EASTHAMPTON — Farm Pause & Pivot grew when owners Miana Hoyt Dawson and Terry Dawson decided to set down roots.
The Dawsons bought a late 18th century Williamsburg farmhouse in 2010, but they never stayed put for too long. Instead, the couple were like seeds flowing in the wind: Terry regularly travelled across the country for his job, and Miana spent three weeks each month in Minnesota for hers. Farming would be their retirement project, they thought.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the two busybodies found themselves confined to their property. In between work, they tended to a garden, a growing flock of chickens and a herd of goats.
“It was so nice to be able to be at the farm, and really just kind of live that life instead of just pass through that life,” Miana said.
Miana and Terry had a thought: why wait to begin their farm? With baby goats chewing at their papers, the couple drafted a business plan for a hydroponic farm and rustic goods business. In 2021, Pause & Pivot officially began.
Five years after opening, the farm has fully flowered and is expanding to Easthampton. As of April 26, Pause & Pivot launched Farm Kitchen Workshop at 190 Pleasant St. — the former Easthampton American Legion building. Part farm store, part event space and entirely community-driven, Terry and Miana designed their brick-and-mortar and menu so each visitor leaves with a new food, fact or friend.
“Education through eating, that’s what it is,” Miana said. “So everything that we do, whether it’s a workshop or a tasting or something, it’s our goal is to have people leave with something new that they’ve learned.”
Pause and Pivot soft-launched its new space this week with the official opening of its cafe and farm store. The event and workshop space will officially open for the First Harvest Celebration on May 2. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., local bands will play music while patrons can sample freshly grown salad greens and baked sweets.
The farm will continue its operations in Williamsburg, but that location will support Community Shared Agriculture patrons and markets like the Florence Farmers Market.
The interior of 190 Pleasant St may look new, but the renovations repurposed the building’s historic bones. In the former Main Hall, workers removed old carpet and sterile ceiling tiles to expose light maple flooring and a deep-colored 19th-century copper roof. The chestnut-stained countertops from the Legion’s wrap-around bar now serve as checkout and coffee counters in the cafe. Terry constructed a wooden backsplash at the main bar from old doors in the building’s basement.
“Every piece of wood that’s not rotten has a potential for it to become something, be it a shelf in a closet somewhere, or be it a fine piece of furniture,” said Terry, who plans to teach woodworking workshops in the basement. “When I’m just feeling creative, I look at what wood do I have at my disposal, rather than trying to go and buy lumber from a mill.”
Pause & Pivot also brought their farm to the new location, although an unsuspecting biker on the Manhan Rail Trail probably would not notice. From the outside, the high-controlled hydroponic farm appears as a large white packing container. Inside, Farm Manager Lexi Fappinano-Whalen maintains vertical panels of lettuces, mustard greens, kale and microgreens to sell in the farm store.
The two commercial kitchens and liquor license allows Head of Food Operations Katie See to cook up all kinds of goodies. See came from her own home baking business in Albany, New York, to join her high school friend’s fledging business. Their brainstorming started with a spreadsheet of cupcakes and chick emojis, and has since grown into pop-up dinners, cross-farm collaborations and an assortment of cookies, soups and scones for sale at the farm store.
“We’ve probably done, at this point, 90% of what was on there,” See said. “And a lot of the stuff that was on there was ideas that we had around this connection and community and food.”
The farm store is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Saturday. In addition to Pause & Pivot items, a selection of sauces, spices, and diary products from local farms are also for sale.
The Main Hall serves as a space for community events, like wine tasting, vinaigrette demonstrations and pop-up dinners. A pull out divider sections the seating area and main bar from the workshop space and back bar. Miana does not have any workshops on the books yet, but a full calendar will be available at https://www.pausepivotfarm.com/.
“The [renovation] process was so gratifying and natural,” Miana said. “It feels like home.”
