Greetings from Virginia

Contributed by Ashley Fowler

The Heritage Virginia community began in June, 2014. Over the past eleven years, we’ve grown into a thriving community of 61 members and 47 children. This spring we have worked together to build the Heritage Table Bakery, which we plan to open this summer.

Brothers and sisters from a community in North Carolina have been joining us almost every weekend for fellowship and worship.

In February and March, we tapped our maple trees to produce 51 gallons of delicious maple syrup. We use most of it ourselves. But we also bottle some syrup in beautiful leaf-shaped jars that we offer at our self-serve stand.

Currently we are planting white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions in our community garden. Fresh herbs, chard, garlic, and lettuce are ready to harvest in our greenhouse. Our home gardens overflow with an abundance of produce.

Our community recently participated in the local Nickelsville Days festival. This annual event is an opportunity to share our lives with the friends and neighbors who gather to enjoy delicious food, refreshing drinks, and live music. Our brick oven pizza and homemade cinnamon rolls are always crowd favorites. New additions this year included a handcrafted espresso booth and a fresh-pressed lemonade stand, both of which were well received.

At the festival we displayed a wide range of artisan crafts: pen turning, build-your-own wooden tractors, chair caning, pottery, wood carving, furniture building, blacksmithing, leatherwork, and basket weaving. We also featured a separate fiber craft tent for the first time this year, where guests could observe and try their hands at spinning, weaving, and other fiber arts.

We also offered hands-on activities for all ages, including make-your-own jump ropes, soap balls, wooden spoons, pens, and baskets.

Our community has grown this year. Several families from Texas have moved to Virginia. In March Brother David and Sister Jenni McCormick welcomed a healthy baby boy named James Duncan. Sister Annabeth Vidauretta was baptized in April. On May 4th, we witnessed the marriage of Larry Luker and Mary May, followed the next day by the engagement celebration of Judah Jennings and Hannah Fowler. They plan to marry in Virginia on August 9th.

We are grateful for what God has done in our lives this year and look forward to what He is yet to do. On we go, together!