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]

The Chickens Are Not Amused [pic]

Rain! We finally had rain! Almost a half inch of that glorious wet stuff. The ground felt soft for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long. We live in a semi-arid region so cycles of drought are normal, but I'm still thrilled when we get some moisture here.

The chickens, on the other hand: not so amused.

Food Storage Class - follow along!

Sharon Astyk is starting the food storage class this week. If you're not up for taking the "official" on-line class (and there are still a few spots available if you are), you can follow along on her web site. The first food storage post is up now. Woohoo!

[Spouse and the kitchen are trembling with fear as I type]

Early Review - Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ28S

Using just auto-focus, no flash, nothing but click and shoot (oh, and no cropping or retouching in iPhoto), here's two photos from the new camera:

Maggie being her photogenic self:


Miss Cecily taking a rest:


Here's an action shot - again, just point & shoot, no shutter speed adjustment - which has been cropped but is otherwise unretouched:


There might be some light/color differences between PCs and Macs in viewing JPG images on web sites, depending on the monitor being used. [Don't ask me how I know that, I'm still traumatized - see this link, and scroll down to Gamma.]

Quick and dirty verdict? I adore this camera already. The detail that doesn't come across in the web/image compression is a d@mn shame, but the photos printed straight off the drive will make some wonderful prints.

Problem? @#$!! presbyopia. I have to trust the auto-focus, or else start wearing my reading glasses to view the display.

I'll post review updates as I learn to use the camera more.

First Farm Natters Video

Made with the Flip video cam, edited in iMovie, and music clip added from my iTunes library. Despite pouring through the helpfiles, extracting audio, adjusting levels and the like, still couldn't get the animal sounds to play, even with the music turned all the way down, so I've got more studying to do. Regardless, this was a fun project. Looking forward to doing some Spring & Summer clips when the sun is shining, the dogs and geese swimming, bugs a'buzzin, and more. Enjoy!