The $500 idea

Posted on 05/16/2013 by Melissa

Hello world! Whew, it’s been a while…

When I sit down at this blog after a long hiatus like this (not the first time, mind you), I feel like I’m 12 years old, staring at a blank diary page after I neglected to write for months. I would look down at the diary and feel this huge expectation upon me. The pages saying to me: Well, where have you been? Fill me in on the past three months of your life! Surely you must have something to tell me?

And thus, this blank blog entry feels a lot like that. As though I am expected to recap everything that has happened in our lives since where we left off. Before the changes in our day-to-day lives and this amazing new adventure owning ReThreads really began. Back when I didn’t know what it was like to work 70 hours a week and we still spent the majority of our time together. As though I could just slowly turn the dial through these past few weeks and months, sharing and savoring the funny and beautiful moments, fast forwarding past the difficult ones.

But… (tell me you didn’t see this coming) I’m not going to do that. When I was 12 I picked up the diary out of the blue because I wanted to gush about my latest crush or how my best friend and I weren’t best friends anymore. I didn’t want to take on the task of bringing my diary up to speed from where I last left off. BORing. Then, as now, I had something pressing on my mind, and that’s why I came back. To share this juicy tidbit. This new passion in my life. Perhaps then, as now, I found it more suitable to live in the present rather than dwell on the past?

And so, here it is. The reason I’m back: to share an idea. It’s an idea in infancy right now, not yet a well thought out idea. But it’s still an idea worth sharing from the start. And a joint one at that. (As some of our best ideas tend to be!)

The basic premise is that we are going to spend $500 locally, on things that help grow our community and our selves. And we’re going to blog about it.

Here’s the story that led up to the idea: Due to a strange set of circumstances that nearly left us homeless, Mark and I were forced out of our most recent apartment and we received $500 in compensation for the inconvenience of having to move earlier than expected. At first we thought that the money would go a long way toward helping us furnish this new apartment and make it more homey and comfortable than the previous apartment. The last one always felt temporary to us, and thus we weren’t inspired to really make it feel like home. And even if we had been so inspired, there wasn’t much time: Have I mentioned we’ve been a little busy with a new baby in the family. Now, though I’m still just as busy at ReThreads, we’re more inclined to settle into this apartment and make it feel special, so we’ve been shopping for furnishings that feel like “us”. This would be a great way to spend our newfound moolah, right?

Right, except that home furnishings are things we would have bought eventually anyway. We’re both always keeping our eyes peeled for secondhand items to bring home that serve us functionally or aesthetically. And occasionally we buy new: we covet rare trips to IKEA like the cheap college kids we apparently still are (somewhere deep inside?). Buying furniture and artwork might be on our to-do list, but this new money won’t really be noticed if we just put it in savings and wait until the right pieces come along… That is to say, it’s like every time I receive cash as a holiday or birthday gift. It’s very very appreciated, but I don’t usually spend it on something I really want or will remember into the future. It usually just goes into the bank and ends up paying bills or some other nonmemorable purchase.

So we shifted our thinking, and wondered how else the money could make an impact in our lives, and maybe other peoples’ as well. After all, IKEA doesn’t really need our money. How can we have fun with this $500 and engage with our community at the same time?

Nearly every day it seems we learn of a cool new organization in Charlottesville, or local project that needs support, or fundraiser event that we want to attend. Or someone who could use their day brightened by a bouquet of flowers. So we decided that this is how we’re going to spend our money. Intentionally. On local products and services. Paying forward kindness. Treating ourselves to a class or event we might not have otherwise. Putting 100% of the money into the community, in a recordable way. As in, recording it on this blog as we go. What lessons will come from our $500 adventure? What new experiences will we have? What richness and beauty will we see in this community?

While we work out the groundrules of our little $500 challenge, here’s my question to you: If someone handed you $500 right now, how would you spend it? What would you do to make the world a little happier, your community a little stronger, yourself a little richer?

A little stripe of paint, and a whole lot more

Posted on 02/07/2013 by Melissa

I know “I’ve been too busy” is not a great excuse, but, well, I’ve been a little too busy to post an update recently. Here’s what I/we’ve been up to:

Moving into the shop…

Putting up craft paper on the windows (to add a little mystery for passersby)…

Playing dress up with mannequins…

A lot of painting…

Not just walls, but furniture too

Putting up clothing racks Transporting a display case…

And much, much more!

If you haven’t done so already, check out the store’s website, ReThreadsCville.com, and sign up for our newsletter. We’ll keep newsletter subscribers and Facebook fans updated about our opening date and other store news as it progresses. Thanks!

