By the Time We Got to Woodstock
Leisurely road trip to a charming exurban market and two regenerative farms
A Market, Two Farms, a Pop Quiz for Movie Fans
The gazebo above is in Historic Woodstock Square in the small city of that name, about 60 miles northwest of Chicago. I took another field trip yesterday with wonderful company of my wife Barb, with stops at the Woodstock Farmers Market and two regenerative farms: Terra Vitae Farms just outside Woodstock and Jacobson Family Farms in Antioch, about 25 miles east.
If you are a big movie fan in general, or a fan (as I am) of the 1993 Bill Murray film Groundhog Day, that gazebo might give you a little déjà vu. The movie, set in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania during its annual Groundhog Day celebration, was actually filmed in Woodstock, with the square and its gazebo playing a major role.
The parking area from which I took this photo of the square’s entrance may have been where Bill Murray’s character kidnapped the groundhog in a scene famous for his line, “Don’t drive angry.”
We certainly didn’t want to drive angry. So we took the scenic route to Woodstock via roads less traveled than Interstate 90, which almost inevitably has a buzz-killing miles-long slowdown getting out of and into Chicago. It took a little longer but it was downright leisurely, adding to the pleasure of what turned into a spectacular day out.
We enjoyed it so much that on the way home, we worked our way east to Sheridan Road in the very upscale North Shore suburbs, lined with trees and huge handsome houses with occasional glimpses of Lake Michigan. It takes a big longer (maybe not, depending on highway traffic), and is a much more pleasant way to go if you’re not in a big hurry.
We certainly picked the most beautiful day for this trip, and Woodstock is about as charming as a small city can be.
Apart from the square, the Woodstock Opera House — which dates to 1889 — is the city’s most famous landmark. You won’t see it in the movie, though, because Woodstock was supposed to be Punxsutawney. I learned something while researching the Opera House: the late Orson Welles, famed actor and director, was born and raised in Woodstock, and the Opera House stage is dedicated to him.
While on another field trip last week, I dropped in for a visit at Broadview Farm and Garden in Marengo, about 12 miles southwest of Woodstock, as a follow-up to an article I wrote about owners Delicia and Tim Brown for Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois in February. Broadview sells at the Woodstock farmers markets held on Tuesdays and Saturdays, so we stopped by to say hi to Delicia (and buy some more delicious produce).
Rules for selling adult beverages vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but Holzlager, a local craft brewery, was vending at the Woodstock market.
We were on our way to Terra Vitae Farms, so we stopped at their meat stand as well. Colleen Biver (wearing a hat), her husband Mike (a friend of mine for several years), and her parents Kevin and Katie Kelley own and run the farm.
I will be writing full articles about the farms we visited, both of which are doing amazing work to help build a better food system from the ground up, so I won’t do any spoilers here. I do want to thank Mike Biver of Terra Vitae Farms…
… and Kyle Jacobson of Jacobson Farms…
… for the extensive and educational tours of their pastures and woodlots where their livestock graze.
There was also lots of interaction with farm animals, including more ducks than we’d ever seen in one place, at the first of Jacobson’s three farms.
The goats at Terra Vitae Farms are friendly, though I’ve seen the quizzical expression from the bold goat at the front is one I’ve seen from people as well. That’s Barb in the background with one of the farm’s guardian dogs.
I’ve said before that I can never visit a farmers market or a farm without buying stuff, and it would be downright rude if I didn’t do so on their turf.
From the right are bacon/cheddar/jalapeno bratwurst, bacon and pork chops from Terra Vitae Farms, carrots, golden beets, summer squash, cucumbers and shishito peppers from Broadview Farms, a big yellow tomatoes gifted us by two Ukrainian women who were doing some culling at Jacobson Family Farms, and apple doughnuts and a raspberry apple pie from Royal Oak Farm (Harvard, Illinois) that we bought at the market. I’ll catch up with Jacobson Family Farms at Green City Market this Saturday.
Lots more to come.