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Fear can paralyze us.
Change can anger us.
Gratitude can transform us.
Since March 16 my life is forever changed. And for the better.
We must have hope for the better.
At first, I was in denial about the pandemic. Cases had not yet arrived in my small town. I did not wear a mask until a month ago. I live in the country, and believe the air is pure. I limit my trips to town. Already a compulsive hand washer (being in food production), I quickly located gloves to protect my flesh from harsh hand sanitizers while out in public.
Overnight, ordinary supplies vanished from store shelves. I began to order back-stock of my supplies. Shipments arrived from Florida. Supplements from Amazon arrived late or vanished altogether. Then restaurants closed. Schools closed. Death tolls began to mount. Life is no longer normal. A global shift. A mighty cull. A change out of control.
I must transition or suffer.
The Good Begins:
The first Saturday in April is the beginning of the farmer’s market season here in Central Virginia. This season is my 20th. I have been ready for change for over a decade and change happened in a BIG way. Our public market is closed until further notice. Fortunately, our management scrambled and bought a software geared to online farmer’s market shopping and drive-thru pick up. At first I resisted — many hoops to jump through. I had to open a PayPal account in order to receive payment. NO!
Hesitantly, I joined the other reserved agricultural/value added vendors, and by week three sales quadrupled! I am awash with new business. Customers never before seen. Apparently they want to Buy Fresh, Buy Local and with gusto!
This is how it works:
Monday through Thursday, the public can place/preorder items listed on the site. They also pre-pay so there is no cash exchanged. Vendors gather with their vehicles in a city park, socially distanced, and from 8-12 on Saturday, while customers drive through, trunks open, and vendors place their orders in those trunks. The revenue goes into a City PayPal account, and after they deduct their commission, the balance is transferred to vendor’s accounts. Easy peasy. Technology is fantastic when it works for the overall good. And this is GOOD.
The first week I nearly had a stroke when I checked my orders. Until then, I had become resigned to an inevitable annual loss. Instead, I never had this demand at the old market. I hit the ground running, delighted that organization is my forte, and at my ripe age, still functions. No more guessing nor speculating. No more exhausting chit chat with market customers. No more crack-of-dawn risings. I am over the moon!
Supply shopping became a game. Some hits, some outs. Helpful suppliers and new ones found online have performed flawlessly. I am grateful. So grateful. As a one-woman operation, every bit of help is appreciated! Angels appear in the most unexpected places.
The Advantage:
With stay at home orders in place, families want/need an excuse to get out of the house. From the safety of their automobiles, this drive-through venue allows an outing (even dogs attend) for the entire family, albeit behind closed windows. Vendors are gloved and masked, and communication is nil, except for a wave or thumbs up. When all orders are picked up, vendors too are free to leave. Such a delightful change. Everyone wins.
Back at Swallowtail Cottage:
This spring has been one for the record books. On April 19, we had a killing frost of 29F. For zone 7A, this is harsh. The annual cash crop of hundreds of peony stems/buds were wilted to the ground. This has never happened in the nineteen years I have lived here. They seemed to recover once the sun rose, but most stems have remained in a stupor ever since.
The Oriental poppies are splendid this spring, yet the peonies are having a difficult time with these unusually cold nights.
Mother’s Day is the sweet spot for peony bouquet sales, yet I merely harvested 18 stems suitable for sale yesterday. Meanwhile, last night we had another hard freeze. Mother Nature is playing hard ball, for sure. This calls for resilience.
The jury is still out on whether the blueberries will ripen. They are in fruit now, but they have never experienced killing frost in their young lives…
O’Neal blueberries beginning to ripen
Meanwhile, the garden’s chives and parsley are beautiful now, and both make for a signature chive/artichoke/walnut pesto most popular with customers. Win.
Chives and their edible flowers first thing in the spring…yummy as pesto.
My pimento cheese, buttermilk biscuits, blueberry scones, and Key Lime Pies are finding new popularity. Every Friday, I spend hours in production. Win.
I currently produce/sell 200 of these per week!
Good food, comfort food, service to the community, and entrepreneurial fervor guide me. One customer stated, “You are getting us through this!” which nearly made me weep.
My kitchen during five hours of production every Friday.