More photos and updates soon!

Where Do I Get My Starting Inventory?

Posted on 01/18/2013 by Melissa

Welcome to the fourth (!) post about my new store ReThreads. To learn more about the store, check out the other recent posts here, here, and here.

Every time someone learns that I am opening a reuse shop they inevitably ask one big question:

Where do you get your starting inventory?

This is by far the most common question people ask, and, in fact, it was one of the first questions I had when I was considering opening this shop. I was afraid of a Catch 22: I can’t advertise Bring me your items to consign when the store is totally empty – can I? I needed a starting inventory that was not entirely consignment-based.

Turns out, it’s not hard to acquire stuff! For me, a near-obsession with saving things from the landfill + a pickup truck = acquiring a whole lot of other people’s stuff.

I probably don’t need to tell you that there are great deals to be found at yard sales, estate sales, flea markets, and thrift stores. All of these sources have formed some of my starting inventory. But here’s an even better one: an amazing place called the Goodwill outlet store. I visited the one in Richmond, VA (they have them all over the country) for the first time a few weeks ago and went home with a nearly full pickup truck for only $77. Why so cheap? At the outlet stores they sell clothing and housewares by the pound. Since I bought more than 20 pounds of clothing (probably closer to 50 pounds) I got the rate of $1.20/lb. Housewares were about $.60/lb and books were $.25 ea. After digging through huge plastic bins of clothing, I bought everything that looked to be in good condition and potentially saleable at my store. This photo is of the huge Goodwill Outlet store – grey bins of household items visible behind one of my two overflowing shopping carts in the front of the picture.

Some other starting inventory comes from friends who have graciously offered to pass things along to me for consignment if I’m willing to take it off their hands now (rather than wait until the store opens). Sure! This way I can start the process of labeling/tracking my inventory, and I have something to put on the racks before the store opens! Then there are other people who simply give me stuff because they want to be done with it, not expecting anything in return – a most welcome donation!

There are other sources too: Craigslist for bags of children’s clothing and toys, other consignment shops for items I buy with intention to wear myself but ultimately decide it’s best if I pass it on to someone who will love it more. As of this weekend, I have yet another new source: estate sales that Mark and I are running. But that’s a whole other story – I smell another FAQ question!

No matter where I acquire things, after I bring my loot home, I clean it if it needs cleaning and pack it into a labeled box. You’ll notice that I use banana boxes – I love them for packing! Not only are they super sturdy and fit a good amount of stuff, but Mark can get all ~~he wants~~ I want for free from Trader Joe’s!

At this point, my best guess is that I have at least 50 boxes (LARGE boxes) full of starting inventory. I’ve filled up a 10×15 storage unit, in addition to our entire second bedroom (what used to be my office) at our apartment. Yeah, I’d say I’m ready to go.

Okay, enough about clothing inventory, what about clothing racks and display tables?

Ever since I put the word out that I was starting up this store, the items I needed just started coming my way. Both in terms of inventory to resell and well as store fixtures such as clothing racks, shelving, and display tables. Thanks to the power of Craigslist and right place/right time happenstance, I’ve found businesses in the process of closing down who will gladly sell me the fixtures I need at a deeply discounted price. Thus far I’ve acquired the following items used: round clothing racks, wall shelving, a shoe rack, a display counter, mannequins, fitting room curtains, a cash register, and a credit card machine. The point: My mission is about reuse. Every aspect of ReThreads reflects that.

This is a photo of my storage unit when it was only about half full. It has since become nearly impossible to even open the door without something precariously balanced falling on the unsuspecting ~~victim~~ friend I’ve roped into helping me. And I thought this size storage unit was too big at first!

Stay tuned for an upcoming post to explain how I figured out just how many clothing racks and display tables I would need for the store! You won’t want to miss it. It involves 3D design software and lots of images.

This post was made possible by you, supportive friends and family. No, I’m not getting paid to write blog posts these days, but I am gratefully accepting donations (really, advance purchases of store credit) for the marketing campaign for my new shop ReThreads.

More about ReThreads, FAQ style

Posted on 01/10/2013 by Melissa

Thank you so much to those of you who have been in touch about supporting ReThreads after yesterday’s post! I’m back to share some more information about this new venture, answering some of your Frequently Asked Questions.

Okay, so what is ReThreads?

ReThreads is an eclectic and affordable reuse shop opening in Charlottesville in early spring 2013. Our goal is to offer affordable, good quality secondhand items: clothing & accessories for men, women, children, and your home. We accept items for consignment during open business hours and there is no fee to consign with us. Spread the word!

