WEST LIBERTY — Logan County will continue its more than 40-year tradition of holding a fall drive-it-yourself farm tour Sept. 22. This year’s tour features southern Logan County in the West Liberty area, offering unique agriculture farms and businesses as well as Logan County history.
Stops on tour this year:
Piatt Castles: Visit a staple of the historic village of West Liberty. The Benjamin M. Piatt family farm began with the purchase of 1700 acres of land parcels from 1810-1820. The land was extensively diversified with crops, livestock, orchards and ag industries like a gristmill. Benjamin’s sons Abram and Don then held the land in separate parcels and built their limestone mansions using stone from a quarry on the farm. These homes were named Mac-A-Cheek and Mac-O-Chee respectively and continue as the centers for the farming operations.
Over the years, the farm sizes reduced but each shares a unique history based on agrarian history. The family still farms 25 tillable acres, and have an additional 25 acres in a conservation easement. Mac-A-Cheek features agriculture collections, outdoor exhibits that interpret the history of the property, and other unique historical references. Tours will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tours of both castles will be offered at visitor cost of: one castle-adults $12; two castles, adults $20; senior- $11 or $18; and Youth (5-15) $5.
Wenger’s Produce was established in 1966 by Kenny and Donna Wenger. The farm is now owned and operated by their son Jerry and his wife Dawn and their two sons: Steve and his wife Shannon and Scott and his wife Kara.
The farm consists of 60 acres of fruit and vegetables and 950 acres of grain crops. The majority of the produce grown is sold at the farm market or at local farmers markets throughout the week from June through August. The market opens in May with flowers and hanging baskets for Mother’s Day. As the season progresses, they grow a wide variety of produce such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, sweet corn, peppers, melons and more. In the fall, pumpkins, gourds and winter squash are available. The farm also buys other produce throughout the season to supplement their selection and these products include tomatoes, peaches, and melons just to name a few. The farm offers u-pick to customers for strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and pumpkins during their respective seasons.
ChrisMis Farms-Jones Country Store– Five acres, a family of seven and a love of animals is how ChrisMis farm came to be. The farm is owned by Chris and Misty Jones of West Liberty. ChrisMis Farm is a small homestead farm raising small livestock, bees and children.
The Joneses started their farm in 2013 with the purchase of their first goat to be used as a 4-H project for their daughter. Thus began their entry to the world of goats!
Misty had been a hobby soap maker but now had the opportunity to experiment with adding goat milk to her soaps. After much trial and error, she started sharing her handmade soaps with family and friends. In time, with encouragement from family and friends, Misty and Chris took a leap of faith and launched their products to the public at farmers markets, vendor fairs and craft shows.
Fast forward six years, the business is flourishing and they now own Jones Country Store just south of West Liberty where you can find their complete line of handmade goat milk soaps and skincare products. Jones Country Store also offers other locally produced and handmade products such as honey, maple syrup, and food items.
Join the Joneses at their store to visit with the goats and check out their unique farm and store.
Markin Farms: The Markin family – Terry and Julie along with children Seth, Casey, Brooke, and Neil – began exploring the idea of building a full-blown zipline course in the fall of 2011 after a family vacation when they experienced their first zip line expedition.
After returning home, the two youngest Markin siblings were so excited about their adventure that they convinced their father to construct a full zip line course on their 90-acre farm near West Liberty. With Terry having more than 25 years of experience in the construction business, he consulted with a zip line builder/designer and construction took six months to complete before the Markins opened Markin Farms Zipline Adventures to the public with 12 zip lines and five high rope challenge areas.
After eight years in business with more than 25,000 visitors from more than 50 countries and almost every state in the nation, the Martins are a host on the Top of Ohio Tour. In addition to the zipline, they have a wedding venue, event center, and Airbnb rentals, offering full wedding planning options. Tour day in addition to being able to check out their venue options, we will have ag interest areas, a tour of the zipline course and other great activities!
The tour will run from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 22, and each stop will offer unique activities, samples of local food and fun for the whole family.For more information on the tour, contact the county Farm Bureau office at 877-775-7642 or go to www.ofbf.org/counties/logan.
