When the Ancestral Table Comes to Life

Something beautiful happens when a community moves from conversation to gathering.

When names on a screen become people across a table.
When something that began virtually comes fully to life.

Over the past months, many of us have gathered through the Ancestral Table community from behind screens. We’ve shared ideas, asked questions, celebrated successes, troubleshot sourdough starters, compared notes, and encouraged one another across time zones and state lines. Real relationships have formed there, even without ever shaking hands.

But this past weekend, that community stepped away from the screen and took physical form around a table.

And something shifted.

There is something powerful about a table.

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The Power of a Shared Table

Yes, it is where we nourish our bodies with real food. But it is also where we gather, where we share stories, where we teach and learn, where traditions are carried forward and new ones are created. The table is where parents remind children to say “please” and “thank you” while those same children push boundaries and test limits. It is where family favorites return week after week and new recipes make their debut. It is where we connect  -  physically, emotionally, and culturally.

It is a place of nourishment in the truest sense.

I often say the best problem to have is a table that is too small. When there are more people gathered than the table can comfortably hold, something beautiful is happening.

We witnessed that beauty firsthand at the Modern Stone Age Kitchen.

Jason and Carrie had already planned a visit from Ohio to spend a few days at the Modern Stone Age Sanctuary and to eat at the MSAK. As we looked ahead to their visit, it struck us how meaningful it might be to extend the table - to invite other members of the Ancestral Table community to join us in person.

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Last Minute Invite

Christina sent a note to the community with just a few days’ notice, opening the invitation to anyone within reach who wanted to gather.

Because our community stretches across the country, we truly didn’t know what to expect.

We started at a small six-top inside.

Within minutes, we ran out of room.

A wonderful problem!

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The Best Problem is a Table too Small

Our 1st Spontaneous AT Gathering!

We moved outside under the tent to the larger table. What began with Jason and Carrie expanded as John arrived from Delaware. Christina and I joined. Alex came from Annapolis and brought his brother. Soon after, the incredibly talented Shane Brill, who films and edits our cooking videos, joined us, giving everyone the chance to meet him face to face.

There was something quietly powerful about watching a community that had grown online take physical form. Conversations that once happened in comment threads now happened across the table. Encouragement became hugs. Ideas became shared bites of bread passed from hand to hand.

Around that table we shared scratch-made, nourishing pizzas, wings, Caesar salad, and kombucha. We shared stories, ideas, questions, and laughter.

Jason brought along his latest sourdough experiment  -  he has been working to develop greater sourness in his breads  - and we tasted it together with cultured butter. The table became a place of collaboration and learning as much as nourishment.

A feast of like-minded “new” friends!

The MSA Campus Tour

The night ended with a tour of the Modern Stone Age Campus. From the Food Lab (our teaching kitchen) to the Nest (where are residential interns stay) to the Cave (our warehouse for all storage and shipping) to the Market (our production facility for sourdough pastries, pasta and crackers, butchering, cheesemaking and fermented vegetables, we had a chance to show everyone a behind the scenes tour of our equipment, work flows and of course - rocks!

The Food Lab - where the AT is filmed

Checking out the pile of rocks outside the Cave

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Another Out of Town Family

At the very same time our community was gathering, another table beside us held a different kind of pilgrimage. A young family had traveled from Scranton, Pennsylvania, to eat with us throughout the weekend. They had discovered our work through podcasts, read Eat Like a Human, and were seeking out real, nourishing food as they prepare to raise their growing family. They sat, meal after meal, sharing food and time together, a quiet reminder that the desire to nourish our families and gather around a table is universal..

Emily, Xander and her husband - with twins on the way this summer!

The Community Continues!

The next day, another community member, Chrissy, arrived with her husband and a family friend. She couldn’t make it Friday evening but made the trip Saturday to gather around a very similar table. She brought her recent sourdough chocolate cake and sourdough pizzelles so we could taste, troubleshoot, and learn together.

People traveled from four different states to sit around a table.

Think about everything that happened there.

There was food, yes deeply nourishing food, but there were also hugs, shared experiences, laughter, ideas exchanged, questions answered, and new friendships formed. The world felt smaller around that table, and our minds felt larger.

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Did we solve the world’s problems?

No.

But we strengthened connections. We shared knowledge. We supported one another. And we were reminded how much we need spaces like this in our lives.

This is why the table matters.

Not the table itself, but what it represents: connection, generosity, nourishment, and belonging.

Across cultures and throughout history, humans have gathered around food. The table has always been a place where knowledge is shared, relationships are strengthened, and identity is reinforced.

Community can begin anywhere, even online. But when it gathers around a table, something shifts. It becomes embodied. Shared. Tangible.

The Ancestral Table began as a space for learning. This weekend, it became something more.

And whether we gather virtually or in person, what matters most is that we gather.

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Our Challenge for You!

Find your table.
Make space for others.
Share food. Share stories. Share time.

This gathering came together with only three days’ notice, yet it reminded us how deeply people long for connection around real food and shared purpose. Because of that, we are already dreaming about a larger gathering in the fall with more time to plan and more space at the table so even more of this community can come together in person.

And remember, there will always be a seat waiting for you with us, whether in person at the Modern Stone Age Kitchen or within the connections we continue to build together.

Because when a community moves from screen to shared table, it doesn’t just meet, it comes to life!