I don’t know if it was the lack of Winter or the lack of Spring (type weather) that makes this Summer feel like it’s flying – I can’t believe it’s Goldenrod-time already! We do a lot of time-by-seasonal-shifts: there is crocus-time, dragonfly-time (Josh’s favorite as they dip and dive over our rolling little hill after mosquitos), apple blossom-time, the time of the monarchs, the time of the witch hazel. On the flipside of the light and airiness: there is tent-moth-caterpillar-time (that one has stages), tick-time (which gets longer every year), japanese-beetle-time (ugh), chicken-meatbird-harvest-time, wood-stacking-time, and other various times of the year when special things happen (like Maple Sugaring-time! Homeskool Assessment-time! etc).
And then, there are always the day to days – Tuesday is Baking Day! Josh gets up nice and early, turns on the oven, pulls out the doughs to come to room temp, and gets a cup of tea. He prints out the orders, replies to any emails or confirmation invoices, eats a thick slice of toast, and gets to work. Bagels, Flatbreads, Pizza Dough, Crackers, and almost all of our jar goods are made before delivery day (sometimes the Fresh Ricotta is made the day before, sometimes the morning of…) but all the breads are baked same day (Sourdough Boule and their mini counterparts, Baguettes, Sourdough White Loaf, Rye Loaf, a Pretzel Braed [yes, that’s how he likes to spell it – see, it’s braided bread!], Parmesan Boule, Oat Loaf, etc). And then he bags them with folks’ names on the bags (along with our stamped logo, which he also prepares), fills the cooler with cold stuff like Kimchi, Fresh Ricotta, Eggs, and gets any pickles/jams ready that were ordered. Then he makes coffee, gets a snack together for him and the kid, packs the tiny car with all the yummy goods, and hauls it all down to make delivery in the Portland/SoPo area.
On his trip he is likely to see friends (as almost all of our customers are friends or acquaintances) and pick up some ordered groceries while he’s down there (it’s nearly an hour away). There is a great local distribution center ‘Native Maine’ that we’ve been connected with for the last year – they make it so easy to get goods, their product and prices are good and their customer service is wonderfully friendly and helpful. Though he generally comes back with as much stuff as he left with – friends are gracious enough to share with us their overabundance; scapes, squash, hot sauce, mead, soaps, etc!
What a lovely community we get to be a part of – it’s a gift! Thank you.
Rock Bottom Homestead 