(bright lively music) - [Announcer] A Fork in the Road was brought to you by... (bright lively music) - [Narrator] From produce to people, the best things are grown and raised in Georgia.

Even in tough times, we come together, work hard, and grow strong.

When you purchase Georgia grown products, you support farmers, families, and this proud state we call home.

Together, we will keep Georgia growing.

(uplifting music) - [Man] Since 1917, The Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin has been Georgia's primary resource for all things agriculture.

- [Narrator] From thousands of classifieds for livestock, farm supplies, equipment, and homegrown goods, to the latest and most important farming news.

- The Fascinating and ever changing world of agriculture.

Let's hit the road here in Georgia and meet the farmers, producers, makers, and bakers, who keep us all fed to keep us coming back for more straight ahead at the Fork in the Road.

(energetic music) ♪ I came from the mud ♪ ♪ There's dirt on my hands ♪ ♪ Strong like a tree ♪ ♪ There's roots where I stand ♪ - Georgia farmers, artisans, merchants and producers.

We depend on these men and women every day of our lives through the choices we make in the food we consume.

Their strategy and approach is always shifting, but the end game remains the same: results.

(lively music) So you want to visit the farm, but maybe you don't want to run the farm 24/7.

Like most of these hardworking men and women do.

That's part of how the concept of agritourism came to be.

So many folks were curious about the animals, the plants, and where their food comes from.

This week, we visit a few agritourism destinations in Georgia that share the fun and let you bring those flavors home.

Let's begin this episode and McDonough at a family farm that's helped pave the way for what is possible in the world of agritourism.

- Two generations before my dad were sharecroppers, which meant they cropped land for a share of the crop, didn't own much, but they worked for other farmers.

But in 1938, my grandfather made enough money to buy a part of this farm.

My dad ended up buying the joining farm and at one time there were two separate dairy farms on this property.

Actually, it's the location of where the dairy barn is now on the farm.

I grew up dairy farming and ended up going to the University of Georgia, majored in dairy science and worked in Atlanta for a couple of years but then came back to the farm in partnership with my dad and uncle and put both dairies together.

- [David] In 1986, Mr. Carter sold out of the dairy business and transitioned into a beef cattle hay farm with thoughts of developing the farm and do an educational agritourism destination.

- This building goes way back.

- That's right.

And this is where the cows used to come in to get milked.

I mean, we had 12 at a time, which was at that time, a medium sized area.

I think we milked about 200 head of cows at the time.

- You know, and it's neat how you have it set up now.

People can sit up here, learn about the whole process.

And it is fascinating.

- One of the primary objectives is so that when kids go in the grocery store, the next time with their mom and get that gallon of ice cream or the milk that it didn't just grow in the stock room back there, it was grown on the farm.

That's one of the things that we wanna teach to this community is that, you know, farmers do matter.

- [Jimmy] When I sold out, Jake were six and loved the farm and followed in my footsteps everywhere we went.

Fast forward a few years, he went to University of Georgia, majoring in business management.

So he began to try to figure out how to invest all of his time and sweat equity in the farm.

So finally, one day he came up with an idea of the agritourism.

- [David] And the rest is history, but with the big future.

And that history is not gone.

- That's right?

I mean, one of the things that just, you know, tickles us to death is the next generation, right?

I mean, my dad, you know, trusting me to take on the farm and run it.

Maybe one day I'll have that with my kids.

If they so choose to wanna become a farmer.

- If there's one thing I've learned about farmers, it's a seven day a week job.

It is all day.

And so you said, I wanna be a farmer and we want all this.

- I tell a lot of people.

It's not a nine to five.

Sometimes it's a five to nine.

It is a calling.

It's a love.

Love of the land, love of watching crops grow, things flourishing and producing.

I mean, that's what keeps us going, man.

The community aspect.

I mean, that's one of the reasons why we did open the gates, for years our gates stayed shut.

We didn't want anybody in the farm.

It was just like, this is our farm, we don't want anybody to come.

And we had a lot of people showing up.

They would ask me a lot of questions about agriculture and we decided there was an opportunity there to provide a place for families to come out and enjoy spending time together while learning about agriculture.

And that's what we decided to do in 2006.

- When I've actually been coming here for years and it's been neat to watch it grow.

It seems like every year you have something new that comes along.

There's a Belle's barn right behind it.

- That's right.

- Tell me about the experience that kids get at Belle's.

- The kids can come here and have an interactive experience with farm animals.

Of course, the goats and the horses and chickens and some cows.

