Gracious, me. I had the awesome opportunity to take a jaunt this June with the Arkansas Women Bloggers down to Moss Mountain, beautiful home of designer and gardener extraordinaire, P. Allen Smith, for the Farm2Home 2015 event with Arkansas farmers. I got to meet up with great bloggers, meet Mr. Smith, shop at the farmers market, and hear from farmers, makers, and growers all around the Natural State who are the growers and makers behind the Farm Bureau’s Arkansas Grown and Arkansas Made labels.

Since I’m credentialed as a teacher (and real-life-trained as a mom), so I thought I would stack up the alphabet for the cool things I saw in Roland, Arkansas.

ABCs of Farm2Home 

Arkansas. Well, of course. Visiting Moss Mountain was all about meeting and hearing the stories of Arkansas farmers, thanks to the Arkansas Farm Bureau. We also toured the estate and the grounds.

Bloggers everywhere that day.

ARWB, Arkansas Women Bloggers, Farm2Home15, Moss Mountain, P. Allen Smith, Arkansas Farm Bureau, Rhonda Franz, Captain Mom

 

Chickens. Heritage breeds living in Poultryville on Moss Mountain. Beautiful (and tasty).

farm2home15, moss mountain, P. Allen Smith, heritage chicken breeds, rhonda franz, captain mom

Dining area. Inside a cool barn, and set up just for guests.

Eggs. Farm fresh eggs sitting on the dining table, pretty as could be. It was all I could do to keep my hands off of them.

Flowers. And fields. And fuschia-colored plants.

Farm2home15, Moss Mountain flowers, Rhonda Franz, Captain Mom

Gleaning. Have you heard about The Arkansas Gleaning Project? I met these folks. They use leftover crops from Arkansas farm fields (that would normally go to waste) and turn it into food and meals for hungry people in need. It’s like the world’s most efficient soup kitchen.

Haul. This was my haul from the farmers market that day. Summer is a-gonna be tasty:Farm2Home15, Arkansas Farmers, Arkansas Grown, Wayne Plantation, Harvest Fresh Farm, Great Fermentations, Rhonda Franz, Captain Mom

 

Ice cream. That’s right. “Handcrafted in Little Rock” by Loblolly Creamery. I recommend the Dark Chocolate Sorbet. Because it’s handcrafted. And dark chocolate. And sorbet.

June. The month of Farm2Home15, the start of summer, and a major growing season.

Kraut. I got some Crunchy Kraut from Great Fermentations. Tastes good on hot dogs with a bit of mustard.

Local. Buy local when you can. It’s fresh. It’s important. It makes a difference.

Me. In Mr. Smith’s house. In a bathtub on a deck.

Farm2Home15, Moss Mountain, P. Allen Smith, P. Allen Smith home, Rhonda Franz, Captain Mom

Photo courtesy of Tiffany Selvey

Nubian goats. Get yer milk from goats, you can. These cute critters live on the farm.

Open spaces. Lots of room for guests (and those chickens) to roam.

open spaces at Moss Mountain Farm, Farm2Home15, P. Allen Smith, Rhonda Franz, Captain Mom

P. Allen Smith. He’s the man. Owns the farm. Works it. Invited us there. Posed for photos with us all.

P. Allen Smith, Farm2Home, Moss Mountain, Rhonda Franz, Captain Mom, Arkansas Women Bloggers

Quality. Arkansas meats, produce, and homemade products are processed and made with pride by the growers and makers in this state. Fresh stuff is the best.

Road trip. James Busvlogger and Tiffany Selvey accompanied me on the trip down. It was fun on my end. For their opinion, you’d have to ask them. James produces all sorts of cool videos on his Busvlogger lifestyle channel and Tiffany is an Arkansas grower.

Farm2Home15, Tiffany Selvey, Songbird Gardens, Springdale, Arkansas, P. Allen Smith, ARWB, Arkansas Women Bloggers

Steak. On a stick. Seasoned with great stuff from Harvest Fresh Farm in Desha, Arkansas.

Tshirt. I got my very own. When I picked up my my farm visit clothes the next day to wash, the fabrics smelled quite pleasantly of Moss Mountain. With just a bit of sweat mixed in.

 

Farm2Home15 clothes, farm outfit, Moss Mountain, Rhonda Franz, Captain Mom

Unique and unbelievably beautiful animals at Moss Mountain Farm.

Moss Mountain animals, poultryville, farm2home15, farm2home, Rhonda Franz, Captain Mom

 

a frog at Moss Mountain farm, Farm2Home15, Rhonda Franz, Captain Mom

Virgin Sunflower Oil from Wayne Plantation. This bottle of gold is produced in Scott, Arkansas, but it made this Kansas-born girl swoon. It smells like a bottle of rich sunflower seeds and looks like the sunshine. I look forward to new dressings and marinades and stir-fry goodness.

farm2home15, Arkansas Grown, Wayne Plantation, rhonda franz, captain mom, arkansas women bloggers

Watermelon pizza, waiting for us as we arrived. This is what we mean when we say “Farm to Table” in Arkansas.

farm2home15, moss mountain, P. Allen Smith, Arkansas Women Bloggers, Rhonda Franz, Captain Mom

X factor. The Arkansas Women Bloggers/Influencers have been a positive x-factor on getting the word about about Arkansas Grown, Arkansas Made products. The Women Bloggers have helped do this for organizations and companies in Arkansas and several other southern states. What can bloggers do for you?

Yeah, I’ll probably go back.

Zealous. The Arkansas farmers are zealous about what they do. Their passion about their products is obvious and contagious. #buylocal