Visit
The farm store, and what we would want it to be
A place to buy what the farm has, in person. Further out than most of the plan and worth getting right.
A farm store is part of where this is headed. Somewhere you can walk in, see what the farm has that week, and take it home without having ordered ahead.
It is a genuinely different thing from ordering and collecting, which is how everything moves today. A store means being open on somebody else's schedule rather than our own, and that is a real commitment for a family running everything themselves.
So this one sits further out than most of the plan. What follows is what we would want it to be, and what has to be true before it makes sense.
What we would want it to hold
-
Whatever the farm has that week
Chicken from the freezer, eggs when there are eggs, vegetables in season, and flowers when the field is cutting. The whole appeal of a farm store is that it shows you honestly what a place is producing right now.
-
Storage crops through the cold months
Garlic, onions, squash and potatoes are what keep a farm store worth visiting between November and April. Without keeping crops a store is a summer thing, and a summer thing is much harder to make worthwhile.
-
The seasonal runs, in person
Wreaths and garland in the late fall, and bunches of flowers through the summer. Some things are far easier to sell when somebody can see them, and both of those are squarely in that category.
-
Simple enough for a working farm to run
Whatever we build has to survive a July when everybody is already flat out. A small, well stocked space that is genuinely easy to keep going beats an ambitious one that quietly stops being open.
-
Somewhere to actually talk
Much of the value of buying from a farm is being able to ask the person who grew it. A store is the easiest version of that, because the conversation happens without either side having arranged anything.
-
A reason to make the drive
The farm sits directly on Interstate 80, roughly fifty five minutes from the Omaha side and about an hour from most of Des Moines. Very little in Iowa is that easy to reach from both, and a store is the plainest use of it.
What has to happen before it opens
-
1
Enough production to fill it
A store with three things on the shelf is not worth anyone's drive, or ours. That means the vegetables, the eggs and the storage crops all running properly first, which is most of the rest of the plan.
-
2
Somewhere sensible to put it
A store needs a building, parking and a way in that does not run through a family's front yard. Sorting that out properly is a large part of what the move to the back place is meant to make possible.
-
3
Hours a family can actually keep
Being open is a promise, and a promise nobody can keep is worse than no store. Whatever the hours end up being, they will be ones that survive a bad week rather than ones that look good on a page.
-
4
Publish exactly where and when
When there is a store to visit, the location and the hours go up here, plainly, and go out to the list. Until then we are not putting an address on a working family home, which is a deliberate decision rather than an oversight.
Why a store is a bigger step than it looks
Everything this farm sells today is ordered ahead and collected. That works because it puts the timing in our hands. A store inverts that completely. It means being there whether or not three people show up, on days chosen months in advance.
For a family running the growing, the raising, the floral work and the markets between them, that is a genuine commitment rather than an extra revenue line. It is the reason so many small farms take years to open one and some very sensibly never do.
What makes it worth working toward here is the road. Being directly on Interstate 80 between two metros is unusual, and a store is the simplest way to turn that from an interesting fact into something useful. It is also the first step toward the wider version of this place people drive out to spend an afternoon at.
So it stays on the plan and it stays honest about its position in the queue. Production first, a proper spot for it second, and hours we can keep third. When those line up we will say so clearly, with directions.
Questions people ask
Is there a farm store I can visit?
Not yet. Everything today is ordered ahead and collected at the farm rather than bought from a shelf. A store is part of the longer term plan and it will be announced here and to the list when it is real.
Where would it be?
Somewhere on the farm with a sensible way in and parking, which is part of what the move to the back place is meant to make possible. We will publish the location plainly once there is something to visit.
Why is there no address on here?
Because it is a working farm and a family home rather than a business open to the public. Putting an address up would invite people to turn up somewhere that is not set up for them. It goes up when a store does.
What would you sell in it?
Whatever the farm has that week. Chicken, eggs, vegetables in season, flowers while the field is cutting, and storage crops through the colder months so it stays worth visiting outside of high summer.
How can I buy from you in the meantime?
Order ahead and collect at the farm. That is how the chicken already moves and it works well. Getting on the list is how you hear when a batch or a run is coming so you can put your name on it.
When would a store open?
We are not naming a year for it. It waits on production filling it, a proper spot for it, and hours a family can genuinely keep. Those are real conditions rather than a schedule, and the list hears first.
Elsewhere on the farm
Would you drive out for it?
Knowing whether people would actually make the trip is a large part of what decides whether a store is worth building. Tell us on the list.
Join the list