And we just have a lot of great farm animals that kids can see up close and personal.

(upbeat music) - [David] There's tons of activities here.

We have the giant jumpy pillow.

- [Jake] Sure.

- [David] That's a blast.

I've always been infatuated with the corn cannon.

- [Jake] There you go.

- [David] Can you tell me more about this?

- So yeah, I mean the corn cannon is just fun.

I mean, where else can you go and get to shoot the actual corn, right?

I mean, we're shooting these at targets.

We've got big foot out there.

We got your favorite or least favorite SCC football team on targets.

We're just not gonna hit Georgia target.

- Okay.

- You know, we'll leave that one alone.

- All right, show me how it's done, Jake.

- All right.

So let's see.

- You said you're not Georgia.

- And I'm not gonna hit Georgia.

I'm going to shoot that Tennessee.

- Oh, Tennessee.

Tennessee gets it.

- Down go the ball.

- Alabama doesn't often lose, but today they're going down.

♪ Cause Ima shoot right now ♪ ♪ Yeah we are undefeated and you gonna lose right now ♪ ♪ Like click click click click swish ♪ ♪ I can switch it up anytime like this ♪ ♪ I'm a videographer renowned on the verse ♪ ♪ So when I shoot my shot I don't miss ♪ ♪ You know I'm gon' take the shot ♪ ♪ Take the shot ♪ ♪ Take the shot ♪ And you're not gonna go hungry here.

Tell me about the food options you have?

- [Jake] We specialize in our baked goods, the fall of the year, we have the apple cider donuts, the fried pies, the homemade ice cream, grown with the fruit that we raised here on our farm, and strawberries and peaches and springtime of the year it's the strawberry shortcake.

My mom who's Mimi has an old family recipe, that's been passed down for generations and creates a strawberry shortcake.

And it's just one of the things that people come out to enjoy.

Here on our farms are lots of sweet treats because I know when I go somewhere, that's what I look forward to, is the food.

So we wanna have something that folks can come out, look forward to experiencing here at the farm.

- [David] But there's also the corn maze, I know a lot of work goes into that.

When you see it from that aerial view.

- [Jake] That's right.

- [David] That's pretty amazing.

- [Jake] That's right.

I mean, there's several miles of path out there in that cornfield, and it might take you 30 - 45 minutes to get through.

Our lesson, that we have a kid maze.

Kids can go to, if they don't wanna spend a long time out there, but it's always a fun activity to do to navigate through that corn base, for sure.

(uplifting music) - If you started hearing a squealing?

That means the pig races are about to happen.

They're not squealing cause they're upset.

They're having out there.

- [Jake] That's right.

I mean, one of the things that families enjoy watching together is a pig race.

And we have 12 different pigs, three different races of four.

They run for Oreo cookies and milk.

I mean, who wouldn't run for that, Right?

I mean, these pigs are trained to run.

And then when they hear the crowds coming, they know it's about race time.

And of course the names like Kevin bacon and Chu bacon and you know, Squilie Nelson.

I mean, there's all kinds of pig names out there.

We're proud to have those pig races.

- I imagine y'all in a giant meeting coming up with all the great names, you're like, all right, our work is done and you got to love.

They're not just running.

There's a very epic moment on the third race.

- You know, pigs love water.

We have an Olympic size pig swimming pool.

It's 20 foot long.

And as they get to the edge of it, you know, the first one, it only takes one to jump.

And the rest of them realize they may not get Oreo cookies and milk when they get back in the house.

So they're fighting for that Oreo cookie and milk.

So that's why they're running for.

- I've seen them swim thousands of times, but I still get a kick out of it every time I see it.

- [David] Yeah.

- It's like, I'm seeing it for the first time.

I was in the crowd last Saturday, we had a big group here and I kind of snuck down to the back and just kind of listened.

And people were just excited to be there.

And the pigs, the first two groups ran around the track.

And then the third group at boss hauls down there said anybody wanna see pig swim.

And people went nuts.

(bright music) - I love what I see behind me.

A lot of people, I guess probably the last thing they do before they leave.

- Absolutely, I mean when October rolls around you can't leave here without getting your pumpkin.

I mean, this is pumpkin season and we're just right in the middle of it.

- You do grow pumpkins here.

This probably isn't the ideal climate.

Tell me about the challenge.

- Right, so we do try to grow a few pumpkins, mainly it's the ornamental type, the decorative style pumpkin's and our night time temperatures and humidity prevent us from growing like the really big pumpkins.

But we do outsource those to local farmers and friends that we know that we can bring those in so that we can meet that demand.

