Memphis Democrat Column from March 25, 2007

The flowers are starting their annual show here at the farm this week. Walking around the property this afternoon, I saw crocus, narcissus, daffodil, squill and forsythia in bloom. Henbit, which is usually the first of our less domesticated plants to flower, is all over the place in the herb garden. The voices of spring peepers are a regular part of our evenings and nights now. The activities of various birds are more evident and Michael saw some of our local house wrens starting their nests yesterday. I listened to woodpeckers doing their call and response across the road at the Slater's while I was hanging laundry this morning. With spring making its presence felt, we are all spending more time outdoors. Michael put in a big bed of spinach last week and we had a "go" this past Wednesday to get the peas planted. Gigi set out the early lettuce and I have started my first two flats of lettuce to have some ready when that is done. I will be starting more at regular intervals so we have salad fixings into early summer. Now that the new shed behind the White House is finished, Otto has been busy splitting and stacking wood to fill it up. This new arrangement is a big improvement and should make it easier for those fetching wood for the house stoves during the next heating season.

Gigi and I have been busy with our intern program in recent days. We have talked with three applicants during the past week. We have already accepted Thea, who will begin her internship in mid-May, and are also very interested in the two men we interviewed. During the stretch of warmer temperatures the past week or so, we have begun hanging out on the front porch again. Since it is screened in, it makes a pleasant place to eat a meal, drink a cup of coffee or tea or read a book. The new roof that Ceilee, Stan and Sue put on it last fall has stopped a persistant problem with leaks during rains. The clear panels that are incorporated into the roof have also improved the available light. Gigi, Stan, Otto, Betsy and Sue all attended the yoga workshops held at Dancing Rabbit March the 14th through the 18th. They all reported enjoying the experience a great deal and there is interest in continuing with some of the techniques that were taught. We hosted Lisa, who was the teacher for the workshops, and her partner Ondrej for supper that Thursday. Some of our members already know Lisa from her previous visits to Dancing Rabbit. We also enjoyed getting to know Ondrej, who is from the Czech Republic. Some of our crew attended Lisa's house concert at DR during the weekend. We celebrated Gigi's birthday the evening of the 14th with a special supper made by Michael. I baked chocolate and lemon cakes for dessert. All the good food was followed by an impromptu game of "balloon ball" in the living room. I have to admit that we all really got in to bouncing the balloons around and it was a lot of fun.

Renay went on a field trip with her Girl Scout troop on March 17 to St. Patrick and later the same day the group came here for a tour and Gigi showed the girls how we make maple syrup. She and Renay had already made some maple candy to share with the troop, which everyone enjoyed. Laird and Cecil drove down to St Louis to play in a national level bridge tournament on March 18. They did well and came in ninth in a large field of competitors. They have been playing for some years with the local club in Kirksville.

Gigi and Renay attended Family Fun Night event at the elementary school on the 20th. There was pizza for everyone and then the parents had the chance to go to some special workshops with their children. Gigi said it was really interesting and she also got a chance to socialize with some of the other parents attending. Betsy and Sue are in the Kansas City area this weekend to do our first fair of the year. This event is called the Kansas City Food Circle and promotes locally grown food and products. They are also taking the opportunity to visit with Sue's family in Holden, which is close to the Kansas City metropolitan area. Stan is travelling in Haiti doing organic inspections of both mango groves and mango processing plants. He rode to St. Louis with Laird and Cecil and flew from there by way of Miami to the Caribbean. Stan is working for a organic certification organization called OneCert, which as been contracted by USAID, a U.S. government international development agency, to do the inspections. The aims of the program are to promote growing fruit trees as a way of countering the severe deforestation in Haiti and to give people there a way to generate income and recover from the economic and physical devastation of a major hurricance in 2004. He has inspected a coffee farm in Mexico prior to this, but this is his first trip to the Caribbean. We did get the news that Stan's trip there went well and we look forward to hearing about his experiences in Haiti when he returns on April 2.