Triangle families and foodies again last weekend turned out in droves for the 13th annual Piedmont Farm Tour.

The tour is co-sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and Weaver Street Market.

Featuring 35 farms in Alamance, Chatham, Lee, Orange and Person Counties, this year's tour had approximately 10,000 farm visits, including people from as far afield as Asheville and Florida.

"Some of the world's leading sustainable farmers are growing food for the Piedmont community," said Roland McReynolds, CFSA executive director. "People like Alex and Betsy Hitt of Peregrine Farms, Cathy Jones and Mike Perry of Perry-winkle Farm, Ken Dawson and Libby Outlaw at Maple Spring Gardens, Bill Dow of Ayrshire Farm and many, many others have been working to provide wholesome, nutritious, environmentally-safe food for Triangle families for 25 years."

Tour visitors got the chance to see how organic practices have helped local farms cope with the continuing drought. Farms like Fickle Creek, Baldwin and Braeburn/Cane Creek gave consumers lessons in how humane animal husbandry practices actually enhance the ability of the soil to withstand drought. Other tour highlights included the Triangle's first certified organic dairy, Lindale Farm in Silk Hope; the 100 percent grass-fed lambs at Captain J.S. Pope Farm in Cedar Grove; and certified organic vegetable producers such as Harland's Creek Farm, Timberwood Organics and Pine Knot Farm.

The CFSA is a 26-year-old nonprofit network of more than 1,000 members that promotes local organic agriculture in the Carolinas. To learn more, visit www.carolinafarmstewards.org