8th Annual Open Barn recap

Eight years!

Wow, we’ve come a long way.

What started as a small event to let family & friends see this “crazy little farm” we were working on…

Has turned into an annual event where hundreds of people travel to visit — including our “staff” of family and friends.

Back in the first years, it was mostly just seeing the alpaca. And stepping over all kinds of rusty, dusty stuff.

Now it’s a fully thought-out, cleaned-up tour that highlights all the interesting things we’ve learned and done over the years.

We have a parking crew, because we get so many visitors over the course of the 6-hour event. That’s affectionately run by 2 Dad Parking & Event Company ;-).

New this year was their “intern” Charlie, who was coincidentally our farm hand this summer!

Although not the most glamorous job, it’s definitely one of the most essential!

And the 2 Dad’s gave him 4 thumbs up!

And we have a proper check-in booth now, which is a perfect job for my adorable flower cart. It was wo-manned by two friends from Tacoma, MoMo and Sarah.

They got everyone signed in and familiar with all the day’s offerings…

Of which there are now 6 stations to see while you’re here.

Station 1 - First up is always the alpacas, of course.

This is where I’m posted up for the duration of the event.

New and old friends alike got a cup of alpaca kibble and were able to mingle with the herd and hand feed them.

This year I had the help of farm friend, Diana, who helped answer the many questions we got all day long. She helped shear the herd this past spring and really knows each & every alpaca now. I’m not sure what I would’ve done without her!

And with Mike working the gate letting people in & out of the alpaca feeding area, we didn’t have a single jail break!

But I’m kicking myself for not grabbing a selfie with them because we made a really excellent team!

Station 2 - After folks had their alpaca fill, we pointed them to the barn, where we share the homestead story behind our farm name.

Lots of old documents from the 1870’s are proudly displayed.

And this year, I recruited two more of my Tacoma friends, Janelle & Ann, to help facilitate the conversation regarding what it really meant to ‘homestead’. They were also clutch at keeping our campfire stoked!

Station 3 - Directly across from the barn, folks got to stroll into my dye house. This year instead of a live fiber dyeing demonstration, I created a display to help illustrate the many steps the fiber takes in the farm-to-garment process. And one of my best gal pals, Leah, was on hand to help facilitate & answer questions.

Probably one of the best little extra bits was that Leah came adorned in hand knits made of natural fibers as well as some of their OHA knit gear.

Station 4 - My small-but-mighty dye garden was open as well so guests could see where I grew the color. Since it was mostly out of season this year, I put a bunch of my dried flowers, roots, leaves and seeds on display.

Station 5 - Adjacent to the dye house is the farm store. Since our Knitwear Collection wasn’t done at the fiber mill, I had craft yarns for knitting and crochet available. A total of 172 skeins of yarn that I dyed up just days before the event.

Another one of my best gal pals, Sara, an avid knitter herself, helped lots of that yarn find new homes! She was also sporting some of our OHA knits!

I really do have the best friends ever.

Station 6 - The cutting garden was a bonus! Since we haven’t had a frost, the garden was still alive with color and beautiful blooms. This station wasn’t manned so I don’t have a picture…but Nancy was inside keeping watch on the pups and custom making sandwiches for everyone’s lunch — she said people just wandered the garden with awe!

I like to think that each station is as important as the next and that we finally had just enough help to pull this event off.

But if I had to pick an Unsung Hero, that would definitely be Nancy! She doesn’t realize just how critical it is to keep everyone fed, and without so much as missing a beat, everyone got a tasty, hearty meal during a very busy day!

We closed the gate just a little past 4, right after 2 Dads returned with the road signs and Mike showed up with pizza.

Although we forgot to snap the crew photo before Sara, Leah and Charlie left, we got most of us chowing down and then one out by the herd.

It really takes a village to pull off this event and I couldn’t be more grateful with the support or more humbled by the response. Until next year!