Scenic, bucolic and farm-friendly Skagit Valley - the countryside beckons (as do Clysedale horses and alpacas) at the 11th Annual Skagit Valley Festival of Family Farms on Saturday & Sunday, October 3 and 4, 10am to 4 pm.

Just 60 miles north of Seattle, spend the weekend tasting, touring and exploring a bakers dozen (that would be 13) family farms. Say howdy to big, beefy cows or sweet sheep, snack on free samples of cider, corn on the cob, ice cream and yum, BBQ oysters.

Kids get to race veggie cars or crabs, meet Squirty Gertie, the artifical cow, make veggie art, fiber crafts and build scarecrows or ride a pony. Grownups can visit Eagle Haven Winery for wine tasting.

Or, put your pedal to the metal, and do the Skagit Valley Farm Pedal a 20 or 35 mile bicycle ride on biker-friendly (flat, little traffic) terrain. Your ride departs Schuh Farms at 10 am and visits 10 farms, plus a special driver picks up your farm purchases and brings them back to Schuh Farms, so no schlepping is required on your part.

Participating farms include Taylor Shellfish Farm, Golden Glen Creamery, Jensen & Sons Dairy, Sakuma Bros. Farms & Market Stand, Double O Ranch, Martiny Suffolks, Hedlin Family Farm, La Conner Flats, Gordon Skagit Farms, Schuh Farms, Cascadian Farm, Alpaca Partners, Hemlock Highlands Ranch, Eagle Haven Winery and Perkins Apple Orchard.