The new normal.
Meanwhile the garden reminds me that life goes on despite horror and sorrow. The butterflies lay their eggs on the Pipe vine and parsley. The chrysalises that overwintered with me, are now emerging to fly blissfully away upon the breeze. Those at risk of freezing, I now raise indoors and release on milder days.
Pipevine caterpillars munch away blissfully indoors as cold temperatures prevail outside. These I collected as eggs.
The butterfly castle houses one newly emerged Pipevine swallowtail who spent the winter in the shed as a chrysalis. I released it as the temperature rose.
The Eastern Bluebird pair successfully raised their first brood of four nestlings who fledged on May 1.
Three nestling bluebirds day nine ~ Swallowtail Cottage.
The hummers returned from their tropical retreat on April 20th. The white-throated sparrows finally left this week to migrate farther north for summer. Chipping sparrows are here now, gleaning what they can find in the mulch and under the feeder. Titmice, Northern Cardinals, Red bellied woodpeckers, and the wee Black Cap chickadees also nest and thrive. Many other wild birds grace my gardens, creating a wonderland of endless entertainment, and beautiful views from my windows.
So close your eyes, click your heels and repeat…”there is no place like home.”
For now I am safe, well, productive, and grateful.
How are you faring? How has life shifted for you?
Copyright © 2020 by Diane LaSauce All Rights Reserved
home, garden, life 
Glad you are well. We have been real home bodies, I’ve not been to a grocery store since the first of March…using instacart instead.
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Well hello Karen! So nice to hear from you! How are you faring being at home (grounded) now? I bet you are so happy to have made your move before all this drama. Dug in here, only going to town when I must for market, supply shopping, or deliveries. Brutal heat/humidity here now…20+ days of 90+ temps with little rain. High dew points also make outdoors unpleasant. Hold on! Keep me posted, Diane
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Just wanted to stop by and say “hello”. I’m happy to know that you are well and you’ve found a way to make your business work for you in these troubling time. Take care. 😊
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Jesse,
My state of Bliss is quietude. When evening falls, and the birds have gone to roost, and the moon rises, that is the best time. Fortunately I live where I experience this often. Take care. Diane
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Dear Kevin, So glad to hear from you. Coping well I read, and am delighted to know you are protecting yourself from the general population who think it is safe to go to the beach. This time rare and a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time at home with loved ones. I spend a lot of time at home anyway, and work from home, and I am delighted to enjoy spring with the many wild birds who visit/nest in my gardens. Glad my post sent a cool breeze across your porch. I greatly appreciate your kind words.
You and Joe take care and keep me posted. Diane
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I believe we have 10 or 11 family homes on our “block.” There’s a half mile to each side of this square route. Within these two miles of connectivity, some houses are pretty close to the gravel road, while others are perched a bit further back with a couple being entirely hidden from the road!! Not sure about y’all, there, but here, with all of us being spaced out so, it’s MIGHTY quiet. SO much so, that town dwellers who visit occasionally are unnerved by the absence of noise!! But, we like it like that!! (The quiet; not the making of folks uncomfortable!!)
Anyway, I’ve not spoken to all of my neighbors, but out here, we can hear a vehicle coming from about a quarter of a mile or more. We hear the gravel crunching under their tires before we hear their engines!! We’ll wave if we’re visible, (after leaf fall,) but 98% of the time, they are our neighbors driving by. I’m sure your neighbors HAVE noted your comings and goings, and are not being snobbish. Had you NOT been seen, I’m pretty sure one or more would’ve come round checking…..respectfully!!
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I just wanted to thank you for this post. It was like a cool breeze — refreshing, open, limitless, and calming. I think we all need that. I’m glad to know that you’ve adapted — and your words and vision are inspirational. We have to adapt. As you know, I live in South Florida, where I feel quite fortunate to have a garden. Other than two or three car rides (windows rolled up) around the neighborhood, I haven’t left my property in nine weeks. I’ve ordered masks so I can feel more comfortable to be out in public — because at some point, we will have to resume some bit of limited “normalcy.” As a member of a high-risk group (heart disease), my new normal is that I will not leave my property for some time to come — particularly as my state re-opens in the face of numbers that continue to rise. Some parks, for example, have re-opened and re-closed on the same day because of overcrowding, lack of masks, and lack of social distancing. Instacart and washing all products from the supermarket are a must. Doctor appointments are video conferences. I’m also doing a lot of reading, usually aloud, so Joe and I can share the Kindle. All of this being said, I’m glad to know you are safe — and I know, we will get through this if we can all work together. Be well — and thanks again.
