Leaving for Vermont

I leave on Sunday for Vermont for our 2nd module of the entrepreneurship project. This is a jam packed week with 8 tours in all. These tours range from wineries, bakeries, CSA farms, and goat production.

I'm excited and ready to rumble. Our weather is supposed to be nice there and I hope to have a lot of pictures when I return.

Barn Updates

 Bob Adams has been working in the old barn for weeks now replacing all old, rotten posts. What an ordeal that was! Now, it's finished up. That barn isn't going anywhere now! 

Our new diesel tank was delivered this week. We are really going though the diesel with all the improvements going on here.

Bob Adams scraped the floor and ready for the next big thing, a roof.....

Wow, I'm tired of spending money but we have to stop the leaks! This old barn has so much character and  potential.

Farm Updates - With the Berry Field

 These are the Blackberries rapidly growing, all 240 of them looking great.............

 Native Elderberries are loving this rain we're having.

 Gooseberries getting fuller each week and growing like great guns.
This is looking East where the rest of the field has been plowed. No, I didn't reach my goal of learning to drive the tractor this week....Better yet, Daryl Beck did all the plowing for me! He did a wonderful job and I'm proud of the way the field looks and Daryl for being so patient with me.

 The grapes have almost reached the top. They are loving this rain so much. Red Raspberries in the bottom right side.

This is what the field looks like before any plowing begins. We marked the field with 100's of little red flags in order to get the rows straight and evenly spaced.

More Pictures from Module 1

 Group dinner the last night. OMG it was yummy. We have a rather large group of inspiring farmers.

 Some of our inspiring farmers enjoying lunch at Seven Cedar Farms.

 More lunch pictures.

 Jason and his dad giving us a tour of their farm. This farm specializes in veggies, hay, cattle and potted flowers.

 These are his two hoop houses, he got though the EQUIP program. Everything looked super!

Some of his potted flowers ready to sell.

St. Louis, MO Module 1

 Geisert Farms outside of St. Louis. This is the owner better known as Toad (really Todd). Unique situation of farming. He rotates his pigs and crops each 6 months. Smart guy and great use of land.

 This is his self-serve herb station. Weigh, cut and drop the money in the box.

 Pigs swimming and playing in the water.

 This is the self-serve veggie stand. He grows over 4,500 tomatoes to keep the station stocked.

 Scale to weight your produce with.

 Hay wagon in which we all loaded up (about 30 ppl) to tour the farm. It was only 104 that day.

Holly and I holding one of his piglets. They are so cute when they are small.

 
This is where you drop your money. You weigh and figure out your own pricing. Wow........Not much labor involved here.

Oh poor me

Today had another moment where I just sat and thought in my field of berries. Things are growing bigger and a few things have died because of lack of water. I feel like Loretta Lynn right now when I think of the movie about her. My life is running me and I'm not running my own life right now. The days are running together and I don't even know what day of the week it is. I haven't wore makeup in so long that it's probably dried up in the bottle.

I feel so overwhelmed that my husband is gone. As I sat there, I remember giving a speech recently about "could I do this operation" but REALLY THE QUESTION IS "can I still do without Mark". He was my biggest cheerleader and ask me for things to do everyday. Now, I just make out a list for me and its lonely doing all those things by myself.

I have sat a new goal for myself next week and that's learning how to run that tractor if it kills me. I learned how to put on the tiller, plow and bush hog but failed to get directions on running the machinery. I think I'll feel better when I master that skill.

Later on I'll post some pictures of my trip to St. Louis. I know you'll love seeing them as well.