Alpaca your bags for a virtual tour of 5 local farms. 🌾
Do you ever wonder where that blackberry in your dessert at your favorite restaurant came from? If you’re a local-vore like me, probably. I know I was curious – so I set out on a farm tour across the Midlands to get to the roots of where these farms are; see them in person; and meet who is behind the farm-raised meats + berries we see on so many menus around Columbia.
🌾Ride along with us
First, here’s a sneak peek video of our five-farm tour:
Now, read about all the farms:
🌾Hanna Hands Farm
📍3283 Longtown Rd., Ridgeway | ~30 mins from downtown Cola
I initially went to Hanna Hands Farm – run by Byron Hanna, and his business partner, May Vokaty – to see rabbits, because they’re one of the only South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA) approved rabbit processing facilities in the state – supplying local restaurants like Motor Supply + Terra with some of their meats.
But to my surprise, I was greeted by tons of alpacas – a.k.a. The Alpaca Experience – who pretty much stole the show [and my heart] during our tour of the farm. Dottie (the most famous alpaca at Hanna Hands), Stormy, Bingley, Trixie + Merle (who used to bullied until the sheares gave him his hardcore mullet) are just a few of the ones I met, who are shaved once a year, and have their fleece sent to mills to be turned into things like socks, hats + yarn (which is also hand-dyed on the farm). Hanna Hands Farms also has several angora goats whose fleece (known has mohair) is sent to manufacturing mills, too. Knitters + crocheters love these types of yarn because they’re super soft and easy to work with.
Aside from rabbits, alpacas and goats, they also have meat chickens (who eat ~25 lbs of food + drink 10 gallons of water per day) and Dominic chickens – dual purpose birds used for both meat + eggs. Most of their chickens are purchased by local people, instead of restaurants.
On the first Saturday of every month the farm hosts their own farmers market – complete with craft vendors, produce vendors + rotating food trucks (they’re adding an ice cream truck this summer). They’ll also be participating in the 2018 Fairfield County Ag and Art Tour in June. Check out their Facebook for upcoming event announcements, like Summer Fun Day, Fall Festival + a holiday event.
🌾Mercer House Winery
📍397 Walter Rawl Rd., Lexington | ~1 hour from downtown Cola
I’m not gonna lie; when I initially drove through the backwoods of Lexington while following a somewhat sketchy Google Maps route, I was lowkey fearful for my life. But after pulling into the driveway at Mercer House Winery, all thoughts of Friday the 13th were erased from my mind: seriously y’all, this place has some gorgeous scenery. 🌿🍇
Shannon Mercer (UofSC grad + ex-navy intel photographer) is the owner of Mercer House, which is one of the few organic wineries in the country and the only estate winery in the Columbia Metro area. “Estate winery” means that he only makes wine out of what he can grow; 50 different varieties of local Muscadine grapes, to be exact. Shannon explained to us that he “imports” most of his grapes from Gilbert, S.C. – a great dad joke, since the winery is technically in Lexington, and the vineyards (across the street) are technically in Gilbert.
I decided to be decent and not lie about being 21 (I settled for drinking iced tea, RIP) but Sam tried some of the unique wines they have to offer, like their Bloody Mary wine (pro tip: this one’s a great hair-of-the-dog remedy), their Wysteria blend + a Sweet Tea Wine (made with S.C. grown tea). Aside from specialty wines, they also have a signature Gamecork red wine + Sagaree wine (made from an aging process first used by Native Americans); jalapeño wine blends + more. After watching Sam try wine for an hour, we went on a tour of the 5 different vineyards (which also includes a mile-long walking trail that’s open year round), all named after Shannon’s mom, dogs, and the middle names of he + his wife.
You can schedule an 1.5-hour, 1-mile long Vine and Wine tour online, or show up during their open hours for a wine tasting. They also host a Columbia Chef Table Series each month that we highly suggest you try out.
🌾Lever Farms
📍5057 SC-34, Pomaria | ~45 mins from downtown Cola
Lever Farms is most known for their strawberries – and to say I had a *berry* good time on this tour would be an understatement.
The Lever family’s 115-acres of land (that’s been in the family since 1897) has been a cotton farm, tree farm + cow farm over the years – until they began vegetable farming in 2004 + strawberry farming in 2006. They currently have ~45,000 strawberry plants across their fields, that typically get about 1 pound of strawberries per plant. Pick-your-own strawberries is, by far, the largest draw to the farm – but it doesn’t stop there.
When strawberry season ends in mid-June, they plant blackberries for the late summer and cantaloupes + pumpkins for the fall. (They also host a huge festival in the fall, with a corn maze + hayrides.)
One thing they’re really pumped about right now is this big white tent they’ve built over their vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli, beets, carrots + more), which promotes better + quicker growth. Most of their produce is sold on the farm, and to Senn Brothers – who then redistributes to restaurants + other places, like prisons + schools. Aside from fruits and veggies, the Levers also raise pigs in a humane, natural environment – for their famous sausage recipe that’s been in the family for 100+ years: Dutch Fork Sausage.
Lever Farms has a great relationship with Newberry-area schools, and works closely with them for produce deliveries + field trips. They host several thousands of students on field trips to their farm every year – some groups as large as 180 people per visit. Educating both children + adults about where their food comes from is really important to them.
If you can’t make it out to Pomaria just yet (but I promise it’s worth the drive), they’ve just started going to the Irmo Farmers Market at Irmo High School every Tuesday, 5-8 p.m.
