week 45: introducing...

this week on the little dream farm

Hello! May I kindly ask that you read this post all the way through to the end this week. We have a REALLY BIG announcement in store for you and I want to make sure you get all the necessary details!!

Hi, friend! Would you play make believe with me for a few minutes?

Imagine this…

You’re in the car with your GPS set to the LDF and you’re nearly here. You come down the hill of our winding road…you can see the Green Mountains to the East in the distance.

You arrive at our farm sign and pull in the long driveway, passing the lower barn where the chicken coop is and pulling straight up to the house.

The chickens are pecking around the yard. Black Kitty is sitting on the top step of the porch. And as you peek up onto the hill where the big barn is…you see Molly-Max and Dominic curiously looking to see whose arrived.

Chris and I come out from the house to greet you with big bear hugs and we all take a lap around the farm to see the animals.

As we make our way into the house you can already smell that dinner is on.

There’s a fire in the wood stove. Our favorite candles are burning. The pretty lantern lights are on. The shades of the windows are all open so you can see 360-degree views of the farm surrounding you.

Dodger, Oliver, Buist, Black and White Kitty, Micro, and Little Lady are all curious to meet you.

Everyone is so glad you’re here.

You kick off your shoes and get nice and relaxed…immediately you feel like you’re right at home.

You grab a drink and take a seat at the table while we chat and Chris and I move about the kitchen and the cats are all sniffing you out.

We haven’t told you what’s for dinner yet, but by the smell alone you can tell it’s going to be something divine.

Earlier that day we picked up the proteins from our farmer…the wonderful man whom we know and love who works incredibly hard raising beef, chicken, pork, and lamb to feed hundreds of families in a few of our small little nearby towns.

Most of the fruits or veggies have either come directly from our farm and garden or from a series of nearby local organic farms…from farmers we know and love and appreciate in a way that is hard to describe but deeply meaningful.

The meal we chose to make for you tonight is directly in line with what is fresh and available in the current season in which you’re visiting.

We talk and laugh as you ask us all your burning questions of things you’ve always wanted to know more about the farm and we curiously ask you questions about your life and your family and your work and your pets, it’s such a deep pleasure for us to get to know you better in real life.

Chris and I are putting the final touches on dinner and when we place all the dishes on the table, we get to experience the pure joy of watching the incredibly big smile on your face as you look about the table.

We pray together if it is your practice or we simply give thanks for this meal before us, for the ability to sit together and share it, for the men and women who work so hard to feed us, and to the plants and animals that will nourish our bodies.

We don’t even need to encourage you to please help yourself…you feel so at home you already do. As you make your plate we walk you through the meal we’ve made for you and tell you all about where and who we’ve soured everything from, how it’s made, and maybe even tell you a story or two about how the meal came to be or with whom we’ve enjoyed it with before in our small village where we have a handful of good friends.

As you take your first bites your mind is doing flips. You can’t help but say, “Mmmm!” aloud. It’s the freshness of the food, the quality of the meal, how the flavors meld together for the most scrumptious tastes. You’re thinking back to a time when you had a better meal and you’re having a hard time recalling one.

We talk and laugh and carry on like old friends as we tell you stories of some of the aspects of farm life that you don’t see on the ‘gram, and you tell us about your deepest, wildest dreams. This land…this farm…feels like the very place to speak them aloud, as there’s something about this place that makes it feel like it’s possible for them all to come true.

You help yourself to a second and maybe even a little third helping until you’re deeply, deeply satisfied.

Following dinner we take a trip outside and you come along with us (and Black Kitty!) to watch and maybe help with all the night chores as we tuck the farm in for the night before heading back inside for tea/coffee, and dessert…something homemade…something not too sweet…but just the right cap to the ending of a wonderful night together.

Our goodbye hugs are a little tighter and a tad longer as we wish you the most wonderful evening and say so long, bidding you off into the most fabulous starry night sky to guide your way home.

What a pleasure it was to spend time with you. What a treat it was to get to know you better. What a wonderful blessing for us to have the chance to make for you an authentic meal…from our farm table straight to you.

We’re so happy you could make it. We hope it’s the best and most memorable farm-style meal you ever have!!

---

And with that my friends, may I proudly introduce to you…

Our Farm Table to You…the subscription.

This new, membership-only cooking community feature of our Substack was born out of the very daydream I detailed above. Exactly what we’d want it to be like if we were to have you over for dinner on the farm.

Since we’re here in Upstate New York and you’re all scattered about the globe, we’ve decided on the following instead:

Remember that LDF cookbook I was wanting to write? You know, the one some of y’all keep nudging me to write, too?!

Well, I’m over the moon to announce that now you get both!

Each week beginning in 2024—for 50 weeks of the year (plus two weeks off for us!)—we’ll share with you on Friday mornings a recipe that we make here on the farm.

