Visit the Farm

and Lardworks Fiber & Glass Studio.

APPOINTMENT IS NEEDED

Meet the gentle alpaca up close. Our educational tours take you from alpaca origins and care to learning how their delightfully soft fiber is processed and used in wearables and art. The tour also includes a visit to Lardworks Glass & Fiber studio gallery/store.

TOURS, CLASSES & FARM EVENTS: Monday, May 29, 2023 – Sunday, June 11, 2023
PLEASE READ ALL TOUR INFOMAITION – before filling out the tour reservation form near the bottom of this page. This is a small private farm and while we do our best to accommodate those wishing to visit our farm, our tour schedule varies pending our availability. It is best to register for a tour a few weeks in advance to secure a date, as we often work our personal schedule around those that request a tour in advance. If a tour is full, you may still fill out the reservation form at the bottom of the page and ask to be placed on the wait list.

Monday, May 29 – Gratitude to all those that lost their lives fighting for this country, God Bless America, Happy Memorial Day, Tours by appointment Only
Tuesday, May 30– Farm Closed
Wednesday, May 31– Tours by appointment Only
Thursday, June 1- Tour by appointment Only
Friday, June 2– Introduction to Ecoprint Class – No Tours
Saturday, June 3 –Discoveries in Ecoprint Class – No Tours
Sunday, June 4 – Farm Closed

Monday, June 5 – Farm Closed
Tuesday, June 6– Tours by appointment Only
Wednesday, June 7– Tours by appointment Only
Thursday, June 8- Farm Closed
Friday, June 9 – Private Nuno Felting a Patchwork Scarf Class – No Tours
Saturday, June 10 – Tours by appointment Only
Sunday, June 11 – Tours by appointment Only

Please read the tour info below
before making an appointment!

~NO Visiting Dogs Please

Our dogs have a job on the farm…besides entertaining our guests. Their job is to keep other canines off our property. Canines are the biggest threat to alpacas as a predator. The Alpacas don’t like our dogs, but they know our dogs. Even keeping your dog in the car can be a problem if our dogs know they are there as they will jump on your vehicle. So, long story short….NO DOGS please!

TOUR FEES

We do not charge a fee per person to visit our farm. We do however appreciate donations or store/gallery shoppers! You can now make an online donation prior to your visit, Click H ere.

HOW LONG ARE TOURS?
Tours usually take between 45 minutes to an hour. Just depends on the visitors.

Upon Arrival:
Please do not arrive early and expect the tour to begin just because you are here.

We usually book two or three groups in one appointment, so we always wait until the designated tour time to begin the tour, thus giving everyone the opportunity to arrive.
PARKING
Please stay to the right on the gravel drive and park by the big barn. DO NOT PARK ON THE GRASSS by the Green house! If you are a little early, you may sit and relax in the Adirondack chairs we have provided (or your car) and wait for the tour to begin. Please do not wonder around the farm prior to the tour.

WEATHER AND FARM ACCESS
Tours take place RAIN or SHINE; the only exception is severe weather (thunderstorms/snow/ice). The majority of the tour takes place under a roof or inside our studio. This is a private farm/studio. Unfortunately, we do not have wheelchair access up to the studio (second portion of tour). While the ground is a little uneven in the barn, we have had folks successfully navigate a visit with the alpacas in a wheelchair.

RULES for INTERACTING WITH ALPACAS
We usually do allow folks to come in the stall and interact with the alpacas. If you wish to do so, please follow these rules

~What to Wear: Dress for the weather, our tours are rain or shine. Open toed shoes are not a good idea. Alpacas don’t have hooves like a horse or cow, but they do have long toenails. Alpacas are animals, they don’t mean to step on you, but it happens in their excitement to see you. It is always best to wear close toed shoes to ANY FARM.

~Petting Alpacas: Don’t try to pet them on top of the head. They hate that and think you are being mean to them. They “bonk” each other on top of the head to create hierarchy in the herd or reprimand the young that are misbehaving. If you try to pet them on the top of the head, they will not like you.

~Interacting with any Livestock: When you are interacting with any livestock you should NEVER stand directly behind them, and you most definitely should NEVER touch their bottoms while standing behind them.

~Small Children: Animals and small children can be very unpredictable, for this reason we please ask that all toddlers and children under the age of 4 must have a parent within arm’s reach of the child at all times. Young children under the age of 5, may prefer a petting zoo type facility instead of a working, private farm such as ours…but of course ALL are welcome. Alpacas are sweet, but very shy and don’t like loud noises and fast movement. However, if you are patient, they will come up to you and give you a kiss. PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW YOUR CHILDREN TO CHASE ANY OF THE ANIMALS, INCLUDING CATS AND FOWL!

About the Tours
It is our mission to educate our visitors about alpacas and all the uses for their wonderful fiber. We answer a lot of questions and share a lot of information regarding the origin and care of the alpacas as well as how the fiber is used and processed. As a full time, fiber artist, we also talk about some fiber arts techniques and view some of our fiber artwork in the Studio.

Touching and Feeding Alpacas
We do let folks interact with them (pet them with our assistance) and usually feed them a bit when appropriate. We do our best to be sure everyone has an enjoyable visit, humans and alpacas alike.

Tour Scheduling

We are not open in the early mornings; this is chore time. Most appointments are made after lunch between 1 and 3 pm. The number of tours we schedule per week depends solely on our availability that week. There is no set schedule. We do host five Open Farm/Studio events every year.

Large Groups
We do offer occasional private tours to larger groups, for example, the VW Club of Athens, The Young Adult Leadership Group chaperoned by United Community Bank, as well as some smaller groups of home schoolers. There is an age and student to adult ratio requirement for larger private tours.

We do not host school bus tours or children’s parties.
Due to the stress on the animals brought about by large groups of ‘excited’ young children we do not host school bus tours or children’s parties. This does not apply to individual families visiting the farm, but larger groups where there are more children than adults.

We do Not lease our alpacas for birthday parties or wedding events.

FILL OUT FORM BELOW TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

Please note, just because you pick a date does not mean we are available. We will do our best to work with you to find a date that works for both of us. You will hear back from us within 24 hours.