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Join us for the 13th Annual J40 Farm Crawl Saturday, August 13, 2022

A day filled with food, farm tours, horse drawn wagon rides, local artists, history, wine tasting, hand crafted furniture, glass blowing, petting zoo, and so much 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 11 different participating farms, businesses, and museum along the route.

  • Bloom and Bark Farm & Glass Blowing Studio you can explore our 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.  Tour our Glass Blowing Studio and watch demonstrations by glass artists Tim Blair, Jim Topic, Ian Anderson and Tristan Edmund.   Explore our new Local Artisan Market featuring the work of several local artists.

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 Mead will be sampling and selling their tasty mead(honey wine) made from products grown on their farm.
  • Holton Homestead will be set up and selling all the good stuff their bees produce.
  • Crane Winery will be sampling and selling their delicious sweet wines.
  • Leilani McDonald will have her hand crafted rag rugs for sale.
  • Gregg Cotton, Sonja Hoie & Leilani McDonald will teach and demonstrate the art of spinning wool.
  • Grandpas Woodworking will be selling his hand crafted cutting boards and furniture.
  • Mrs. Mercantile will have her amazing jams and jellies available for sampling and purchase.
  • Van Buren Art Club will be grilling hotdogs and brats with all the works, with all proceeds benefiting the Van Buren Art Department.
  • 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 & 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!
  • Lebanon Produce: Growing and selling a full line of fresh produce along with canned pickles, beets, jams and jellies.  Also as a special treat they will have homemade Maple Syrup available for purchase.  Come explore our greenhouses and see what’s growing.
  •  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.

Download the 2022 J40 Farm Crawl brochure with map

Follow the J40 Farm Crawl for up to date information