Why a Farm Vacation?

Vacation time is the anticipated downtime to engage in activities, see sights, and travel to places not experienced in day to day home life. Trade the city for country, virtual for real. A farm vacation finds the ‘kids’ in all generations. Let our farmers be your guide as you touch, look, listen, and get hands on… Stay. Learn. Grow

Find a PA farmstay in a few hours drive from dense urban populations in PA. (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown) and adjacent states NJ., NY., MD, VA., Washington D.C.

PA farms offer a diversity in terrain and agricultural product base across the state. From wines to maple syrup, honey, fruits, vegetables, livestock, dairy products, ancient grains, Christmas trees and spinning fibers to name a few. PA is proactive in an agri-tourism campaign including vineyards, corn mazes, CSA’s, farm markets including farm to table and, of course, farm stays.

Our farm hosts have many size buckets… Bring your list and see what fits.

A Farm Vacation can make memories that last a lifetime

Watch the sunrise, feed a calf, milk a cow, collect eggs, feel a feather, pet a bunny, groom a pony, hug a lamb, feed a pig, shear a sheep, sow seeds, pull weeds, feel the earth, fish a pond, watch a frog, dip toes in creek, watch a harvest by tractor or team, shop farmers market, dine on Amish fare, ‘pick your own’ berries, apples, pumpkins, try homestead skills: make bread, cheese, ice cream, soap, spinning, felting, canning, seek native and wild plants, watch pollinators at work: bees, butterflies and birds, listen to songbirds, watch eagle, kestrel and hawk soar overhead. At sunset, toast mallows around the campfire while fireflies flash under starlight and owls and bullfrogs chorus.

Relax, unwind, and explore in our part of the ‘country’. Make a vacation full of “first time I…” memories. Capture those moments with a  tripod and lens, easel for oils, sketch pad for chalk, charcoal, or pastel. Whatever your medium, a PA farm stay can add color to your vacation palette.

Things to keep in mind

Pack to be outside: closed toe outdoor shoes, socks, outdoor clothes including long pants, hats, sunglasses, lightweight long sleeve shirts or jackets, insect repellent of choice, and sunscreen. Life on the farm is dependent on the weather, but the weather can be independent. Bring a book, a puzzle, a board game, explore the quaint shops, markets and local flavor of the countryside.

Every farm has it’s own rural signature. Stylized in crops of consumables, acres of seedlings, paddocks of livestock, flat acres of rowed fields or wooded, upland pastures. Guests are hosted in rooms, houses, cabins, cottages: some with linens, towels and extra touches, some bring your own. Some offer meals, others may have full kitchens for you to cook your favorite dishes or dine out and sample local cuisine. Each farm has a story, a way to steward their land, a way to enrich and preserve the PA farm way of life. We help plant the seeds of a farm vacation so you can stay, learn, and grow a memory.

Interested in joining our association? Click here for information.