About
Four Seasons Local Market began in the summer of 2016 as a meeting of four families around a dining room table discussing how to best reach the summer market consumers through all four seasons of the year. The vision evolved into Four Seasons Local Market at 216 East Main Street in Crawfordsville. The market offers beef, pork, lamb, chickens, eggs, coffee, homemade heat and serve meals, honey, syrup, and a variety of homemade baked goods. We pride ourselves on offering our customers the opportunity to ask questions, try new things, and build a relationship with their farmers and bakers. We also showcase products from various other local producers rounding out our offerings and making sure we have something for everyone wanting to support local food production and see the local faces making and growing your food. We invite you to learn more about our individual farms below and stop in to see what we have to offer to you!
farmstead bakery |
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Farmstead Bakery was started in March of 2019 by Rachael and Kyle Harvey in a tiny kitchen in Avon, Indiana. They moved to Crawfordsville, and a much larger kitchen, in June 2019. Rachael recently left her full time employment with a local meat processor to focus on growing Farmstead Bakery. Kyle works as a local agricultural lender and part time as Farmstead Bakery’s official taste tester. Their two fur-children Buddy and Annie work full time as the official farm greeters.
While Rachael has always had a love of baking, the idea of Farmstead Bakery ultimately grew from her Celiac diagnosis in 2008 and the lack of options and quality of gluten free products available in stores. With a passion to provide local and delicious gluten free baked goods, Farmstead Bakery started selling out of farmers markets in the spring of 2019. The stigma that gluten free does not taste good is simply no longer true, and you can’t beat homemade! Farmstead Bakery loves to incorporate family recipes and traditions in their products and we hope that our products can become part of your family. |
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Silver Valley Farm |
www.silvervalleyfarm.com |
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We are passionate about growing healthy, great-tasting lamb to share within our local community. We enjoy teaching others how simple it is to cook with this delicious meat. We are third generation livestock farmers from Oregon with a passion for providing our community with locally-raised lamb from fertile fields of grass. Our lambs are raised on pasture, without antibiotics or growth hormones, and are available to you year round as individual cuts or whole and half lambs cut to your specifications. From our pasture to your table, we offer flavorful lamb you’ll love!
Silver Valley Farm is located 25 miles south of Lafayette, Indiana and 45 miles northwest of Indianapolis. We are a small farm raising Hampshire, Polypay, Border & Blue Faced Leicester sheep and sell lamb and wool products directly to consumers. Our sheep are raised traditionally on pasture; the way our grandparents raised sheep on the farm. We grow a variety of forage for rotational grazing and we purchase quality hay from local farmers to feed our sheep when grass is not available. Our focus is on producing the best quality lamb to sell to our customers and we would never sell anything we would not put on our own table. We raise approximately 60 lambs per year that are processed at local state inspected facilities allowing us to sell directly to the consumer. A variety of frozen lamb cuts are available at Four Seasons Local Market, or you may contact us by phone or email. Additionally, we sell whole or half lambs, cut to your specifications to provide a cost effective way to feed your family quality lamb. Beyond local, flavorful cuts of lamb, Silver Valley Farm offers a variety of other products. We sell fresh eggs from our pastured hens, hand dyed and natural colored farm yarn, roving and wool dryer balls made from our flock’s wool. Wendy makes cold processed soap, hand salve and lip balm using herbs and flowers grown in her garden and sells vegetables grown from her garden in the summer. |
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Shannon Family Farms |
www.shannonfamilyfarms.com |
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Shannon Family Farms was started in July of 2004 by Jonathan & Kelly Shannon. At Shannon Family Farms, we strive to raise animals in the most responsible way possible while meeting the demands and needs of our family and customers alike. Jonathan and Kelly both work full time off the farm and are raising three daughters to understand the importance of sustainability and caring for our food sources.