But we do try to grow what we can here for sure.

- [David] What do you see over the next generation with this farm?

- You know, my dad always allowed me to sort of take the farm and come up with ideas and do things.

And I think that's the key, is to let the next generation, I mean, they have their own ideas.

I mean, as the community evolves and ask these questions about things, maybe there's some opportunities that we could get into down the road.

And I think that's to the next generation, to the decide.

I mean, my dad allowed me to, you know, make changes and do things aside from the dairy.

And I wanna give my kids that same opportunity if they so choose.

- [Jimmy] Who knows what the future of this farm is gonna be?

I mean, I never would've thought 15 years ago that it would be what it is today.

And I don't know that any of us could.

My dad, if he were living, he'd be right in the middle of it.

But the future's bright.

I mean, who knows what the future holds, but we just have to be ready and willing to move.

When we're led to do that.

- All year round, the Carter family and their Southern belt farm will be baking new pies, squeezing fresh drinks, racing the pigs, dreaming up new creative farm fun activities.

And of course, restocking their corn cannons for anyone who wants to take a crack at their rival.

- [David] From McDonough, we journey south to Ashburn, where another agritourism destination delivers good times and fresh farm food.

(bright music) I learned quickly that there's always something happening down at Calhoun Produce.

A farm founded in 1982, primarily grow crops has since evolved into what you see today.

Sheila Rice, is the second generation on board to run Calhoun Produce and has helped transition this place into an agritourism hotspot, no matter which season you decide to visit.

Trip number one for me was strawberry season in the spring.

And yes, they are easy to find when you're driving I-75 get off at exit 92, go six miles East.

And here's the key, look for the giant strawberry.

- We call it fun on the farm.

Every Saturday we bring families out.

We have wagon rides to see the animals.

We have buffalo, horses, sheep, goats, pig races.

We have a playground.

We have a combine playground, it's really fun.

A little red barn full of animals, duck race, slides, swings.

We just want the families to come out.

But while you're here, get an educational experience too.

We do field trips during the week, and this is our 25th year growing strawberries.

So we are proud of that.

We grow two and a half acres of strawberries.

This is April and we've got a field full.

It's mostly all you pick, but we do pick every day so you can buy them already picked while you're here.

So we pack them in quart sizes, two pound packages and also in five pounds and then in flats.

So if you don't want to pick, you don't have to pick.

We pick every day also.

So you can get them already picked for you.

- [David] This honey house.

It is more than just a place for the bees.

Come tell me about what they're gonna see when they go in and why the bees are so important to this crop.

- One of our field trips, of course, we take the kids in there.

They get to see the bees.

We have a lobby, exhibit there and they see the bees.

And then in the case, they'll find a queen bee of course, in there.

And then there's a team go into the outside.

So the bees are on their own.

They're coming and going.

And we teach them about the bees where so when they get out here to the strawberry field, they won't be scared of the bees.

We need bees.

Here's a plant, that's a pre berry, and this is one that's ready to be picked.

Now you'll see on this plant.

You'll see these, they're not ready, of course, but I always tell them to pick, the redder the better and that'll be really sweet.

Get it really dark.

There may be some real dark ones here, there's one you see is darker.

Well, of course, it's gonna be sweeter.

To go from flower to berries is about 30 days full grown red berry.

And then it just goes from stages.

Once you pull it off that vine, it's not gonna ripen up.

So when you pull it off that vine, make sure it's red all the way to the top, because it do not ripen up like the tomatoes after it's picked.

- [David] That's really good to know.

- It is, and we try to teach that on the field trips.

- [David] And they're still good if they're just a teeny bit, soft?

- Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

Now that's how I like them.

I like them, dark red.

You, make that into some strawberry ice cream.

- [David] Oh yeah.

Tell me about that ice cream.

- Well, it is made with our strawberries, of course.

And it's really good.

You have to taste it before you leave.

I'm gonna fill you up.

They gotta have strawberry lemonade too.

- [David] Oh, okay.

- So my mama Joyce Calhoun came up with this recipe back 25 years ago when we first started growing strawberries is our homemade strawberry lemonade.

We sell it by the cup, by the gallon, by the half gallon, we put it in the slush machine, make it strawberry lemonade slushy, or you can get it with ice.

And it's really good.

So you got to have one of these too.

In our store, we carry lots of Georgia grown products.

So we have jams, jellies, syrups, barbecue sauces, cheese strolls, chocolates, pecans.

(bright music) - [David] So strawberries and honey in the spring made for an entertaining and tasty visit.

