Greenjeans Farm

We’re busting out of the greenhouses this year!   I’ve run out of trays, thanks to my dear friend across the valley Barbara who keeps giving me her saved seeds!  We have more heirloom vegetables than ever and I’m busy trying to figure out how to mark them in the big garden so we really know who they are.  The ornamentals are coming on strong.  Gotta get stuff in the ground! 

We are kind of in experimental mode this year!  And it is WAY fun!  That’s the way I like it!  Jeff is still trying to deal with the rain and the cold and the soil but I am looking forward to that first fresh pea and potato salad with chives and sour cream dressing!   I am also looking forward to the unusual that you can’t find in the grocery that have the taste that you could have had 100 years ago!  Some of the great gourds from last year are turning into fairy houses with a little carving and paint!  We are doing a fairy garden at the bottom of the bottle tree!  Stay tuned for that one, I’m going to let the Morning Glory run its course there!  

I think it’s going to be a great year, and we are really ready for it!    We are going to take it as it comes, and if you wish, please give us your email address and we will let you know when things are ripe and ready!     

“Happiness isn’t having what you want, but wanting what you have.”  This is our family motto.  These words are in a frame in my kitchen above my stove and have been since my children were toddlers reminding me and them to be happy every day for the people and things that bless and add to our lives. 

In the summer months it seems like I spend my days in the kitchen.  Cutting, Chopping, Canning, freezing, drying, sweating, more canning.  My husband Jeff harvests and drops baskets in the kitchen and putting it up is my responsibility.  There are times when I wilt to the floor when a new basket hits the door, but I have that farmer mentality; “do it now, it’s ripe, it’s at it’s peak, what else could I possibly do with a tomato, basil, corn, a cabbage?”  Later on in December and January I thank myself for doing something with that tomato, basil, corn, cabbage.  We make the best Marinara on the west coast!  And Jeff makes the best spaghetti ever!  And then he makes Chicken with the sauce!   And there is nothing like homemade red or green tomato catsup or relish. And then I have my friend Barbara call me to let me know that her sourdough starter is ready and she wants to share!  Good I’m doing spaghetti on Sunday!  Another neighbor has a bottle of wine, and another wants to do sausage! Another has Abolone that she wants to trade for beets!  (go figure)   I am famous for cherry and peach wine!  Tastes great on a January night in front of a fire!    These are the things your life is made of.  It’s the cookies at Christmas and the caramel apples at Halloween.  These are the things you take to your grave!   

Some of the happiest moments come in the most odd times and carry you through your day if you open yourself up to the world around you.  It can be as simple as getting up before sunrise, grabbing a cup of coffee and listening to the frogs and crickets and then as the sun starts to come over the hills the birds and roosters and cow symphony.  A flash of a smile from a teenager that “used to be your baby”.  How rare!  Having a real baby wave at you in the grocery store, then turning down another aisle and having an old woman wave at you from the motorized cart and ask for some help grabbing some garlic! How could a life be better? 

All I’m saying is live in the moment you are in.  It is a whole lot better than regrets or what if’s.  No worries about what you want because it will happen if you live in your moment. 

There is a framed postcard in our bathroom that greets me each morning on the shelf where I keep my make up brushes.  It portrays a 1950ish beautiful blonde woman ala Lana Turner in full make up and the caption on the bottom is “Frugal is such an ugly word.”  There is also a framed postcard on another shelf in our bathroom that portrays a 1950ish beautiful red headed housewife type and the caption on the bottom is “My Garden Kicks Ass”.  

These two postcards totally explain my relationship with frugality.  On one hand thinking frugal is a pain, on the other hand it can be greatly rewarding and a heck of a lot of fun.  The fact that I chose to place these two in our bathroom is beyond me.  I guess I think of the bathroom as a place of reflection!  And I am definitely a split personality.

There is the me who wants to be able to live in the Pottery Barn Catalogue.  And there is the other me who looks at the pictures in the  Pottery Barn Catalogue and can figure out how to get the same look and feel at a fraction of the price!  That spurs me on to other frugal adventures.  It would be wonderful to be able to hire people to decorate your home, or landscape your property, or if dogs and cats and mud and dust and fly’s didn’t exist!  And yet it is rewarding to be able to plant with abandon and make things grow and have a beautiful multi colored frog visit you in the bathroom while you are brushing your teeth.  And to not have to pay $300 for a slip cover that your dog is going to destroy in a matter of months. 

I long for an all white living room, I always have.  If I ever lived by myself I would have one, it would also have a view of city lights and ever changing floral themes in the room.  But I live  on a working farm with the people I love, so I won’t attempt an all white living room any time soon and if I ever get there I think it would be initially satisfying, but really lonely. You are never going to get alot of people that want to live in an all white house.    And hey, I can always go to my all white living room in my head and the people I love know not to bother me when I’m there! 