As the farming focus evolved, it became evident that small scale, niche market, livestock production would be the goal for Shannon Family Farms. Raising pastured hogs has become our main focus; however, we maintain layer hens and raise a few cattle and meat birds throughout the year as well. Our pastured pork comes from piglets purchased shortly after weaning from local farmers with whom we have built a relationship. These pigs enjoy free choice feed and natural pasture complete with muddy wallows and a windbreak shelter. Our meat chickens are shipped directly from Welp Hatchery as day old chickens. Our layer chickens arrive as day old chicks from a hatchery as well. Through our selective alliances with local farmers and hatcheries, we can ensure our animals are being raised responsibly. The careful selection of animals and our dedication to caring for them in the most natural way ensures your family is purchasing high quality meat and/or eggs from a trusted source. We use This Old Farm (Colfax, IN) as our processor for all the species we raise. Over the years, we have built a trusted relationship with them and have been able to bring some uniqueness to the products we offer our customers. In 2021, we are excited to invite customers to our farm as we open “Fresh Cut by SFF”, a You-Pick Flower Farm by converting an area that was previously pasture into rows of annuals for cutting and enjoying in your own home. Along with the field experience of cutting your own flowers, we will offer grab-n-go arrangements from the farm and at Four Seasons Local Market as our supply allows. We are very excited to begin this new venture and allow our daughters even more responsibility and ownership in our family business as they grow and mature. |
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Gillenwater Farms |
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Paige and Jordan Gillenwater are passionate about bringing high quality beef and produce to their community. Jordan grew up riding in the tractor alongside his grandfather and now works full time on the farm to continue the tradition of providing safe, high quality products that his grandparents started decades ago. Jordan and Paige have partnered with their family as owners and operators of his grandparents’ farm and market, Hole’s Sweet Corn. Here, customers can find fresh produce picked daily and responsibly raised meats. Paige and Jordan sell beef and produce at their market on the farm and give farm tours on request as an effort to educate consumers on the practices Gillenwater Farms uses.
Beef sold from Gillenwater Farms comes from calves that were born and raised on Paige and Jordan’s Montgomery County farm. Calves and cows always have free access to grass and hay. The calves are offered a rationed blend of locally grown corn with mineral supplements sourced from a local feed mill. All beef from Gillenwater Farms contains absolutely no added hormones or chemicals. The calves and cows love sweets just as much as we do, and sometimes get treats such as apples from the farm or extra sweetcorn from Hole’s Sweetcorn in the summer! Produce is hand picked daily in season and all raised responsibly on our farm. Jordan and Paige take pride in being part of the long line of farmers in Jordan’s family. They are the 6th generation farming in Montgomery County and owners of a Hoosier Homestead farm that has been in their family since the 1800s. They are proud to be partners of Four Seasons Local Market as of Fall 2019. |
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Leaning Locust Woodcraft |
Lee: Growing up in West Michigan, Lee developed an appreciation for trees and wood while wandering and working in the woods with his family. He enjoyed learning to distinguish between the oaks, maples, sassafras, and other trees in the family’s plot of woods. His family heated their house with wood, so he spent more time than he might have liked splitting wood and moving it from the woods to the trailer, the trailer to the driveway, the driveway to the basement, and the basement to the wood stove. This quality time with wood helped him develop an eye for grain variations and the practical usefulness of this resource.
Wood Sources: The vast majority of wood Lee uses is from the woods on family farmland west of Waynetown, Indiana. He harvests almost exclusively from trees that have fallen in storms or from dead trees that have been standing (or leaning) for years. Some of the trees--especially the rot-resistant black locust--have been hanging around on or just above the ground for decades. Occasionally a friend or family member comes across some particularly attractive wood from another source and sets it aside for him. (If you are interested in having custom pieces made from some of your own wood, let him know.)
Process: All of the pieces Lee sells are handcrafted using a bandsaw, power grinders, gouges, and belt sanders. Each item is sanded and treated with food-safe mineral oil before being buffed with beeswax from his bees (or, when his bees get lazy, from other local beekeepers).
Wood Sources: The vast majority of wood Lee uses is from the woods on family farmland west of Waynetown, Indiana. He harvests almost exclusively from trees that have fallen in storms or from dead trees that have been standing (or leaning) for years. Some of the trees--especially the rot-resistant black locust--have been hanging around on or just above the ground for decades. Occasionally a friend or family member comes across some particularly attractive wood from another source and sets it aside for him. (If you are interested in having custom pieces made from some of your own wood, let him know.)
