Our friend Treasure Wilkinson is going to help out at our Spring Open House, which is scheduled for June 10-11 here at Bedlam Farm.
This is perhaps our loveliest tradition, a twice-yearly opening up of our lives and our farms to the good people who read our blogs and books, share our creativity and lives. The first open houses were pretty wild affairs, huge crowds of people, all kinds of people coming for very different reasons.
Things have settled down somewhat. Mostly it’s a chance to see the farm and meet the animals and people you have been following. Even more than that, it is a celebration both of creativity and farm life. Maria’s studio is crammed full of wonderful and inexpensive art made by her and some of the most gifted and interesting artists in the area.
We open up the pasture so people can meet Fanny and Lulu and the sheep and see Red and Fate work with the sheep in the side pasture. I do this at least once every hour and by the day’s end, man and dogs are wiped out. Treasure is going to help out and do some donkey and pasture tours, also help us with the crowds.
She is one of my favorite portrait subjects, she has one of the most expressive faces I have ever seen. And she has a big, huge heart.
The biggest crowd was in Hebron, at the first Bedlam Farm, that was about 1,500 people. In recent years it’s been closer to seven or eight hundred people over two days, which is plenty of people, about the perfect size for our small farm now. We don’t do any advertising or promotion apart from the blog.
The first Open House of every year is in June, the second is in October, on Columbus Day Weekend. All are welcome (no dogs please.)
Treasure is a great addition to the Open Houses, she loves animals and loves to talk about them. We are happy to have her and lucky to have her. The animals love people, I love to show Red and Fate off, and Maria’s art is very popular, fiber art is a growing theme of the open houses. Maria sells a lot of art that weekend that people love.
Creativity and living a meaningful life are also themes. I will also be reading from my next book, Talking To Animals and signing copies. It will be just coming out. (you can pre-order a book here, have it personalized and get free stuff. You can also call the bookstore at 518 677-2515.)
Hope to see you in June.