Two years ago we held our first ‘Farm Baby Open House’ where we invited friends and family to come and enjoy the goodness of spring on the farm: baby chicks, lambs, kittens, goat kids. Last year we invited a few family economies to vendor and showcase what they create as a family. And this year we built upon that idea, and with the incredible help of several more families, held a fair that hosted over 600 people at our farm over two days.
And it was a total joy. I want to share the pictures with you, but be forewarned. There is so much to share! My dear friend Jenn took most of these and she is clearly very talented, as her pictures all feel like art to me. (A few of my own pics are scattered in too.)
I’ll start with the animal tent. Our friends the Otis’s basically packed up their farm and brought it to ours.
Under the big white tent we had so many animals: goats, sheep, pigs, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, chicks, ducklings and a calf. We had our ewes and their lambs, and another family brought sheep from their farm to demonstrate sheep shearing and how to turn fleece into fiber (with carders so that kids could try carding wool).
Evelyn gave goat milking demonstrations, and she did great! I know a thing or two about milking goats in front of a crowd, and goats can have opinions about this. But Evelyn was incredible—and so was her goat, even letting a few fair-goers give it a try.
This spring we expanded our playground area, clearing out fallen branches and cutting up two huge oak trees that had fallen a few years ago. We used those stumps to our advantage and set up stations to hammer, saw, split kindling, and stump jump. We called it the Productive Playground.
A personal favorite of mine was the hollowed out stump which we filled to make a sand box. And of course, everyone’s favorite: gaga ball.
We were thrilled this year to have twelve families showing what they produce as a family. At some point I had the wild epiphany that none of these items were produced in a factory, but in a HOME by a FAMILY. This is as local as it gets, folks. And this is the heart of Gather & Grow! Productive households that create, that produce more than consume, that work together.
We had blacksmithing demonstrations, pottery demonstrations, live painting, weaving by Elsie and cupcakes with custom sprinkles on the spot. It was all so good, and not a screen to be found. Our hope was that every family would go home inspired to create something with their family. And we have heard from several telling us just that.
And then, there was the pie…
Both days we invited people to bring a pie for the Pie Contest—the contest where everyone was a winner because after the contest we all ate pie! And both days, a dozen or more pies magically appeared with no sign up sheet or anything and there was plenty to go around.
Here is everyone who brought a pie on Saturday.
During the lunch hour there was live music by youth, and after the pie social a kid’s choir sent everyone on their way with The Blessing song: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine up one you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.”
If you’re still reading here, I think you can tell this was a very good time. When the tent went down my six year old Alden said, “it’s sad to see it go down, isn’t it?” The weekend ended and we were exhausted, but the good kind of exhausted—the kind that leaves your hearts full to the brim. The team of families who helped us throw this fair is so special, and we cannot thank them enough for MONTHS of planning and preparations. But what a joy to throw a fair altogether. I hope you can join us next year!