I’ve taken great care to select only the very best of the things we make and enjoy regularly, or from recipes I’ve developed from meals or treats we’ve had with friends, neighbors, or from local restaurants or bakeries in this area.

You’ll get a chance to cook alongside us and make these meals either for yourself and/or for those you love. The recipes will be released every Friday morning so that you have something to look forward to in finishing out the week, and since many of us make trips to the store or have more time for cooking nice meals on the weekends.

We encourage you to review the recipe, go get the things you may need, and make it right away—either over the weekend or within the following week, so that we’re all making the recipe together!

Many of our recipes are simple, use as few ingredients as possible for ease, and can be made in under an hour (some with several hours for roasting/baking time).

Plus! This membership-only feature will allow members to comment, connect with one another, talk about additions, substitutions, or various cooking methods used or to share a similar recipe of your own. Essentially—we all get to cook and enjoy the same thing together, even if we’re all doing it in our own kitchens around the world.

But that’s not all…

We’ll be rolling these 50 recipes up into a full Little Dream Farm cookbook with an additional 25 recipes for a total of 75 recipes in a beautifully-designed cookbook you can gift to yourself or those you know and love, and share with them the magic of the Little Dream Farm! This will be released in late-2024.

So now, here are a bunch of really important details to consider before choosing your subscription…

1. The three subscription tiers you may choose from are as follows:

   $150/year founding member (see note 2!)
   $75/year annual member
   $8/month monthly member

2. When you choose the founding member, $150 subscription, subscribers in the US will get a free hardbound version of the cookbook. Those in other countries will have the option to receive a digital version of the cookbook or to pay shipping to receive the hardbound cookbook in late-2024.

3. When you choose the $75 subscription, you save $21 over the monthly membership price of $8/month. This does not come with a free hardbound cookbook option.

4. Here’s the math for you:
   $150/year = $12.50 per month OR $3 per recipe (plus the free copy of the cookbook)
   $75/year = $6.25 per month OR $1.50 per recipe
   $8/month = $8.00 per month OR $1.92 per recipe

5. When you DONATE an additional $75 subscription (this is in addition to a subscription you purchase yourself), we’ll gift that to someone who really wants to be a part of the Our Farm Table to You community but cannot make the funds work. Please see the Q&A section below for details on how to donate.

6. If financially you cannot make the subscription price work, email me personally at bergsteinsarah@gmail.com and with no questions asked we’ll set you up with one of the donated annual subscriptions that one of our generous supporters paid for on your behalf. This will be private and discreet to both the donor and the recipient as an act of good will.

7. When you GIFT a subscription to a friend or loved one, you can purchase any tier level of subscription as just that—a gift. Consider this option if you’d like a friend or loved one to join you in making these recipes along with us from week to week! You can also purchase multiple subscriptions at once, and you may gift those as well. See the subscription page for details.

8. EARN back the price of your membership by referring others. When you refer your friends and loved ones and they sign up for a subscription as well, you’ll receive the following:

   For 5 referrals = one month comped
   For 10 referrals = three months comped
   For 20 referrals = six months comped

9. Cook in community! This is one of my favorite parts. Join in with others to share in the fun of learning new recipes, making things together each week, and getting to hang out and talk about what we’re making, who you made it for, and how they loved it! I’m so looking forward to your photos of you cooking, finished photos of your meal once made, and everyone you gather ‘round the table to enjoy them!

10. And finally…if you’ve ever wanted a way to support the LDF, this is a perfect way to do so! All proceeds from member subscriptions will be put towards the cost of food to prepare the meals from week to week and all additional funds will be applied directly to our farm’s annual expenses: animal care, pasture and field maintenance, gardening and growing, and general maintenance and upkeep. If you’d like to specify what you’d prefer your subscription benefits (e.g. hay for the donkeys, food for the chickens, bedding for the animals, etc.) please feel free to do so and we’ll ensure your dollars are spent accordingly.

    Now to answer some of your questions...

I tried to anticipate any and all questions you may have. Should you have any further questions please comment directly on this post and we’ll get you an answer as quickly as we can!

Question: So what happens to the Farm Note?
Answer: Great question! Not a thing! The Sunday weekly Farm Note will remain absolutely FREE—whether you choose an Our Farm Table to You subscription or not, you’ll still have access to the free weekly Farm Note. The schedule in 2024 will be as follows:
Friday morning: one weekly Our Farm Table to You recipe released to paid subscribers only
Sunday morning: free weekly Farm Note released to all subscribers (both paid and unpaid)

Question: When do we start?!
Answer: We’ll get the new year off to a great start! The first recipe will be released on Friday, January 5, 2024…just eight weeks from now, if you could believe it! Every Friday thereafter (minus two as we’ll plan to take two weeks off sometime during the year) we’ll release the new weekly recipe!

