Four ultra last-minute gift ideas for farm and food lovers
This entry was written by
Administrator,
posted on
Thursday, December 23, 2010
We're down to the wire. It's two days before Christmas, and
many days past Hanukkah. If you, like us, are behind with your
gift-buying, we have some ideas especially for the farm and food
lovers in your lives. Heck, these ideas are good all year
'round!
1. A gift certificate for a farm
stay. Did you take a farm vacation and
love it, and you think your friends or family might love it too?
Even when farm stays don't advertise gift certificates, many will
happily create one for you if you ask. Farm stays that specifically
market gift certificates include Weatherbury
Farm in PA, Moonstone
Farm (MN), and The Greer Farm
(TX).
3. Special farm food, by mail or from the
farm shop. Want to give someone a gift
of organic avocados? Charan Springs Farm
(CA) sells them via mail order. Vermont Maple Syrup? Order
some from Couture's
Maple Shop and B&B. How about pickles and
preserves from Blackberry Farm
(TN) and six-packs of marmalades, jams and chutneys
from Aravaipa
Farms in AZ? Don't forget wines from the vineyard farm
stays in our group, and nuts and fruits from our orchard
members.
2. A CSA membership.
CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, is a neat program
which works like this: CSA members buy a 'share' of the season's
produce (or meat, or yarn, etc.) from a farm, then receive a weekly
box with their piece of the bounty. Farmers win by getting an
influx of cash at a crucial time, right at the beginning of their
season, and members win by getting a good value on fresh food and a
closer relationship with the folks who produced it. Farm stays that
offer CSAs include Serenity Sheep
Farm (
MT),
Dog Mountain Farm in WA, The Ponderosa
Lodge Farm (WV), Juniper Moon Farm
(VA), and Vermont Grand View
Farm. These last two offer fiber CSAs instead of
traditional vegetable CSAs.
4. Woolen goods and other
gifts. WeatherLea
Farm (VA) and Stonehaven Family
Farm (MA) sell wonderful wool blankets. We
mentioned Vermont
Grand View Farm and Juniper Moon Farm
above for their fiber CSAs; they are also great sources of
yarn and rovings. Hartman's Herb
Farm (MA) has dried flower arrangements and wreaths and
Mirror Lake Bed and
Breakfast (IN) has Amish items in its gift shop.
Browse Farm Stay U.S. to find
others!
Check our farms and ranches out for gift ideas, even after
the holiday rush is over. By buying gifts from farms and ranches,
you're buying products that are handmade or grown with love. You're
getting wonderfully unique products (or experiences) and at the
same time you're supporting our small family farmers. The ideas
we've listed here are only a few of the possibilities. Know of
others? Please leave us a comment and tell us about
them.
This entry was written by
Administrator,
posted on
Thursday, December 23, 2010
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