Process: All of the pieces Lee sells are handcrafted using a bandsaw, power grinders, gouges, and belt sanders. Each item is sanded and treated with food-safe mineral oil before being buffed with beeswax from his bees (or, when his bees get lazy, from other local beekeepers).
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AMY WESTPHAL POTTERY
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Amy Westphal creates playful and modern functional pottery in her home studio in Montgomery County, Indiana. Hiking Indiana’s forests and watersides inspires many designs. The crinoids pottery, in particular, was created in response to the many crinoid fossils found in Sugar Creek though the years. “I love creating pottery. The tactile nature of wet clay is satisfying to manipulate. Being connected to my work is easy in this process,” Amy says.
Creating pottery is a time-consuming process over a period of weeks. Amy starts with wet clay, which is easily workable for either wheel throwing or hand building. For throwing, the piece is formed on the pottery wheel. She’ll remove it from the wheel and allow it to dry for a time before altering and trimming the piece. For handbuilding, she will form a piece with slabs or extrusions. After shaping the clay just right, the piece must be slowly dried to prevent cracking.
When a piece is bone dry, it is ready for the first firing, bisque. This firing changes the clay to a ceramic material, similar to a flower pot. Although it can be easily chipped at this intermediate stage, the piece is strong enough to handle the application of glaze and other decoration. Amy applies glaze by dipping a piece in a bucket of glaze or by brushing glaze directly on the piece, depending on the size of the piece and desired effect.
The final firing takes the piece to over 2100 °F. Making the pieces durable and functional is important to Amy. “My family eats everyday from plates, bowls, and mugs that I’ve made. They need to be durable enough for the dishwasher and family use – I understand that.”
Amy has been making pottery since 2010. Previously, she worked as an engineer, which has helped her work through the technical challenges of running a pottery studio. She lives near Crawfordsville, Indiana with her husband, children, and dogs.
Creating pottery is a time-consuming process over a period of weeks. Amy starts with wet clay, which is easily workable for either wheel throwing or hand building. For throwing, the piece is formed on the pottery wheel. She’ll remove it from the wheel and allow it to dry for a time before altering and trimming the piece. For handbuilding, she will form a piece with slabs or extrusions. After shaping the clay just right, the piece must be slowly dried to prevent cracking.
When a piece is bone dry, it is ready for the first firing, bisque. This firing changes the clay to a ceramic material, similar to a flower pot. Although it can be easily chipped at this intermediate stage, the piece is strong enough to handle the application of glaze and other decoration. Amy applies glaze by dipping a piece in a bucket of glaze or by brushing glaze directly on the piece, depending on the size of the piece and desired effect.
The final firing takes the piece to over 2100 °F. Making the pieces durable and functional is important to Amy. “My family eats everyday from plates, bowls, and mugs that I’ve made. They need to be durable enough for the dishwasher and family use – I understand that.”
Amy has been making pottery since 2010. Previously, she worked as an engineer, which has helped her work through the technical challenges of running a pottery studio. She lives near Crawfordsville, Indiana with her husband, children, and dogs.
Elderberry Everything |
Elderberry Everything was established in 2019 after becoming a mom of a kiddo with asthma. I wanted nothing more than for steroids and breathing treatments to not be a part of our life, that happened when I was introduced to elderberry syrup. When diving deeper into the magic of these little berries, I found that they have been helping people fight colds and flu, respiratory issues, arthritis, allergies and so many other things for many years. After sharing my homemade elderberry syrup with family and friends, the business quickly grew into Elderberry Everything where I now have a certified kitchen just outside of New Ross, Indiana where I made fresh homemade elderberry syrup, loose leaf elderberry tea, elderberry capsules and DIY kits fresh every week to share with your family.
tHE JUNIPER SPOON |
www.thejuniperspoon.com
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The Juniper Spoon is a full-service, harvest-inspired catering company located in Montgomery County. Each week at Four Seasons Local Market, we offer a variety of salads, soups, and heat & serve meals, all made from scratch with fresh, local ingredients. Selections range from traditional, down-home comfort food to International cuisine.
