Procrastinating From Portland Central Library

That's right. Procrastinating. It's a good thing I haven't followed the legions of my peers into a public health graduate program somewhere because it seems I still have not kicked the procrastinating habit I developed (perhaps in the womb?) in high school. I have one medium sized task to accomplish before our 6 week stay in Portland comes to an end in about 2 weeks, and it's not done. Old habits die hard I guess.

The task seems like it should be relatively simple, but it is time consuming and slightly intimidating. It is a planting plan. Part of Eli's and my experience as second year interns with OSTG next year will include a small business venture of our own. We're planning to raise about a half dozen crops to complement the farm's booth at the North Iowa Farmer's Market. We'll grow some veggies they don't grow at all, and will experiment with some succession planting and heat resistant lettuce varieties in an effort to provide greens to the market all summer. Sounds great, right? I think so too - but I am still having a hard time sitting down with the calendar, the field map, the seed catalogs, and the Excel spreadsheet to lay it all out. We won't actually be putting stuff in the ground until March, so what's the big rush?

Why oh why did I inherit my mom's work habits instead of my dad's??

So, instead of knuckling down and busting it out I am updating the blog instead! Almost 2 months has passed since I last wrote, but I can't say much has happened. We left the farm at the end of October and high tailed it west through a terribly ferocious wind storm. What was supposed to be a meandering week long camping trip through the Mountain West turned into a 3 day marathon drive back to Portland against 50 mph winds and through the first dustings of snow in the passes. We moved in (temporarily) with our good friends Meg and Robb who live right up the street from our old place on Tillamook St. and have a spare room. We are splitting housing expenses for the time we're here and are super appreciative for the friendly and cozy place to stay. You know you have good friends when they don't hesitate (not even a little bit!) to let you move in for 6 weeks, and even seem a little sad that eventually we'll leave again. 6 weeks is a terribly long time to have house guests, but so far so good.

Eli is working super hard (shocking, I know!) back with Neil and Northwest Kitchen and Bath, installing high end tile, marble and slab in big houses all over town. I am babysitting here and there, but mostly filling my days with long walks about town, almost daily jaunts to the library, lots of cooking and baking, and a bit of knitting here and there. I am also reading a couple of farming books we bought over the summer, and scouring the interweb for interesting farming blogs and informational sites. Of these, I have found many, which is what prompted me to update this here blog. I figure if I am not actively working on this planting plan, I should at least be actively updating and inspiring myself about other related farming stuff, and it's definitely working. I'm still super inspired about this path. =)

I do think that we will be pretty ready to put down some roots, even if they're shallow, by this time next year. Everything I'm reading and all the farmers I've talked with stress the importance of each farm's (and farmer's) individuality. Every place is different, every farmer has their own ways. The best teacher is experience, and while we're gaining valuable and necessary experience as interns, it's not the same as farming our own land with our own time-tested methods in our own community. Portland is an amazing city, but it is not our place. Iowa is teaching us SO much, in so many ways, but it is not our place. I guess I'm not exactly sure how to identify where our place might be - but I'm hoping once we get there it will just feel right, and we'll know. Kind of like how we knew farming was it. It was just a feeling, really, but an undeniable one.

So, I can feel myself getting a bit antsy in that regard. We're not yet building the community and network that will sustain our (hopefully) long term business efforts because we are not yet located in our long term place. So much of this work is rooted in meaningful relationships, with people and with place, and I feel eager to start building those webs and networks and partnerships and friendships. The prospect of all these different kinds of relationships is admittedly one of the most alluring parts of farming for me, so I guess it's no wonder I feel really drawn to developing that stuff first.

It's a good thing Eli is more of a systems guy - maybe he can handle the planting plan!

Not sure when the next post will come - after the holidays maybe? We are heading to Indy for my brother's college graduation and Christmas, then to the Catskills for the New Year, and then it's a bit ambiguous until we return to the farm in late March or early April. A leisurely trip down the eastern seaboard seems like a good idea in theory, but I'm not sure it will be so pleasant in January and February. We are hoping to join Eli's brother and sister-in-law in the Florida Keys for a week or two, and a cheap ticket to Hawaii would be pretty hard to pass up. Other than that, options are wiiiiide open. And man, I have to admit that feels good!

Lots of love, and drop a line!