Athens, Ohio, farmer's market
We are now the official
owners of a tract of bare land outside Athens, Ohio! Our closing was
Thursday, and we went up Monday to start getting a bunch of balls
rolling. Enter a mass of gut-wrenching and expensive problems that made
me doubt the entire endeavor and ask Mark if I could just crawl under a
rock and live there instead. (For the record, he
said, "No.")
In need of a quick
emotional fix, Mark and I headed straight to the farmer's market on
Wednesday morning. Wow! All doubts were laid to rest at this midweek
gathering (about a third the size of the main one on Saturday
morning)...although part of my mood lift might have been due to that
excellent gluten-free brownie.
But it wasn't just the
brownie that floated my boat. I'm so impressed by the town's commitment
to locally-grown food, which varied from fresh ginger and oyster
mushrooms grown by the certified organic Green Edge Gardens...
...to multiple orchards
with dozens of fruit varieties I haven't even tasted yet.
I'm really looking
forward to being part of a community that puts such a value on
high-quality produce. A wise person once said that all boats are safe
until they leave the harbor...but if you never leave the harbor what's
the point of being a boat? Despite some squalls, I'm starting to get my
sea legs under me as we continue to navigate our transition.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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If there is demand for local and artisanal products it could create opportunities for you two to market homestead products at a price that makes the labour worthwhile. As a vendor at a farmers market, I am rewarded for my efforts by customers who appreciate local and organic veggies. Also, I am changing my name to "Chris from Canada" to avoid any confusion with the other Chris who comments here.
You know I just have to ask "what were the expensive problems?"
Nice farmer's market for so late in the year.
Thank you, everyone, for your congratulations!
Eric --- We ran into some very pricey car trouble that had been quite literally coming to a head over the last month or so. At least there was no accident involved anywhere except in our wallet....