Three Springs Farm

Read on for special events at the farm (including directions) in fall of 2009!

Situated on the northern edge of the state's central bluegrass region, two acres of fertile bottomland (pictured above) lie at the heart of the 200 acre farm. Here, we produce fruits, vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers for market, generating our family farm’s primary income.  The majority of the farm's hilly acreage consists of woods and grasslands, the latter of which provide pasture for our small herd of Nubian dairy goats and Jersey cows.  By maintaining a high ratio of woodlands and pasture to cultivated land, we aim to create a sustainable ecosystem in which wildlife and agriculture work hand-in-hand. 

 

Three Springs is owned and operated by David Wagoner and Arwen Donahue (with help from our six-year-old daughter, Phoebe). David’s paternal ancestors chose to settle here over two hundred years ago. We left our urban lives and moved to the farm in 1997, taking up where the earlier farming families left off. Using organic growing methods and selling produce has enabled us to build a solid foundation of fertile soil and caring Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shareholders.  Fall 2009 shares are now available-- see To Join for more information.

We are proud to be central Kentucky's longest-running CSA.  In addition to delicious fresh produce, we offer our subscribers the opportunity to forge a close relationship with a working farm that is devoted to the long-term health of its members, its community, and the land that sustains us. 

We are hosting two special events on the farm in fall of 2009.  On October 17, we will have a tenth-anniversary dinner, co-hosted by chef Ouita Michel of Holly Hill Inn.  The menu will feature cultivated and wild-gathered foods from the farm, and the program will include poetry  readings by Wendell Berry, Mary Ann Taylor Hall, and Kentucky Poet Laureate Gurney Norman, as well as traditional Appalachian music by Donavan Cain.  Response to this event has been tremendous, and it is SOLD OUT. 

On Sunday, October 18, from 1 pm until 7 pm, we will have a ten-year anniversary Harvest Festival, featuring traditional Appalachian music by fiddler John Harrod and banjo player Bill Donahue (who happens to be Arwen's father, in from Santa Fe for the occasion); a country cookout, with a big pot of vegetarian stew and our own organic grass-fed beef (cooked up by guest chef Nat Henton, of Holly Hill Inn), plus rhubarb lemonade and iced tea; and guided tours of the farm's newly-annexed 100 acres of woods.   $10 suggested donation-- proceeds will aid in our efforts to preserve the farm's woodlands.  No reservations needed for this one!

Contact us:
David Wagoner and Arwen Donahue
Three Springs Farm
4252 Crooked Creek Road
Carlisle, Kentucky 40311
(859) 289-2562
threespringsfarm@vol.com

Now you can visit us on Facebook. 

DIRECTIONS TO THREE SPRINGS FARM

(from Lexington--takes an hour from downtown)

4252 Crooked Creek Road, Carlisle

(859) 289-2562

 

Take US 68 & 27north (North Broadway) towards Paris.  Stay on 68 through Paris and Millersburg. 

 

As you leave Millersburg, you will cross into Nicholas county.  A little under 2 miles past the county line, you will come to some flashing yellow lights where 68 takes a left turn towards Maysville.  Take the left, staying on 68. 

 

About 2 miles from that turn you will turn left onto Route 1244.  There is a dry-laid stone barn with white trim on the left at that corner.  The turnoff will be a little beyond the Mattox auction house on the right.  If you pass Forest Retreat on the left, you have gone too far.

 

Stay on 1244 for 6 miles.  At the 3 mile point, 1244 takes a little jog to the right.  Just follow the signs and you'll be fine.  At about 5 and a half miles there's a fork in the road--you'll bear left, staying on 1244. 

 

From that point it's a little under a mile to our driveway.  You'll pass a CONGESTED AREA sign and the 6 mile marker, and about 1/4 mile beyond the marker you'll see a white house on the right with a black roof and black outbuildings and a big tree stump in the yard.  Directly across the road from this house, on the left, is our lane.  You will see a big black mailbox with our number on it.  You'll cross a concrete low-water bridge over the creek.  The barn is about a quarter mile down the lane-- look for signs or people telling you where to park.