2018 has been a big year for Whippoorwill Hill. The inaugural event kicked off last September, and after a few wonderful 2017 weddings and events, a cold winter, and a slow spring that allowed us to enjoy about three full weeks of daffodils, our first “busy season” is in full swing.
What we love about our farm is that “busy” isn’t just in our event barn. “Busy” is everywhere. The whole farm has been buzzing with activity. Our soybean crop is in and looking lush, extensive landscaping has been done around the back of the barn and parking lots, the driveway has been widened to allow for simultaneous incoming and outgoing traffic, Mary (the farm truck) drove in her first of many Fourth of July parades, Jeff and a family of groundhogs have been battling for supremacy, and there have been 24 new additions to the farm.
You will see the soybeans when you come to our gate. They line either side of our winding drive to the barns. As they grow throughout this season, they will provide a bigger and bigger screen for the barns and our events. Currently you can only see the tippy top of the barn from the road. Come September, the beans will be so tall that the barn will be completely hidden—our little Secret Garden. The soybean leaves will turn a beautiful yellow during one of our lucky guest’s events when the seasons change in early fall. It makes for some stunning photos—photos we can’t wait to see!
We partnered with a local small business, Mother Nature Landscaping, to do our landscaping, and what a great job they did! We were required by Monroe County Planning Department to put in a certain amount of trees, shrubs, and perennials to be able to use our farm as an event space. To date, landscaping has been my favorite requirement. We got to choose almost any plant we wanted from a lovely and extensive list of allowable species. Dogwoods, redbuds, river birch, serviceberry, viburnum, winterberry… The list goes on! Add to that our monarch butterfly habitat and we will have color and blooms for every season.
The widened driveway, while not the most exciting update, is certainly useful. No more of one car hanging off into the grass while another drives by. The drive is wide enough for two cars to pass and has been topped with the best little gravel that makes the drive as smooth as butter. Well, almost. If you’ve not been to the farm, be advised that the road is indeed gravel—part of our true farm vibe. Jeff now lovingly refers to the drive as a superhighway and drives accordingly. I much prefer to drive slow and take a mini mental vacation on the way to the barn. Once again, Flynn and Sons outdid themselves (they also did our parking lots and bioswales)!
Also, as previously mentioned, we participated in Bloomington’s 4th of July parade. We drove the original farm truck: a 1953 Chevy that lived on our farm decades before we owned either the farm or the truck. If you’d like to learn more about our truck, please see our blog about “Mary.” Dad expertly made beautiful slats for her bed and slapped our logo on them. Of course, we had to have the occasion photographed, and our dear and highly talented friend Natalie from Noel Photos captured those memories for us.
Finally, we come to the most exciting update on our farm! We have twenty-four new babies at Whippoorwill Hill: twenty-three spring/summer calves and one little boy, Graham Andrew, born on Valentine’s Day 2018. “Over the moon” doesn’t begin to describe how we feel about our little bundle of joy. Now, instead of having one little boy running around the farm, trying to scare customers, splashing in the creek, or flirting with our brides on their wedding day, we’ll have two. Please accept our apologies in advance!
For more information on Whippoorwill Hill or booking your event, please call or email us at (812) 327-4218 or anne@whippoorwill-hill.com.