What is consignment?

ReThreads accepts items on consignment. This means you can clean out your closets, bring us good quality clean saleable items, and we’ll sell them for you. Once your item sells we’ll give you 50% of the sale price in store credit (half that if you want cash). Thanks to ReThreads, you can make space for the things that you love, and let your gently used items find a great new home! We also work with local artisans to sell reuse-related crafts on consignment.

What makes you the right person to run this shop?

I’ve been on this journey for about three months, or thirty years, depending on how you look at it.

I was raised with a strong “use what you’ve got” ethic and have developed keen resourcefulness and thrifty sensibilities. All my life I’ve loved shopping at reuse stores, and over the years I’ve made a pretty penny by buying cheap and reselling – either through consignment stores or online with Craigslist, Amazon and Ebay. I’ve helped organize “Freemeets” and regifting parties. I love stuff, but I’m not a hoarder! The difference is that I can easily let stuff go on to the next home just as easily as it came into mine. In fact, I believe that is what stuff is naturally meant to: move through the world to find the right place at the right time, and move on when it starts to feel stagnant or incompatible.

My professional background has offered me a variety of interesting work over the years, and along the way I developed business savvy and skills that I am excited to put to good use for this venture. For instance, I’ve helped many small startup businesses with low-cost marketing, event planning, and bookkeeping. I’ve run my own businesses and developed the necessary time management and multitasking skills. I’m a fast learner. I am nothing if not resourceful. And while I’m risk-averse (financially, physically, etc.), I do love a good challenge. Fulfilling my dream to be on the other side of the check-out counter is my newest challenge.

I have worked enough jobs that don’t fulfill an inner passion to know how special it is to love what you do everyday, and make a living doing it. After moving to C’ville last fall, it became obvious that I am passionate about starting a reuse shop. Those of you who know me know that once I get an idea in my mind, I am 110% committed to it. Some might call that stubborn. I prefer the term determined.

And after committing to this idea, the universe has steadily provided for me every step of the way. You say you want to run a reuse shop?, says the universe, Well then, here are some people to give you things for free; here are the keys to a storage unit; here’s a store closing down whose fixtures you can buy. And on, and on. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get back to more questions.

I thought you were a farmer?

I loved farming in Scottsville, VA last season. I will miss growing my own food this season. But now is not the time for Mark and I to give up everything that this small city offers to own farmland far outside of town. And while I may not be tasting my own tomatoes in 2013, there are several ways in which this new business will resemble last year’s farm business:

I won’t have a desk job. I’ll be physically active during the day instead of sedentary and staring at a computer screen.
I’ll manage my own hours/be my own boss. This has been a necessity for me since I left my full time consulting job in Manhattan six years ago. Plus, I think I’m good at running the show!
I will spend a large portion of my days interacting with people. As a farmer, I loved selling at the farmers’ market because of the interactions with customers. I loved getting to know the regulars, chatting with produce buyers at the stores where we sold our items, and just being more social than most of my freelance jobs allowed.
The challenge of being an entrepreneur/figuring things out as you go/holding on for the ride. I’m in!

But do you have any retail experience?

Technically my only retail experience is as an occasional marketing consultant for a friend who ran a shop in Burlington (Hi Tracy!). I may have rung up a customer or two at the cash register when my friend was otherwise occupied, but I’m not sure that qualifies as much (or any) experience. That is to say, I acknowledge that I have a lot to learn about the ins and outs of running a retail store. But, for those of you who didn’t believe me the first time, let me say this again: I’m a fast learner. And I’m ready to approach this new challenge head on and learn everything I need to know to be successful.

Again, my farm experience is helpful here – I’ve run many successful farmers markets. Everything I’ve learned, from how to interact with customers to how to set up a display table, will be helpful in this new venture.

My first farmers’ market in Burlington in 2007

So there you have it, the answers to five frequently asked questions. More interesting and hopefully entertaining answers coming tomorrow including: What do I need money for? and How will the store help the community?

As always, I am very appreciative of any contribution amount – even $5 will help me buy store supplies!

Living The Random Life

Posted on 10/24/2012 by Melissa

Nearly every day Mark and I exclaim to each other how random our lives are. Those of you who know even a little about us probably recognize the truth in this statement. One day we’re renovating a house in Vermont, the next we’re farming veggies in Virginia. But then before you know it, Melissa’s back to doing some renovating in Vermont while Mark is exploring a hippie commune in Central VA. A month ago we were couchsurfing with a crazy cat lady in New Jersey and attending an Indian wedding, and today we were less than 30 feet from one of the coolest Jersey cats -The Boss – as he played a free concert in Cville.

