Residents and out-of-town visitors got the opportunity to explore a selection of local farms during the County of Brant’s Farm Crawl event on Saturday, September 12, 2026.
The six-hour long event gave guests an inside look at the operations of five different farms including: Moore Farms, Browndale Farm, Glenridge Hazelnuts, Brantview Apples and Cider, and Blue Gables Acres.
Guests were free to choose which farms to visit and in what order, spending as much time as they liked at each stop, while learning about local agriculture as they went.
Many took the opportunity to chat with the farmers behind the products, sample food and drink, or interact with the different animals.
At Moore Farms, which is currently celebrating its 110th anniversary this year, visitors learned about the farm’s history, viewed family artifacts, spoke with a beekeeper, learned about crop information and nutrition, and even fed one of the 30 to 40 Texas Longhorns on site.
With a vendor market taking place at the same time, many also supported the local artisans, played lawn games, grabbed a sample of Guernsey milk and cheese, or grabbed a bite to eat from the Longhorn Smokehouse food truck.
When asked what she thought about the farm crawl, Nancy Easton, whose brother, Alan Moore, now runs the family farm, said it was a great way for people to learn more about the agriculture operations taking place in their own community.
“It’s awesome. It’s so nice to see so many people out and about, and to hear people who have never been to Moore Farms saying, ‘You know, I’ve driven by, but I never had the chance to stop in,’” said Easton. “It’s cool that they’re getting to know more about the County and supporting local. I think, more than ever, with everything that’s happening with the U.S., it’s important to support our own local farms and to understand where the food in the grocery store is coming from.”
A short distance away at Browndale Farm, visitors had the chance to chat with Ashley Brown and ask questions about her family’s history on the property, their cattle and what they produce.
The Brown family has farmed the land for almost a century, with Brown’s grandfather first milking 15 cows in 1948. Now, 78 years later, the family-run business has about 300 cattle and milks approximately 90 cows with the help of two robotic milking systems.
While there, guests spent their time touring the modern dairy facility, enjoying a cup of coffee and shopping from the farm’s onsite market.
Like Easton, Brown has shared similar sentiments about the farm crawl.
“It’s a good opportunity for the public to come and see the people producing their food in their communities,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of questions from people that have a genuine interest or genuine concerns about their food, and so being able to address things and talk to people has been great. It’s a lot of fun.”
She continued, “It is a really great community here and people are very supportive of agriculture. I know that we’ve had a big explosion in our urban population, and so I think the Farm Crawl has been really great to try and make sure that we’re still keeping that connection between our growing urban community and agriculture.”
At Glenridge Hazelnut, the family-run orchard was offering a Pick Your Own experience, samples and educational chats.
The 60-acre farm started getting planted in 2018 and now boasts 16,000 hazelnut trees. The Farm Crawl marked the first time it was opened to the public.
Just outside of St. George were Brantview Apples and Cider and Blue Gables Acres.
Brantview is currently celebrating its 205th harvest on Howell Road. The 90-acre farm is home to 30 acres of apple trees, featuring a range of 22 varieties.
Visitors had the chance to try one of the farm’s apple cider donuts and sample its cider, as well as Howell Road Cider Co. hard cider. Those with extra time could take a wagon ride out to the orchard and pick their own apples or learn more about the history of the farm and the family behind it.
Blue Gables Acres, which farms Haskap berries and turns them into a large selection of wines, first started planting five-acres of berries on the 11-acre property in 2017.
The farm offered tours of the winery and samples of wine. Many visitors also took the time to grab a full-sized glass, a piece of haskap cheesecake or munch on a charcuterie cup under the winery’s Swedish Tentipi.
While many visitors were able to make it out to all five stops throughout the day, some chose to pick a few and spend more time getting to know each farm.
Virginia Andersen and Julie Christian, who traveled in from Cambridge and Kitchener to partake in the crawl, said they enjoyed the experience.
“We’ve loved it! We’ve learned something new at every stop,” said Andersen. “You really felt like you were getting to experience things that you wouldn’t otherwise. Things like their home, their culture and their family history.”
“There was a lot of interaction too,” added Christian. “We got to drink different things and also taste different things so that was really nice.”
The two added that their one critique was that they simply wished it was longer.
“We would like to see it be a two-day event,” said Christian, with a smile. “Maybe four farms a day so you could spend a good hour or so at each. Or even if it was from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.? That would be good too.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
