Celebrate Mom with Fresh Air, Good Food, and Farm Hospitality
This June, we’re packing our bags and heading to Aberdeen, Scotland for something pretty special.
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).
Share gifts from some of the farms on FarmStay this holiday season. Everything from textiles to maple syrup. Support your farmers.
There’s something special about visiting a place through the lens of its farms, the people, the land, and the traditions that sustain them. I recently had the joy of traveling to Puerto Rico with a group of agritourism specialists from across the U.S. While our main goal was to collaborate on agritourism initiatives and resources, we were fortunate to spend time touring local farms and experiencing firsthand what agritourism looks like on the island.
Here's what to know about Farm Stay USA (aka Farmstay) and why you might want to start with this site if you are looking to experience a real working farm or ranch, with the farmers and ranchers to go along with it and the promise of a focused and immersive rural adventure.
Did you know that fewer than 2% of Americans have lived on a farm since the 1950s? The other 98% of us have missed the deeply organic experience of waking up to the rooster's crow and don't even know it. While many who grew up on farms left for financial reasons, it wasn't often because they disliked the landscape. For them, the farm would continue to hold cherished memories, growing sweeter with time. Today, a new generation of farmers is eager to replicate this grounding lifestyle for their own children. Some grounding in the ground, as it were. They are, indeed, the lucky ones.
Goat Yoga hit the big time a few years ago. Started on a whim by Lainey Morse in 2016 when a yoga teacher suggested offering a class in the field with Lainey's goats, her Original Goat Yoga craze took off not only across the country but around the world. It was one of those silly ideas that livestock owners have known like... forever. Some of our animals can be down-right affectionate.
Has a farmoir ever been part of your reading list or suggested for your book club? What’s a farmoir, you ask? “Farmoir” is an abbreviation for “farm memoir” (because saying farm memoir three times fast is a tongue twister). Great for summer reading. Great for book clubs.
Hawkins Family Farm, North Manchester, IN
It may come as a surprise to some, but staying on a farm can have proven mental health benefits. In acknowledgement of Mental Health Awareness Month, we have explored one of many therapeutic techniques that can be implemented on your next farm stay vacation: earthing.
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