Visiting second hand and consignment stores rather than “antique” shops.  Making new friends, finding friends who have saved what they tore out of their homes and are willing to give you that wood that is just laying around, or the clawfoot tub that didn’t fit in the new bathroom. Or trading a tent for a mattress!   Buying that fabulous three door refrigerator that is marked down by 50% because there is a scratch on the side that no one will see.  These are the things that make frugal fun.  Trading plants and recipes with a neighbor.  Buying a side of organic beef that two families can share!  Now that is fun!  That is participating in your life, being conscious of what you are doing!

There are a lot of people who think they are entitled, either because of education or their “place” in society, what ever they think that is.  But none of us should think that it’s not work, getting up everyday, hitting the ground running.  Here and there you slam your head against a wall or fall down and brush yourself off and hit the ground running the next day!  The only rule should be it is never at the expense of another. 

I am not sure what this whole ramble means, except that I am leading up to taking a sledge hammer to my 7 foot living room ceiling.  Honey get the tarps out and catch on to the vision! 

I read an interesting article yesterday, I found it on the get rich slowly site. http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/    This tugged at my heart!  We've all been around this block,and living there at one time or another or now.  Thank God for the blessings we have and the ability to raise our heads up to look at the sky!

An opinion from my son Nick who is a law student at Gonzaga:

I've got two you probably won't like:

Being poor is a cyclical problem resulting from generations of parents who have not properly pushed their children, taken care of their children and themselves, and demanded that there children get proper educations.  

Being poor is giving up on yourself and your children because one is (1) incapable of figuring out how to succeed because no one has ever shown them or demanded it of them, (2) being physically or mentally disabled without proper care and in such a way as to limit development, and (3) so used to being given the tools to barely survive by the state that one is not interested in working towards achieving a better life.

I am not quite a republican yet, but I don't care about the symptoms of poverty, but I care about the causes.  I have worked with and for some of the poorest people in Spokane County and the problem is three-fold: 

Not enough opportunity for growth and development.  Poorer populations see a world where other people receive opportunities they do not, and they give up.  They become satisfied with subsidized housing as long as there TV has HBO.  Then they have kids who grow up in an environment that enforces, every day, a declaration: you can not achieve what you want. 

Systematic exploitation of poor communities.   Ever since there were poor people and rich people the rich have determined new and innovative ways to screw the poor to take every last penny they have.  Examples of this are sub prime mortgages, rent to own furniture, and check cashing places.

Acceptance.  This is kind of related to the first one.  When poor people see they don't have anything, they get used to it and stop trying.  The difference is the responsibility for the first one, to a certain extent, rests with all of us.  This one, however, rests squarely on the shoulders of the poor communities themselves.  It is a generational problem and with each generation of SSDI and subsidized housing children learn, don't go to school or work, chill out at home, drink booze, watch TV, and don't worry about it.  Because if you try, you will just be disappointed.  

The point I am trying to make is if all the people who pointed out the symptoms of poverty spent that energy trying to fix it, even on the smallest of scales, we all good contribute to a better world.  The systems are in place to help.

<and I climb off my soapbox>

My Answer:

I totally agree with you.  It’s the “why try” mentality which is caused by generations of getting slapped down, and being expected to be stupid, and having the person make the fast buck on your back.  It is sitting in your living room because it is the most safe place you can be with your tv.   It is the (not so) “funny” joke at the expense of a childs self esteem when you should be building children up “OH Look you got a B”  “How the hell did that happen?”.  How did the abnormal become the norm?   It is all of us not being able to reach out a neighborly hand.  NOT a “helping hand”, but a caring neighborly hand. It’s buying a pair of  new basketball shoes for a kid who cannot afford them, no big deal and that kid takes that gift into the rest of her life. A freakin plate of Christmas cookies!  A bag of tomatoes.  Sticks that turn into roses!!    

Also being poor is being so self absorbed that you cannot enjoy the sun in your face.  And that has nothing to do with money.  Being poor is living within your self and not being able to experience the world or a bird, Laughing,  or a funny look on a dogs face or hearing the  unbridled laughter of children  or even the ducks across the street which is my most treasured music in the world.  Those are the poorest people of all.

I have one picture of you kids that I hold dear to my heart.  It was your high school graduation  day.  That is probably the most poor time we have ever had.  You were there in slacks and a nice shirt and tie and sunglasses.  Your brother Christian in jeans and a tee shirt.  Your sister in my old boots which at the time were the only shoes she had and a pair of who knows who’s boxers and a tank top, and Joey just enjoying a sunny day on the patio!  You are all (except Joey) standing there with your fingers down your throats like this sucks!  Look at you now. (two lawyers, an Ag Business major, and a 15 year old who is on track for college!)       

