Rutland Farms — Attraction in Tifton

Strictly reviewing as a field trip for my grandson's 1st grade trip.

I've only been to one other farm as a field trip (Southern Grace Farms in Nashville), - so I only have it to compare to.

We could only pick strawberries from the first 12 rows, and being other classes had been there as well, pickings were FEW, and FAR between. We even had to help another student fill their container due to a lack of berries. The strawberries only lasted a day on the counter, unlike the other farm strawberries, (under the same conditions). Also the container at Rutland is smaller than the container they provide the kids at Southern Grace.

Most of the employees seemed very stressed, not friendly, or not wanting to deal with classes, (large amounts of people), with the exception of maybe 2-3 of the staff. The water jug ran out, and wasn't refilled, forcing people to buy water, and heaven help the kids who didn't have adults there with them, it was HOT outside, (milk & juice they got for lunch didn't cut it for 1st graders).

Each time I went to the counter they were out of ice-cream, so I gave up. The shop was very small, not much to choose from MOSTLY wine and cake, along with a few other things.

The petting zoo was OK, mostly goat and sheep, DON'T pet the horses or donkeys, THEY BITE. A dead bird was in one peacock 🦚 enclosure, preventing children from going down to see those animals. The turkey bites/pecks, - be careful. Lots a bunnies, you can't hold, but you can pet.

Yes, and alligator is in the pond, it knows when the tractor pulls up, there will be food, so it will swim back to the dock to be fed. That was exciting.

The Christmas trees looked beautiful, and maybe during Halloween (for pumpkins 🎃) Christmas (for the trees 🎄), this place may be more exciting or exceptional. But as it is right now, it just gets 2 stars from me. My grandson was ready to leave 30 minutes after arriving, we stayed because he was playing on the playground, and I wanted him to experience...

I was severely disappointed this October, 2024. Me and my partner went on the 18th to rutland farms during their Halloween pumpkin patch. Needless to say, we were disappointed with the ten minutes we spent there. I had been talking for weeks about how much they had, and all the booths and set ups we will be able to participate in! When we got to the farm, there was only three workers we saw the whole visit. Which were working in the main building! There was torn up black plastic all over the sand and dirt outside, and and empty booth for pumpkin purchasing. We walked past the sad and very dry sunflower field to the animal barn, which probably was the only highlight of this trip. By that time my partner had pointed out so many booths that were supposed to be surrounding us, just for just to be practically alone other than one other family. We took a walk down a path to the area to their slide, but to our disappointment when we got there, once again, there was no booths or even people participating, we didn’t even see any workers! There were only a few men with heavy machinery crowing the slide, which we where unsure if they where working on it, or taking it down! It felt completely deserted. 0/10. If your looking to get a “free” pumpkin and to pet some animals, than that’s the...

We were graciously accommodated by every single one of the staff, whether it was in the Market, out at the Christmas Tree farm, or in the petting zoo. The Market at Rutland Farms is the definition of southern charm. They have homemade jams and jellies, baked goods, candles, coolers, and much much more.

This was my family's first Christmas tree, real or fake, and the experience was one we will cherish for many years. We had such a good time we are going to make it a yearly tradition!

We came on a Saturday right when they opened and saw a light crowd. We were there the first day they started selling trees and they have plenty of options to choose from, whether you want to cut your own or pick out a precut Douglas Fir. Ryan Rutland, one of the family who owns the farm, told us we picked a good day because Sundays are consistently their busiest days. We stayed for a couple hours, cut our own tree, ran through the corn maze, played on the playground and went to the petting zoo. Went two hours past our 18-month olds naptime and he never really even slowed down, he loved it!

So whether you're local, or just passing through, make sure you follow the signs to the Rutland Family Farms, you will not be...