WATERFORD, Va. — Paige Critchley has farm family on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
“I have cousins in England who are farmers and some in Tennessee as well,” she said. Paige, who was born overseas, moved to the States when she was just two.
Her father, who served in the Air Force, was overseas when he went on a “blind date” with Paige’s mom. (Incidentally, the date was arranged by her mom’s father, who was also serving in the Royal Air Force.)
“They’ve been together even since,” said Paige.
Although neither of her parents got into farming, Paige always had a green thumb. She started gardening several years ago and was soon growing much more than she could consume.
A bountiful display of fresh produce grown on Paige Critchley's farm.
“I started giving it away to friends and neighbors until they finally said ‘We had enough!’” Paige laughed.
So she started selling produce off her front porch with a coin jar and the honor system. After her harvest outgrew the porch she moved sales into a run-in shed in the field.
Her growing success finally led Paige to think “I may have an idea here.” So in 2018, Paige built her own farm market, naming it Paige’s Pit Stop.
Conveniently located off busy Charles Town Pike, the 4.5-acre farm has 270 laying chickens and about 80 ducks. Paige also has 180 preordered Thanksgiving turkeys and will have 400 fresh-cut Christmas trees beginning Black Friday.
While business was steady at the start, Paige had no idea how much the pandemic would affect growth.
“Covid was insane,” she said, noting she worked 12-plus hours each day to keep up with demand. “I think I was the only person on the East Coast who had yeast. People were driving for hours to get yeast for bread.”
Paige said her pit stop quickly turned into a one-stop shop.
Paige offers private table pickled and preserved goods supplied by McCutcheon's in Frederick, Md.
“I had a friend who got an off-site license to sell wine at my store,” Paige said. “We had toilet paper and paper towels ... so we basically had everything.”
Sales at Paige’s Pit Stop doubled during those two years. “It got me on the map,” she said.
Although Paige grows all the produce for the farm market as well as supplying chicken and duck eggs, she also relies on a cadre of local suppliers to fill her store.
She has 47 variety of pumpkins from Lewis Orchards in Maryland. She gets local honey from a supplier in Purcellville and meat from Lovettsville and Leesburg vendors. All her jarred goods come from McCutcheon’s in Frederick, Maryland.
The farm house on Paige’s property is also available to rent on Airbnb. The house backs up to her chicken coops where you’ll find two animals that are a highlight of the stay.
Peanut-loving goats Thelma and Louise are eager to greet guests, who Paige supplies with a bag of the tasty legumes that the goats gobble up shell and all.
Thelma and Louise, two peanut-loving goats, are part of Paige's agritourism experience.
While running a farm market seems like a significant undertaking for one person, over the past five years Paige has developed a system that allows her to run the business with minimal staff.
“My mom helps at the store, and I have a friend who helps on the weekend,” she said.
Paige enjoys being active in the community. Her farm market is part of the Loudoun County Farm Tour. She also hosts school field trips for young students and will hold a chili cook-off in November.
While Paige said her parents never caught the “farming bug,” she is happy they are with her to enjoy her passion that just happened to skip a generation.
For more information on Paige’s Pit Stop, visit paiges-pit-stop.business.site or search for it on Facebook.
Varieties of pumpkins are for sale at Paige's Pit Stop.