SOOOOOO I’m starting here with a commitment. We have produce, lots!  We have 4 paid subscriptions so far this year (we are actually at a profit so far, seeds and trees and all.  All we need for GJ is another load of Spy Rock and maybe some more potting soil!   ) We have plenty to share and feed us too.  Nobody should have to choose between paying a bill and eating and yet it happens all around us all the time.  I’m actively looking for people in that spot.  Not for self gratification, but because I can help.  I would certainly want some one to help me if I were in that position and people have when we were in that position.    You know I love to teach people about what we do here.   Our neighbors!  I am sure I will get a couple of wonderful recipes or growing tips out of the whole thing, and probably make a couple of friends!  We always have seed I have started that I do not plant because of room or variety constraints, so people can have them for their own garden if they wish.  It’s no fun to have all this and not share further than we already do!  And I’m not talking adopt a family, I’m talking having an open door (heart).   Open heart is going to become my new hobby.  Attitude of Gratitude.  Great, your mom is going to become a door knocker.  “Hey I have food, do you want some?” 

Love,

Mom

This year at Greenjeans Farm we are going to conduct a commitment!  We will give away a share for every share we sell.  We know there are families in our area who have to choose sometimes between paying a bill and food.  No one should have to have that worry.  We are asking Potter Valley residents to connect us with people who would benefit from our commitment!  No strings. 

I did a smart thing earlier this year and managed it in a very dumb way.  I transferred my banking accounts to paperless reporting via the internet.  I patted myself on the back for not wasting all that paper and helping to reduce both ours and the banks carbon footprint, marveled at the way you can categorize your expenses right on line and print off the neat little reports, and went on my merry way.  Each month I received an email from the bank reminding me my paperless statement was available on line.  “That’s nice”, I would think to myself, “it’s ready”.  It really wasn’t necessary to do anything, I’m paperless right?  And I can check my account on line anytime I want…..  My little three ring binder where I would usually put my statements and check copies stood empty all year save for the first statement and the pretty reports I put in it.

Then day before yesterday I sat down to do my taxes.  Pretty straight forward here, income from my day job and Jeff’s part time endeavors and the farm.  Expenses tracked via statements, check stubs and receipts.  I quickly realized I had no statements saved or printed, no pretty reports, no categorization.  Eight hours, a stiff neck, a good ol’ excel spread sheet and a bottle of wine later I had captured the year, completely run out of black ink in my printer, and our taxes were 99% done! This year I will remember the stiff neck and the entirely wasted day  and send myself little annoying reminders regarding due diligence. 

The interesting thing that happened as a result of all this is I categorized not only the expenses for the farm, but every expense we had over the past year.  Some 1200+ transactions.  I am not much of a budgeter and we tend to live feast or famine, we are very frugal and always live well, but I’m into effortless these days and preparing for worst case, and let’s face it, when you are a farmer, some months are better than others.  Please indulge my feeble attempt to explain my utter disregard for saving money for a rainy day here. 

I took the total of every expense and divided it by twelve to get our average monthly expense. (I would love to say I always knew these figures in the back of my brain, but that would be a lie) I then compared the expense against our average monthly income after taxes insurance and house payment.  I then added in our projected refund from our taxes and portioned that out on a monthly basis.  Sure we will soon have money in our savings, but over the course of the year that will go out and not come back in.  We were still 200 dollars a month short!  At this point I panicked!  I can’t demand a raise!  I am lucky to still be working!  I could sell 20 more CSA shares….. but where would the time come from?  Jeff could get a full time job, but who would take care of the farm?  And there goes the CSA!  We could give it all up and move into town into one of those “Bank owned houses” that are now selling for about ¾ of what they are worth, totally not an option.    

So I sat in my wine induced eureka moment and thought of ways to shave it off the expense.  

I looked at the phone bill, and realized we don’t really NEED call waiting or caller ID or long distance for that matter. And we have a good ol’ fashioned answering machine.   We all have cell phones which combined are cheaper than our ATT bill.  However being in a rural area we do need basic local service for internet.  -75.00. 

Our electric bill has been the bane of our life for the entire time we have lived here.  We heat our home with wood, but somehow our electric bill is always huge.  We do have a hot tub that we enjoy most mornings and we do not wish to give that up.  We have to run 2 freezers and refers to preserve and keep the harvest.  I have given up fighting with PG&E and am going to put us on an automatic payment plan that averages your expense over the course of so many years.  -25  at least. 

Then I had to look at our grocery bill.  We love to eat, and eat for fun and enjoyment!  It is our entertainment, we don’t get out much.  Jeff is a fabulous cook and I am a fabulous eater and a food junkie.  Food to us is wealth.  And our expenses show it.   Food is the bulk of our expense other than our house payment.  I made the commitment to myself to save 400 dollars a month on food BANG, just saved it.  I know there is room in there, and we have all the veggies and fruit that we need from the summer, that is as long as we keep the PG&E going to keep the freezers running.  Thus the Toni and Jeff challenge.  Oh yeah baby, there will be more to say on this topic!