We have begun Springwork!
Onward ho with the cultivating and planting equipment, debating where to
put the sunflower field – oh, and where the corn, alfalfa and soybeans will go,
too.
All that large hardware has to travel smoothly, so the main
driveway was graded and the giant potholes filled in. But, nothing ever stays nice around here for
long.
We started hauling manure out of the pit (another fine
Spring ritual). In no time at all, there was a fresh coat of poo over all that
fresh-laid gravel and spread all over the field in my backyard. It stunk up the
place so bad that my husband Dan didn’t want to eat snacks before night chores.
“Whose diaper is soiled?” he asked.
Thank goodness, it rained and drove the wafting funk into
the ground.
In addition to “regular” work, my husband Dan is still busy bottling
our farm’s sunflower oil. I am
organizing the purchase of a larger tent for farmer’s market, designing lighter-weight
signs, and creating new marketing materials.
My least favorite Spring thing is making new tablecloths for
our booth. The old ones get stained and torn every season- or else they disappear
into the black hole inside the jelly cupboard and can’t be found in time for
opening day.
The sewing project takes up the living room for a week, and
it is a constant war of acquisition with the cats for the fabrics and thread
spools. I am so not looking forward to picking
up all those straight pins off the floor.
This year, our market stand is moving from its regular location
on the grass under the shade of Burlington’s City Hall Park, to St. Paul Street,
where the parking spots and meters line the road.
The city will be closing the street on Saturdays during market
hours.
My concern about the change is how to draw people’s attention
to the new area.
Dye our hair to match the color of our tent? (It’s yellow)
Noooo.
(I mean, I would totally do that in a heartbeat, but Dan
won’t go for it.)
Music?
I’ve tried playing coronet, saxophone, and piano. It was revealed that I have no musical talent
whatsoever.
Well, then, how about making grilled cheese sandwiches? It’s a perfect fit; the aroma will draw
people in.
We make several meltable cheeses. It would work…except for the fact that I
can’t be around wheat without swelling up and breaking out in hives. That makes this one great idea - that will be
firmly placed in the category of “Never Going to Happen”.
Sparkling fairy lights?
Multi-colored pinwheels? Flags flapping in the wind? Scary clowns making
balloon animals?
Hmmm. It is windy in
the street.
Yes. A flag. Brilliant! No one else has one, so we’d be the
first.
Except, that I’m probably giving the idea away for free by
saying it out loud.
We aren’t having a flag made with our logo on it.
You never heard it, I didn’t say it.
