Hold Tight and Pretend It's a Plan

Fair warning: We have been here many times before -- the end of the season. It doesn't come suddenly, it is no surprise, but it is always kind of a shock to be done.  Technically, we aren't done at all as there are still four crews set up at the markets, peddling rutabagas and butterkins and a gorgeous mix of kale varieties and purple Napa leaves that people just don't buy. But if they did they would learn immediately how delicious it is to eat a mix of greens instead of just one kind at a time.  Anyway, for the last few weeks we have been diligently finishing up the work of closing down the season. There was no stress, no rushing around, not even any particularly long days. Just an organized retreat. And now we have arrived at the final weekend.  In past years we haven't had such a full crew taking us all the way to the end, and we have had to go into our bench (me, Jon, Mom)  but nowadays we have so many other able marketeers. Jon and I are having oat bran for brea...

The season started early -- no frosts after mid-April as I mentioned recently -- and it moved along like a steady freight train on a long haul. Seven months later, I realize that I only left the area once, to go to Alissa's graduation at the end of May. Other than that, we have been riding that train, taking things off and putting things on, rearranging the load at every stop, but never getting off. It has actually been a great ride.  As always, it's the people on the train with us that make the whole trip worth it. Jon and I left Virginia together on Saturday evening, leaving the rest of the weekend work in excellent hands. We headed to a cheap motel in Phillipsburg, NJ (a town that Jon often stops in between Boston and home because of the cheap gas and good hot dogs).  The sign by the road said: "Mid-century Charmed Rooms  Truck Parking."  Very clear about their offerings. It wasn't so bad, and we just needed a place to sleep so we could be near our destinatio...