Monday, January 11, 2010

In the shop - three weeks till we open

Our plan is to re-open the farm shop the first of February. There is still a bit to do to get things ready. (A lot to do actually...!) We decided to change the location. We love the garden shed by the back door. It has all kinds of charm, but it doesn't work as a shop for several reasons.

First, people have to walk too far. Yes, it's paved (buried in snow right now...) and it is only about 100 feet from the parking area, but, it is definitely in our yard, past our gardens, and well protected by our rather large, not very fierce dog. The dog is one of the main issues. He is too friendly. It is also impossible to exclude him from the area.

Second, cleanliness. The charm of the garden shed comes from it's rustic nature. The old exposed framing and siding look lovely, but they let in all kinds of dust, spiders, and other undesirables. Not the kind of place you would want to go looking for fresh produce, fudge, bread, etc.

Third is climate control and lighting. The only way to effectively do either of these in the garden shed would be to finish the interior. Then we have lost the charm factor.

So we are closing in one half of the garage and making it into a shop/weaving room. It will be bright and clean, warm and dry, and easily accessible from the parking area. The garden shed will be more of an entertaining space, and maybe a showcase for my stained glass (if I ever find time to do more.) JJ envisions using it as a tea house. Could happen.

At the farm shop we will be selling fudge, baked goods (on a limited basis), eggs (if the chickens ever start laying again...), produce, and what ever crafts are currently being produced. We are going to push a bit harder on advertising/marketing, and on keeping a variety of things in stock. Should be a lot of fun for everyone.

The only hang-up is the fact that it is still only framed in, not finished. Tomorrow I will get the drywall, and start hanging it. Hopefully by the end of this week the basic space will be finished. Then I can start working on the details. Still need some display cases, some storage cabinets, and something to sell.

Three weeks, No Problem (unless life gets in the way...)

1 comment:

Diane@Peaceful Acres said...

I wanted to leave this comment on Not Dabbling in Normal, but was having trouble logging in....so I thought I'd leave it here for you on your going cold turkey!

Sounds like your doing it! Congratulations. We called this kind of thing "fasting" on what we have....no new food purchases; living out of the freezer, no new clothes, no new anything. Lots of popcorn! Yeah, breaking the mindsets is hard. We are so conditioned by our society. I love the Cheeto story!! Kids are inventive and that might just be a good thing. Mine always mooched because I wouldn't buy junk food....at 5 he could mooch a snack bag from a perfect stranger! Now he's 21 and can find a place to live for free....see it does come in handy at some point in life!

We live kinda weird compared to most, esp in our area which is the richest county in our state and the richest zip in our county! We unplug everything all the time. We put insulated panels in our windows to conserve energy. We make things from scratch. We grow our own food. We save our $$$. And we live in the DC/Balt rural suburbs and have 2 cows and 18 chickens!!!!!! YIKES! What do the neighbors think? That was my first thought when we brought the cows home. Now I'm quite comfy with all of it, mainly bc my animals are quieter than most dogs.

There are some insurance sharing grps that you might look at.
http://medi-share.org/ is just one. Growing a herbal medicine garden is my backup even though we have insurance. But there will come a day when we "retire" and will have to cut back considerably to pinch our pennies.

I'm looking forward to following your plunge.

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