A drive in the country, and an opportunity to visit a local community of farms along a concentrated route—that sounds like fun!
And, it was.
This new year-round event, the Molalla Country farm loop tour, patterned after the nearby Sandy Area Farm Loop, covers roughly a 35 mile area within Oregon’s Clackamas County, with the town of Molalla somewhat situated within the tour’s geographic center.
As we see in the video, the main purpose is education, to witness the important role that farming plays in modern society, and to connect folks to where their food and fiber are grown and raised. It’s a good way for individual communities to draw visitors to their area, for the general public to sample fresh produce, taste area wines, gather gardening ideas, and for farmers and local businesses to market their products to more people. The diversity of the 28 farms in this farm loop are quite remarkable, and include: a variety of nurseries, an elk farm, a goat farm where they also make artisan (goat) cheese, a trading company, livestock farms, and much more.
CUPS had the good fortune to visit a couple of farms (once we got there, there’s so much to see, it was hard to leave), Rosse Posse Acres Elk Ranch right outside Molalla (coming soon, a story about this elk farm), and The Little Homestead about 2 miles south of Mulino.
To plan out your tour, download this Molalla Country Farm Loop brochure (pdf) for hours, locations, and descriptions of the participating farms.