The Pauline Manor Bread Shed is officially a member of the American Farmstand Association, a national organization created to support and connect farmstands, roadside stands, farmers, bakers, growers, and makers across the country. I’m also excited to be serving as the Association’s first Northwest Florida Farmstand Ambassador, helping connect and promote farmstands throughout our part of the state.
The Bread Shed has only been open a few weeks, so becoming an ambassador definitely wasn’t on my bingo card quite yet. But when I learned more about the American Farmstand Association and what they’re working to build, getting involved made sense. I love the idea of helping people find and support more small farmstands like ours, especially here in Northwest Florida.
What Is the American Farmstand Association?
The American Farmstand Association was created to support, connect, and bring more visibility to small farmstand businesses throughout the United States.
And “farmstand” has a much broader meaning than a table of tomatoes on the side of the road.
The Association includes traditional farms and produce stands, but it also welcomes bakers, growers, makers, honor stands, roadside stands, and other small businesses selling locally produced food and handmade goods.
Its goal is to make those businesses easier for people to find while creating a network where farmstand owners can connect, share resources, collaborate, and learn from one another.
Why the Pauline Manor Bread Shed Joined
I opened the Pauline Manor Bread Shed to have a simpler way to make the things we were already producing here available to our local community.
The Shed is stocked with sourdough baked goods, jams, honey from our own bees, pantry staples, and some of the handmade home apothecary products I make here at Pauline Manor. It’s only been open for two weeks, but it already feels like a natural extension of everything we do here.
The Bread Shed is small. It isn’t a grocery store or a traditional bakery storefront, and I don’t want it to become one.
I love that you can stop at a little shed on a back road and pick up bread that was baked that morning, a jar of local honey, homemade jam, or something made right here at Pauline Manor.
There are farmstands like this all over the country, and the American Farmstand Association is working to make those small businesses easier to find and support.
The First Northwest Florida Farmstand Ambassador
Along with joining the Association, I’ve taken on the role of its first Northwest Florida Farmstand Ambassador.
My role isn’t just to talk about Pauline Manor. I want to help bring attention to other farmstands, growers, bakers, makers, and small businesses throughout Northwest Florida.
Farmstands are everywhere from rural back roads to neighborhoods and right in the middle of town, and a lot of people simply don’t know how many are around them. Some have regular hours, while others operate on the honor system. Some sell vegetables and eggs, while others specialize in baked goods, flowers, honey, meat, handmade products, or a little bit of everything.
That’s one of the things I love about the farmstand model. There really isn’t one way to do it, and you don’t need acres of farmland in the country to create something that serves your local community.
As the Northwest Florida Farmstand Ambassador, I’ll be helping local farmstand owners learn more about the Association, encouraging connections between stands, and helping more people discover what is being grown, baked, raised, and made right here in our part of Florida.
If you operate a farmstand anywhere in Northwest Florida, I would genuinely love to hear from you.
American Farmstand Day Is August 30
There’s another reason the timing of this announcement is particularly fun.
The American Farmstand Association has created American Farmstand Day, a national celebration held on the last Sunday in August. In 2026, American Farmstand Day falls on Sunday, August 30.
The idea is wonderfully simple: go visit a farmstand. That's it.
Take a different road and find a stand you’ve never visited. Buy bread from a local baker, vegetables from a nearby grower, honey from a beekeeper, flowers from a flower farm, or something handmade by someone in your community.
You don’t need a ticket or an official event to participate. American Farmstand Day is a grassroots celebration, and anyone can take part simply by choosing to spend some of their money with a local farmstand.
The American Farmstand Association is also building resources to help people find participating farmstands and discover stands they may not even know are nearby.
For all of the official information about the celebration, visit the American Farmstand Day website.
Celebrating American Farmstand Day at Pauline Manor
Of course, the Pauline Manor Bread Shed will be celebrating American Farmstand Day too.
I’ll share more about what we have planned as August 30 gets closer, including what will be stocked in the Shed that weekend.
More importantly, I hope American Farmstand Day gives people a reason to look beyond Pauline Manor and see what else is available locally.
Visit the vegetable stand you always drive past. Find someone selling eggs or local honey. Stop at a roadside bakery. Pick up flowers from a local grower. Tell your friends about a great little stand you discover.
Small farmstands depend heavily on people knowing they exist, and sometimes supporting one really is as simple as pulling over.
Come Visit the Pauline Manor Bread Shed
I’m excited to see where the Bread Shed goes from here, but I’m equally excited to have an opportunity to help shine a light on other people growing, baking, raising, and making things throughout Northwest Florida.
Joining the American Farmstand Association gives Pauline Manor a chance to be part of something much larger than our little shed while still keeping the focus exactly where I think it belongs: on small, local businesses and the communities that support them.
And now we have one more reason to take the back roads and see what we find.