nursery, and Granny & Grumpa's Antiques where shelves are packed to the rafters with retro paraphernalia. From the first berries to the last of the pumpkins, Maan Farms offers u-pick fields, hay rides and come September, Abbotsford's only corn maze.
Birchwood Dairy's Family Farm
With nearly 200 happy cows producing 100% organic milk – the dairy products at Birchwood Dairy's Family Farm are superlative. That means assorted cheeses, creams and a cheddar curd, fresh every Wednesday. It's the gourmet fudge and ice-cream, though, that makes this combination dairy farm, processing plant and country store a favourite rendezvous point. Choose from over 60 flavours – chocolate raspberry truffle is a hot seller. The small kitchen also produces fresh baked goods and soups so it's a good stop for a light lunch. Call ahead for barn tours.
Campbell's Gold Honey Farm, Country Store & Meadery
The Valley's only commercial cottage-meadery produces a number of quality honey- wines and melomels (those with fruit added) which can be as sweet as a Zinfandel and dry as a Pinot Gris. The store at Campbell's Gold Honey Farm, Country Store & Meadery also carries a plethora of other bee products: beeswax candles, soothing balms, soaps, hand creams, and honey comb. The range of natural and flavoured honeys is intoxicating. Try the licorice (good for sore throats), a jalapeno that's fabulous for spicy cooking, ginger and GrandMarnier; the lighter the colour the milder the taste.
Workshops at Campbell's Gold Honey Farm
Watch for various workshops through the year, from wreath making to beekeeping and in the late summer, this is the place for sunflowers. They are grown to extend the pollinating season before being harvested as cut flowers and for pumpkin seeds.
The Apple Barn Pumpkin Farm
The crowds who come to pick various apple varieties and pumpkins at the Apple Barn Pumpkin Farm will always find something more such as hay rides, pony rides and corn guns. The pumpkin cannon is a blast and for the kids have fired a few giant gourds into the air, peashooters will be forever sidelined. Meanwhile, smaller children can share eye-to-eye level curiosity with the barn animals. Although the farm store tends to focus on everything apple-related as in pasteurized cider, home-made pies, chutneys and preserves, a new greenhouse produces greenhouse peppers, tomatoes and pickles. Book ahead for farm tours.
Lotusland Vineyards
Lotusland Vineyards may only stand on three and a half hectares, but the wines from this vineyard supply some of the top restaurants on the West Coast. Lotusland is very much a hands-on family business, from planting to bottling. Additional helping hands come through the World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), a program that enables city dwellers and others the chance to experience rural life. Wine tours and tastings are offered; the Ortega and Girlsrmeaner are the wines to note.
Mt Lehman Winery
This just-opened cottage vineyard is making its mark in the community. Crafting wines that include estate grapes from the Okanagan, Mt Lehman Winery produces a popular 8-grape blended red and a signature Ehrenfelser, a cross between a Riesling and Sylvaner with lots of fruity aromas. Signature wines are Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir. Call for tasting room hours. For more information on farm tours and wineries around Abbotsford, pop into the Visitor Centre.