If you have driven down Highway 71 through Alma, Arkansas, and spotted something new taking shape at Linam Farm, you are not imagining things. After years of greeting customers at the edge of the blueberry field, handing over buckets and pointing toward the blackberry rows, we finally did something we have been dreaming about for a long time. We built a real, honest-to-goodness farm store.
Not just a shed with a cooler. A full 750-square-foot store with a commercial refrigerator, a commercial freezer, products on shelves, and a place where you can walk in, look around, and bring home a little piece of the farm, whether berry season is in full swing or not. We also built a 1,500-square-foot warehouse right alongside it to store our boxes, flats, and pulp containers so everything stays organized and ready for the busy season. For a family farm that has always run lean and made do, this feels like a milestone.
Built by the Farm, from the Farm
Here is the part we are most proud of, and honestly, the part that still makes us smile when we walk through the door. Almost everything you see inside that store came from this land.
When we dug the pond a few years back, we had to clear a good stand of pine trees. Rather than haul them off, we had them sawmilled right here on the property and stacked the lumber to dry. Those pine boards became the walls of the store. The arbor out front, the raised planters lining the entrance, the shelving and trim work inside — all of it was built using materials we already had on hand, most of it worn and weathered and full of character. Old rusty iron, reclaimed wood, repurposed pieces that would have otherwise gone to waste.
It sounds like something you would read in a design magazine. We mostly just call it not throwing things away.
The result is a store that looks like it belongs here, because it genuinely grew out of this land. Nothing was ordered from a catalog to look rustic. The rust is real. The knots in the wood are real. The whole thing was built by hand by the same people who grow the berries and tend the animals, and we think that shows.
What You Will Find on the Shelves
The store carries everything Linam Farm grows and makes, all in one place. That means you can stop by on a Tuesday afternoon in October and still walk out with something good.
Our pre-picked blackberries will be available in the store throughout the season, so if you are not up for heading out into the rows yourself, you can grab a container that is already done for you. Raspberries and blueberries remain u-pick, but you will get your bucket right here at the store before heading out to the fields.
Beyond the fresh fruit, we carry our full line of blackberry products: blackberry jam, blackberry jelly, blackberry barbecue sauce, and raw honey from our own beehives. These make excellent gifts, excellent pantry staples, and an excellent reason to stop by even if you missed picking season entirely.
We will also be selling farm-fresh eggs out of the store this year for the first time. We have a proper refrigerator now, which means we can wash them and sell them legally, and with the flock producing 40 to 50 eggs a day, there will be plenty to go around. On any given morning, those eggs were laid right here on this property.
New for this season, we are also stocking two items baked right in our own kitchen: blackberry crumb bars and blackberry muffins. These will be available in the store and at the Fort Smith Farmer’s Market, and if you have not tried a blackberry crumb bar yet, consider this your personal invitation to fix that immediately. They are made with our own blackberries, and they are very, very good.
Rounding out the shelves, you will find woodworking pieces made right here at the farm. Birdhouses built from cedar salvaged during construction, hall trees with coat hooks, puzzles, and various one-of-a-kind pieces that come out of the shop between seasons. Inventory changes as new things get finished, so there is always something different to see. We are also carrying Linam Farm t-shirts for adults and kids this year, featuring a design we are pretty excited about.
Coming later in the season, once we have had the chance to process enough fruit, look for blackberry dessert sauce and blackberry applesauce as two new additions to the product lineup.
The Arbor, the Cross Vines, and the Whole Entrance Experience
Pull up to the farm this season and the first thing you are going to notice is the arbor. It sits at the entrance to our high tunnel and frames the whole approach in a way that feels intentional and a little bit special. That arbor was built from the same repurposed materials as the store itself, and it is already planted with cross vines that are going to fill in with tangerine-colored blooms as the season progresses.
The idea is that walking into Linam Farm should feel like arriving somewhere. The arbor provides shade, the flowers draw pollinators, and the whole structure tells a little story about how we do things here: with our hands, with what we have, and with an eye toward making something beautiful out of the practical.
What Stays the Same
Opening a store does not change what Linam Farm is at its core. We are still a family operation. We still grow everything ourselves. The u-pick experience is still the heart of what we do, and it is still the best way to spend a summer morning if you ask us.
What the store does is give us the ability to serve you better. It means you can call ahead and pick up a jar of jam without needing to time your visit around picking hours. It means eggs are available consistently, products are refrigerated properly, and everything has a real home instead of being hauled in and out of coolers. It means there is somewhere to step inside out of the sun while you decide what you want to bring home.
Saturdays this season, Chris will be at the Fort Smith Farmer’s Market while Tiffany runs the store at the farm. We will also be opening for u-pick on Sunday mornings for the first time, which gives everyone a little more flexibility to fit a farm visit into the weekend. Hours are always weather-dependent for the fields, so follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates before you make the drive.
Where to Find Us
Linam Farm is located at 7111 N Hwy 71 in Alma, Arkansas. We are right on the main highway and easy to spot once you know what you are looking for. The store is open seasonally, and product availability changes week to week depending on what is ripe and what we have processed.
If you want to know what is in stock before you come, give us a call. Our number is on the website and in the Arkansas Farm Trail pamphlet if you happen to have one. We are happy to set something aside or let you know when a particular product will be ready.
The store, the arbor, the repurposed pine walls, the crumble bars on the shelf: all of it is ready and waiting. We cannot wait for you to see it.
Follow Along for Updates
The best way to stay current on hours, product availability, and what is happening at the farm is to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We post picking updates, new product announcements, and the occasional photo of whatever the animals are getting into this week. Blackberry season moves fast. We will do our best to keep you in the loop so you do not miss a thing.
Come see what we have built. We think you are going to love it.
