Vegetables are holding steady; Events update!

We remember when a blog seemed like a very modern way to keep folks in touch with our farm. Remember weekly harvest updates and photos via this blog? We’re so glad we had this platform from our early years in order to connect with all of you, and it now also beautifully serves as a journal of stories and pictures to remind us of our early years!

For a blast from the past, check out how things looked 7 years ago at a vegetable distribution site:

Whew! Now things are a lot different! 

These days our Farm Share has transitioned over to an integrated platform, so our communication to Farm Share members occurs there rather than through this blog. And social media (for better or for worse!) is the way to share stories and photos that best fits in with our farm work and family life.

So – if you’re someone who isn’t on social media, first of all: Congratulations! We hope you are still visiting us at our self-serve FarmStand at our farm (open every day this time of year, 9a-7p) or our market booths (in person at the Farmers’ Market @ St. Stephens; digitally via Fall Line Farms). Second of all, we are grateful this sweet little blog platform is still here for us to update from time to time. Our format here has shifted to occasional check ins and a space to announce any significant moments or events. 

Here’s your Fall 2021 update: we are still here and holding steady! We are enormously grateful that our farm has by-and-large stayed the same for the past few years. Changes and improvements have mostly been behind-the-scenes tweaks to make things better and smoother, but our general farm operations are holding steady. Infrastructure is always needing improvement and maintenance, staff composition and crop plan are always flexing a bit according to the general ebb and flow of the universe, and farming itself (the complicated web of soil, weather, living plants, and imperfect humans) is always demanding and challenging. But we’re still here doing it, with no Plan B. 🙂

This year, 2021, has been pretty typical for the farm. Meaning, some crops have done well, some crops have been average, and some crops have been awful. Likewise, there have been amazing, average, and awful moments for us humans involved! A couple of injuries have had these no-longer-young-farmers worried at times and served as strong reminders of the importance of posture, core strength, and stretching. (For real, folks!)

And somehow, Dan has eluded the camera almost every day on the farm, but here’s where we caught him on a hike this summer!

Our staff has been an amazing part of the farm, as usual. We are so fortunate for the sweet souls that find us and join us in this work. The farm, the food, and the family are all better because of the mix of people here each year. Janet’s father, aka Papa, is still tending all the honeybees here on the farm. He says these girls need him so he’s staying alive to care for them – and enjoying the sweet honey he harvests! (This summer he got to give a bee lesson to his favorite meteorologist, despite his aversion to the meteorologist’s t-shirt.)

Meanwhile, our family – because we have four children! – has been all but static. The growth and transition is positive but a challenge to keep up with! We parents are doing our best to stay a step ahead of our developing children and adapting our farm and home life as needed to accommodate their needs, interests, activities, and growing bodies. What a trip that is! On one hand, our older two children now play very significant roles in the weekly life of the summer farm when plants grow so fast and abundantly! On the other hand, sports practices, competitions, time with friends, and school activities of a teen and pre-teen are intense to mesh with farm business needs! Our younger two children have that interesting element of setting high expectations based on their older siblings, while also sometimes still enjoying youthful, aimless wandering around the farm, spontaneously flopping down in the shade with a cat or weaving flower stems or practicing cartwheels in our orchard. 

Now…on to Special Events for this fall…

Folk School Workshops
Oct 9th & 10th, 9a-5p
(Both one and two-day project options)
– Registration CLOSES SOON for the Oct 9th & 10th Folk School Workshops we are hosting. If you’re looking to work with your hands doing something out of the ordinary this fall, full details and registration link are here as a Facebook event. Our guest instructors are talented and amazing! The beauty of this workshop is that YOU make your item the way YOU want it to be. For example, the instructors start by asking “What kind of bag do you want to use?” and then help you design and craft the bag (or knife or bowl or spoon…) that you envision. Have you seen a leather or felted wool bag that you’d really like to have? Join us and make it yourself!

OR…make your own woven bowl or basket, felted pouch or mason-jar cozy, wooden bow, bow-drill kit, stool, or one of numerous other options. Look at our social media pages to see different project options highlighted. (Visit us on Facebook or Instagram ) REGISTRATION CLOSES end of day SEPT 28th.

Look: Even children can make and learn to use their own Bow Drill Kit! It is phenomenally empowering for anyone to create fire from sticks!

It may seem unfamiliar to make items out of bone, antler, wool, or jute, but the results can be intricate and beautiful! 
Costs range from $80-$180, project depending. 
Children and adults may register, but it’s not a drop off workshop — parents must remain with their children, including assisting child if needed. 

    

Hands-On Hearth Cooking Workshop
Nov 6th, 10:30 – 4:00
* Are you interested in exploring Foods and Recipes of the past?
* Would you like to learn historically accurate cooking techniques?
* Does cooking on an open fire appeal to you?
Then sign up today for this Hands-On Workshop and learn how to cook like our ancestors did.
Recreate recipes from 17th, 18th and 19th century sources and taste everything you make in class.
Class Size is limited so sign up early. Pre-registration required. Ages 16+

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$165 ($145 tuition paid in advance + $20 materials fee to be paid at check-in)
Workshop organized and led by culinary historian Rebecca Suerdieck. Suerdieck is a second generation Colonial Williamsburg Educator, with many years of experience in 17th and 18th century Living History Interpretation. Details here as a Facebook event
and registration is here: cookingandfire.com
There you have it for our Fall Farm Update. We hope to see you soon! As usual, everyone is always welcome to shop from us at our self-serve FarmStand at our farm (open every day this time of year, 9a-7p) or our market booths (in person at the Farmers’ Market @ St. Stephens; digitally via Fall Line Farms). And — we’ll open up Farm Share membership sign up to the general public in late October/early November. 

Thank you for being part of our farm community! Stay in touch and eat well!

Much love ~Janet, Dan and the whole Broadfork Crew (Julie, Karen, Rachel, Maya, Parker, Ramsi, Anna, Rowen, and the farm kids)
Want to follow along during the week, including Farm Stand updates? Visit us on Facebook or Instagram