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It has been a great week and an exhausting week. The store is open and most things are complete. We still have a few details to attend to, but they should be done soon. We have jumped through the official hoops and now we can sell our eggs. My feet are screaming at me and I’m behind in my book keeping, but I’ve had a wonderful time meeting and getting to know our customers.

We are discovering more local growers and we are happy to have additional products. Rod discovered local oyster mushrooms and local tomatoes that were grown in a high tunnel. They plant the tomatoes in the ground under a tunnel of plastic. We had them for dinner tonight and we all agreed that they had a great tomatoe taste. Not a peak of summer taste, but really quite good and much better than the watery ones we’ve had all winter.

For dinner tonight we had fresh asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce and mushrooms all from the store. I could have eaten an entire meal from the mushrooms alone. I sauteed them in butter and canola oil with garlic, salt and pepper. They were incredible.

Tomorrow we will get more strawberries and if we get some nice weather we will have hundreds of quarts by next week.

My dear friend Mary drove out from Cincinnati on Wednesday for our opening day and she was bearing gifts. She and her friends helped me get all the signs finished and out on display. They were a God send and a blessing. I know how lucky I am to have her in my life.

I’m sure the blog will be neglected this summer. I’m busy and exhausted and I still have to finish planting my garden. I’ll try to keep you updated when ever I get a chance. Or you can stop by the shop and see things for your self.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Lori

Just a few days now until we open the market. Things are progressing SLOWLY! If only I could get things accomplished by sheer force of will we would be ready to go tomorrow. The list is long, but we continue to chip away at it. Eventually it will all be done, I just don’t know if that will be before or after we open.

I had the pleasure of visiting some of our growers last Friday(I didn’t get pictures because it was raining and lightening). It has been so hard to plant this year because of all the rain. If you aren’t able to plant on the day or two that the ground is dry enough it might be a week before you get another chance. Norma Jean’s brothers, sisters and parents all came over last week and planted her large front garden in one evening. I was able to see it when I picked up my tomatoe, eggplant and pepper plants from her green house. I also picked up flower and herb plants to plant and sell at the shop.

Maddie’s garden is gorgeous. She has lettuce, spinach, onions and rhubarb all ready to go. Her peas are looking great and her beans are off to a good start.The day it was finally dry enough and warm enough to plant beans was the day before Maddie’s family hosted their church service. Instead of cleaning and preparing for the 25 plus families that would be there the next day, she was out planting beans. She said the basement was not clean, but she was glad to have the beans in the ground.

Pete has plenty of asparagus for us. I’ll pick it up on Tuesday. The strawberries were barely pink on Friday. A few sunny days would be welcome.

Last Wednesday Miriam and Magdalena had a grand adventure of their own. They voluteered to help clean the shop. One Healy family brought them up in the morning and the other took them home at night. The painted, washed windows and produce tables and in general were incredibly helpful. I have learned how much the Amish like sweets so I took them to Dags for lunch. They loved the orange pineapple ice cream and have told everyone back home about how wonderful it is. In their words it is the best ice cream they have ever had.

The rest of my time has been spent waiting. I’m waiting to have my front bay door fixed. I waiting to know if I will have refrigerators by opening day. I’m waiting for sunny weather so the strawberries will ripen. I’m waiting for the next “official” person to walk through the door with some new requirement ( meaning I write a check, they hand me a piece of paper saying I can sell produce and since they can revoke that piece of paper and keep my money I’ll try not to make to many references to the mafia or socialism). I’m waiting to make some money and not just spend, spend, spend. I’m waiting for the fun of meeting and greeting customers and eating wonderful food and all the fun of being at the shop.

I think I may need to take up Norma Jean’s idea and have a planting party. I have many plants to get into to garden and very little time. Watch for your invitation! Pray for good weather and I’ll see you at the shop!!!

Lori

“May you live an interesting life” is said to be a translation of both a Chinese curse and blessing. I first heard it several years ago and it has stuck with me all this time. I looked it up today and wikipedia casts serious doubts about its authenticity. The fact that I first heard it on an episode of Magnum PI in the 80’s really doesn’t add to its validity as an actual Chinese proverb. Its doubtful origins however do not change the interesting questions that it raises. Is interesting good? Would it be better to live in peaceful predictability? Personally I must not mind trouble and excitement because I always seem to choose the interesting path.

This past year has been full of excitement. It has truly been a grand adventure. There has been a lot of joy and a lot of stress. These last few days as we try to finish everything necessary to open a produce store are like one big adrenalin rush. Every time I check something off the list I have two new things to add. Will we ever be done?

The planting is going well, but the rain has us behind schedule. That’s the thing about growing and really life in general. It’s never really your time or your schedule.  It’s all in God’s time. You can plan all you want, but you can’t make the weather, or the phone company, or the city government work on your schedule. You just have to take things as they come and make the best of every situation.

We had one chaotic adventure to Chicago this week to pick up our produce display tables. We are trying to reuse and repurpose items whenever we can and we found a great place that promised to have all the equipment we need at great prices. DJ and I ended up digging through piles of junk in the pouring rain amid sharp protruding metal and broken glass. We were led up and down warehouse staircases in total darkness and we waded through puddles inches deep while indoors. We only found a few items that we needed that were in good condition. DJ was completely and thoroughly soaked by the time he was done loading in the rain and the six inches of standing water in the parking lot. We laughed a lot and we are happy with our new tables.

We will make a big push this week to get all the painting, cleaning and set up done at the store. We also will be planting 3000 melon plants and dozens of other veggies. The strawberries are coming along nicely and if we get some sun they will be ripe for the grand opening. The lettuce and onions look beautiful. The radishes are up and growing. The blackberries are getting ready to blossom. It is sunny and beautiful out today and I’m ready to get to work.

This Wednesday I will be speaking at the Sierra Club meeting at the Bartholomew County Public Library. If you want to know more about what we are doing and why be sure to stop by. Tim is working on a power point and it looks great.

Be sure to drop by next week. We open May 13th and we will have our Grand Opening celebration on May 15th-16th. It will be a grand start to the new phase of our Grand Adventure.

Mark your calendars, we have a date! The store will open on Wednesday, May 13th with grand opening specials scheduled for Friday and Saturday, May 15th and 16th.

By then we should have some produce ready and we will also have a selection of flowers, vegetable plants, hanging baskets and eggs.

The wet weather has put us behind on our planting schedule and we are scrambling to catch up. Rod and DJ were up late last night getting the first of the sweet corn planted and they spent today planting heirloom tomatoes and getting the beds ready for the watermelon and cantaloupe.

I spent today spreading mulch, tilling and preparing vegetable beds and planting carrots and radishes. I’ll transplant lettuce, bok choy, fennel, dill, kale, and swiss chard tomorrow.

I spent a wonderful but exhausting day yesterday down in Daviess County. I visited the Graber farm and enjoyed their hospitality for my noon meal. I was also able to pick up my daughters sweet pea plants from their green house. We will get those transplanted on Monday. I also saw Rod and DJ long enough to finalize some business documents.

Eventually we will get everything at the store ready to go. We are still painting and cleaning and it seems like it will never end. That along with a million other little details have us all running ragged.

The excitement of the store opening, the CSA starting and farmers market season keeps us going. We can’t wait to visit with you all this summer.