🌾Floral and Hardy Farm
📍1824 Old Barnwell Rd., Lexington | ~30 min from downtown Cola
Donna Mills used to be a floral designer at Rosewood Florist, but also took an interest in growing her own flowers + bringing them to the flower shop for them to buy. She loved doing that so much, she decided to start growing flowers full-time, and Floral and Hardy Farm was born. After a lot of trial and error in the farm’s beginnings in the ‘80s, Donna started taking horticulture classes at Midlands Tech + garden symposiums at Riverbanks Zoo.
Today, the farm consists of 7-acres of land + over 100 varieties of flowers. Right now they’re currently in a seasonal transitional period, but don’t worry: something’s always blooming 12 months a year. June has a lot of variety in terms of flowers, but May-October is the real time to visit. December is also a great time for wreaths + garland. (#ProTip: Donna’s favorite flowers that she grows are the delphiniums.)
Donna sells to Something Special Florist (on Main St.) + Blossom Shop (in Five Points) and to flower shops in Augusta. She is available to help pick out flowers for weddings, proms + other occasions, too. She’s at Soda City almost every Saturday (in front of Drake’s Duck-In), where her flowers get tons of compliments. People tell her that the arrangements remind them of flowers their grandmother used to pick (how sweet is that?). She also supplies the flowers for Motor Supply’s table-displays + edible flowers for some of head bartman Josh Streetman’s drinks.
🌾Doko Farm
📍2101 Cedar Creek Rd., Blythewood | ~25 mins from downtown Cola
Doko Farm is exactly what I picture when I think “family-owned, Midlands-area farm” – but Amanda Jones, who runs the farm, is almost more fascinating than the farm, itself.
Amanda (former field biologist in California, Alaska + Hawaii; Certified S.C. Mushroom Identification Permit holder; and also former curriculum writer + instructor for environmental and outdoor school programs… just to name a few of her accolades) and her husband, Dr. Joe Jones – who is the Faculty Principal at UofSC’s Green Quad, as well as faculty for the Arnold School of Public Health – moved [back] to Blythewood to take care of the farm in 2007 – which has been in Joe’s family since 1839.
Of the 42 acres of land at Doko Farm, only ~10 acres are used for farming. The farm consists of heritage breed animals (i.e. developed prior to the 1900’s, selected for a lone, productive outdoor life + mates naturally), including: 12 American guinea hogs, ~25 St. Croix sheep, 25 Buckeyes chickens + 84 baby chicks, 35 Narragansett turkeys – and 3 Great Pyrenees dogs to protect the animals. Each of these animal breeds also has the distinction of being listed on the Slow Food Ark of Taste – which is a catalog of delicious and distinctive foods facing extinction.
Amanda believes the flavor of their meats – which is influenced by their soil, climate, pasture conditions + management practices – is what keeps bringing people back to the farm. Terra, Baan-Sawan + Motor Supply have all featured their meats, usually in conjunction with farm to table events. Twice a month, they host Doko Farm Meat-ups in the Baan-Sawan parking lot (2135 Devine St.) – in which customers are able to place meat orders online, and the Joneses bring the cuts into downtown Cola for pickup. They also have farm stand hours for customers in the Blythewood area, or for people willing to drive out there. Soon, they’ll be participating in the Blythewood Farmers Market (dates TBD).
Currently, Amanda is working on an edible forest garden – with plums, pecans, figs, lemon balm + more. Last week, she had volunteers from UofSC out to the farm to help with invasive plant management – so they can eventually expand the garden.
Farm ambassador, Strawberry Shortcake
🌾More Midlands farms
We wish we had enough time to personally visit every farm in the area (a.k.a play with alpacas + eat fresh strawberries), but the content creation calls back at the office. So, here are more local farms you can visit + support:
Up On Cedar Knoll | 140 Cedar Knoll Ct. | Blythewood, S.C.
Five Leaves Farm | 632 Kindlser Rd. | Blythewood, S.C.
Cowasse Farm | 1113 Old National Highway | Elgin, S.C.
Goat Daddy’s Farm | 144 Tomahawk Trl. | Elgin, S.C.
Wil-Moore Farms | 2173 Ridgeway Rd. | Lugoff, S.C.
City Roots | 1005 Airport Blvd. | Columbia, S.C.
Walter P. Rawl Farm | 824 Fairview Rd. | Lexington, S.C.
Six Berry Farm | 179 Bama Rd. | Gilbert, S.C.
Bowers Farm | 279 State Rd. S-36-500 | Pomaria, S.C.
Cottle Farms | 2533 Trotter Rd. | Hopkins, S.C.
Manchester Farms | 8126 Garners Ferry Rd. | Hopkins, S.C.
Carolina Bay Farms | 5301 Lower Richland Blvd. | Hopkins, S.C.
Terra Kotta Farms | 2412 Lewie Rd. | Leesville, S.C.
Leesville Aquaponics | 105 Sugar Bottom Rd. | Leesville, S.C.
Big Moon Farm | 160 Holley Ferry Rd. | Leesville, S.C.
Mountain View Farm | 230 Mountain View Rd. | Landrum, S.C.
Arnold Farms | 200 Arnold Rd. | Ruffin, S.C.
Fire Barrel Farm | 306 George Derrick Rd. | Swansea, S.C.
Meadow Acres Chestnuts | 5525 Fish Hatchery Rd. | Pelion, S.C.
Penny Family Farm | 4655 Cureton Ferry Rd. | Catawba, S.C.
In our opinions, one of the most important things you can do to help keep the Midlands alive + thriving is to support local farms. The hearts + souls of these farmers are put into the everyday upkeep of their land, produce, animals + more – and seeing how well taken care of these animals are was reassuring.
Did we miss your favorite Midlands-area farm? Let us know so we can update our list.