KIRKSVILLE, MO --
Adair county residents had the chance to sample a little homegrown fruit.
The University of Missouri Extension put on a tour of local fruit farms Wednesday.
One stop on the tour was Jacob's Vineyard and Winery south of Kirksville.
“Everybody today will be going and sampling some wine if they're old enough and they'll go back into the winery and they will see how we do a lot of the stuff. We're not bottling right now and everything but I've got it set up so that I'll demonstrate how you do all this,” said Owner Sheila Pruett.
Sheila and Russell Pruett named the vineyard and winery after their 11 year old son Jacob, which is a unique story in itself.
“He has down syndrome and we wanted him to be able to do something when he gets out of high school and everything. So what we did was we went and started putting the vineyard in, thinking ok when he gets out of high school he'll know how to mow, how to spray, take care of the vineyard,” said Sheila Pruett.
Pruett says the fruit tour was a great opportunity because many local residents don't even know the winery exists. She said they get a lot of visitors from out of the area, including Texas, California, and Washington d.c.
The fruit tour was also sponsored by the Missouri Vegetable Growers Association.
More than 75 people took the tour, making stops at the Lost Branch Blueberry Farm, the Truman State University Farm, and West Orchard near Macon.