Kindred Farm 2021 Superlatives
Here are the things we voted the MOST + BEST on Kindred Farm during the entire 2021 growing season. What a year it was!
Best Sunrise & Sunset
There’s nothing like sunrises and sunsets over the Santa Fe, TN hills. Here’s an October sunrise that woke me up through the blinds when the bedroom turned pink, and a sunset at our May Kindred Dinner that turned everyone’s plates orange. Magical.
Best New Farm Gear
Hands-down, The Roo Apron. I don’t know what I did without it before, but the Roo made harvesting so much easier this year, and I wore it everywhere around the field with me. It’s darn cute, too! I was able to harvest loads of beans, okra, tomatoes, and greens - all hands-free, which is a huge benefit. The ease of opening the bottom to dump everything into a basket afterwards is seamless. Even my 70-something-year-old mom used it for harvesting tomatoes (see bottom right photo). For farmers and backyard gardeners alike, this would be an amazing tool to have for your next growing season.
Best Farm Tool
Our Korean Ho-Mi tool is still the best farm tool around here. I use it for any kind of planting, and it helps create a good, deep narrow hole. It’s also great for hacking things down, pulling up weeds, and even pulling up metal stakes. Ours are actually from Korea (a gift from Steven’s mom), but you can get your own here on the Johnny’s website.
Me planting 1,000 salanova plants with the Ho-Mi
Best New Zinnia We Grew
The flower fields were just overall stunning this year, so it was really hard to choose. The best new zinnia we grew were Unicorn Zinnias from Floret seeds. The colors in these zinnias were otherworldly!
Best New Sunflower We Grew
These two teddy bear sunflower varieties were whimsical with thick, hardy stems that were perfect for bouquets. Definitely growing these again!
Best New Veggie We Grew
Ok, so it’s technically a fruit. It was absolutely delightful growing some new heirloom tomato varieties this year. The giant yellow striped German tomato has to win this category. These suckers were seriously heavy, and the skin was nearly flawless (thanks to all that good fertilizer and compost), and when you cut it open, it was like a bright yellow sunshine. So juicy and perfect on tomato sandwiches - see below. :)
Most Memorable Farming Moment
Harvesting potatoes this July with Grace was the most fun I’ve EVER had farming. I was giddy to the point of laughing tears. We grew purple potatoes and French fingerlings and I absolutely cannot wait to do this all again. Check out this video on Instagram highlights to see just how exciting it was. 😆
Most Popular Farm Store Item
Ya’ll still can’t get enough of our Jumbo Homemade Cinnamon Rolls! A fan-favorite recipe we’ve been making for almost 10 years and a weekly staple at The Kindred Farm Store every Saturday morning. We made thousands of these this year for the farm store, and it brought us so much joy to see you enjoying hot cinnamon rolls straight out of the oven as you walked around the farm. Check this Reel for behind the scenes.
Best Thing We Ate Over and Over
It was all about the tomatoes this year. In our little Kindred farmhouse, we had tomato/mayo sandwiches on sourdough the giant heirlooms, and my Creamy Homemade Tomato Soup with the prolific cherry tomatoes. Over and over and over.
Best Kindred Dinners Moment(s)
Couldn’t choose just one. At our spring dinner in May, we got to carve honeycomb tableside for our guests from our first harvested frame from our bee colony that lives 25 feet away from the dinner site. Steven walked around the tables with the honey-laden frame, and guests were shocked at how heavy it was. We were then able to carve the honeycomb onto Bs Salty and Sweet sourdough with smoked Gouda, Korean bell pepper, and flaked sea salt.
And the other most memorable moment was at our fall dinner, seeing everyone gather around communal tables at the top of the hill again after two years of socially distanced tables. Communal tables have always been our heart for Kindred Dinners, and seeing strangers become friends around the table again just felt right.
Most Surprising Moment
This award goes to the bee swarm that landed on our lilac tree in April! I don’t remember being this genuinely surprised in a really long time and was on an adrenaline high for days. I wrote all about the bee swarm here. If another one came to our lilac bush this spring, I wouldn’t be mad about it!
Most Disappointing Moment
We had some crazy storms rip through middle Tennessee this year, and one of them destroyed a bunch of our zinnias and sunflowers prematurely. So disappointing and depressing to clean up, but we’re grateful we didn’t have any major damage this year during any of the storms.
Most Devastating Loss
Hands-down, it was losing our precious goose, Grogu. I still miss his call and waddle when I go up to feed the chickens.
Most Liked Instagram Photo
This post for National Farmer’s Day went kinda viral! I guess everyone really does need a farmer friend. ☺️
Photo by Jeremy Cowart
Most Magical Moment
We had a photo shoot this past summer with our photographer friend Sarah Gilliam for my forthcoming book that’s releasing this spring! Getting to set up a dinner right in the middle of our produce field surrounded by cosmos, sunflowers, and squash vines, with so many of my favorite people at the table, was pretty much a dream come true. More to come on this soon!
Most Dedicated Team Members
We’re thankful for every single person who served this year on our farming and cooking teams - we really have an incredible Kindred team who all serve with excellence and heart! But two people deserve special recognition - Tyson Ford and Grace Masters, our two dedicated team members who are here on the farm every single week.
Steven, Grace & Tyson
Tyson has been with us since he worked our Summer 2018 Kindred Dinner, and he has worked his way up to being an incredible sous-chef for Steven. Tyson is one hard-working guy - he also runs his own business, Brothers Health Foods - check out their homemade bone broth and elderberry syrups. One of Tyson’s best qualities is that he does not buckle under pressure - in the kitchen or at all of the big public and private dinners we’d had this year. We love you, Tyson, and thank you for being a rock on our team!
Grace is our newest team member and has worked so hard to learn the ropes. She joined us last fall to help both in the kitchen and with planting/harvesting on the farm. She has a special ability to attract butterflies to her nose and is the chicken whisperer. She’s also a ball of enthusiasm and positivity both in the kitchen and at our dinners. We love you, Grace, and we’re so proud of how you’ve grown this year!
Thanks for another wonderful year, kindreds. We’re so grateful for our clients, readers, customers, dinner guests, and all of you on this journey with us. CHEERS TO 2022!
