We don’t carry everything you’re ever gonna need. We’re not a Walmart.
For one, we’re in 288 sq. ft. The Farmstand is TINY. We’re a shed on the side of the road in a tiny town. Actually, we’re not even IN that tiny town. We’re between two tiny towns.
For two, we’re not ordering anything in. Everything that makes its way into the farmstand is handmade, or hand-grown by locals, except for the spring and summer produce we bring in from down south.
The beef is grown 3 miles down the road by a friend of mine. The chicken is grown 2 miles in the other direction by a different friend. The milk comes from a beautiful farm in Harrison. The baked goods come from our next-door neighbor. The fishing guides come from a local celebrity who’s lived in this tiny town for decades.
We don’t carry a full supply of produce year-round. You probably won’t find fresh tomatoes in the farmstand in January (unless Lost in the Ozarks is successful with their greenhouse experiment) or lettuce in the dead of summer.
And if you ask me when I’ll have bread next, I can’t tell you. Because my vendors aren’t my employees. I work for them, not the other way around.
Which makes it hard to plan ahead. When you make that shopping list, you can
expect with some confidence that Walmart is going to have nearly everything on that list 99% of the time. I love Walmart for that. Simplicity. Ease. In my high-speed life where I struggle to get all the appointments fit into a calendar, ease is welcome in places.
But there are times when I don’t want speed and efficiency. I want something special. I want to treasure hunt.
That’s the farmstand. You’re probably not going to come to us because you’re gonna find staples cheaper than your normal grocery trip. Or because we’re open around the clock, because we’re not. Or because we’re an everything store.
Because we’re not. We’re a “special” store. A place to find treasures. A place to find the best honey you’ve ever tasted, raw and local. A place to find the best tomato you’ve ever had, in season. A place to find your favorite cookies. Shitake mushrooms for your pantry to add a touch of special to your stew. A place to find a handmade leather book cover, or a hand-stitched bag to carry your favorite books or the most deliciously scented fall candle made by a sweet teenage girl.
Can you bank on what’s there? About as much as you can bank on your ability to plan ahead. These things are subject to life, and if you sleep on it, it may not be there. But I can just about guarantee you that, if you come looking with your eyes wide open, not in a rush, but hunting for a treasure, you won’t be disappointed.
If you come looking for quality. Fresh, made with love, unique.
If you come looking for a gift for someone you love, or a gift for your family, or a gift for yourself (like A2A2 milk when you’re lactose intolerant), you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised. It’s not a guarantee, because I can’t guarantee that anything will be here at any given point, but probably.
Because much like the gardens our produce comes from, this business is a far cry from cookie-cutter, predictable, or boring. It’s alive, ever changing, growing in some areas, shrinking in others. Organic, built on relationships and trust, and
always a surprise.
Because there are treasures in these hills, and they’re buried in the people