Blackberry Bonanza & Wellness Fest at Great Country Farms, Bluemont, VA

Blackberry Bonanza and Wellness Fest at Great Country Farms on July 25 and 26 Bluemont, VA… Great Country Farms of Bluemont, VA, will host its annual Blackberry Bonanza U-pick Festival on July 25 & 26 from 9am to 6pm each day. This year’s event is taking on a Wellness theme and will feature the farm’s Top 10 Reasons to eat organic blackberries. “Berries are one of the top foods to go organic because they tend to retain high quantities of chemicals applied to them.” said Kate Zurschmeide, owner of Great Country Farms, “Our blackberries are not treated with any synthetic chemicals which helps make them a healthy choice for our customers.” Beetles are one of the challenges in the blackberry field and rather than use pesticides, the farm uses beetle traps to capture the pests. This year’s festival will feature a “fear factor” style bug collecting contest to help rid the field of beetles and bugs. Guests can collect as many bugs as possible, and the person with the highest weight will win the grand prize. “The bugs collected are a delicacy for our chickens so the hens love this contest too.” Zurschmeide said. Neighboring Bluemont Vineyard (www.bluemontvineyard.com) makes wine with the blackberries from Great Country Farms and will be on site offering wine-tasting featuring our unique Blackberry Wine, as well as their other wines. The weekend is packed with activities for family fun on the farm including tye-dying your own Festival T-shirts which are available for $10 each. Guests are welcome to bring their own shirts to tye-dye as well. Other activities offered include: hay rides, a farm animal barnyard, a 2800 sq. ft. jumping pillow, an 18-hole Cow-Pie Putt-Putt and, of course u-pick blackberries. Moo Cow Train rides are $2/each. Paint me Paint me ceramic and sand art ranges from $5-$9. New additions this year to the Blackberry Bonanza are Yoga demonstrations sponsored by Yoga Tyme Studio of Purcellville, which will take place at  10am and 4pm each day Organic Demonstration Garden tours and discussion of pest control through companion planting at 11am each day. Monkeytown Pottery’s Amy Oliver will be demonstrating her unique style on Saturday from 2-6 pm and on Sunday from 9am -6pm. Ms. Oliver fashions berry bowls which are both functional for rinsing berries and fashionable to take them straight to the table. Middleburg Creamery will be serving freshly made blackberry ice cream. Wellness educators from Loudoun Sport and Spine (featuring Melanie Deiker, massage therapist), Nikken and Arbonne will have booths each day. The farm’s market will be stocked with plenty of sweet peaches and summer produce. The Roosteranté will be open and will feature Blackberry slushies, Chicken Caesar Salads, BBQ, burgers, hot dogs and freshly baked peach berry pies for purchase. Dates: Saturday & Sunday, July 25 & 26 Open 9am to 6pm. Program: 10am & 4pm Yoga with Yoga Tyme Studios 12-4pm Live Music 11am Demonstration Garden Tours 12pm-1pm Fear Factor Bug Collection Contest Admission: $10.00/person. Children under 2 FREE. Admission includes the following: Hayrides to and from the u-pick fields Bluemont Vineyard Wine tasting 18 hole Cow Pie Putt-Putt Course Picnic Areas Antique Tractors Little Farmer Play area and Imagination Village Farm Animals to visit in our barnyard Catch and release fishing (equipment available for purchase or bring your own) 5 acre farm play area with the following: 4 mazes Pedal Tractors Tractors to play on Rope Swings Tractor Tire Mountain 2800 Square Foot Jumping Pillow The Corn Bin 3~ 60- foot slides


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Great Country Farms is a family owned and operated farm located in the town of Bluemont in western Loudoun County. For more information regarding the farm, visit www.greatcountryfarms.com or contact the farm at 540-554- 2073.

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