Thank you, Spirit.
Natalie ran a little farm market for a few years. She had so many customers. She started out with a CSA where we filled big bushel baskets full of her fresh produce. She also has free-range eggs, honey, every vegetable and some fruit. Plus she sells the free-range lamb, chickens, etc. She then decided to just turn it into a full market stand and it was so nice. Only open 2 days a week, lots of customers, and we even baked pies and offered pickled goods on the sly.
The timing was wrong. Three kids, all under 8 at the time. The garden to offer all of this produce was HUGE. She and the kids spent hours and hours pulling weeds and harvesting, etc. It was just too much. She felt like their young years were being spent hurrying them along to get things done, hours in the garden weeding, getting everything ready for the little store, etc. It was all-consuming. She gave it up, at least for the time being. Now the youngest is coming up for seven.
She hasn’t fully recovered from the busyness of the market, and add home-schooling on top of that. Now she plants almost as big a garden because she’s putting everything down and wants enough food in the freezers (she has six of them) in case of shortages. Scary times. I do as much as I can to help, but at times she gets a little over-whelmed.
Judy, you have a great daughter. I love when you talk about her and her farm. You should be proud. I’m proud of my daughters too, and my sons, but none of them were raised or married into farming.
What Great Lake are you by? We would be glad to buy some lamb.
I got tired just reading about everything Natalie does