(Coincidentally, we also had a close encounter with the last well known celebrity who took that same stage – His Holiness The Dalai Lama – about two weeks ago. A smile and wave from HHDL sent a wave of emotion and gratitude throughout my whole being in a way that even Thunder Road can’t touch. Sorry Bruce.)

These days our random lives get even stranger. Well, maybe it’s not stranger than a hippie commune; I’ll let you be the judge.

Over the past week or so we’ve found ourselves in these various situations:

Participating in an online property auction, preparing ourselves to be the new owners of a condo with amazing views. Five minutes later: the auction over and us condo-less. We took turns convincing each other it wasn’t really what we wanted anyway. After all, unobstructed mountain views are overrated.
Driving through a hard hat construction zone for new commercial space on the outskirts of town. The development happens to be where the new Trader Joe’s is going in (woohoo!) and also happens to be where my baby got a job. The two may, or may not, be related. All I know is I’d like to see Mark in construction boots and a hard hat.
Loading ~500 books from a beautiful estate just west of Cville into Jenny-the-Truck for later sorting and selling. Similarly: helping a ~~young woman~~ certified hoarder move out of her apartment Yep, we’ve got a new moving business going, using my trusty truck as our pack mule.
Chasing dragons*.
Missing Vermont = buying stock in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.
Hiking to an apple orchard at the top of Carter Mountain – a local tourist attraction this time of year – and hitchiking our way back down.
Enjoying Ethiopian cuisine (a first for MM).
Attending classes at a fancy schmancy expensive gym. When we work out there we regularly look at each other and say “Who are we?”
(Melissa) Applying for a job at a metaphysical book store. “I meditate regularly” and “I have some knowledge of crystals” are phrases that had never made it into a cover letter until now.
(Melissa) Editing a book. Not one that I wrote, mind you. That’s coming – one day.
(Mark) Living to see the day when Melissa was willing to step into an AT&T store and seriously consider buying a smart phone.

All this is, in part, a way to bring you up to speed on our lives. After all, it’s not all that long ago that we broke up with the idea of running an acre farm at the Local Food Hub, and – in truth – questioned whether we too were breaking up. A lot has happened since then. We’ve had many months of processing, conversations into the wee hours, alone time with much personal growth, tears of joy and of sadness, speaking from the heart, and truth seeking. We lost each other and found each other again, feeling renewed and rejoicing for the love that was still underneath it all. We’re here, in Charlottesville, starting anew with ourselves and each other. We have all kinds of questions about what’s next and very few answers. I’m learning to love the questions.

This post is also a way of re-inventing this blog (yet again) to focus on the relationship side of the equation since we’re no longer in Vermont renovating our 1920’s “shack”. Though, the renovating topic may have its fair shot in the near future – especially if I move forward with my bright idea to get crafty with some thrift store furniture, or if we accidentally buy a fixer-upper in a property auction. You never know with us.

Stay tuned.

(*The dragons weren’t real.)

One Year Later

Posted on 03/10/2012 by Melissa

So much can change in a year.

A year ago this week Mark and I took our first trip to Charlottesville together. The trip was a much anticipated – and deserved! – vacation from the recordbreaking winter in Vermont. When we left, there were still several feet of the white stuff on the ground, and it wasn’t about to end anytime soon. Here’s what our house looked like around that time.

Some of us were genuinely grumpy with the weather. Not that I’m naming any names.

It wasn’t just that we were sick of being cold, and the winter darkness, and the shoveling. It’s also that we were literally worried that the roof might collapse (turns out we didn’t have to worry as our attic roof was structurally overbuilt, but we were worried nonetheless). We also were itching to start gardening, and it was hard enough to even think about garden season let alone start seedlings indoors when our backyard looked like this.

We really thought spring would never come.

So imagine our surprise when we took our vacation 500 miles south and found daffodils blooming, community gardens bustling with people, and farmers with their hands in the soil! In March! With no snow on the ground! And no dreaded mud-season!

One year ago today I began picturing myself living in Virginia, and for the first time, and I kind of liked what I saw. Of course Mark and I had talked about it before then – he had been looking at Virginia real estate online for months prior to our vacation. But I never really gave it much thought. Because when I did think about it, it made me sad. Say goodbye to Vermont? Leave the house that we had put so much energy into renovating?

