Finding the Farm Stay That’s Right For You
After spending years welcoming guests to our own farm and now working with hundreds of farms across the Farmstay community, I've learned something simple:
As a farmer in the Pacific Northwest, I don’t often take two weeks off in June—especially not to travel overseas. But when a fellow shepherdess from down the road at Appletree Farm invited me to join her on a trip back to her home region of Bordeaux, I couldn’t resist...
After spending years welcoming guests to our own farm and now working with hundreds of farms across the Farmstay community, I've learned something simple:
Across the country, farms are welcoming guests in growing numbers, from short visits to longer stays, offering a close look at everyday farm life. It’s an invitation to see where food comes from and to experience farm life. Those who have chosen to do this have done so thoughtfully. There is no performance or theme, but instead a form of welcoming, a chance to share the land and introduce the families who care for it. From the outside, visiting a working farm can feel a little unexpected. The farmer has laden the breakfast table with jams they made and eggs fresh from the chicken coop. You step outside your door to pick fresh fruit from the orchard, or maybe you’re invited to try your hand at milking a dairy cow or holding a bottle of warm milk for a calf. The lights are on for your late arrival, and a friendly note on the table welcomes you to the farm. This is a visit to a family’s home in the countryside. At Farmstay, we work with farms and ranches across the country that welcome guests in many different ways. Some are just beginning their hospitality journey. Others have been opening their gates for decades, shaping hospitality through lived experience rather than any single formula. This is a small glimpse of the many farms that do this kind of hosting especially well (the first three farms on our list were early U.S. pioneers in farm hospitality, welcoming guests as far back as the 1950s).
Summer is a vibrant season for vegetable farming in most areas of the U.S., with a variety of produce thriving in the warm weather. While you should ask before arrival if you can have or buy veggies from the farmer's garden, you might also ask what is in season as different parts of the county vary in seasonality.
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