Medders Family Farm welcomes community to farm after difficult year
Published 1:37 pm Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Medders Family Farm invited the community to celebrate spring with Easter egg hunts and activities for the whole family. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines)
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By RACHEL RAIFORD | Staff Writer
MONTEVALLO – Medders Family Farm invited the community to celebrate spring with Easter egg hunts and activities for the whole family.
Children raced across the grass to grab their fill of Easter eggs during Medders Family Farm’s annual Spring Fling.
On Saturday, March 16, the farm hosted its annual Spring Fling along with a craft fair that featured more than 50 vendors. There were also 10 food trucks on-site for lunch.
There were two easter egg hunts during the event, one at 10:30 a.m. and another at 2:30 p.m. with more than 13,000 eggs hiding out in the field for children to race each other for.
Owner Ashley Medders expressed her excitement after opening up the farm to the community.
In addition to the vendors and food trucks, the Easter Bunny was present for families were encouraged to stop and take a photo upon entering the farm. In between photos, the Easter bunny was seen waving and dancing at passers-by.
“We love to support the community and we enjoy seeing everybody come out and be happy and excited, and get to spend the day doing something that takes the financial burden off of having a family fun day,” Medders said.
After the egg hunt, families gathered to look through each egg and children ran around, showed off their candy and traded with siblings and family members.
Medders explained how, due to their peanut butter business, the farm has made substantial connections within the small business community. This allowed for a greater number of vendors to register ahead of time, causing the reserved spaces to fill up quickly.
“They trust us and our reputation and the things that we do, so word of mouth spreads quickly and we always cap our vendors off and always fill up before the event,” Medders said.
Medders also spoke about the work that goes into planning the event, along with the struggles they face privately as a family.
“My husband works a full-time job as a nurse manager, and I have health problems, some pretty significant ones, that have developed,” Medders said.
Medders’ ongoing health issues have remained private until recently. Her port access for in-home treatments was visible on the day of the event, and she believes this really clued people in on the status of her health.
“I was not my usual peppy, running-around self,” Medders explained. “I did everything I could on Saturday—but I was very exhausted during treatments, which made it more difficult to get everything together.”
Her husband, Chris, works full-time as a nurse, so her treatments can be done at home—which is something she expressed her gratitude for. Medders also went into detail about her children and their friends’ work on their farm.
“Our kids have a few friends who love coming out to help as much as they can,” Medders said. “A lot of the time it’s 10 to 12-year-old kids that are cleaning up, picking up trash, shoveling fields and treating ant beds. For the day of, we’ll have a few kids that spend the night before with us, and they get up and help us put it all together.”
In addition to the family-friends’ willingness to help, they have also begun to hire some new faces.
“We’re hiring a lot more help, and we’re bringing a lot more people in to try and keep things going,” Medders said. “Our business has seen a tremendous up-tick this year. We’ve always had a pretty solid business, but this year we have really amped things up.”
Despite Medders’ health issues, it has not slowed her down. She continued to work on Saturday and is even planning future community events for the farm.
The next event Medders Family Farm plans to host its annual Christmas on the Farm. Last year, the event hosted 74 vendors along with Santa and a jazz band. The farm also makes vendor appearances throughout the year to sell their products.
Those interested in learning more about Medders Family Farm and its events can follow on Instagram, Facebook or visit its website https://medders-family-farm.square.site.
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