Being the sweet guy that he is, Mark wanted to ensure that if we did ever move to Virginia it was as much my idea as it was his. In other words, no forced relocation or ultimatums. Gentle prodding? Yes. Coercion? No. Mark simply let Virginia speak for itself.

Over the course of about a week spent in the Charlottesville area we visited some of the many places that did the talking – loud and clear.

First, there was Edible Landscaping, an amazing nursery that sells only edible plants that can grow in this region. Like figs and peaches and tea plants and peanuts and artichokes and almonds and pecans and lemons! (Yes, lemons and other citrus will grow here, if they have a protected greenhouse.)
We toured around wineries, meaderies, and breweries, and we attended a local homebrew club meeting. Of course, a great beer, wine, and homebrew scene exists in Vermont, too, but the number of breweres in VA, combined with the state tourism push (especially along Nelson 151) ensured we caught the Virginia craft beer buzz. We even won a prize from the homebrewers: ten pounds of English pale grain that we had to figure out how to lug home to Vermont with us.
We visited properties for sale that had garden/farm space measured in acres, not feet. And they were affordable-ish and close-ish to Charlottesville, which was more than we could find in the Burlington area.
And we met amazing people everywhere we went – not only through the CouchSurfing community but also through daily wanderings and conversations. Of course there is no way to compare VA and VT here. We find great people everywhere we go. (Law of attraction, perhaps?)

But above all else, there were two defining moments from last year’s trip: Viewing a particular property that was on the market, and visiting the Local Food Hub’s farm in Scottsville, that we now call home.

Let’s start with the Local Food Hub first, shall we? Through our pre-vacation research we learned of the LFH and thought it sounded like the kind of place we’d like to learn more about. They support local farmers, grow their own food to supply local schools and the food bank and were similar to Burlington’s Intervale (in fact, modeled on the Intervale in many ways). We got in touch and arranged to take a brief visit.

On March 9th, 2011, we met up with the Food Hub’s Marketing Manager – Emily Manley – who explained the nonprofit’s mission and projects, and gave us a tour around the farm. We saw wide expanses of beautiful farmland, low tunnels protecting crops from the nightly drop in temperature, as well as intimidating Virginia clay. We met farm apprentices who were digging in the soil to prepare for imminent potato planting. We wandered into the greenhouse to find happy, healthy seedlings, and noted that the mushroom logs looked nearly ready to bloom.

I immediately compared my situation to theirs: Potato planting? We’d have to wait for the snow to melt and mud season to pass before we could dig into dry enough soil to plant potatoes. Greenhouses with seedlings almost ready to go in the ground? We hadn’t even started most of our seedlings yet since the ground wouldn’t be ready for them for months. Oh yes, the land was speaking to me. Despite Virginia’s contentious red clay, the land looked way more appealing than the four feet of snow in our backyard.

At the time, we could not have fathomed that one year later the happy seedlings in the greenhouse would be our happy seedlings, and the hands digging in the red earth would be our hands. We had no idea that Emily and the rest of the LFH staff would welcome us into the Hub with open arms.

Defining moment number two: viewing a particular house on 12 acres of land that had everything we were looking for. (Mind you, at the time I still didn’t know I was looking for anything in Virginia, but after seeing this place I was fairly convinced I would find it here, whatever it was.) The house was in our price range, 20 minutes from Charlottesville, and had existing farm buildings in good condition. This place had us dreaming about starting our own small farm (and B&B?) within the first five minutes of setting foot. In fact, the house and property got our creative juices flowing to the point that we were ready to make a bid, and so we did. Only then we learned that there was already another bid on the house, and it had been accepted. We were quite literally a day late… (not sure about the “dollar short” part).

We saw other properties before and after this one, so why did this make such an impact on me? Maybe it’s because, unlike most of the other properties we’ve looked at, I was able to picture myself living there, starting our farm business, renovating the house (minor renovations – the house was in great shape), and spending time in Charlottesville. Maybe it’s because, once we decided to bid, it was an intense, and often draining, emotionally engaging process. We made up stories about the other people who had placed a bid. Maybe their bid was dependent on financing, and it would fall through? Maybe they would think it over and decide it wasn’t the place for them after all? Maybe it was someone from out of state just buying up cheap land to re-sell it and we would have another opportunity to get our hands on it?

None of those things happened. After several very emotionally draining months of back-and-forth with our realtor, we learned that their sale eventually went through. We were bummed. Since then we haven’t found a property as good as this one in terms of location (location! location!), quality, infrastructure, and price. That, plus the fact that this house was symbolic as my turning point in becoming open to moving to Virginia, and we have ourselves a place to which no other property can hold a candle.

