Join us for the 12th Annual J40 Farm Crawl Saturday, August 14, 2021 8am-5pm
Discover the great products and services offered by small family-owned farms and businesses along Highway J40 and beyond, in the scenic Villages of Van Buren County in Southeast Iowa. A day filled with food, farm tours, horse drawn wagon rides, local artists, history, wine & mead tasting, honey, cheese, bread, hand crafted furniture, glass blowing, homemade ice cream and more! Fun for the whole family!
Start the day off with a delicious home cooked breakfast at the Amish School, than wander down the road to explore the 9 different participating farms, businesses, and museum along the route.
Bloom and Bark Farm & Glass Blowing Explore gardens and greenhouses, see how a hand-crafted clay oven bakes delicious artisan breads, sample fresh produce and bread with a cold glass of mint water. Explore our new Local Artisan Market featuring the work of several local artists.
Tour our Glass Blowing Studio and watch demonstrations by glass artists Tim Blair, Jim Topic, Ian Anderson and Tristan Edmund. Meet-the-Glass-Blowers
The Galvinators will be helping us celebrate the day with Live Music from 1-3pm here on the farm!
All of these great Business will be set up here at Bloom and Bark Farm.
- The Villages Folk School will be set up with several artists on hand demonstrating and selling their art. Join artist Pat Crawford as she teaches how to fuse nature on to cloth.
- East Grove Farms, LLC will be sampling and have a variety of Mead for purchase.
- Holton Homestead will be set up and selling all the good stuff their bees produce.
- Crane Winery will be sampling their delicious sweet wines.
- Fiber Artists Greg Cotton & Sonja Hoie will be demonstrating wool spinning and have teaching kits available.
- Van Buren Art Club will be grilling hotdogs and brats with all the works.
- Oil Painter Annie will selling and demonstrating the painting of her delightful Peace Poles
- Artist Cindy Searcy – will be demonstrating the creation of concrete pot making.
- We also have several others in the works – so stay tuned for updates!
Hop back into your car and head down the road to explore all these amazing businesses and farms just down the road:
- Lengacher’s Greenhouse & Shallow Creek Variety Store: Greenhouses and fields filled with flowers and vegetable plants. Large selection of mums. Enjoy a ride on a horse drawn wagon rides until noon. Come explore our new shop Shallow Creek Variety Store. Filled with fabric, sewing supplies, baby items and fresh baked goods. Explore, shop and enjoy!
- Yoder’s Indian Creek Furniture: A family owned business crafting furniture since 1981. Large variety of quality hardwood furnishings and wide assortment of maintenance free poly lawn furniture. 10% discount on all items purchased or ordered during the Crawl. Free Homemade Ice Cream ALL DAY!
- Troy Academy: Construction began in 1853 and was completed in 1854. The first class held at the academy was November 2, 1854. Troy Academy was the first institution of higher education west of the Mississippi and was open for 33 years, closing its doors in 1888. Explore the amazing history of this beautifully preserved structure.
- Milton Creamery: Cheese! And not just any cheese, worldwide award winning cheese! Stop in and sample our award winning cheeses. Milk from local Amish and Mennonite farms is used to make the world recognized Prairie Breeze Cheese, made exclusively at this small local cheese factory in Milton. All cheeses are hand-crafted. Try our squeaky cheese curds!
The J40 Farm Crawl is a fabulous opportunity to share summer family fun along Iowa’s Historic Hills Scenic Byway in the beautiful Villages of Van Buren County and celebrate the rural local businesses and farms that add vibrancy to the Iowa landscape.