The Calm Before The Storm (of Activity)

It has felt like the calm before a storm. The past few weeks have been quiet, and there's been not much to do other than looking over seed catalogs and daydreaming of all I'd like to plant. Okay, sure, there's housework, but who the heck wants to do THAT?

During this relatively calm time on the property, I've found out through a food-related listserv that the correct term for the type of farming I want to do is "Market Farming". Market Farming is where the person grows produce to sell at farmer's markets. Sounds like a reasonable term. I never planned to grow anything at a large scale, and between our family, friends, the farm market and our local eateries, that should be enough consumers and buyers for whatever we grow. And of course, there will be gleaning for the local food pantry.

Speaking of market farming: [rant] Amazon seems to hike up the price of farm-related books by an average of 30%. I understand the need to make a buck but jeeze, Market Farming Success and The Hoophouse Handbook were both $10.00 more than from the author/publisher's web site. Yikes! [end rant]

Between my Mom and Spouse's Mom & Dad, we've received an amazing array of gifts that will help with the farming and food preservation that's getting started (thank you all so much!!). Just waiting for the right time and circumstances to make use of that bounty. As such, I've been eyeing the budget and making plans for soil delivery, equipment rental, tree and cane purchases. The best moon-phase for transplanting is occurring right now and over the next five days. Looks like the storm is about to break. Better make sure we have a goodly stock of ibuprofen on hand. Have a great weekend, all!

[pic: storm cloud view from our porch]