FALL ON THE FARM Gillis Hill Farm opens its gates to guests and discovers a new way to earn a living | By Jason Brady O The place to be | From pumpkins to a
petting zoo, Gillis Hill introduces city folk to farm life.
n an unusually warm recent October afternoon, the front porch of the Gillis Hill Farm Ice Cream parlor was filled to capacity with customers enjoying scoops of homemade banana, pecan, strawberry, vanilla and pumpkin ice cream served in cups or ladled into large sugar cones. The parlor’s rear and side wrap-around porches, complete with
rows of white rocking chairs, were also a popular place for relaxing. Most of those indulging in the cool refreshment had just completed a self-guided walking tour of Gillis Hill Farm. John Gillis and his wife, Renee, are part of a family farm enterprise that operates
2,500 acres of farmland stretching from Gillis Hill Road to Parkton and Grays Creek. Corn, cotton, soybeans and vegetables are the staple crops, but the farm also engages in a relatively new source of income: “agritourism,” a new growth industry emerging in the United States. John and Renee realized in 2003 that some aspects of traditional farming may not
pay the bills. “We could see the writing on the wall that tobacco was out,” John said. The couple, with two young sons, wanted to do something they enjoyed and the farm played a key role in that venture.
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