Every year the farm seems to come a little further into focus. 2010 was an especially important year for us; we reached some of our goals this year, met some amazing farmers, and learned a lot of new skills. The year is over, but we're still eating the tomatoes we canned in the August heat!
2010 began with a big seed order. We planted our own gardens and worked with our fellow farmers Grace and Allen MacNeil on their gardens this season. We also started hundreds of annual and perennial herbs and flowers which we sold as plants at local farmers markets in Spencer, Greencastle, and Bloomington. We acquired a stand-up soil blocker for starting our seeds this year, and we were very pleased with the reduction in plastic we were able to achieve by using the soil blocks.
I learned to make soap early in 2010, under Grace's knowledgeable tutelage, and we began selling soap alongside our other farm products in April. This has been a great way for Grace and I to use our love of herbs, as well as our mutual surplus of cow and goat milk, to create something beautiful and useful from our farms. It has also become one of the most enjoyable things I do with my time, and a successful side business for myself and Grace.
There were many baby animals on the farm in the spring of 2010. We had a couple litters of beautiful lionhead rabbits, which have proven to be very popular as pets. I am proud of our rabbits, and love raising them. They have lovely soft coats and mellow dispositions.
Twin goats, Peter and Paul, were born to our new Toggenburg Lori on April Fools Day. This was the first goat birth we have attended, and Bruce was an excellent midwife. He also milked all season, and began learning to make cheese.
This was the first year we really concentrated on attending farmers markets and building our customer base there. Bloom Magazine captured this image of my farmer mentor, Jeff Hartenfeld, and I shooting the breeze while setting up at the Bloomington Community Farmers Market in the fall.
We also attended the Owen County Farmers Market and the Greencastle Farmers Market this year. Silvan is growing up among the community of farmers at these markets, and has been gifted with many homemade cookies, tiger lilies, and felted animals at the 2010 markets. I was reminded of the importance of small-town farmers markets this year, and prepared myself to help run these markets by accepting the position of Market Master for the Bloomington Winter Farmers Market.
In the cold heart of January, we are still busy bustling around the farmers market, making soap, and learning new ways to prepare the produce we've preserved and stored from 2010. We are also planning our gardens for 2011, using what we've learned from the past year to guide us.