Thus, we found ourselves today, a year later, driving past said house and dropping a note in the mailbox for the current owners. The letter said something along the lines of: Hi. We’re jealous. Call us if you want to sell your house. Only a bit longer and more narrative-driven.

We didn’t expect anything to come of it, but figured it would be nice to see the house again, one year later. Maybe meet the owners. (Only they weren’t home, hence the note in the mailbox.) And I’m glad we took the trip out there. It offered a chance for some reflection. Now that a year has passed, I could see it with new eyes. The trees in the orchard are still ugly and stunted, the neighboring houses look kind of trashy. And I bet the 70s carpeting and linoleum kitchen flooring is still inside the huge house. Yes, it still had some appeal, but maybe I need to trust in the universe’s message: that house isn’t the place for us.

The truth is, we have found our home in Virginia, albeit temporary, thanks to the Local Food Hub. Last year’s vacation literally changed our lives. No, we didn’t get that particular property but I think we got something even better: the chance to farm and learn, to grow as food producers and as people, starting to put down Virginia roots together at Cottage View Farm.

Living Our Farm Dream

Posted on 02/17/2012 by Melissa

Today I found myself shoveling chicken manure out of a coop when a curious hen wandered in and looked at me with a cocked head. “I’m just cleaning up your house, boss.” I said with a laugh. Mark, a few hundred yard away, was busy drilling brackets onto a 100’ high tunnel (think small greenhouse), happily dreaming of the tomato plants that will soon inhabit the warm enclosure. All of a sudden it’s as though we’ve found ourselves living other peoples’ lives. And we’re loving it.

Wait. Chickens? Greenhouses? Maybe I should back up and explain a few things.

Then again, maybe not. In my head I planned a long blog post about exactly what we’re doing, where we’re doing it, and the journey of how we got here, but I’ve decided instead to just jump right into it because, well, that’s how life is sometimes. It just goes too fast for you to keep up. Plus, family and friends and facebook followers already know the deal: we’re farming in Virginia for the season thanks to a nonprofit organization called the Local Food Hub.

So, with that non-intro out of the way, let me get back to telling you about living our new farm dream. Every day these days is a brand new adventure, with exciting projects and learning opportunities around every bend. I’m doing my best to approach each one with gratitude and a beginner’s mind. And a journalist’s notebook.

Here’s a quick recap of the past week:

Monday night, our first at the farm, was a bit of an adjustment. I, for one, adjusted my sleep habits – I no longer need a sleep mask to cover my eyes as there is no artificial light coming into our bedroom windows. This may not sound amazing to you, but believe me, I am thrilled with this aspect of country living.

Another nighttime discovery: We can see stars – lots of them! For a girl who grew up not 20 miles from the bright lights of Manhattan, seeing nothing but shining stars at night is an amazing, and unusual, experience.

We awake every morning to birds outside the bedroom window, fluttering about as though it’s almost spring. With daytime temperatures in the 60s most days, they’re probably right. [What a strange non-existent winter it’s been!]

Depending on which direction you look, views out of our cottage windows include over 60 acres of cropland (one acre of which is ours this season!), a greenhouse, a packing shed, educational barn, high tunnels and hoop house structures, and the Blue Ridge mountains in the distance. Yes, this is a working farm. And yes, it is beautiful. We get to watch the sunrise over farm fields, and sunset over an apple orchard. Idyllic is an understatement.

In exchange for renting the cottage, there are a few chores that are required of us each day. First and foremost, remember the chicken-poop scooping? The farm’s ~20 hens provide eggs for the farm’s owners and Local Food Hub staff, and it is now our job to make sure they stay well fed, watered, and generally happy. (Let’s not tell my new charges what happened to our backyard chickens in Burlington.)

We’ve ordered (and received!) most of our seeds for our one-acre plot this season, and will begin planting them in the greenhouse imminently. I can guarantee a longer post about our new seed babies very soon. Make that many, many posts about our many, many babies.

We’ve already been making connections with farmers in the area. On Wednesday we attended an event – one of many educational workshops hosted by the Local Food Hub – on the topic of Financial Management for Small Farms. We learned a ton about everything from direct marketing techniques to farm labor laws to bookkeeping advice. We also connected with some of the Local Food Hub’s partner producer farmers and were even invited to dinner by some other new farmers in the area. An offer I expect to take them up on very soon, now that we’re in major networking (and friend-seeking) mode.

