Fall Foliage and what the hell is going to happen next........

Good Morning Folks,
Well guess what.....it's raining!
So Tink my spouse's tiny white dog is going to survive the coyote attack. Thanks to the gifted hands of a very well compensated dog surgeon. I think he is coming back home today, hopefully dipped in gold.
Yesterday morning started off as a fine day for agriculture and quickly became a morning in water damage control. As I headed to make the morning esspresso I was greeted with a stream of water pouring out of the ceiling onto the desk. Luckily my computer and cell phone were spared. So a few hours later after covering everything in plastic and tearing out stinking wet dry wall I discover that the work done by one of Vermont's fine craftsmen failed. Looking like a half assed job of soldering a joint in my cold water line. The irony is not lost on me when I stop to think that I pay a plumber $125/hr while I toil away for roughly $10/hr and get grief whenever I try and raise the prices on my produce. Never mind that my costs increase every year as well. 8 years ago the price of green beans was $2/lb and the price is still at that today. Meanwhile property taxes go up, insurance, gas, employee wages and the taxes I pay on those wages.......it all keeps going up. But those green beans had not better cost more than $2/lb.
Yes I am a wee bit bitter, perhaps it is the poorly made coffee that I am consuming. Oh yeah the other dog was up all night scratching his fleas next to the bed..............
Greenhouses are ready for skinning and I have a bunch of helping hands coming up on Sunday from the Yestermorow Design School. Weather looking like it might actually happen. Seedling shed is finished and loaded with seeded flats. Just need to get the heater bought and installed.  The new greenhouse frame is laying in the door yard and that project will get tackled next week.

Winter CSA shares are selling slowly but it's early. Looking to be a good one. I cannot quite put my finger on it but I am really looking forward to a very harsh winter with lot's of snow..........................

To the right is the current state of affairs around here...

A few minutes to think......just a few.......

Good Morning,
Well we almost finished the new seedling shed yesterday. Spent about an hour trying to find the edge of the large plastic sheet so we could pull it down and cover the house. Finally realized the manufacturer never cut the sheet and had sent me a very long tube of plastic. Argh!! Talk about frustration and then the added labor. Things do look good in there though. Going to finish up today and get after dismantling the smallest house and cutting a tree or two down. Need to start prepping the new site for the 3rd and final large greenhouse. End walls and plastic will go on next week for the two existing ones.
Soup season is starting around here as well. Trying to get geared up for that. I was cooking at my kitchen site on Monday and managed to set off the fire alarm while caramelizing some onions. I would have preferred to meet the local fire department on different terms but they were nice about it and nothing was actually on fire.
I have a new computer..........and managed to get my accounting data back. Now all I have to do is get caught up on about 5 weeks of book keeping. What a daunting mess that is.
Here is my latest rant related to farming and the local food movement........................Vermont get's hit with a hurricane; many farmer's were wiped out. Those of us who were not have been impacted all season by the slow economy and the bad weather. We are small businesses that are very cash flow sensitive. Now here is the part that really pisses me off. All these local restaurants that claim to buy local and they don't ( you know who you are, I see the produce truck delivering all that California produce) and when you do buy something from us you don't pay us on time! Some of you are 90 days out on invoices, bounce checks to us, or make us chase you to get paid! This summer has been tough on all of us but why is the assumption made that the farmer can get paid last? We have employees and bills just like you and my bank (like yours) does not extend credit on my mortgage or understand late payment. When I come in to eat in your restaurant I am expected to pay for my meal at the time I eat it. Not 30,60,90 days later! Think about that please.

Now for my daily plug for our winter CSA. Head on over to the blog or website and consider giving us a try this winter.  centralvermontfoodhub.com

Winter Spinach in one of the greenhouses.

Frost on the Pumpkin this morning!

Good Morning,
Off to market this morning with the first soup of the season. Calling it "Vermont Gumbo." Quite tasty for a cool crisp day. Harvest our first peaches yesterday. Man are they good. Apples and pears are coming as well.
All the plastic is off the greenhouses and the new frame has been delivered. Way too much work but just going to have to get it done. Tomatoes are finally done. We could have kept harvesting but at this time of the year the flavor is just not there. Plenty of late season peppers, eggplant, baby fall spinach, and plenty of other goodies.
will be giving away the chicken flock soon. After running the numbers and looking at everything I have going on they just need to go. Too much time, labor, and money going into them way too little return on investment. Perhaps I will reconsider next year when I can have a better management system for them.
Plenty of ground cherries for market today along with the sweet baby stuffing bell peppers.
Off to load the truck hope to see at the market. For the few of you still reading this thing we are offering winter CSA shares. Sales have started and they are doing well. If your interested head on over to centralvermontfood.com for more info.
Thanks
Joe

Farming, Flooding, Food.........time to get into gear around here.

Well my posts have been infrequent and sparse so here goes...
Plastic is off one greenhouse and getting ready to do the end walls and recover it. Then need to recover the other one.
New greenhouse is coming and I am waiting on the permits for it. Plenty of late blight in all the tomatoes so the canning crops is a failure again. If did not like them so much I would give up on them. This 3 years in row that they have failed.
Also going to raise the grade in one greenhouse. Time to get rid of all the moisture in there.
Put away 70 old laying hens on friday. Man what a chore.
Need to get the tomato sauce into the freezer and get the next batch going.
On another note my computer is not liquid proof. It is dead and at the repair shop. I have no access to any of my stuff on it. Arggh! Thus the reliance on my iphone and all the bad spelling and brief responses.
The next big thing coming is another large amount of rain over the next 36 hours. This could be another kick in the teeth coming.
On a very bright note I want to thank all of my market customers for coming out and supporting the market and the farmer's. It really made me feel good with all the care and concern you showed asking me how I was doing and the farm. Thank you!
Trying to sort everything out and get readjusted for the winter CSA.
Gotta go..