Rain

Another hot, dry day.  We talk about rain a lot.  So does everyone.  Hopefully, we will not have this situation all summer.  Already there are farmers using irrigation that have not used it before and are now sucking the water supplies dry for high dollar grain that might be wasted on ethanol rather than food.  Small farmers around here have always dry farmed and didn't deplete the water table -- maybe because we couldn't afford to irrigate, but now we have large farmers (or should I say ag business people since the term farmer to me is a person who lives where he/she farms and actually knows their land) who have bought land around us who are irrigating on their land, but using water that belongs to all of us.   Those seem to be tearing out and burning every stand of trees on their property that sheltered our wildlife in the hopes of farming with big expensive equipment in the large fields like the fields in Iowa and Nebraska.  This is not Iowa or Nebraska.  I remember seeing quail, rabbits, pheasants througout my life and now I see them seldom because they have no thickets and standing woods to live in. 
     Farmer's Market tomorrow.  We will have a lot of Swiss Chard and our usual food items, knitting items, handmade soap, but not much more in the way of vegetables.  It's that time of the season when the early spring vegies are gone and the summer vegies are coming on.  Although the cole crops are generally ready earlier in the year, we are just now beginning to see tiny baby broccoli heads and the cabbage is beginning to form heads.  Squash will be here before long and sweet corn is coming up.  Just need rain.  Green beans looking very good and cucumbers are promising.  Wish it would rain.

Farmers' Market season and making a profit

Last Saturday was the season's first farmers' market!  We took radishes, onions, swiss chard and lettuce plus our usual barbecue sauce, soap, knitted goods, handmade noodles from the brown eggs from my flock, my whole wheat bread and my signature bread which is a french bread filled with swirls of bits of garlic & onion, my own basil and oregano, olive oil and parmesan cheese.  We always sell all of my french herb baguettes!  Our 12 year old granddaughter was with us and she was selling pussywillow starts from her mom's trees and she sold them all!  Lots of community participation, great weather (it's really too dry, but the weather was good for a farmers' market).  A good number of vendors for opening weekend, too.  We always do pretty well and Saturday was no exception--especially good for the first market of the season.
      Pricing our products at the farmers' market is always a challenge.  We try to keep our prices high enough to make a profit.  After all, we have premium, home-grown and handmade products that are better than what you can find at the stores.  We do have a problem when the tomatoes and peppers start to come in.  That is when you will get the home gardeners bringing their 'extras' to get rid of them and start undercutting the prices of those of us who grow the great stuff to sell and make some money (you know, so that you pay yourself for back-breaking sweating labor which most people won't do).  I have seen people practically give their produce away because 'I just wanted to get rid of it since I grew too much'.  We have a food pantry in the community and many people who need the produce (our leftovers go to family and the chickens).  If the 'undercutters' wish to give it away, they should give it away where it will do the most good---not bring it to the farmers' market to sell.  There are already people out there who believe that since it is a farmers' market, everything should cost next to nothing--we don't want to perpetuate the myth.   We have the same bills as everyone else.  I had a woman yell out from her car as she drove by (must have thought it was the McDonald's drive up) and ask me how much my eggs were.  When I told her, she waved her hand and said 'I thought this was a farmers' market.  That is more than I give at the Grocery Store'.  And of course, we all know how good the eggs at the grocery store are.  They may be cheap, but they are also stale, filled with heaven-knows-what hormones and medication, and come from chickens that are thrown away for dog food after 18 months of living in a tiny cage standing in their own excrement because they have no room to move.  Yum, yum.  I truly love the farmers' market and the surrounding philosophy, but if you are observing people to form characters to put into your next book, it is certainly the place to be! 
   

Yesterday was a good day for gardening.  Mike and I put in 150 plants that we had grown in our greenhouse, adding them to the potatoes, swiss chard, onions, turnips, radishes, lettuce and kale that were already out and growing.  Yesterday was 86 degrees, but it's a good thing that we did it because we had a lot of storms and rain last night.  So, we put in pak choi, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, more onions---a few weeks later than we generally do, but they are really nice plants.  Now the Garden B looks like a garden, although only half planted.  Garden C will be where we plant the melons, summer squash and zucchini which are now sprouting really fast in the greenhouse.  Front and back of the greenhouse will be taken down since its use is almost over.  Beautiful tomato plants and herb plants are just begging to come out and as soon as it is dry again, out they will go.  I will broadcast alfalfa to put in half of garden A to increase fertility for the next year.  Garden A already has permanent fixtures like thornless blackberry vines, grape vines and gooseberries.  Cross our fingers that we don't have another bad season like last year.  I don't feel comfortable with the way our seasons are changing.  I live with the seasons and come to depend on their light and shadows, smells and sounds and I am out of kilter when it just doesn't do what it used to.  Yes, climate change is real and yes, it is our fault, but I wish that humans could clean up what they have done as fast as they have ruined it.  Instead, we have some people in complete denial with some religious dogma thrown in for good measure.  We may have come to the point of no return for our planet.  Already, we are losing masses of arctic and antarctic glaciers as they melt into the sea.  What took eons to make takes us a few seconds to break. 