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Great piece.
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I read your blog and love it. You are not just finding a silver lining, but a rainbow in all this.
I really appreciate you so much. Someday we’ll actually hug again. Sally
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Joe, we have a great market manager and staff. They work hard, very hard to make this market seamless. Who knew? Your friend could learn from us and perhaps improve their outcome.
I have not come home with product in two weeks, and last week was my highest sales week. If people pre-pay they are likely to show up! 😉
Our weather has been cold but sunny and pleasant. Forecast is for 80’s this week, so no more down coats necessary. Hope that masks are OK in the heat. Blech!
Now to see if I can hold up at this pace. 😉
AND the peonies are showing some life. The harvest begins…Take care.
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Thank you for this upbeat post. The system your market management worked out sounds cumbersome but it’s efficient & working out for everyone involved. The walk thru social distancing system at the market my friend is involved with has been a disaster due to the weather & poor communication. She’s been bringing most of her product back home every week.
The old saying “every cloud has a silver lining”, fits this situation for you to a tee.
Good luck with the future market sales & on the home front
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Jesse, Thanks for dropping a line to let us know how you are doing there. Funny, I live on a road with merely eight houses, and no one has checked on me. I guess if they see me drive in and out, they figure I am OK. Good thing I am an independent woman! I get more encouragement from appreciative market customers! Go figure. Diane
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And the peonies seem to be awakening! 😉
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This post made me hungry and happy at the same time. Thank you for sharing, for serving, for helping so many make it through!
Enjoy your garden and your garden friends. Spring with all its ups and downs, is very special this year.
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In another, unforeseen transition, we’re getting to know our neighbors better. Like y’all, we live out “Beyond the Sidewalks” (with a nod to Jerry Ballenger) here in the Ozarks. As the panic buying and immediate hoarding craze began, we couldn’t help being a little affected by that contagion of fear. But as country folk living in tornado alley and at the frayed end of the grid, we’re already stocked to go days without, because we sometimes do!! Mostly tho, many of us just hunkered down awaiting for the dust to clear, on the lookout for that equally rare commodity: Truth. Our nearby communities partially shut down as the gravity (and fear) increased. As folks stayed home out here, many are using the opportunity to get to those “Round Tuits” which somehow seem to magically reproduce on a farm or ranch.
Some of us have taken to more “front porch sitting” while others have started to walk around the block. (Our blocks are measured in miles, and social distancing out here starts at about 1/4 mile. Hopefully, that’s far enough?) Anyway, passersby and friendly waves have become in vogue, for those whose houses are closer to the county road and brief chats are hollered over fences.
I finally met Shelby on the other corner. A young woman who has a chatty 4th grader with manners, sports purple hair and whom I’ve observed on other walks picking up litter along our gravel roads. She’s a now retired Sheriff’s deputy and is always carrying heat. She was putting on a fresh coat of white paint to their decorative picket fence, up around the house. (As compared to their more practical and functional if less aesthetic chain link along the road I was walking.)
And, got to meet Mr. Caldwell on the back side of our “block.” Altho I knew he raised black Angus and has incredible cattle dogs which help herd…I wish y’all could see them working!!…he also does renovations and residential construction on the side. Or, maybe ’tis the other way ’round? Anyway, while we introduced ourselves to ourselves, we passed on the traditional hand shaking and used the respectful nod of the heads. We’ll be talking to him in a couple more weeks to perhaps help us on a new back porch we’ve been shopping around for. I joked that his commute to this job wouldn’t be long, nor stressful!! In fact, his truck’s engine may not even have adequate time to warm up!! Bottom line: we live amongst some pretty nice and down to Earth folks!! And, now we’re able to faces and smiles to names!!
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Diane:
There is an article in the New York Times today on Small Farms flourishing during the pandemic. Seems like this is happening all over, people wanting to buy local and fresh.
Mary
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