Oxtober!!

As summer camp came to a close at Oxbow Farm I will admit I was desperate to find a way to stick around through the fall harvest season.  I applied for several positions on the farm, but none were quite the right fit and then Megan asked if I would be interested in being the on-site farm stand manager/coordinator during the pumpkin craze of October (or Oxtober as it is referred to!).  I jumped at the chance to spend more time on this amazing land, gain more farming experience, see behind the scenes a bit more and sling some produce!

I gained great farm stand input from Sarah and Luke and channeled the Oxbow personality through farmers market stand guru, Alice.  They were so incredibly helpful in showing me the ropes, teaching me Oxbow's trick's of the trade and generous with my lack of experience!  I prepped for Oxtober by helping out at several farmers market days with Oxbow's team extraordinaire, Amy and Alice, and was even able to co-work a farmer's market with one of Oxbow's super talented interns.  This is when my project began to morph and look more critically at food spaces as I observed the differences between the farm stand on the farm versus the farmers markets and even between different farmers market spaces.  Plus looking at the spaces and places surrounding the farmers markets we were working at and how those influenced these spaces as well.  But back to Oxtober madness!...

I chose Carlsen as my farm stand sidekick after our epic summer camp time working together and we started the farm stand on Oxtober 5th with a bang!  We held the farm stand every weekend, Friday through Sunday, during the entire month of October with record turnouts; weight in pumpkins sold; earnings; pumpkins slung from our kick-butt slingshot; school tours and of course the Oxtober Hoedown Festival!  It was an amazing experience with a few miscommunications, misunderstandings, heavy rainfall, crazy windstorm and wicked mudpit.  Several highlights - the morning when six to eight Black Tail deer does and young fawns ran within mere feet of the farm stand seeking shelter from local hunters; slinging mini pumpkins like crazy; trying to hold down the farm stand as a HUGE windstorm picked it up and attempted to use it as a sail; the Hoedown festival; the delicious harvest party; the mornings I drove across the valley through the dense fog as the sun broke through - breathtaking!; and our closing party where we enjoyed soggy s'mores, a fire, beers and slinging pumpkins in the rain and dark.

Some of the amazing happenings at the Hoedown included:

• How Pickle Got Out of Jam - pickled carrots?!?  Yes, please!!
• Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream - pumpkin and lavender?!?  Oh my goodness, yes!!!
• Rustic Pie - wood fired pizza
• The Haggis Brothers performance
• Fire pit
• Pumpkin parade
• And so much more!...

If you are looking for an amazing place to take your school for a farm tour, show your kids/family around a local farm, find a new pumpkin patch and check out some impressive fall events I hope to see you at Oxbow next Oxtober!!

Oxtober - free slideshow