Back to the Farm

It's definitely looking like a bad next couple of weeks, which, of course, makes me long for a more pastoral existence.

In lieu of actually running off to a frontier farm (which I am sure is lot more idyllic in my fantasy than it would be in real life), Evelin and I are considering buying a share at the Clagett Farm, our local community supported agriculture (CSA) outlet. The bargain is we would prepay for the season and in return each week (mid-May through mid-November) we could pick up a bag or two of fresh fruits, legumes and veggies. We'd also get pick-your-own rights to of a couple of crops.

It's a great idea, and I've been wanting to participate since I first read about CSAs last year, but the problem is the pickup times don't look like they'd work out well for us. The only pickups on weekday nights are located in places that would be difficult for either of us to get to before closing time, and the weekend pickup times are smack in the middle of the day on Saturday.

I don't want that to be an obstacle -- and truth be told we may not be doing many day-long hikes this summer, what with the pregnancy and all -- but if the pickups could be on Sunday (when we already have time carved out for the farmers market and pandas) it would be much less disruptive. What to do? What to do?

Last night, I got us a few inches closer to getting the seedlings started for the garden. Sorry, Dan, no greenhouse (as cool as that would be); instead, I lowered one set of fluorescent lights in the basement and moved a shop rack directly under it and cleared off the top shelf. Now, with the warming pad below and the lights above, the seedling tray should give the seeds a good start. Now we just have to actually plant things ... and get the peas into the ground ... and start fixing the soil in the raised beds ... and ... and ... and ...