So trip number two, a few months later was during butterbeans season, which has turned into the family's largest crop and is an incredibly impressive operation.

- It's the same as the Lama beam, but at South Georgia, we call it butterbean.

June through 1st of October, mid October is our main crop here at Calhoun produce.

We grow butterbeans and peas and we fresh shell them daily.

And so you can come here and get you some fresh shell butterbeans, butterpeas, pink eye peas, cream, zippers, black eyes, you name it.

We've got the peas here.

All the peas are handpicked.

Our butter beans are machined picked.

And then they come here to the packing house.

He pulls in and we have a whole grading line system.

And then they go into a bag.

Then they go straight to the sheller.

We shell them and pack them.

We try to have as clean as possible.

So you don't have much work to do at all, to sit wash them when you get them home and blanch them.

So these are the butterbeans that've just been picked, come straight out of the field.

They've been graded on our grading line.

There's 30 pound in a bushel.

So now it's going to be shelled, through our continuous sheller and we like to get the field heat out of them.

So we put them, we have fans over there, put them in a cooler also to pull the field heat out of them.

Cause like, when they come in, you know, it's 95 - 100 degrees outside.

You know, you wanna pull that heat out as quick as you can.

(upbeat music) This is our cooler, where it comes in to get it really cold before is shipped out to local grocery stores, to your homes.

So this bean has been picked today, was growing this morning.

So that is fresh and it can be your table, tonight.

We shell them fresh daily and that's from June through mid October.

So we stay pretty busy.

- [David] That's a long season.

- It is, it is a long season, but it's our living.

- After stocking up in the store on butter beans, strawberries, onions, and whatever other Georgia grown goodness is in season.

You might want to top off your order with a nice cold slushy, which is always in season around here.

It's all about fun, all kinds of farm-fresh food.

And for five decades and counting, it's been all in the family.

- [Narrator] From the fruit fields of Ashburn to the fruit filled Hills of north Georgia, where apples take center stage.

(bright music) They couldn't have picked a better spot.

Rolling green hills lined with healthy well-manicured apple orchards.

And in every direction the Southern Appalachians are the backdrop.

The Mercier family has been calling these hills and this ever-growing apple shop home since 1943.

And just like the family itself and the trees, the ones humble apple shack has also grown and evolved into the must-see travelers hotspot, we witness today.

- So, my grandfather in law, Bill Mercier, came to Blue Ridge in late thirties, early forties.

He came here and he worked as the county extension agent, but growing stuff was his hobby.

He loved to grow stuff.

In 43, he purchased a small orchard that had already existed.

It was about 25 acres.

It had a couple of tractors and an old barn there on the hill that you can still see.

He ran it for several years until about 1965.

They built a road over here, old highway five.

And when they built the road here comes between copper hill and McCaysville.

They decided to take the sales department from the old apple house and they built a new apple house here in 65.

They ran that until about 72 and Bill's son came back from the military, Tim who's, my father-in-law and Tim expanded the operation tenfold.

He really was super interested in fruit.

There used to be old bushel wooden boxes that were rectangular about not a volume bushel.

And obviously two of them sat here way too long.

And the acid from the apples etched into the concrete floor.

And it's just, it's been there ever since, since we haven't changed it, 50 years, 60 years old.

- [David] Wow.

- My wife and I came back to the farm in the mid 90s I believe.

He took me under his wings.

He taught me everything he knew.

He introduced me to a bunch of other growers.

I came from working in a laboratory in Atlanta and my wife worked for a TV show in Atlanta.

So I had no idea of what farming was all about.

First day I was here, they wanted me to bush hog something.

And I was like, I don't even know what that means.

What does that mean?

He's like, it's a big lawn mower.

I'm like, oh, I know what that is.

Okay.

Tim, wasn't very interested in the market aspect of it, all the knickknacks and all the other items that you see in the market.

But my wife was really good at marketing.

So she brought the market up to where it is today.

She's really done a great job.

And then I learned as much as I could from Tim.

And we've been just like, Bill did, just like Tim did.

The growing systems are all changing.

Varieties are changing.

So it's really exciting.

- [David] What are you looking for here?

- Really, you can look at seed count.

Nice, good dark seed means it's ready to go.

50 different flavors of what we sell here.

It's just the fact that they're, you know, not everybody has the same flavor.

They asked me what my favorite apple is, it'd be something that's kind of tart.

I like an apple that bites back when you bite into it, you know, but this is a great one.

This is a coke crimson crisp, it's brand new.

