On Saturday, August 8th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Citizens for Easton invites the community to spend a late-summer day exploring the working farms, family orchards, and small producers that make Easton, Connecticut, one of the last true agricultural pockets in southwestern Connecticut. This year’s tour is held in loving memory of Jane Paley.

Start at Samuel Staples Elementary School Pavilion, home base for the day, where you can pick up your tour map, which entitles you to special treats at each farm. Browse CFE’s community project info, and let the kids loose on an activity sheet. From there, it’s a self-guided day of stops across town:

🐐 Meet the animals — goats, bunnies, and pigs at Farm to Heart’s petting farm; a working milking herd (twin calves included!) at Shaggy Coos; and hands-on demos in wool felting, peg-loom weaving, and composting at Blue Button Farm.

🐝 Go behind the scenes — Howland Blackiston, author of Beekeeping for Dummies, opens a live hive at On Golden Pond Apiary with talks at 11am, 12pm, and 1pm, plus honey tastings and mead for the 21-and-over crowd. J&L Orchids offers an orchid greenhouse walkthrough at 10:30am, and Gilbertie’s Organics — New England’s first certified organic greenhouse farm — runs guided tours of its Easton grounds all day.

🌻 Pick, cut, and taste —head over to an Easton treasure, Patty Popp’s Sport Hill Farm, where you can get free henna tattoos, delicious treats, and a generous discount for map holders. Grab a beautiful sample of organic botanical skincare from Rising Iris.-Cut-your-own sunflowers and a farm stand at Fishbowl Farm (15% off purchases over $25 for map holders), Pick-YourOwn at Silverman’s Farm Orchard (free gelato for every map-holding group!) and Sanford Hill Farm (25% off produce), plus honor-system farm stands at Palmieri Farm, Shaggy Coos and Sabia Tree Farm. Get produce samples and free feed for the chickens at Sherwood Farms.

🏡 And new this year — a deeper look at the town’s roots. Walk through the 1850s Adams Schoolhouse and the Bradley Hubbell Barn, with its collection of historic farm tools. Visit the Staples Academy Exhibit for a look at Easton’s history from the precontact era through the 1800s. And stop by Greiser’s Coffee & Market, celebrating its 100th year serving Easton — show your tour map for a free iced coffee.

None of this happens on its own. It takes the farmers who open their gates for a day, the merchants who set aside a discount or a free cup of coffee, and the volunteers and historians who keep Easton’s story visible — all the things that make this town feel like it’s still, somehow, a farming community forty-five minutes from Manhattan.

Free and open to all. Rain or shine. More info at citizensforeaston.org. See you Saturday