Have Mom Will Travel 2020-Part 3

P. Allen Smith Moss Mountain Farm Tour

We went about 40 miles to Roland, AR to Moss Mountain Farm. It is the 650 acre farm and home of P. Allen Smith. He is a home and garden designer, author of many books and cook books plus he’s a public television icon with over 20 seasons of shows.

We arrived mid-morning and were greeted with a temperature check and the freedom to browse the gift shop and wander around while we waited for the tour to officially begin. We then were welcomed and given a brief overview before being split into 3 smaller groups. With 12 other visitors, our tour guide led us first to the vegetable garden.

The vegetable garden had much more than vegetables. It also had flowers and beautiful structures and landscaping. We walked through the gourd tunnels and admired the late-summer blooming flowers.

We were led down the hill to the rose garden. It featured and amazing view of the river while also containing your attention with sweet smelling roses and unique archways and structures made from leftover materials from the main house building.

We followed the carriage path to the terrace gardens. They feature beautiful stone work and awesome garden sheds. I fell in love with the symmetry. And the view is unbelievable in both directions- up the hill to the huge home or down the hill through the clearing to the river.

The tour moved inside after stopping at Allen’s garden art studio, complete with his own works of art on display. Inside the main house- built in the 2000’s but made to look straight from 1840, we were amazed by the tall ceilings, artwork and amount of books. We toured the main floor, upstairs, the porches and even the third floor.

We went back outside, across Daffodil hill, that boasts 100s of thousands of daffodils in the spring, and headed to the Poultry Palace and other livestock area. The farm has sheep, geese, swans, ducks, turkeys, many breeds of chickens, a horse, goat and mule.

The tour concluded with a stop at the cottage, built as part of his television show. After a walk-thru we trekked back up the hill to the large lunch tent. Here we were served a meal, inspired by P. Allen Smith’s cookbook. We ate a grilled chicken Greek salad and Buttermilk Pecan Pie.

We were surprised with a personal appearance of Allen himself. At the start of the tour we were unsure if he would be arriving at the farm in time. He made it and answered questions and spoke about his passions. He also stayed around for pictures and book signing.

Allen has a very unique personality and we decided we like him even more after hearing him speak and meeting him in person. We purchased a cookbook and had it signed- addressed to all three of us. Now we are waiting for Mom to start making the recipes and serving them to us.

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Have Mom Will Travel 2020-Part 1
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Have Mom Will Travel 2020-Part 4
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