Farmstay or Agritainment?

As the farmstay movement has grown across the United States, more and more farms have jumped on board, offering their own version of what agritourism means to them. Over time, I feel that two distinctly different farm experiences have emerged for families and couples to choose between: farmstay or agritainment.

Agritainment is simply providing an opportunity for entertainment in an agricultural setting. (Penn State Ext.)

Through the years, I have increasingly gotten phone calls from potential farmstay guests asking me what activities we offer on the farm that will keep their children busy. I feel they are looking for agritainment-a farm that provides organized entertainment for their guests, such as, corn mazes, hay rides, animal petting area, pick-your-own, and interactive displays. I always struggle to answer these requests as this is not what our farm looks like.  We are not here to entertain our guests with pseudo farm activities, but rather to offer them something much more rich and rewarding-a real and meaningful connection to the land we work, the animals we raise, and the state that we love.

A farmstay is any type of accommodation on a working farm. (Wikipedia)

For the past 11 years, we have opened our home and farm to those wanting to experience an authentic Vermont farm life. Guests rent our Farmhouse Suite which was built in the late 1700’s, the original dwelling on our farm. We desire to give others the opportunity to connect with Vermont’s rich rural agricultural lifestyle. Our farm sits off the beaten path, away from the bustle of tourist areas. Most of our guests come from urban settings and look forward to living on our farm for a few days. Guests come from all over the globe, each for a different reason. Depending upon the time of year, guests have enjoyed many different aspects of our lives. Some of our most memorable farmstay guests, were those who embraced life here at Grand View Farm. They include …

• the five year old boy who helped me plant all of my tomato plants in our hoop house
• the little girl from NYC who had never gathered eggs from under a hen
• the father from NYC who said our homegrown sausage was the best he had ever eaten
• the five year old girl who quickly learned how to give commands to a very rambunctious border collie puppy
• the man who came twice to help me muck out our ram shelter
• the family who drank their chai tea on our little deck overlooking the sheep pasture every morning
• the family who went raspberry picking with me
• the family who helped us put our hay up in the barn
• the mom who came one winter to help me clean out the barn
• the family that enjoyed a camp fire and roasted marshmallows
• the two women from Switzerland and Southern France that gave ME a knitting lesson after breakfast
• the composer from England who came in the middle of the winter’s worst snowstorm, and extended his stay because he was enjoying venturing out and exploring all the back roads
• the mom and daughter that sat on our porch learning how to spin wool into yarn
• the many women who have come to work alongside of me in my studio and take felting lessons
• the couple who helped deliver a lamb that needed a little extra tug to enter into the world
• the group of women who came to spin wool on our porch for a few days
• the family who enjoyed some of our wood-fired pizza
• the mom and son who helped plant potatoes
• the family from California who took a felting workshop together to reconnect with one another
• the giggly bride’s maids who took a natural dye class
• the dad and 2 year old son who took walks, hand in hand, up our dirt road
• the woman that knit a cowl for me while touring and was so excited to give it to me when they returned to the farm
• the family that enjoyed splashing around in the stream
• the family that stayed up late during sugaring season to help us boil the sap they gathered during the day
• the family from England who had never seen stars before
• the mom and children who laughed as they rolled down the hill in the field
• the family who arrived just as our sheep escaped the fence and helped us corral them all back together again
• the German woman who took walks in the woods with me and my border collie puppy
• the numerous folks who have enjoyed sitting on the porch looking out over the mountains
• the knitwear designers who wanted to understand where wool came from
• the little girls who came with her dad so she could sit with our lambs
• the excited young couple who came to work as WOOFERS and to learn and to leave as life-time friends
• the couple from England who came for respite and to visit with our animals

These were the guests who were content to breath deeply of the fresh air, gaze long at the view, wonder in awe at how anyone could live so remotely, and sometimes even roll up their own sleeves and get their hands dirty. They did not expect me to entertain them, they simply expected to live in the moment and experience life at Vermont Grand View Farm.

I hope you will considering giving us some of your vacation time this summer!