Site day-4/18/09

Well, it finally arrived-Site Day. The winter was long enough. Rain had been forecast for the day, but did not show, so the crew managed to get in a good clean up session. We have a new pebbled walk past all the booths.We hooked up the water, including a shiny new fountain. Market starts Saturday, May 2. BE THERE.  Here are some pix from site day. See you soon.  Rara Avis.

Found this guy in the shed. Apparently he had been living there all winter. Here, he's telling old seafaring tales. Dude, its Vermont!

Two wise guys trying to sell accident insurance to market members. " Youse never know when, how you call 'vandals' might decide to besmoich the property. With  me and my cousin Pauly here on the job, your worries are over-as long as youse pay the vig..er premiums."

Sire, waiting for the wheelbarrow races to commence-cash prizes!

HELP....MEEEEEE......!

So I sent for new coffee pots-have had the old ones for about 10 years, or 20 to 30,000 cups of coffee. I guess they paid for themselves.

Mud season is in full swing. I think I could build an entire car from the parts left in the mud bogs of Pine Banks Rd. My fifth grade teacher back in Jersey, Mrs O'Donnell, grew up in Mississippi. One day she told the class that when she went to school, there were no snow days (never snows in Miss), but there were mud days when school would close because of the extreme mud conditions on the mostly dirt roads in the area.

 I thought her story was quite bizzare. I had never seen a dirt road in Jersey (Roads have been paved there since the Stone Age). After moving to VT I fully understand the significance of mud and mud season.

 It would probably make for a good Stephen King novel: "Mud Season", in which cars    get swallowed by the mud, and then:

1. The cars emerge to wreak havoc on the local population, a la Christine.

2. The people in the cars come back as zombies, vampires, mutants with strange           powers.

3. After vanishing for many years, the cars  come back, their occupants sporting white hair, but  not otherwise having aged at all.

Yow! It's been a long Winter. Here are some random pix from last year.

Rara Avis

7 Saturdays to go

So I started to get ready for this year's Market- pulled my Market stuff; pots, baskets, stove, etc. out of the shed, aka one of our dead Volvo wagons. They make excellent sheds. I can roll them around into any configuration.

Seven Saturdays to go. I can't wait for site day. Its the validation of the new season, after the long cold Winter. I'll see people for the first time since last November, and meet new vendors, with their plans and dreams in hand. We could probably solve the nation's economic problems by changing to a Farmers Market-based system. Imagine buying stuff from the people who actually made it-sort of like Pa Ingalls and Mr Hanson from" Little House on the Prairie". No faceless conglomerates, bureaucrats or big Agribiz.

Farm News Update: Speaking of Agribiz, and relating to last Wednesday's post about HR 875, it seems that BHO has picked his "Food Safety Czar"(so many czars!). He is one Michael Taylor, most recently in the employ of...you guessed it...Monsanto. Read all about it in OPedNews. I hear the sound of Roger Daltry's voice..."Meet the new boss, same as the old boss". Rara Avis

Midweek Update 3/11/09

Hey, local farmers-there's a new bill in Congressional committee-HR 875-the :"Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009". Check out the bill here. Also, there are several responses from local/organic food advocates-Read one here. I don't know how far this bill will get in the House, and I think its worth noting that the husband of the bill's sponsor works for Monsanto. You'll remember their efforts to stop dairy farmers from advertising BST-free milk, and their gen-modified seed push.

Well, I'm ready for warmer weather. Mud season hit Pine Banks Road like a bomb Sunday. We were unable to get out to the paved road for three days. I guess the town trucks must have taken off together on a merry jaunt to Florida, because I haven't seen one here yet. See you Saturday.

Rara Avis

Trees in snow always look great.

Remember Market last year?

8 weeks to go..YAY!!

Well, it's still Winter, but I can see Spring just over the horizon.

 The new warm weather came along almost perfectly for me. We still had a few sticks of firewood left in the stack, and the high temps allowed me to pull wood out of the previously frozen firewood pile. Perfectly would have me run out of stacked wood the day the pile defrosted. Maybe next year.

Saw a news item last week on tv about the Burlington Farmers Market. What with the bad economy and the success of that market, the city has quadrupled the fees vendors must pay. Sheesh.. you would think that the city would see the market as an asset that attracts visitors, and their money, to the shops of the city. I guess no good moneymaking deed goes unpunished.

I'll try to post twice a week from now on-let's see how it works. Rara Avis

'This house on your lot-only $142,500!"

Sunrise over the Connecticut River.

Icy bushes in Brattleboro.

9 Weeks to Go

OK, so here I am waiting for Winter to pass. I never remember in Dec. how tired I will get of the cold weather by Feb. 

09 Market rules, regs and apps arrived in the mail last week-sent in our membership fee-awaiting Site Day. Hey, I see in the newsletter that the jackboot of the state is bearing down more heavily on the necks of the prepared food vendors (those preparing food onsite at Market). It looks like the days of starting a Market career with a card table, a hibachi and a dream are gone for good.  Oh well. Here's some Winter pix. Rara Avis

I'll say!

Snowy night on the new deck. 

I like the way the snow flakes look like little falling lights.

Ah...the Market. I remember it well.

View of the Market past Barney Google's fine manse.

Dare anyone to take their car down our bobsled run-err..driveway.

12 Saturdays to go

Hey, I'm siting here watching the cats sitting at the window watching the birds at the feeders. The winter is still great, just the way I like it. We have 12 Saturdays to go till Market starts. I think I'll bring back biscotti. It's been several years since I brought them to Market-I don't remember why I stopped. Also, maybe I'll carry hot and cold cocoa all season-seems people like to have it available.

One of my winter study projects has involved something called "Rocket Stoves". These things were invented as a way to help people in third world countries cook without needing large amounts of fuel. A rocket stove is easy to build and use, and it produces very high heat using a little firewood of any quality. 

I'm interested in a variation of rocket stove, the rocket mass stove, that turns the stove into an efficient, cheap replacement for a masonry stove, aka russian fireplace. We heat exclusively with wood, and I find it exciting to envision using less wood, firing the stove fewer times per day, and getting steady, radiant heat into our living area. I have found many websites devoted to these gizmos, and have also joined a discussion group on the subject. 

That's all for this week. Have fun. rara avis