Dehydrators, Markets and Other Adventures
Trip Start
May 10, 2009
1
3
Trip End
Ongoing
Olathe, Colorado, United States
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Sorry it's been so long since the last post.
We have been enjoying the farm. We typically work from about 7am to 3:30, then we read, make a batch of soap, play in our little garden, or nap. Our "garden" is about four small patches of dirt, one of amaranth, two of sunflowers and anasazi beans, and one raised bed with lettuce, peas, potatoes and garlic. We have been cooking on the campfire a lot, especially loving the coal-baked potatoes and asparagus. In the evenings, we wander the fields looking for "volunteer" veggies, such as lettuce growing in the carrot patch or green onions in the potatoes and make big salads from them.
We had a nice Memorial Day BBQ with our neighbors here in Pea Green Corner
The Carpenters
. They seem like really great folks. Most are cattle ranchers with wives that have jobs in town. Our nearest neighbor, Jake, is a very wiry old man in his 80s, still taking care of his cows and fields in the same house he grew up in. He had great stories.Leah's Birthday was the 29th, and Lynn having heard that last year's bd was not very special, really went out of her way to make this one great. They cooked a special dinner and had a surprise chocolate cake with candles and everything!
We went to Durango for the "weekend" (Tuesday and Wednesday) to see Leah's family and visiting cousins from Texas. We also built some lovely solar dehydrators, see pictures. We wanted to get them ready so that we can make lots of sun-dried tomatoes, squash chips, dried peaches and such later in the summer. They were really fun to build but took a lot longer than expected!
Then we came back to the farm, spent Thursday working and then it was off to the front-range on Friday for markets. We went with Lynn this time to learn the ropes and get comfortable with the two markets. We were driving the big truck pulling a trailer on Vail Pass when we heard a loud pop
The dehydrators
. Turned out a trailer wheel had blown (luckily the trailer has tandem axels, so we didn't crash). We called a service station for help but they took so long to arrive that we had already fixed it before they came. The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, though it did snow on us a bit.We stayed in Boulder with Andy's folks, and did the Farmer's Markets in Louisville on Saturday and Old South Pearl Street on Sunday. Both were fun, though our hanging flower baskets looked a little beat-up from the trip and we didn't sell very many. We did sell a lot of basil transplants and tomato plants, though.
Anyway, it's lookin' like we'll be back on the front range this weekend. Guy is sick, so Lynn wants to stay and take care of him. Then hopefully we'll get on an every-other weekend schedule.
Cheers!
-L & A
