Growing Farmers: The art of organizing a local farm as a community space
- Patricia Krupnikoff
- Jun 27
- 7 min read
Written and Photographed by
Patricia Sampley Krupnikoff
Contributor
“We need to grow more farmers.” On a quiet April morning with spring planting, fields to prepare, and goods to organize for sale, Jennifer Woods manages to take a few minutes away from all her duties and sits across from me, explaining her plans for the future. “Hein Farm” in Farmington is a well-known place of local history in town but today, Woods isn’t telling me about the past: instead, she is focused on the future, telling me about her plans for the farm. Creating a menu of activities for the farm doesn’t just mean Woods is thinking about herself: she is thinking of Farmington as a community and how to incorporate the children of today to become the farmers of tomorrow, one community activity after another, all designed to ensure that farming remains at the heart of our lives.
It is not hard to understand what concerns Jennifer Woods about the future of farming. In the past, farming was a lively career prospect, often through precious land handed down from generation to generation and farming skills taught through family ownership and tradition. However, in our fast-paced society of technology and invention, getting anyone interested in farming does require more effort and more diverse means of getting children (and their parents) to abandon their devices for the day to enjoy the outdoors, much less visit a farm. If I think of my own past, I know exactly what
Jennifer Woods means: my mother grew up on a farm in Ohio, watching her parents sell apples and harvest the land. It was difficult work that she chose not to do; she studied nursing instead. However, hearing her own tales of interacting with the community where she lived meant everyone knew her and her family. This always made me think about the pleasures and challenges of farming alike, so Jennifer Woods’ idea of using the land to bring people together is one that takes immense foresight to sustain.
As a kid visiting her grandparents’ family farm and garden in Shelton, CT, Jennifer Woods had no idea that those early experiences would add up to her own future as a farmer, gardener, and ultimately, business owner. Armed with a degree in Environmental Science from Springfield College, Woods headed to West Hartford where she spent a few years working at the former Gledhill Nursery as she realized “I had a love for plants early on.” There, Woods learned more about planting and gardening, but she also learned about running a business and selling plants. In 1999, she headed to Farmington to put down her own roots, and later, to raise her own family (Woods is a mother to two sons). Eventually, all these experiences prompted her to begin her own local design company, “Thyme to Plant” in 2009 where she could work directly with clients and help them with customized containers for plants through the various seasons in Connecticut. , and “…in 2015, I worked part time at a farm stand, and I fell in love with the farming side of growing.” A few years later, with a little more experience and her sons getting older, Woods opened a mobile Farmer’s Market in 2017, bringing fresh food, plants, and local canned goods to customers in the Farmington area. Though this simple business venture started things for Woods in Farmington, it was not until she began talking to Dave and Martha Hein in 2020 that would change everything for her.
When most people think back to 2020, all that generally arises is a discussion of the Pandemic and the COVID-19 virus. Despite that experience for the rest of us, for Jennifer Woods, it was early February 2020 (just before the virus spread) when she agreed to a partnership with the Hein family and began rethinking how to connect the Farmington community to the farm. Her goals back then were pretty simple as they still are today: “To connect the community with the whole farm experience…from the tomato plant that grows in the garden to the raspberry that they pick to the flowers they enjoy.” These simple notions have the prospect to remind everyone about the need to support farming in the area and the greater need to promote farming with families who have young children.
But of course, getting families to the farm means that there must be ways to sustain everyone’s time and interest in farming. This is once again a time when Jennifer Woods thinks of the future, as she reminds us, “If we don’t get kids to connect with or want to farm, then we won’t have farmers.” In order to bring families out to the farm, while competing with all the other events in their lives, Woods has put together a long list of options to attract families in the community to the outdoors and enjoying the space of Hein Farm. This includes everything from a “Dads, Donuts, Trucks & Tractors” event on Father’s Day in June to the Chicken Stock Music Festival in early September with other events in between. The popular “Firefly Friday Music Series” is what families can enjoy each August with live music, plus food and beverage trucks on hand as well as the Summer Farm Festival in mid-August, timed with the beginning of the harvest season that leads right into the fall. Another festival planned for early October, focuses on Fall Arts and Crafts with local artisans, hayrides and of course, for a small fee, the ability to cut your own flowers. This is one of Woods’ favorite ways to get kids interested in planting and still brighten someone’s day with fresh-cut flowers in a fall bouquet as the harvest season winds down and people turn to pumpkins and other Halloween activities.
Once the fall season closes in early November, the farm takes a quick turn to “clean up” from the harvest season and prepare for the winter. This is another part of farming that is significant to note: essentially farming locally is a year-round commitment that families can still learn and follow right into December. Re-opening just before Thanksgiving, the farm turns toward the holiday season to gather families as winter begins with wreaths and other seasonal gifts for sale to fit an array of interests, while selling the last items from the fall harvest--think of canned jams and other condiments like pickles or peppers to give winter foods more flavor. As Woods describes, “We do a large Thanksgiving Market with lots of produce--sweet potatoes, squash, brussels sprouts, pies, etc.” Hein Farm usually finishes the winter season with a sale at the of December just as fresh snow often arrives.
When asked about her specific vision for the future at Hein Farm, Woods shares her ideas of expanding to the possibilities of everything from the Farm to Table experience to receiving field trip requests for elementary aged students. Since one of her sons is interested in culinary arts, being able to serve ice cream in the summer with custom made flavors is yet another opportunity to gain the interests of families and get kids to enjoy the farm experience. Furthermore, she is close to opening a “Pick Your Own Raspberry” experience for families to learn the science of selecting the right, ripe, and delicious berries they see in supermarkets. What about “farming” or “gardening” classes for kids? While Woods is not ready for that this summer with all her other activities to run the farm daily, it may be something that is more manageable by hosting young student volunteers in the summer to learn about farming in the early mornings. Working with a smaller group will ensure Woods can pass on her interests in gardening and farming to the next generation, especially when one thinks of hayrides, cutting your own flowers and even attending an Arts and Crafts Fair in October, all right at Hein Farm.
In all, Jennifer Woods still wants to see families get to the farm throughout the entire year with all these events meant to remind children most of all that farming is still an important part of our culture that must not be lost. This is once again where Woods shows her forward thinking most. Though she is talking on a morning in April, Woods’ descriptions of the activities upcoming move ahead with the seasons to come. In fact, there is no shortage of ideas that Jennifer Woods will explore to bring families to experience The Farm Truck at Hein Farm. VL
To get more information or specific details about upcoming events, reach out to Jennifer Woods at The FARM TRUCK at HEIN FARM, located at 303 Meadow Road, Farmington, CT 06032 or call (860) 952-2767. Students in their early teens who want to volunteer at the farm should definitely reach out to Jennifer Woods directly. You can also check out the website: https://farmingtonfarmtruck.farm/ to learn more about current events, when the farm is open and other ways to enjoy learning more about farming at Hein Farm.
