Full Circle

As I’m writing this, we’re in the middle of opening days for our three Farmed & Forged markets this season. There’s excitement, A LOT of chaos, logistics, invoices, contracts, insurance, press releases, emails, weather checking every ten minutes, and approximately five million tabs open on my computer and in my brain right now. But in the middle of all of it, I had to stop for a second and realize life has a weird way of bringing things full circle.

Before The Collective, before Farmed & Forged, before any of this existed, I was the vendor. I was the one applying and hoping I’d get accepted to a market, waking up early to load up the car, setting up my booth, and hoping people would stop by. I was hand-making skincare products at home in my kitchen while trying to figure out branding, pricing, displays, markets, customers, and just entrepreneurship in general.

I know what it feels like to build something from scratch because I did, and I think that’s a huge part of why Farmed & Forged has grown the way it has. It was never just about creating a market; it was about creating the kind of space I wanted when I was first starting out. A space where farmers, artisans, bakers, makers, creators, and small business owners felt valued while they were still figuring things out, because that’s the reality most of us are actually in. 

I know what it’s like when you’re questioning everything, trying to make enough sales to justify coming back next week, and hoping all the hard work you’re pouring into something eventually turns into momentum.

Why the Name Matters

People often ask about the name Farmed & Forged, and it means even more to me now than it did when we first named it. Obviously, it’s a nod to farmers and artisans, the people growing food, handcrafting products, and creating things with skill, care, and intention, but the word forged always carried a deeper meaning, too.

To forge something means to create it yourself and shape it through pressure, persistence, trial and error, setbacks, resilience, and a lot of figuring things out as you go. That’s entrepreneurship to me, it’s building something from the ground up, even when there isn’t a clear roadmap and learning how to keep moving forward anyway.

Farmed & Forged has always been about more than what’s sitting on the tables at the market. It’s about the people behind them, the ones forging their own way forward, building something from nothing, and continuing to show week after week, even when they don’t have it all figured out.

One of the things I’m most grateful for now is that I’ve experienced this world from both sides.

I know what it feels like to be the vendor wondering if anyone will show up. I know what it feels like to invest in yourself before you know it’s going to work. I know what it feels like to compare yourself to businesses that seem further ahead while you’re still trying to figure things out at your kitchen table.

And now, years later, I understand how powerful it is to create the kind of space that can help change the trajectory of someone’s business, because I know firsthand what those opportunities can mean.

Mandy and her son, Mark, at a 2017 market....

......and at Farmed and Forged opening weekend 2026

When you’re in the middle of building, you

rarely realize how far you’ve come. You’re too busy moving. But every once in a while, life gives you a moment where the timeline hits you all at once.

The vendor becomes the organizer, the person struggling to get into markets becomes the person running them. The thing that started as an idea slowly becomes something bigger than yourself, and honestly, that’s been one of the most emotional parts of this season for me.

Not because everything is perfect, trust me, it’s not. Building anything meaningful takes time and comes with stress, setbacks, pressure, and moments where you wonder what the hell you’re doing. But now I can finally see the distance between where I started and where I’m standing now, and that distance means so much.

What I Hope People Feel at Farmed & Forged

At the end of the day, I don’t just want people to shop at our markets-I want people to feel connected when they’re there. I want them to walk through the market and feel the energy of people creating, growing, supporting each other, and showing up for their community in real time. I want people to connect with the farmers growing their food, learn more about our nonprofit partners while being inspired to get involved, and understand the stories behind the businesses they’re supporting.

I also want the people behind those businesses, the farmers, artisans, bakers, makers, musicians, nonprofits, and small business owners, to feel genuinely valued and supported, because they are the reason Farmed & Forged exists in the first place. Whether it’s someone doing their very first market or someone who has been building for years, I want them to leave feeling encouraged, connected, and more confident in what they’re creating.

At the same time, I want families making memories, neighbors running into each other, kids learning where their food comes from, and the community to have a place to gather that feels welcoming, genuine, and alive. At the end of the day, people need connection. They want places where they can slow down, have conversations, support each other, and feel part of something real. And that’s really what I hope people feel when they walk into Farmed & Forged.

There’s something really special about realizing the thing you once needed ended up becoming the thing you built. I started in markets as a vendor trying to figure it all out, and now,

nine years later, I get to help create spaces where other people can grow through those same stages.

As we head into our fourth market season, and our first season with three markets across the Region, I feel incredibly grateful for every chapter of this journey. The uncertain chapters, the rebuilding chapters, the survival-mode chapters, and eventually the chapters where things finally started to click. Every single one of them helped shape not only what Farmed & Forged has become, but who I became as an entrepreneur along the way.

-Mandy