Day 124 of 365
I did not work with the elderberries today. They sit in the fridge, and I feel panic that they may go bad if I don’t get to them soon. I feel like harvest is this constant race against waste–waste of food, waste of water, waste of my husband’s hard labor–and I loathe waste anyway. So I feel some anxiety that I didn’t get to the elderberries today.
The birds have eaten everything I didn’t pick. The birds got about 75 percent of the harvest, as I just needed enough to make a batch of jelly or syrup, but I will feel extra terrible if I took berries from those birds (I have discovered the Robins are the main elderberry eaters, which surprised me) and waste them. Ugh. Just writing about the possibility of wasting makes me feel a little sick. I should probably write at some point about waste, although I worry it would just come out as a long rant.
I left the elderberries at the expense of my anxiety because I just had to work on some Farmer-ish work today. We are running a booth and I am presenting several times at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine in a little less than two weeks. Literally, everything is on the line for us as a journal. If our books do not sell at this fair, a fair full of nothing but our target audience, the journal as we know it will fold. But I am not even going to allow such a thought. I think this is going to be our chance to really launch. I think this is a time to shine.
But there is much preparation. We have never run a booth before. I am trying to imagine every possible thing we need. We will have books, both volumes of the annuals, t-shirts, and I have to figure out some kind of giveaway to get people follow our site. We’ve had cards made; a banner has been ordered, as has a sturdy tent for our spot at the fair; t-shirts are being printed and set to arrive the day before the fair; Ron’s office is full of boxes of print annuals. I have to figure out how to make a garland out of scrap fabric, buy some flowers, make some posters, figure out money, and then hope and pray.
Okay, I am actually going to get back to work. I have to set up more items in the Etsy shop and figure out some labels for our candles. They sell pretty well, but I am convinced they would do better with some cool labels. I have the idea to put some quotes from Farmer-ish poetry or public domain poetry (I’m thinking Thoreau) on the labels. And I have to cut up the fabric for the garland.
I really need a marketing team. Maybe a personal assistant. Ron does pretty well though on the assistant part. He’s terrible at marketing though. In fact, I’m afraid to leave him running the booth while I have to go present at the fair. He’s a fantastic human. He’s not the greatest with people.
I am hopeful though. There is a lot on the line for us, but the new annual is so beautiful I almost can’t believe I made it. That has to be a good sign, right?
Farmer-ish 