Bloom Where You're Planted Farm

Where does the time go?  It was September the last time I blogged, and we were counting down to our 9th pumpkin season.  Now all that seems long ago and we're already planning for 2014, working on taxes and looking forward to upcoming shows and conventions.

We had a very good fall season.  The weather was nice through most of it, which makes a difference with both attendance AND our attitudes.  Let's face it -- sitting outside at the admissions counter or driving the hay rack ride is much more enjoyable and easy on the body when it's not cold or raining!

The pumpkins did very well and we sold more of our own farm-raised, big, gorgeous Jack-O-Lanterns and heirloom varieties than ever.  We did run out of most of our squash varieties due to some problems with where they were planted, so we'll work to remedy that for next season. 

If you visited this fall you probably noticed that we added a lot more antique and vintage merchandise to the store, as well as decor and displays around the farm.  This new junkin' adventure of ours (we hosted two "Rural Route Rust" vendor markets, the summer Barn Sale, and were vendors at 4 shows) has been a lot of fun for us and extended the amount of customers we reach, both here on the farm and as we travel.  We hope it's been a fun addition for our farm visitors as well.  Our next Rural Route Rust sale on the farm is April 12th.

We'll be doing some traveling soon, as we head to the NAFDMA (North American Farmers' Direct Marketing Assoc.) conference for our first time -- this is the granddaddy of all agritourism conferences and we're excited to finally be able to attend.  We look forward to bringing tons of great ideas back with us for 2014 and beyond.  We're also taking Rural Route Rust on the road to a couple of shows in Missouri later this month and in February.

Thank you for your support of our business.  We wish you a happy, healthy New Year!

 --Teresa and Terry