This week we also took some steps forward in our marketing efforts for our new endeavor. We’ve applied to be in two local farmers’ markets this upcoming season so we can sell our produce directly to consumers in the area. One of the stricter “producer-only” markets (only people who grow their own food can sell at the market) required us to have a signature from an Ag Extension agent as proof that we are actually growing our own food. We met our local agent – Cathy – on Thursday. There wasn’t much to show her as nothing’s in the ground yet – heck, the ground isn’t even tilled up in our plot. But I guess we had trustworthy faces because she signed the application. That doesn’t mean we’re in the market yet – we’re probably on a pretty long waiting list of farmers who want to sell at the downtown Charlottesville market, but we’ve made an important connection to the world of extension offices.

We’re talking a lot about crop planning, recordkeeping, and organization for our farm plot. I have a lot of things to say on these topics, and most of them start with the words “I hope” as in “I hope we can plan out a good schedule for our crops and keep good records this season.” And, “I hope we aren’t too late getting our onion seeds planted tomorrow.” Here’s to hoping!

In addition to all the new experiences on the farm, we’ve also made time this week for two live music shows, volunteering at a plant nursery (including shopping for $60-worth of baby fruit trees), and exploring the local area a bit.

In sum, we’re loving our new farm home. True, it’s a big change from being homeowners renovating our house for the past sixteen months to being renters living on leased farmland. In the big picture this is only a temporary landing place for us and yet I’m feeling more settled and grounded than I have in a long time. We’ve found ourselves throughout this week commenting on how surreal the experience feels. How beautiful our surroundings are. How comfortable and inspired we feel on a farm. I can’t think of any place I’d rather spend this growing season (~nine months) as we put our energy into learning everything we can about small-scale sustainable farming practices, growing our own diverse acre plot, and basking in the beauty of this place.

It’s a hard life, but somebody’s got to do it!

I’m a Junkie

Posted on 09/21/2011 by Melissa

I’m a junkie. An event junkie.

Last weekend we went to the Monticello Harvest Festival in Charlottesville, VA. This festival was part hippie fest (think: barefoot children in dreads & drum circles), part ag fair (think: farm animals on display) and part educational workshops and presentations (think: conference breakout sessions).

No, these are not our gardens. These are the gardens at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

I’ve been a junkie for events like this for as long as I can remember. In college I used to attend conferences, lectures, and festivals like it was my job (I was a campus sustainability education intern, so I guess attending environmental conferences was my job, sort of). When I traveled solo for 3 months in 2006, my itinerary was based on where and when the best conferences were happening. Even when I was a kid I remember going to Health Expos with my mom at Nassau Coliseum, listening to lectures about detoxing and nutrition. I’m not sure whether I enjoyed the free schwag (think: pens, stickers and the occasional cool bag) more back then or now. (Probably now. When you’re a kid you’re always getting free stuff. As an adult who actually pays for things, it’s a treat to get a free keychain or stress ball even if it does have the name of some business on it.)

We had been looking forward to the Harvest Festival for months, despite the fact that it meant leaving ~~our~~ my beloved Vermont during the height of the harvest season. (It pains me to not know the state of our home gardens, to be missing the beginning of the fall foliage season up there.) You see, we’re on a bit of a knowledge kick right now. As aspiring farmers, we know that now is the time to learn skills that we’ll need to be successful food producers in the future. And with VA on a short list of locations for our agricultural adventures, we really wanted to come to this event to connect with this community.

And we’re so glad we did! With names like Pursuing the Small Farm Dream, The Joy of Hobby Farming, and Backyard Fruit Growing, it’s as though they created the conference just for us.

Take a look at this partial list of workshops. Just like every good conference I’ve ever been to, I wished I could have cloned myself so I could attend all of the workshops at the same time!

I took pages and pages of notes about how to graft fruit trees, how to create a business plan for a small farm, lists of resources and contacts. We learned about businesses and organizations that exist to help new farmers succeed – like the Food Hub in Charlottesville, which connects farmers to institutions and restaurants through a wholesale distribution market. We tried samples of heirloom tomatoes and various fermented foods and other products created – mostly – by young, passionate entrepreneurs. At the vendor and exhibitor tables we networked and gathered information (and schwag, of course). We listened to inspirational, engaging people talk about the challenges and successes they’ve had, humbly offering up their advice for others to learn from their experiences. We spread the word that we were looking for ideas for our new farm project, and the positive responses we received were overwhelming.

Of course, I’ve learned that friendly people aren’t hard to find in Virginia, but this was more than just friendly. Oh, you want to start a farm. How lovely. This was an enthusiastic, passionate, whole-hearted Yes, you should do this! If I were looking for affirmation from the universe that starting a farm business in Virginia was what I wanted to do, I found it at that festival.

