Ag + Art tour coming through Fort Mill

York County is giving residents an up-close, behind the scenes view of local agriculture.

The Ag + Art Tour, which is spread over four weekends in nine counties, provides an opportunity for residents to tour local farms. Admission to the tour is free with the Ag + Art passport available at each stop. York County’s tour is Saturday and Sunday, June 11-12.

The Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill is expanding its involvement in the tour, which it joined in 2012, said Elizabeth Bowers, communications and marketing manager for the Greenway. The Greenway will offer guided tours of its historic cabins dating to the mid-late 1700s, 1800s and 1900s starting at 10 a.m. June 11.

On Saturday, visitors can also tour the Plant-A-Row for the Hungry Garden, a partnership between the Greenway and the Master Gardeners of York County, Bowers said. The PAR Garden grew and donated 1,337 pounds of food to the Fort Mill Adult Enrichment Center in 2015.

While the PAR Garden was part of the Ag + Art Tour last year, the Greenway has added even more for participants, Bowers said. Guests can enjoy self-guided tours of the grounds, seeing sites such as the Dairy Barn, historic cabins, pastures and livestock and the swinging bridge.

“It will give people a richer understanding of what the Greenway is all about and what they can come out and do all year round,” she said.

Tour participants will also get a first look at the Greenway’s new community garden opening in 2017, where residents will be able to rent plots to grow their own plants and produce, Bowers said.

“There aren’t a lot of options like that in Fort Mill,” she said. “We think it will be pretty unique.”

Artisan Cindy Bennitt will also be on-site to demonstrate spinning wool into yarn. She will be joined by potter Susan Miller.

The tour, Bowers said, gives visitors new to the Greenway and those that haven’t experienced all of the 2,100-acre nature preserve a chance to see what is available.

“It’s a great thing our region does to promote agritourism,” she said. “We’re happy to be involved again and are looking forward to having more of an expanded presence.”

Tega Cay City Councilwoman Jennifer Stalford, an owner of J & J Family Farm in Clover, will be teaching how her farm cultivates mushrooms and garlic and will demonstrate beekeeping on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday 12 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Fishing will also be available in the farm’s stocked pond.

“Most farms don’t give a lot of the behind the scenes, so this is a really cool concept,” she said.

The Dupre at the Market food truck will be on site Saturday and will feature a shiitake omelet made with ingredients straight from the farm, Stalford said. The truck is also part of the South Carolina Department of Agriculture’s Certified SC Grown Program.

“We’re trying to keep things local,” she said.

A York County 4-H agent will also be on site to teach children about agriculture and forestry, Stalford said. The children will be able to make paper rockets and fishing lures for free.

“They learn at a young age to associate where their food comes from,” she said. “It’s a great thing.”

Roopali Bhupathi, a local painter and woodwork artist will also be at the farm.

Stalford said her family went to the first Ag + Art Tour, which kicked off in York County in 2012, before they were farmers themselves.

“It was so much fun,” she said.

The tour has since grown to an entire month.

“It’s showing how many people want to visit the farms,” Stalford said.

Now a farmer herself, she said the tour is a way to promote buying from local farmers and producers.

“It helps connect the smaller farmer with the consumer,” she said. “We’re promoting the whole local concept and understanding where food comes from.”

Other stops include Historic Brattonsville in McConnells, Catawba Cultural Preservation Project in Rock Hill and Bush-n-Vine in York.

This story was originally published May 29, 2016 at 9:22 PM with the headline "Ag + Art tour coming through Fort Mill."