The 17th Annual J40 Farm Crawl takes place this Saturday, August 8th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. along scenic Highway J40 through the Villages of Van Buren County, offering a full day of farm tours, artisan food, live music, local art, and family fun.
The day kicks off with a home-cooked all-you-can-eat breakfast at the Amish School on a freewill donation basis. Fresh baked goods will also be available for purchase. The breakfast is now at a new location to better accommodate attendees.
From 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., visitors can explore 12 participating farms and businesses along the route.
Bloom and Bark Farm and Glass Blowing Studio will serve as one of the major hubs of the day, featuring live glass blowing demonstrations by artists Tim Blair, Jim Topic, and Samantha Rose, a Local Artisan Market, and a clay oven baking artisan breads with samples and cold mint water. Live music will be performed at Bloom and Bark from 10:00 a.m. to noon by Pandalorian on steel drums, followed by Kurt Mielke performing acoustic guitar and original folk music from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. Also set up at Bloom and Bark will be Villages Folk School artists, wine sampling and sales, Leilani McDonald’s handcrafted rag rugs, KA Pottery with thrown pottery and more, Drunk’In Spoon wood spoon carving demonstrations, Gypsy and Vince Vagabond entertaining kids with skits and promoting their new children’s book, Grandpa’s Woodworking with handcrafted cutting boards and furniture, and the Albia Soccer Club grilling hotdogs with proceeds benefiting the club.
Lengacher’s Greenhouse and Variety Store will have greenhouses and fields filled with flowers and vegetable plants, a large selection of mums, horse drawn wagon rides until noon, and the new Shallow Creek Variety Store featuring fabric, sewing supplies, baby items, and fresh baked goods.
Miller’s Bakery is an Amish bakery offering homemade bread, cookies, fried pies, cinnamon rolls, fresh donuts, and more, open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Broken Wheel Blooms invites visitors to cut and build their own bouquet in open fields of flowers, feed sheep, chickens, and ponies, and take a ride in a horse drawn open carriage. Broken Wheel Harness, specializing in harnesses, halters, dog collars, and repairs, will also be on site.
Lebanon Produce and Miller’s Custom Butchering will have a full line of fresh produce, canned pickles, beets, jams, and jellies, homemade maple syrup, and greenhouses to explore. Miller’s Custom Butchering will offer samples and information on custom processing of beef, pork, and venison.
Yoder’s Indian Creek Furniture, a family-owned business crafting furniture since 1981, will have a large variety of quality hardwood furnishings and maintenance-free poly lawn furniture, with a discount on all items purchased or ordered during the Crawl. Free homemade ice cream will be available all day.
Milton Creamery will be sampling their worldwide award-winning cheeses, including the world-recognized Prairie Breeze cheese made exclusively at the small local factory in Milton using milk from local Amish and Mennonite farms. Squeaky cheese curds will also be available.
Pearson House Museum Complex in Keosauqua will offer a journey back to the 1800s with Underground Railroad history, hands-on demonstrations and activities for all ages, and an antiques and collectibles tag sale.
Villages Courtyard Market at the welcome center in Keosauqua will feature local vendors offering handmade goods, baked treats, herbal products, art, and more.
For more information, contact the Villages of Van Buren at 800-868-7822 or 319-293-7111, email info@villagesofvanburen.com, or visit villagesofvanburen.com.
