Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/161202
The Marions offer a number of ways to make their Blanchardville farm (45 minutes from Madison) feel like yours via its CSA deliveries to Madison, Fitchburg and New Glarus; 11 classes covering topics like beginning vegetable growing and dying fibers; or by visiting the farm to purchase meat or wool products. Classes: $60-$100. Check Circle M Farm's goings-on via its Facebook page and blog. "At least once a week someone says it's like getting a present, and that's exactly how I want it to feel." In addition to fresh vegetables and fruits, Circle M Farm processes and sells grassfed meat from its cows, plus eggs and chicken meat. At her Chicago home, Marion hosted monthly knitting nights and decoupage days. She continues that tradition on the farm, inspired by her love for quaint decorating magazines like Victoria and Country Living's British edition, which she's read like a religion for close to three decades. "It was all about people living the dream," she says. Those glossy pages of women turning decorating, crafts and style into a career, inspired her to launch Maid Marion Cottage Industries after the move to Blanchardville. "I love the idea of a true cottage industry where it's small. I like the idea of a farmstand where you get to see everyone who comes up," says Marion. "We don't want to be big." Hosting visitors at the farm is her biggest delight, whether it's for a half-day fiberarts workshop—which could include dying wool from sheep she's sheared on 60 brava magazine | september 2013 "A lot of people think I'm living their dream. Farmers are a little bit like rock stars at the moment." — Kriss Marion the farm or felting that wool into art—or an overnight stay that folds in farm chores. Currently, there are private accommodations on the farmhouse's second floor and a sliding-fee scale for those who wish to more fully experience farm life for a spell. But she's quick to tell people this is the dirtiest, toughest job she's had yet. "A lot of people think I'm living their dream. Farmers are a little bit like rock stars at the moment," Marion says. After seven years on the farm, Marion has found her calling, in a life richer than she could have ever dreamed, and far from the metropolis of Chicago. She no longer experiences pain from rheumatoid arthritis despite toiling in the fields starting as early as 6 a.m. during summer months. "I wouldn't have said yes to it if I wasn't sick. My body feels better than it ever has," she says. "I want to be here. I don't ever want to leave my farm. This was like coming home to my childhood."