Question: Do I have to make the recipe that weekend?
Answer: You’re not bound to any kind of schedule! Once published these recipes can be bookmarked or referred back to whenever you’d like to make them any time you’d like. As a recommendation, we’ll release the recipes every Friday morning and we encourage you to pick up the ingredients and make it that weekend or the following week, just so that you can cook along with everyone else who is cooking that week!

Question: What skill level do I need to make these recipes?
Answer: Can you follow recipe directions? Then you’re highly qualified! There’s no need for any special skills, equipment, or any well-developed cooking techniques or abilities. My cooking is simple, delicious, and generally easy to make—I think you’ll find so, too, although I’m also hoping you learn a few things and feel like you become a better cook along the way!

Question: What types of food are we going to be making?
Answer: If you’ve seen me share meals here and there on our Instagram or the free recipes we’ve shared via the Farm Note throughout this past year, you can expect much of the same. I’ve pre-planned the 2024 schedule and each recipe corresponds to the time of year, season, and seasonal availability of ingredients. Additionally, I took great care to ensure the recipes cover brunch, soups, main dishes, and desserts. Finally, I’ve also ensured there’s a very good mix of protein-based dishes, so you can expect to see chicken, beef, pork, and lamb, and a little bit of fish throughout the year. We lean heavily on main dishes so as to get the most of your money out of the subscription!

Question: What if I have food allergies?
Answer: For the most part you should be able to make the substitutions you need in order to support any food allergy you may have. I do, however, bake all of my desserts using gluten-free flour and while recipes in total may not be 100% gluten free, I do avoid it and try to provide substitutions where possible. Additionally, I always try to avoid processed ingredients like seeds oils, margarine, products containing soy lecithin, guar gum, carrageenan gum, corn starch, fake sugars, dyes, coloring, or added preservatives. Where possible, I’ll provide specific brand recommendations or suggestions.

Question: What if I’m vegan or vegetarian?
Answer: I hate to say it but this may not be a fit for you! Vegetarians may be able to get enough out of a membership by making substitutions according to your preferences, but none of the recipes included in the Our Farm Table to You subscription are vegan.

Question: What is your food philosophy?
Answer: Food is medicine. Food is nourishment. Food is love. Food is healing. And…we’re humans and we have to eat, so we may as well eat good! Chris and I cook at home most days of the week and we most generally make everything from scratch. I care a lot about whole, healthy, unprocessed foods, and we source almost all of our proteins from a local farmer and as many of our fruits and vegetables as we can from local organic farmers in our area. This subscription will offer you ideas and resources to be able to do the same no matter where you live. We shop organic when possible (and where affordable) and while none of that is required for you to participate in Our Farm Table to You, I will offer information and advice that is hopefully both educational and attainable for you to follow in choosing better ingredients if you wish.

Question: I’d like to donate a subscription to someone who may not be able to afford one. How do I do that?
Answer: Please visit https://littledreamfarm.substack.com/donate, there will be an option to DONATE a membership. Please choose the $75 annual subscription. When you donate a subscription, I will reserve that for anyone who should contact me that really wants to participate in the Our Farm Table to You community but cannot make the funds work. This subscription will be donated on your behalf and this transaction will be discreet as an act of good will. Email me at bergsteinsarah@gmail.com if you have ANY issues with this. By the way…thank you for your generous gift!

Question: I can’t afford a membership but I really want to take part in this. Is there any way you can help?
Answer: Email me personally at bergsteinsarah@gmail.com. With no questions asked, and if there is a donated membership available to you, we’ll happily provide you with a donated subscription that was so generously donated from a fellow follower and subscriber.

Question: What if I already pledged a subscription? Do I have to cancel that and sign up with the current pricing tiers?
Answer: Thank you to those of you who pledged your support to the free Farm Note in the 2023 season. Your belief in what we’re creating is what helped us put this cooking community subscription into action. For that reason, the amount that you pledged is the amount that will be honored for your subscription to Our Farm Table to You at whatever the price was that you pledged. You are now a member! Thank you for your belief in us—it means more than you know!

---

We’ve been thinking about this all year and wanting to be able to do something like this so badly! Finally a window has opened up to allow me to take the leap and make this weekly cooking subscription and the eventual cookbook a reality! We really hope you’ll join us, we’re so excited to have you, and we hope this is a wonderful and fun cooking and community experience for everyone who joins!

From Our Farm Table to You and from our hearts to yours…Let’s get cooking!

Go on…subscribe today by visiting this link: https://littledreamfarm.substack.com/subscribe

Note: In order to subscribe, you may be asked to enter your email below and it will bring up the paywall option for you to become a paid subscriber. Alternatively, there may be a button (or two) at the bottom of the post or in your emailed version of the Farm Note that says “Upgrade to paid.” Click that to choose your paid subscription option. Should you have any issues with this, comment below or email me at bergsteinsarah@gmail.com