$15,000 worth of harvest boxes!

Harvest cases at Crandall's Corners Farm, waiting for neighbors to come pick them up.

In the midst of all doing home inspections, water testing, moving, snow-shoveling, house-buying, and working full time, we're also trying to start the farm.  It's hard to manage your priorities when everything has to be done ALREADY.  You set the alarm for 6am, have coffee, and put your nose to the grindstone.  Some time in mid-afternoon we surface for lunch, then back to work.  We usually break for dinner--quick and dirty since we have no appliances--then back to work til 9 or 10.  The only change to the routine is work:  Cara's working 5 shifts a week waitressing in Saratoga, and Luke is trying to offset our mounting expenses by freelancing some electric work.

One of the things we did manage to do, though, was to coordinate a massive order of harvest crates.  These are the cases we harvest produce into, wash in, and take product to market.  If we'd bought only enough for ourselves, they'd be about $19 each with freight.  By organizing a number of farming neighbors, though, we ordered 1200 of them at about $12 each.  It meant signing a purchase order for a $15,000 shipment, which was a bit scary, but it saved us almost 50% on a very necessary farm purchase.  Our friends at Crandall's Corners Farm took receipt of the shipment, since we don't have the means to unload pallets. 

That's one thing off the list!

(Most of) our portion of the 1,200 cases, back at the farm.