(Ahem. Dear Vermont, this is hypothetically speaking, of course.)

We made new friends and re-connected with folks we already knew. Wait. You already know people in Charlottesville? We apparently did a good job of meeting the right folks during our visit in the spring – at this festival we saw not one, not two, but three people we met six months ago. As Oprah Winfrey once said, “Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher.” I’d like to think we’re doing well by Oprah.

My Our love of events is about all of these things. The networking, the sharing, the people, the excited energy. As we left the harvest festival on Saturday, driving away from Monticello amidst breathtaking mountain views, we were filled to the brim with three I’s: information, inspiration, and ideas.

We’re not even done processing all those I’s from this past weekend, but it’s already time to plan for more: the upcoming three-day Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA. With two weekends in a row chock-full of workshops, we’re bound to have a fourth I to consider: the implications for our future as farmers.

Comparing the “V” states

Posted on 03/13/2011 by Melissa

There were things growing in Virginia!

Typically people like to ‘relax’ on vacations, but Mark and I don’t really know what that means, so we didn’t plan any time for that on this trip. Hence, I haven’t had any time to write since the beginning of the trip. We also haven’t had any time for many of the other things I thought this ‘vacation’ would include: a lot of reading, hiking, yoga, live music, and the weekend Indian buffet (though the buffet is still good on a weekday!).

What did we do all this time? Mostly we spent our time comparing Virginia to Vermont, and specifically Charlottesville to Burlington.

There are many demographic similarities between the two cities, things Mark presented in advance as reasons he thought I’d like C’ville: it’s a progressive, young, college town of approximately 40,000 people, most of whom seem to have an interest in health, outdoor activities, good food, local beer and hip music. There are the geo-topical similarities such as the proximity to mountains and the general beauty of natural landscapes all around.

Downtown Charlottesville

There are also the silly similarities, such as the fact that town names like Montpelier and Richmond exist in the two states, both of which start with the letter “V”. And that Charlottesville and Burlington both have downtown pedestrian malls with lots of independent funky shops.

While we were busy making our own comparisons between the state we currently call home and the state we may one day call home, interesting little synchronicities started popping up. There are VA/VT connections everywhere. We met multiple people who had gone to school in Vermont, others whose daughter, friend, or neighbor had moved to Vermont. Others still whose friends were up there on a ski vacation while we were taking a break from the snow. It might be a stretch to say that Virginia is a sister state to Vermont, but at times it felt like it.

A community garden plot in Charlottesville. Notice the red clay everywhere. Also notice the lack of snow.

While we were researching the local food scene we bumped into another similarity: the supportive culture for local agriculture. We visited the Charlottesville area Local Food Hub, a food and farming organization that seeks to provide distribution and marketing assistance for local farmers and educate new young farmers. It was modeled, in part, on Burlington’s Intervale Center – an organization that manages an area of over 350 acres of farmland within the city of Burlington. Currently about 15 farms, ranging in size from ½ acre to 10 acres, call the Intervale home, as does the Tommy Thompson community gardens where Mark and I have two adjacent garden plots.

Both organizations see the importance in educating young farmers, creating new markets, celebrating community, and sharing resources (farm tools, storage, food processing, and distribution markets to name a few).

We were excited to learn about the C’ville area’s interest in supporting local agriculture, which, given the compacted clay soil throughout the area, was slightly surprising. Of course, like Vermont,Virginia has a long agricultural history, and I should have known that the sweeping local food movement would have touched this beautiful mid-Atlantic state. If this trip did anything, it opened my eyes to the fact that Vermont isn’t entirely on its own in the local food bubble. Charlottesville appears to be another beacon of hope.

Burlingtonians fought the snow while we were in Virginia

In all of our comparing, we also found tons of ways in which the two areas differ. Most notably to us at the time was the utter lack of snow in Virginia. During our trip, Burlington received a record March snowfall (more than 2′ in 24 hours!), Virginia temps were in the 50s and 60s, usually warm enough for us to go without a jacket. I’m not sure why I brought thermal pants on this trip?

I’ve already mentioned the other main relevant difference: the soil quality. Our Vermont home has wonderful sandy/loamy soil, considered by some to be the perfect soil. The red Virginia clay scares me. Yet again, hope springs eternal: the farms, vineyards, and daffodils almost everywhere we went proved that it ain’t as bad as it looks!

Renovations & Relationships

random adventures in life

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