Mid March - here is a photo Steve took after dropping us off at the Max train in Hillsboro. We had just 'moved' up from Eugene, out of the apt we had rented there, with all of the belongings we had with us packed into the Volvo. We met Katie and Casey of Oakhill Organics (check out their super blog!) on the way up and came to meet with Mishelle and Steve again about working with them on Abundant Harvest, also farming a plot of our own, taking over the route and moving into the cottage at Pumpkin Ridge Gardens. We both had caught a bit of a cold during a farm visit in Grants Pass with Mary and Vince of Whistling Duck and their cute kids (well worth it - they are wonderful and kindly spent a long time talking with us and making a delicious dinner) and may have just been at a point of having worn ourselves down some, so back up near Portland for these meetings, we felt a bit fuzzy, but it went well. It was excellent to see Mish and Steve again, they cooked a yummy dinner and their energy and enthusiasm is contagious in the best way. We met with Sharon and Brian of Dos Sequoias for tea and got into a bit of politics ; ) and with Polly and James of Pumpkin Ridge who made us a tasty lunch. Farmer hospitality we hope to return!! In this photo we are on our way to the airport and back to the midwest to round up our things, patiently waiting at Neil's parents for the final leg of their journey. We ended up leaving our car at the farm, flying to WI/IA and driving back in a Penske truck in time to move in on March 29th.
Now we're here and among other things, we've made it through the first two months of the route. The new season has just started and the route has changed. The backbone is the same, but there are changes and additions. We drove with Polly on Tuesday and James on Friday to sort out any kinks in the directions. It went good and it was nice to talk with them more about life, farming, politics and family, as we all otherwise tend to be very busy. (photo from a sunset at the farm in mid March, coastal mountains in the background)Being on the route is like going on an 8 and 1/2+ hour road trip. We could make it to Sacramento...
Hopefully we will feel good enough about the new route soon, that we will transition to one of us doing it on our own to free up more time for our farming. And then maybe some day we will figure out how to take a day 'off'...
