Bloom Where You're Planted Farm

We are always looking for new ideas and inspirations about how we can improve this business.  This past weekend we took a road-trip to Osceola, Iowa, to the Harvest Barn Marketplace.  I'm not sure how I first heard about them, but they do have a listing on this site:  http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M19115.  I've been receiving Amy's emails for awhile and finally saw an opportunity to visit on Saturday.

It took about three hours to get there.  I love driving through the rolling hills of western Iowa, and Rocket enjoyed riding along with Terry and I.  

The store is located inside this neat, renovated barn.  They specialize in homemade fudge (it was YUMMY!), hand-poured candles, meats raised on their family farm, and ice cream from a nearby creamery (it was YUMMY too--this was not a low-calorie trip!) 

We enjoyed our visit and left with a full shopping bag.  On the way home we talked some ideas that inspired us and goals for our own store.  We decided we needed to brighten up a few areas with more lighting and fresh paint.  We'd also like to make some of our own product.  Our new concession kitchen will allow us to try some new food items -- I'm thinking homemade pumpkin pie, gourmet dipped pretzels, and apple & pumpkin crisp mix made from my Grandma Brandt's recipe.

We continue to learn, grow, and be inspired, and look forward to sharing the results with our customers soon.  Sounds like a lot of work -- I'd better get busy!