Farm Camp

Get your hands dirty at these bucolic farm stays

As our concern about the provenance of our food grows, so does our curiosity about visiting those farms and fields. Get ready for a boom in American agritourism.

At these four farm stays, you can get a taste of the rural life and enjoy a meal made steps from its source. If you really want to get your hands dirty, just ask: You'll soon be picking cherries, collecting eggs and birthing calves.

California Mendocino County's Philo Apple Farm is famous for its cooking classes, but guests who stay in its charming country cottages (from $175 a night) also get to tour its biodynamic orchard and enjoy a superfresh glass of apple juice at breakfast.

New York Dutch-based agritourism operator Feather Down has made its Stateside debut with two farms in upstate New York (with many in the works). Guests stay in luxe tents outfitted with canopy beds, running water and wood-burning stoves, then pitch in by gathering hay, picking vegetables or collecting eggs for the ultimate omelet.

Oregon At Hood River's Sakura Ridge Farm and Lodge, you can rise with the sun to pluck ripe cherries and pears from the 6,000 fruit trees that border the property. If you visit after harvest season, you can join in on morning chores--herding sheep or laying gopher traps--until a farm-fresh breakfast is served.

Vermont You can arrive at Rochester's Liberty Hill Farm having never seen a cow and leave having helped bring one into the world. This working dairy farm lets you milk the mommas and feed the babies, then charms you further with innkeeper Beth Kennett's Vermont country cooking.

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