Trending
Staff report
Residents and visitors are invited to spend an afternoon exploring the back roads of Trumbull County during the first Trumbull County Farmstand Crawl noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
The free, self-guided event will feature four independently owned farmstands throughout Trumbull County. Guests can visit the participating stands in any order, meet the people behind them, discover locally grown, baked and handmade goods, and experience some of the small businesses tucked into their own community.
The crawl is organized by the American Farmstand Association (AFA) and Local Farmstand Finds (LFF) -- organizations working to connect consumers with independent farmstands and help those stands become more visible within their communities.
"Farmstands are about so much more than what's sitting on the table or inside the cooler," said Amy Elrite, founder of the American Farmstand Association and Local Farmstand Finds, in a news release. "There's a person, a family and a story behind each one. Farmstand Crawls give people a reason to take the back roads, meet those people and discover what is being grown, baked and made right in their own community."
The event is also part of a broader effort to introduce more people to agritourism, where agriculture becomes part of the experience of exploring a community. Farmstands are a natural part of that connection, giving visitors an opportunity to purchase directly from local producers while experiencing the places where those products are grown or made.
Many independent farmstands operate from rural roads, family properties and locations people may pass every day without realizing what is there. By bringing several stands together into one community event, the crawl encourages people to intentionally seek them out, learn their stories and hopefully return long after the event is over.
"Success for us isn't just having someone visit a stand on Oct. 11," Elrite said. "It's having someone discover a farmstand they didn't know existed and come back again. That's how these small businesses become part of the fabric of their communities."
The participating farmstands are 3Cats 2Acres & 1Hen in Cortland, Cheries Rustic Roost in Kinsman, Flourishing Bouquets in Bloomfield, and Wildflowers and Whimsy in Champion.