Terran Martin, a fifth grade student at Two Rivers Community Charter School in Boone, releases a monarch butterfly.

Agreeing that everyone was ready, fifth grade student Terran Martin opened his hands to reveal a newly emerged monarch butterfly.  Surrounded by fifteen nudging classmates Terran held out his hand. The butterfly lingered momentarily, fluttered and then glided into the air towards the orchard.

Although this may not sound like your typical farm field trip, this experience was part of Two Rivers Community Charter School’s trip to The Orchard at Altapass last week.  This field trip was the second component of a workshop offered by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) for farmers and educators to learn about “Safe, Fun and Educational Farm Field Trips”.    The initial workshop brought farmers and teachers together to talk about how to make a farm field trip beneficial for everyone involved. Following this workshop with on-farm field trips offers a hands-on way to apply concepts and share ideas with other farmers and teachers.

The Orchard at Altapass will not have any apples this fall, due to the late season frost.  School groups and other tours are a one way for this farm to diversify and cut their losses.  The Parker family participated in the farm field trip as well (the first certified organic dairy in North Carolina) driving up from Ulla, NC. “It is good to see what other folks are doing,” said Rick Parker “I want kids to come learn about a working farm, not just be entertained.”   In addition to selling their milk to Organic Valley, the Parker family is hosting farm field trips and is beginning to experiment with making cheeses.

In addition to last week’s trip to Altapass, Amy Ager, Hickory Nut Gap Farm Spring House Meats, hosted a field trip of kindergarteners from Emma Elementary in May.  If you are interested in visiting a farm, look for the ASAP Local Food Guide ( www.appalachiangrown.org).

Dorcas and Rick Parker, owners of Mary L Farm in Mt. Ulla, traveled to the Orchard at Altapass to learn more about hosting farm field trips.