About Spring

It is snowing again just now. I am just not going to think about that anymore. This week has been busy in the way a flower farmer on crutches behind 3 feet of snow can be. Sitting in front of the computer, reviewing charts, lists, and supplier websites, all the while with the phone on my shoulder. I should think about investing in a phone with speaker capabilities. Suppliers are generous with their time and advice and seemed almost as glad to talk to me as I was to talk to them. Helping me with prudent choices.

This has been a rough few years in the economy and none go untouched. While I would say that farmers are generally a frugal lot even in fine times, they too are rethinking how every dollar is spent. And trying to "think out of the box". Some we know are just plain tired and plan to sell out and move to an island as soon as possible. Especially after trekking thru Winter 09-10 snow w/ hay bales on backs because even their tractors cannot get thru to the animals.

"To be sane in a mad time is bad for the brain, worse for the heart." - Wendell Berry

Oddly it is this economy that brought us into farming. You see we had been happily sustained by the housing industry for over 20 years (see http://www.jonduvall.com/ ). While we have survived so far, unlike many of our compadres, it has not been without sleepless nights and frank discussions w/ bankers. Our eyes have been opened to an understanding that our very survival had depended on a very narrow set of options. Whether we eat or not, whether we had heat in the winter or not depended upon the whims of an "other" that we had little ability to control. It was time we made better use of this blessed land of ours and set about making it work a little harder for us than selling occasional hay to the Charlestown WV horsetrack.

My husband chose to care for a few steer and get serious with cultivating fields for feed. He is also utilizing the residue from our sawmill for firewood, and making advances toward making us more energy independent . For me it is about chickens for eggs, a vegetable garden and flowers. LOTS of flowers. We gave very serious thought to a sizeable hoop house this year to extend our season but as alluded above, we tend to think long and hard on expenditures these days. We will earn the money for that hoop house this year and we'll set it up this Fall. No more borrowing money. Not from the bank. Not from Peter and not from Paul.
At least as best we can manage.