Longview Alive! | Week 13

Walk With Us | Wellness, Wellspring, & Walking in Nature

This week at Longview Farm, we welcomed guests focused on wellness and we deepened our personal connections through shared discoveries and long walks.

Last week my cohost, Aaron Brown, took you on a virtual walk through our newly established trail system and highlighted some of the great work that our team is doing to prepare for your next visit to The Longview Farm. This week, I’ll tell you about wellness, walks and wellspring dreams for our family’s tiny farm.

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🧘 Wellness at Longview

On Saturday evening, Dragonflies United gathered for some reflection and quiet time in nature here at the farm. We were glad to offer the space as a venue for their gathering.

Our very own Aaron and Patrick were on site to support the event—Aaron filmed and photographed the experience, while Patrick led a guided meditation in the gallery and a nature walk through the fields.

The workshop focused on self-care, and it was meaningful to see the land and gallery used in this way.

If you’re interested in joining Dragonflies United or learning more about their work, we encourage you to visit their website and connect directly.

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🌿 Walk With Us: Shared Discoveries

My mom and I went on a walk through the fields at Longview Farm, and it turned into a kind of spontaneous workshop—an exploration of what a guided nature walk could look and feel like. We kept going off trail, collecting things, sharing facts, and swapping what we were carrying for something new.

My mom is a self-taught forager who spends her time hiking, exploring, and learning from the land. She’s passionate about mushrooms and native plants, and she’s always ready to share what she’s discovered.

Here are some of the things she identified as we walked together:

Chicken of the Woods, Morning Glory, Chicory, Rogue Garden

Here are some of the things I pointed out:

Mugwort, St. John’s Wort, Red Clover, Goldenrod

As we walked, we stumbled on something unexpected—a rogue garden near the compost pile. A fully developed squash and some tomato plants had sprouted, likely from discarded produce. It’s a different variety than what we’ve planted intentionally, and it’s thriving. The tomatoes seem a little behind, and I’ve noticed that everything in the sunniest field is developing later than expected. Still, it’s a beautiful surprise and a reminder that the land has its own way of giving back.

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🌰 Wellspring: A Taste of What’s to Come

As Ilya got out the second batch of walnut liqueur to sweeten—just as we had with the first one—we sampled bitters and mused about future plans to build a farm stand where we could sell produce from the farm.

This idea, which we’re calling Wellspring, reflects our hope to offer seasonal produce and small-batch creations made from what we grow and forage here.

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Closing an Exhibit that celebrates Earth: KAMI

1 Sunday Open House left to experience the earthly energies that have inspired Kiya, Miho and Eiko - 3 generations of female artists.

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Building up HUMAN | ART | EARTH

LA! is an Earth initiative under the 3 core values behind everything we do on the farm to care for our fellow Humans, celebrate their accomplishments in the Arts, and protect the Earth we all live on.

Our goal for Longview Alive! thru the rest of 2025 is to introduce you to more of the wonderful projects we have going on here on the farm, tell you how we got here and tell you where we are going. We hope you enjoy the ride as much as we do!

Thank you! to all of our Longview Alivers! -those of you who are following along with this series, commenting and engaging with our posts, attending our outdoor workshops, and supporting us when you buy merch from the gallery shop.

There are many new ways to engage with us in the works so stick around for more announcements.

Until next time, stay alive and visit Longview Farm!

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Produced by Longview Farm for visitlongviewfarm.com

Written by Jessi Stead

Photography by Aaron Brown, Jessi Stead, and Patrick Seyler