Decluttering

I've said before that we are in the process of decluttering and it is going pretty well. I have new shelving up in the basement that is for essential stuff, like canning jars and equipment.

Every time I go into the basement I find new stuff to throw out, give away or sell.

I tend to think that being clutter free, or at least clutter-less, makes me a calmer more energetic human. I'm more likely to go out and weed the garden or sweep the kitchen or do the dishes. Outside (our yard) is pretty clutter free. All the stuff that could be out there is stashed in the basement.

Next we will do our best to not accumulate more "stuff". Every purchase will be well thought out, no matter if it's $1000 widget or a $.25 widget at a garage sale. It's the 25 cent widgets that get you!

Here's a thought, maybe I'll donate my video collection to the library. That way I'll have access to it (a couple of exceptions, Charlie Brown Christmas, Wizard of OZ, Disney's Beauty and the Beast). Hmmm.

Regional Farm and Food Project

http://www.farmandfood.org/

I haven't looked at their website in a while. It looks wonderful.

Lots of work accomplished

The rain held off this past weekend. I got the carpets cleaned. We made serious progress on cleaning out the basement. The weekend before we had a yard sale and got rid of lots of stuff. We made two trips to the dump Saturday. Then we got some shelving. Lest you think that this has nothing to do with farming, I will say that I couldn't get to my grow light this Spring and ended up buying tomato, pepper and broccoli plants. This is the reason I have no heirloom tomatoes. Now I can get to my light and my work table. I unearthed all the canning jars. I discarded all the suspect ones. Now I'll have all my jars sorted and on the shelf waiting for all those hybrid tomatoes to come in for making sauce (pasta and pizza). Apple sauce, apple butter and apple preserves are also on the agenda. I may try to make apple cinnamon jelly too.

I feel so productive.

We had serious thoughts about moving.

A job opportunity came up for my husband in Northern NY. Land and taxes are cheap up there. We decided against. Neither of us wanted to move. We like our place. I would regret leaving all that we have built to start all over again.

One of my reasons for staying is that I really want to see how great I can do things here. I really would like to build more garden beds and landscape around the house. This is what it looks like now. Kind of blank and stark. There are apple trees to the left. They aren't growing very fast. I have lots more plans. It'll take a long time to do everything, but it'll be worth it. What few flower gardens I do have are maturing. I had my first peony blooms this year. We have a humming bird stopping by now and the blue bird babies are close to going out on their own.

Another reason for staying is that there is a great market in the area for good food grown locally. The Regional Farm and Food Project is here and they are very good at marketing local produce and sustainable agriculture. I'll post a link when I get a chance.

last summer's garden with a view of the Catskill's and our horses

What would you buy?

Planning a garden for market sales is all about having that which everyone wants and still having a product that sets you apart from all the other corn and tomato farmers. What would you buy? I'm having fabulous luck with my lettuce and spinach this year. I've managed to beat back the slugs with wood ashes. The flowers are coming (sunflowers, cosmos, zinnnias) but a long way off. The voles have decimated my pea pods. Broccoli is on it's way. Tomatoes look good, but I only have hybrids this year. Peppers look better than they ever have, but that's not saying much. Cucumbers, zuchinni, pumpkins and winter squash look good so far.

I also have wool, in yarn and roving, and eggs.

I guess the wool sets me apart.

What to write about?

Hmmm. I never thought I would want to share with anyone who wanted to know, but this is a great way to share our progress with family and friends. A website would be just too much.