The Campbell County Backroads Farm Tour is an annual event held in July that bridges the gap between the urban and rural communities of the county by highlighting local farms and agritourism operations. This tour is self-guided and a wonderful opportunity for the community of farmers to open their gates and the community of consumers to learn about agriculture first-hand from the farmers working the land. Consumers are given the opportunity to see “behind the scenes” of farmers teaching their younger generations the tradition of farming, how crops and livestock are raised and put a face to a business and see the personal pride farmers have in their farms and products. The Backroads Farm Tour has been a tradition in the county now for over 13 years and is a perfect example of agricultural organizations collaborating for the cause of promoting ag. This farm tour is a partnership of Campbell County Cooperative Extension, Conservation District, Farm Bureau, Northern Kentucky Horse Network and Cattleman’s Association. All of these organizations assist in planning and preparation in addition to being present at the tour stops to educate the public about what their respective organization does to contribute to the county and the part they play in the ag community. Campbell County Agriculture Extension Agent, Michelle Simon, worked throughout the year recruiting potential farms during farm visits, community meetings and events and field days. One of the new recruits was the Mason Family Greenhouse and Homestead. Richard Mason, retired Campbell County teacher, is now an avid horticulturalist and ag advocate! What started out as a summer gardening project for his daughter has grown into a 24’x48’ greenhouse filled with raised beds and trellis’ for vegetable production. Richard is unique in his low- input approaches- he starts all of his seeds inside their home, has composted cardboard and household waste to improve the soil and is catching water from their roof to water the garden. Throughout the last ten years Rich has worked extensively with Agriculture Agent, Michelle Simon, on “out of the box” methods to accomplish his production goals. The Backroads Farm Tour was the first time that the Mason’s opened up their farm gates to showcase their hard work and they were ecstatic at the interest- over 250 people visited that day and were engaged in Rich’s story as he shared the challenges he faced and overcame and all of the benefits their family has seen from it. Rich and his wife are in better health from a more balanced diet, they exercise more frequently while working in the greenhouse and they have taught numerous life lessons to their children and grandchildren. “That was the first time I felt like I was actually teaching people- I had groups of people actually listening to what I had to say and wanted to learn from me. I thought, who am I to be teaching about raising vegetables? It was neat to be able to help other people get their homestead gardens started.”- Rich Mason of Mason Greenhouse, 2023 Campbell County Backroads Farm Tour host. The Backroads Farm Tour participants learned firsthand how to build a low cost greenhouse to produce their own vegetables and ways to overcome the challenges that come with farming. 10 participants applied and received cost share funding for backyard garden projects through soil conservation with systems based on the model that Richard built.