Getting Ready...

 In the remaining weeks before the first farm market on May 19, First-Flower is a veritable madhouse of activity. It is a good thing the Patient Spouse is out earning a viable income and not being called upon to provide continual moral support. It is a good thing the Mathematician is at school (finals week) and not criticizing my choice of paint colors and fitness at tent set-up. It is just me and the Farm Dog, who is most fascinated by the shade under various stationary objects and the intriguing goings-on two yards over. (What can it be living inside that old converted doghouse in their backyard? I'm waiting for my neighbor to chastise me in person for the constant disturbances my dog has caused the gimpy raccoon she is nursing back to health inside that little animal shelter ever since it came loping into the yard a week ago...)
     Here are some baskets I found in attic and root cellar, now an attractive shade of First-Flower 1940s green. This photo is notable primarily because I have intentionally used the most recent "Help-Wanted" section of the Shopper's Guide, so I won't be tempted by all the ads for "skilled gardener, pay commensurate with experience." Am currently, still, chronically, experiencing non-commensurate pay.

    While the weather was shabby (cold, rainy, near-freezing, snow flurries on May 12), I finished sewing my 1930s line of potholders and aprons, and figured out how to display them so they wouldn't clash with the 1900s line on the other side of the rack. I hope some day I will be doing all this sewing in the winter and spending yuckky spring days inside my greenhouse doing the better work of farming, but until that time, this sideline gives me some flowers to sell before the photosynthesizing kind are ready.

 Baby food jars from the farmhouse cellar make cute little 4oz vases which I hope to sell with a tiny bouquet or herbs included. The perfect hostess gift!

Kitchen chaos! Why does it always seem that to get something really clean requires making an utter mess first? In anticipation of selling jams, jellies and other flower-flavored products, my kitchen has to be certified by the Town of Great Barrington. The process is really simple, if a little costly: the town in Massachusetts where your kitchen is located tests your knowledge of keeping reasonably clean in the kitchen, asks for proof you've passed  ServeSafe and Allergen Awareness exams, and checks the temperatures of your hot water and refrigeration. Knowing this, I have cleaned every nook and cranny, washed everything right down to the spice jars, put labels on all my bulk-stored items, and cleaned nooks and crannies that haven't sen the light of day since we moved here. It all needed doing anyways.
     While each additional town you plan to sell your "cottage industry" food in requires their own documentation and fee payment, they abide by the decision of your hometown Board of Health when it comes to kitchen certification. Happily, not only does my kitchen pass, I also discover what may well be the most helpful, neighborly, prompt arm of Great Barrington town government. The BOH (and Building Inspector's secretary across the hall)  are a terrific group of individuals, and that restores a little of my pride in the town, where my tax dollars often seem "at work" in squanderous ways such as the replanting of new Bradford pear trees to replace the old ones deemed "too large" and an "inappropriate street tree." Yup.
    Now, on to that first market, and the big question: will anything I have for sale week one actually BE a flower?...