Summer Snapshots – The Farmstand

It has been so busy this summer that I just don’t have time to keep up on all the things, and unfortunately, the blog has slid way down on the list of things I’m trying to keep going. HOWEVER, today as I was weeding the garden and pulling up the dead snow pea plants, I had an idea! What about doing quick posts that are snapshots of my summer? I think it’ll be fun, and let you guys know I’m still alive, and take you along with what we’re doing around here, just like the old, old days of the blog! This week, I’m going to share snapshots of our farmstand.

We started this last July as a way to share our glut of garden produce with the neighbors, and since then it has become a real part time job (the produce sells well, but the star of the show is the baked goods)!

My husband built a very simple, rustic stand last summer out of old, free pallets and he’s added a few improvements like an awning to keep the late afternoon sun from melting the cookies, and hinged side panels that can stay up to protect from rain, or come down on sunny days as an extra shelf. I think this fall/winter we’ll paint most of it white, but we’ll see. It’s also portable, and when we close (we are only open Fridays and Saturdays), he just rolls it away.

Artisan breads are one of my biggest sellers, right up there with cinnamon rolls. I don’t do sourdough. I just don’t have the patience for all the baby sitting the starter requires, or the fridge space for fermenting it, so I just stick to the basic overnight bread. With our one kitchen oven, if I wake up at 4am, I can make 8 loaves on Friday morning for fresh bread on the stand by 9am. Sometimes I bake more on Saturday mornings too, depending on our schedule and my level of ambition.

We also offer local online orders, and each Wednesday people come to my porch to pick up their bakery items. I was putting the orders on the bench out front, but it was getting really crammed. So I started searching online for a used hutch of some sort, and this gorgeous glass door hutch came up for only $40! Can you believe it? We made a beeline before church early one Sunday morning to grab this! It’s perfect for putting orders in the bags in the bottom and displaying other things above. Plus it keeps flies and neighborhood wildlife out. $40 bucks!

Word of mouth has really picked up and there are tons of people coming to the farm stand. It’s crazy how fun it has been! These introverts have met more people through this farm stand than we have in the 22 years we’ve lived here! The Lord is bringing the community right to our door, so I need to brush up on sharing the gospel. I’m also on the hunt for some good tracts to have out on the farm stand that aren’t cheesy. Any good leads?

I’ll leave you with some pictures of the bakery products we’re selling at the farm stand. Oh, but before I go, our name is Treefell Farm, because since we’ve lived on our little quarter acre lot, we’ve cut down (or had to remove from damage) 8 trees… soon to be 10. Lots of trees have fell! (But we’ve replanted quite a few also).

It has been really fun and I’ve learned so much! And I think I’m improving as a baker too. Now to improve at sharing Christ with the people who come to our door! Pray for me!

If you have any questions, ask in the comments below!