Bringing the farm to the people.

Split Creek Farm first opened to the public, of all times, on Christmas day. On the afternoon of a particularly warm December 25th in South Carolina, with their bellies full of ham and the stores all closed, a carload of women from nearby Anderson, South Carolina drove tip to the farm's front gate and asked to be shown around.

Farmer Evin Evans' first instinct leaned toward frustration. Expect to be walked around my home? On Christmas? It was her partner Pat Bell who gathered herself, pulled on her boots and, with a smile, greeted the visitors and offered a farm tour for two dollars a piece. This was the first time the farm had ever accepted money just to show someone around.

Today, the price of a tour is up to four dollars, and advance arrangements are required, but the basic fact remains the same: Split Creek Farm understands the public's hunger to reconnect with its rural, agrarian roots, and is happy to fulfill that craving.

"We recognize," says Evans, "that we have to be able to share our little part of the world if we want people to realize why it is important. The average American cannot be asked to appreciate the huge contributions being made by small farms if they never have the opportunity to set foot on one."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Bucking a trend toward "agri-tainment" activities like corn mazes and giant mechanical watermelon-crushing dinosaurs, Split Creek holds fast to the idea that people will visit a farm just to be able to look a goat in the eye and learn a little. Split Creek doesn't pretend to be anything more romantic, spectacular, fun, or engaging than what it is--eight people working hard in conjunction with 350 goats to create good food.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

With farmland everywhere turning into housing developments and food on the average dinner plate coming from six different countries, farmers nationwide feel the struggle to be recognized as worth keeping around.

Split Creek Farm's website says it plainly: "The survival of small farms is dependent on educating the public about rural life and the origins of their foods."

The farm had a quiet beginning. When Evin Evans first settled on her land near Anderson, South Carolina 26 years ago, she only meant to establish a secluded and self-sufficient home. Farmstead goats were part of her lifestyle because animals had been a passion since childhood.

As an animal scientist with a degree from Clemson, but even more as someone with great respect and love for goats, Evans knew that when a strong commitment to the health, nutrition and treatment of the animals is upheld, the resulting food would clearly taste better. Over time, her breeding skills sharpened, her herd grew, and she knew her end product was superior.

Obtaining Grade A certification for her goat dairy in 1985 was a milestone. It arose from a desire to share the fruits of her labor with the community, and only Grade A dairies can legally bottle and sell milk. But it's hard to make a living selling milk--it's generally cheap, bulky and doesn't store for long.

In the late 1980s, Evans traveled to Minnesota and Wisconsin to visit goat cheese producers and study the process. She told herself she would never make cheese for a living. She wanted to be in the field and milking parlor with the goats, not in a production kitchen stirring a pot. But in the Midwest she recognized cheese production as a way to stay on the farm, keep working with goats, and earn a decent living. Traveling back south, she felt trepidation mixed with a growing sense of enthusiasm: "I'm going to make cheese. I'm Going to Make Cheese. I'M GOING TO MAKE CHEESE."

Evin got to work on developing her own recipes and bringing the necessary equipment on to the farm. "I must have been smiled upon by the cheese-making goddess," jokes Evans, "because I happen to be able to make very good cheese." Evidently the world agrees. Split Creek Farm's goat cheeses have repeatedly received national recognition. Two world-renowned judges awarded their goat feta marinated in oil Best in Show at the American Dairy Goat Association meeting.

The Split Creek Farm product line also includes spreadable cheeses in a multitude of flavors such as garden garlic, blueberry and kahlua; chevre logs made in the French tradition and available plain or rolled in various herbs, pepper or pesto; cheese balls; and even goat milk soap. Their goat milk fudge has won three national gold medals and comes in four flavors.

Throughout the southeast, shoppers can find Split Creek Farm cheeses at local specialty or natural foods grocers and restaurants with an interest in serving locally-produced foods. Farm tours require an appointment, but the farm store is open every afternoon and every morning except Sunday (it's probably still best to stay away on Christmas). Of course, the farm is always open at www.splitcreek.com, where products can be ordered for shipping nationwide.

Peter Marks is Local Food and Farm Coordinator for Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP). ASAP's Local Food Guide is available at area retailers online at www.appalachiangrown.org.