back at it

Oh my, how long have I been away from this blog... too long, indeed!
So much is going on right now, its hard to know where to pick back up. How about an update/review:

My foot has healed really well. I am actually looking forward to getting the left foot fixed in the fall. I wouldn't say that I am 100%, but I'm close. I should really post a picture... I will try to do so soon. I've been hiking and biking, swimming and doing yoga, I've even been working some long days both indoors and out! It is certainly weird to not be farming right now, at least not in an official way. 

I did spend this past Friday helping Radical Roots Farm with some harvesting for market and restaurant sales.  Pat and I belong to their CSA (yes, it is weird to be a CSA member!) and I happily jumped at the request for some help this week. It was hot and sticky, sweaty and grimy and I LOVED every moment. I really miss working on the farm. But.... I might not be that far from it! 

I have been talking (and meeting and designing, and networking, and thinking...) with the College of St Joseph, here in Rutland, to start a farm on campus! We have been meeting since December and I was hired in April to create a feasibility study about a farm on campus. I have worked through budgets and schematics and have written a few proposals and philosophy statements and have now been given the 'OK' to start to work the physical land a bit. The plan, of course, is to start small and expand over time. I have been doing some preliminary work - gathering scrap fencing and cardboard - and today Pat and I truly surveyed the land with his civil engineering equipment. It is really exciting to be starting from scratch and in such a deliberate way. There is a TON of potential in this project and I am anxious to see it develop. But, if farming has taught me anything, it is patience. So, I will plod forward, gathering the materials I can and working at an appropriate pace. I will also do my best to keep it all posted to this diary of sorts I call a blog!