Things forgotten, things learned

I am in the process of viewing a BBC documentary about an Edwardian Farm which has been brought back to life to illustrate the farming practices, household practices, etc. of that time period in Devon UK.  Absolutely fascinating, especially if you are a student of old farming practices and women's history as I am.  I am sure this was done in the past 5 years and can be viewed on your computer.  There is also a 1600's farm documentary done the same way.  The former is titled Edwardian Farm and the latter is Tales from the Green Valley.  The web site is http://topdocumentaryfiles.com/ Highly recommend it.  Word of warning--each documentary mentioned above is at least 5 hours long and is quite addictive.  It is divided into parts so that you can view some and get back to it later. 

Part of living effectively in the country, like my husband and I and 2 of my daughters do, is learning to combine trips to 'town' for supplies and also not going in to town often.  Of course, you need a freezer(s) to do this right and a place to store stock-up items.  Today, my husband and I will go to the local Aldi's to find lunch supplies (we both take our lunches to work, generally leftovers, but we do like to have sandwich fixings now and then).  Normally, we get 'groceries' once every 6 - 8 weeks and visit Aldi's and Sam's.  Although we don't like to do a lot of errands after we leave work which causes our farm chores not to be done until later in the evening, we also don't want to come back into town on the weekends since that is prime work-around-the-farm-and-house time.  Today is one of the days we will shop after work and come home to the joy of putting purchases away.  Ah, well, at least we have some money to do that with.  We know those that do not and we try to help whatever way we can.  Please remember that every time you see news that the economy is getting better and fewer people are applying for unemployment that they are not telling you about those who have given up looking for work because there isn't any.  We have way too many people in this debacle.  Help when you can and keep yelling for universal health care and the continuation of services which will help all of us a lot.  After all, what is our measure as a people if we are the only industrialized country in the world (and the richest--we can afford more than one war at a time) to not have universal health care for its people and are, instead, cutting humanitarian items from the national budget!  Peace to us all.

Chickens are very happy and laying eggs and the greenhouse is filling up with plants that we will soon set out in the garden.  Considering the very strange weather we have had for the past 2 seasons, who knows what this season will be like--but that doesn't stop a market gardener.  We are looking forward to the opening of the Attica, Indiana Farmer's Market on May 19.  Hopefully, we will have a few green things to start with. 

Also, for those of you interested, I am taking orders for noodles to put in your freezer for the next months--$4.00 for a dried pound.  Made from my homegrown brown eggs. 

And I do knitting for sale.  It's not too early to think about the holidays or any gifting occasion coming up.  Knitted items do take some time, so you should get your order in early.  Socks are my specialty and I will make them with sock yarn (sock yarn is thin enough to fit in your shoes),  or heavier worsted yarn for boots, bedsocks or just wearing around the house.  These socks are made completely with or with a large percentage of natural wool so they will wear for a very long time.  Adult socks are $25.00 per pair, babies and toddlers are $10.00 per pair and larger children's socks $15.00 per pair.  May seem expensive, but it takes at least $10.00 of wool for adults socks and then you factor in 10 hours to make a pair and it begins to look very reasonable.  I also make hats, mittens, scarves, cowls, collars, shawlettes, fingerless gloves, baby blankets, dish cloths and washcloths (I guess we are supposed to call them spa cloths now!).  Prices vary on different items.  I use natural fibers whenever possible.  I shy away from sweaters and large clothing items due to the amount of time it takes to make them. 

Soap is another passion of mine.  I make very plain, white soap that contains coconut oil and other fats.  It has no scent, which makes it great for people with allergies.  It cleans very well and lathers wonderfully--even in our hard Indiana water.  Babies, grown ups, everyone loves it.  Great for your face, in the bath, and it won't dry out your skin.  $3.00/bar.

We also sell my knitting, soap and noodles at the Farmer's Market.  See Mike and I at the Attica, Indiana Farmer's Market every Saturday beginning May 19 and/or e-mail me at fentersj@gmail.com for more information and prices on the above.