Snippets of the week!

 

There he is...carrying in a load of goodies.  I love when he's around:)  This week has been busy busy and then we're jet setting tomorrow to go to Denver for a wedding!  It will be a lot of fun, but I always look around at all the things I need to do right before I go somewhere for a few days.  However, it's always worth loving and supporting friends rather than tending to my to do's.  And I cannot wait to see myself some mountains!  

The following pictures are a few snapshots from earlier this week.  Raspberries, a Phil cat, and a low key garden grown picnic on the pallet chair that Ross made.  The picture of Phil was when I was searching in the depths of the tomato field for cherry tomatoes and instead, came across a Phil!  He just followed me down and rested while I worked.  He was in heaven with his tail slapping against the ground.  Why is he so great?!  Well, I'll be back next week when we return from the wedding!  Happy Weekend!

Post Harvest

First round of peas have been frozen for later eating!  Hopefully I can get a handle on this upcoming produce and get a lot of it put away for the long w****** that happen here in Minnesota.  (I cannot say the "W" word out loud, last year it was just too long!)  I'm going to start tabbing favorite canning recipes and hopefully have myself nice and prepped to do that!  

And these babies are new to our life!!!  I was away at a bachelorette weekend of mine:), but before I left on Friday, I walked around the garden and spotted the little red beauties!  I just squealed.  It feels sooo good to have tomatoes here.  Now, I must tackle my stake-less tomatoes and attempt to make paths.  Happy Monday!

Cat Days of Summer!

Heat advisory here in SE Minnesota until Thursday.  This means Philipe the cat will be a long cat.  It's really amazing how long he can make himself...I'll try to grab a picture when he does it.  Here he is cooling off in the window!  Happy Wednesday!

Ramblings

Time is flying!  Just yesterday it blew my mind that it's the middle of July!  July!!  Yikes.  I know this is how it always goes with summers.  You start it and BAM!...Target is advertising back to school stuff and it makes me feel slightly nausea.  Between last week and today, I've been attempting to sell produce, baking bread, having happy hour each night and enjoying the first barn party held here on the farm!  It's been quite exciting and busy.  In the midst of this, the garden has been growing and it's about to blow up.  There is a sea of tomato flowers and many green guys growing as we speak.  This summer, I'm realizing, is very much about learning.  

I've heard from lots of people about beginning farmer programs I can join and I have really appreciated the input.  So, I've sat down, thought it out, read about them, calculated it all...and really, it just comes down to the fact that I don't think it will fit me.  Yes, it will probably take me three times as long to learn something that those programs teach in six months, but meh, that's fine with me.  I just want to keep doing this at my pace.  I will definitely take courses if I feel it's super beneficial and exciting, I will always ask my elders and peers for help, but I am simply going to keep this pace going.  Slow and steady.  

This really came about the other day at market when barely any of my produce sold and I was feeling bummed.  The produce looked beautiful, my setup was great and yet it felt like all the patrons kept going to the other vendors, especially the bigs ones.  I felt like, "Oh no,should I have gone through those programs?  Do I have any grounds to be here?  Am I just kidding myself?"  But I snapped myself out of that doubt and shame that night when I realized that no matter what amount of money I make from this venture this summer, I've already succeeded.  I'm growing food.  Good food.  It looks beautiful, healthy and there's plenty for my nearest and dearest people to eat.  Now...don't get me wrong, I need to make some moola (working on other avenues for getting these veggies out the door right now!), but I'm feeling good and genuinely happy about every day here.    

Each morning I walk through the garden and assess who needs help most and running through my to-dos and just this morning I realized...I only staked 1/5 of the tomatoes.  So there is literally a sea of tomatoes, no paths, with tomato limbs everywhere and that's just how it's going to be this summer.  Notes made for next year and I carry on.  And that's where I am today.  Grateful for this summer.  

Sunset in the Barn

Good Morning from the Farm!

New Market

Last week was magic!  We had visitors on the farm nearly everyday and it made the whole place come even more alive!  But before I could celebrate the weekend, I was working hard on the farm.  I feel so lucky to keep having such beautiful people come to help me.  My dad showed up after a work meeting last week.  He typically comes with a surprise for me, something that he has built.  But the best surprise was when he said, "Well, what work needs to be done?" Little did I know, he had packed another outfit so he could help me weed for a couple of hours.  And man, he works hard.  I don't know what I'd do if both him and and my mom were here at the same time.  They'd probably kick my ass and I'd be lying passed out from exhaustion in the bean field.  They're soooo fast!  Needless to say, we got a lot done!

The next day was the first time selling at the gas station just down the road called Reineke's Corner.  I got set up with the help of my mom and felt so excited!  I actually had a few sales and people seemed excited too.  I believe that if I make some more signs it will be a great selling spot! 

You see the shirt I'm wearing?  That was the surprise from my dad this week.  He got two shirts made for me with my logo on the back and my name embroidered on front!  Amazing.

As my mom was leaving the new market spot, I kept saying thank you over and over for her help and she said the best thing, "We will do whatever we can for you to succeed."  I feel like I already have:)