It's a grower's delight.

It doesn't get a lot of disease.

It's good and firm, has a lot of juice to it and it'll keep for several months.

So I really love this apple.

- [David] That's the sound you're looking for.

- Yeah.

Exactly right.

That crunch.

That's what, you know, I used to run the sampling counter.

So I get used to all the apples.

And when people will come to the sampling counter, you think the first question would be, you know, which one's sweet, which one's tart.

Their first question is which one's crunchy.

That's the very first question.

And then they worried about flavor.

So everybody wants an apple that's good and crunchy.

We try and connect a lot of the kids to the farm.

We do a lot of you picks and tractor tours so we can educate a lot of the children.

Cause most people, you know, even adults don't realize that there's physically, there's people here digging in the dirt to produce your food.

It gives us credibility.

So when people come in and they see the fruit on the shelves right there, they've been in the orchard.

They know this is where it's coming from.

You know, they can put a face to their food, they know their grower and they get that first big crunchy bite.

And you can just see them light up and they have a great time.

So it is fun.

(upbeat music) Yeah, apple's really brought us to the dance.

That's what everybody knows us for Mercier Orchards.

But if you pin me down, the biggest sellers is our scratch bakery, fresh breads, those handheld fried pies.

Those sort of pocket pies, donuts.

That's probably our biggest seller.

People love to come to the orchard to get those little handheld pies.

And they are really good because they're still scratch made.

- [David] And here's the eyeopening example of where the demand obviously caught up with the supply and how they adapted seemed to be something out of a sci-fi movie.

Robots and humans working hand in hand to conquer an old school recipe in record speed.

- We'll make 2,500 gallons of cider a day.

We like to let it sit overnight.

That way you can blend all the different apple flavors together, plus it'll oxidize and give it that really nice rich brown color.

The stuff we're bottling today is what we pressed yesterday.

So that's our fresh tank.

So you can see some dimple tanks, maybe in the background.

That's our fermentation tanks.

That's where we do our hard cider.

So we do make a volume of about two or three traditional hard ciders that we do send to Atlanta and Georgia throughout the state of Georgia.

Those three flavors, you can find it, package stores, restaurants, bars, but if you want some really unique flavors, you got to come see me on the farm because that's where we make all our real distinct flavors.

We make a strawberry hard cider.

We make a peach hard cider.

We make a jalapeacho, which is like, a spicy peach cider.

We make a sneaky Jack, which is cider that's aged in bourbon barrels.

So if you want some really unique ciders you've got to come see me.

So this is the winery.

This is where our hard cider and our wine is sampled and sold.

We also gather as many local vineyards as we can and bring them in and showcase their wines.

You can come and get a flight of wine you can come and get a flight or hard cider and do some sampling And you'd go sit out on our deck, enjoy the day.

- [David] The Mercier's and their hardworking crew definitely have their hands full, but seem to be handling the popularity just fine.

They understand their new customer's needs, but through the years, as they've grown, they've never lost sight of what got them here.

- Store itself is, to me it's really iconic because the original store was built in 65.

And it was just a small little area up there, as you come in through the the front door.

And as my father-in-law puts it, all we did was shed off and shed off and shed off and off.

And it just grows and grows and grows.

And there's tons of different stories to this building.

And it's really neat, you know.

People catch one of us in the store.

They can always ask us.

We love to talk about it.

- So whether your car or your bus rolls into Mercier for the trails, the scenery, the gifts, cider, hard cider, apples of course, or the legendary apple pies, just know in your heart, you can't go wrong unless you just get one pie instead of two.

So from a giant agritourism destination in McDonough, offering agricultural education and a variety of entertaining ways to a hardworking farming family with a strawberry butter bean farm, fresh combo, and a mountain family farm turned roadside sensation.

These are just a few reasons.

You'll never run out of fun agritourism ideas when wandering the peach state.

I'm David Zelski see you at the next Fork in The Road.

- [Announcer] A fork in the road was brought to you by... - [Narrator] Georgia soil is rich.

It's climate, agreeable.

It's agricultural variety, exceptional.

That's why we're nature's favorite state, Georgia Grown supports the farmers and producers who work the land and keep us fed because we all grow better together.

Find out more about Georgia agriculture at georgiagrown.com.

- [Man] Georgia FSIS provides efficient and accurate third party inspection services to members of the industry.

We inspect various fresh commodities, including peanuts, fruits, vegetables, and pecans.

The use of the inspection service ensures the shipment of high quality products and enhances Georgia's reputation as a supplier of superior agricultural products.