THE CSA PERSPECTIVE.
2013 was the perfect season to move into our cabin and start our business. Rain came regularly, the summer was mild, everything was productive and each harvest was fruitful. Unfortunately, 2014 has not been 2013.Not that we expected it to be, but some part of us must have because it has been a deeply disappointing year financially. What we expected to make this year and what we have made are two laughably different things so far. The tomatoes have been slow in coming. The rain has been nearly nonexistent, thus the chanterelles have been all but a bust. Farms are a place where you can actually say money grows on trees, but like all trees, the amount of fruit varies by season.Thankfully, however, we have our CSA.The CSA is the one thing keeping us afloat this year. If we were to rely entirely on market sales, we would have sunk long ago. As it stands right now, hard year or not, we're still floating. And the year is, I should say, turning around a little now. We've got some rain, albeit modest, and the tomatoes are starting to roll in. All of the potatoes are out, the onions, the garlic––we've got things to sell. But without the CSA we could have never got to this point. If you are part of our CSA, or any CSA, please know how big of a difference your early monetary sacrifice means to us––it means a lot. Everything in some years.- Jesse.
BLOG PROBLEMS.
The blog is having issues, y'all. First it stopped working completely. We got it back for a minute, and then it started looking funny and now all of our banners and buttons are gone or in the wrong place. So until I can figure out all this HTML nonsense, it will be a little different looking. We apologize. I guess this is what happens when you try to run a blog while also living off- the-grid.But on a happier note, we had a great day at market this morning and sold lots of these beautiful tomatoes. How was your Saturday?PS : Anybody out there a web expert?- Hannah.
A FRIDAY IN THE LIFE.
Sorry for all these "in the life" posts lately. We left our camera at a friends house...three hours away....so we have been short on content! We should return to regularly scheduled programming soon!
4:30 - 5 a.m.Lay in bed trying to think of baby names––which is common around here these days––until I hear something chewing loudly outside. I go downstairs and realize its the pigs, which I'd forgotten we'd moved closer to the house, chewing on God knows what. Sounds like bones, but is probably everything.5 - 5:30 a.m.I try to feed the turkeys but they promptly turn the food over. I fix it and then explain to them why they should not stand on the feeder. They stare at me curiously for a second while I talk, then several walk away and turn the food over again. I give up, go inside and start a fire.5:30 - 6:45 a.m.I start writing a post that rails against Walmart and how our culture values valueless things, but decide it's too preachy. If you ever feel like our blog is preachy, just imagine the blog we spare you from reading. A paranoid zealot writes that blog.6:45 - 7:15 a.m.Finish making breakfast and give Wendell his flea and tick treatment , the smell of which offends him deeply. If I could have one super power, it would be the ability to reason with animals. I'd need a good name, though, and a cape. Outside it drizzles, which we hope upon hope will become rain.7:15 - 11:15 a.mFridays are harvest day for the Smiths and as part of our arrangement we help pick their food in exchange for sharing garden space and selling extras at market (in a nutshell). It drizzles on and off while we harvest and I realize my two least favorite things are being drizzled on and, paradoxically, wearing rain gear.11:15 - 1:15 p.m.Lunch and a brief nap. I also take Wendell on a walk to the mailbox where I discover we've got in our next Netflix. I swear we watch maybe––MAYBE––one movie a week. It just so happens to fall on the "Day in the Life" day. So if we watch a movie tonight, do not be surprised.1:15 - 1:30 p.m.In a fantastic moment of naiveté I decide to go look for chanterelle mushrooms. Unfortunately, like everything else, they need rain to grow. The cumulative 1" of rain we got over the last six weeks unfortunately has not inspire any mushrooms. Fifteen minutes after I start my search, I end it and return to the house.1:30 - 4:30 p.m.We harvest flowers then join the Smiths at their house to pack the truck and wash carrots for market tomorrow. The drizzle begins to pick up. Last I checked, almost 1/10th of an inch has accumulated! Twenty more days like this in a row and we're set.4:30 - 5 p.m.With the threat (ha) of rain overnight, I move the transplants into the greenhouse, and decide to weed them. I don't know how weeding got such a bad rep, it's strangely satisfying.5 - 6 p.m.On a whim, since the drizzle is keeping us from farm work, we decide to go to Red Boiling Springs for errands... and to buy a pizza. I have no idea where this idea came from, only that I suspect it was the baby. Good call, baby.6 - 8 p.m.You guessed it––movie time! Again, this is not a regular occurrence. In fact, it seems to be about an every eight day occurrence. This weeks feature? Blue Jasmine. Overall impression? Great flick. While I'm at it, and since we're plowing through our Netflix queue––obvz––what else should we add? We need some good documentaries, what you got?8 - 9 p.m.Reading. Me: "Travels with Charley" by Steinbeck. Hannah: ”Baby Catcher” by Peggy Vincent.9 p.m.Bed.- Jesse.
A THURSDAY IN THE LIFE.
