Tuesday 27 May 2014

the hesitant loyalist......



So we just came off the first full weekend of farmers markets for the 2014 season….WOW what a mixed bag of emotions that was! It’s always a big deal…for me at least….of course not everyone is a type A perfectionist like me that ultimately just needs to chilllllllll-lax…ya, k…I know...and maybe one day I will….but in the meantime lets get this party started! ...hmmmm, how many balls can I juggle at once? 


I always like to do something new each year and besides a new delicious flavour of CHILI & LIME chicken jerky…and a sticker line promoting Earth conscious farming......I also pulled some custom t-shirts out of my bag! BOOYAH! 



enter MARKETING 101….




That's right.....in a stroke of brilliance I decided we needed to be....THAT family….you know, the one you can pick out of a crowd wearing matching t-shirts...usually at an amusement park…..you know who I am talking about....yup that’s us!! …. LOUD AND PROUD…. it's actually quite funny because I always mocked my mother for dressing my brother and I in matching outfits…. OH WOW... OK.... here ya go folks.... and it's not even Thursday…. 1978…..my older brother and I are both dressed in matching handmade brown velour one-piece jumpers…I kid you not!  



SEE ~ told ya!...thanks for the pic mom

In an attempt to break free from that 'image'....not of us cuz we're pretty friggin' cute... and the potential mockery later when the children inevitably discover we aren’t the coolest people on Earth… I reinvented the 'theme' in a cool tie-dye kinda way (think marketing....)...our shirts are all unique designs but with matching gold, green and blue tie-dye!! The idea seemed super cool from a marketing standpoint ~ we printed on catchy phrases like, “grass isn’t just for rolling in” and “know your food ~ ask my dad” for the kids and “know your farmer, know your food” for us…..we asked an amazingly talented tie-dye artist (Goodies by Maryse) to custom make our shirts and they turned out amazing!!! ..... I mean awesome right?! ...in an eye-catching, attention seeking, living in a fish bowl kinda way... LOCAL, LOUD AND PROUD!!!…. right?….. um ya!…. riiiiight….. okay…. I need to confess something…. getting ready Sunday morning with everyone dressed in matching shirts made the introverted me wonder if I could actually commit to this attention….you see, I couldn’t help but feel a wee bit weird about wearing them….don’t get me wrong! I’m totally proud of the farm and the marketing opportunity of this endeavour has certainly not gone unnoticed....and the kids and Farmer Luke LOVE wearing them ….but I have to admit…I was hesitant donning my shirt for the market….why you ask? …. Good question! … am I not a team player? ….don’t I want to shout out to the world that we’re on a journey to feed our community and we need you to come along for the ride?....wasn't I loyal?... OK....it really wasn't that philosophical.....it's just... I couldn't help feeling….. a bit like….. the Griswolds of the farmers market
 
meet the Griswolds - 1983

I know my 80’s sentimentality was getting the better of me and there was nothing to be embarrassed about…..it's just the image of us in my mind and perhaps some residual subconscious insecurity from around 1978 (love ya mom!!)...left this nagging feeling in me...

BUT you know what?!….. IT DIDN'T LAST LONG.... after hanging with the fam all day talking about the farm and being able to easily spot Ms. Rea and Mr. Fab Finn out of the sea of peeps at the market as they ran back and forth from our booth to the kid zone …. (cue "aha!" moment and instant kinship with THOSE families at the amusement park...I get it man ;) ...OH and informally winning the best mother/daughter outfit of the day…. I have to say I AM PROUD to be a Griswold and YES, you CAN spot us out of a crowd in our tie-dye uniforms of gold, green and blue….and in the end...I guess that’s kinda the point!  

MEET THE GRISWOLDS

 
LOUD AND PROUD Ms. Forrest Rea

peace loving Mr. Fab Finn
funky Farmer Luke

and that's me....Granola Girl...too legit to quit!
LOCAL, LOUD AND PROUD BABY!!


Friday 23 May 2014

Tipping WWOOFers......and I don't mean cash.




When in Canada canoe right? It made sense to us (note the past-tense) and we just so happened to have a canoe AND a river along the farm….BOOYAH…come hop on the Canada train wwoofers!

um…ya…
....we were wrong…it’s not that easy….

Haurki, our second EVER wwoofer was from Japan and had been to school in BC the previous year and was wwoofing his way to Toronto to catch his flight home. Really sweet kid….and we were his last hosts.

Haurki getting a lesson from Ms. Forrest Rea
Well one evening Farmer Luke asked him if he wanted to go fishing down at the river (which incidentally is chock a’ block full of hungry pike) ~ Haurki’s eyes lit up in excitement… “Oh YES please” ….in order to round off this ‘Canadian experience’ Farmer Luke decided they should fish from the canoe! But of course…you’re in Canada right….and we want to give you an honest feel for the culture ~ bring on the CANOE!! Farmer Luke went about loading the gear, strapping the canoe to the roof of the truck and making sure he had his phone and life jackets ~ READY. STEADY. GO!! And they were off…I stayed behind with the kids and anticipated their return….

and what a return it was!! ....the door opened to a ….

Soaking.
shivering.
Bootless.
Farmer.

.…with a dripping phone…

ahem…ummm….chuckle….sorry….giggle…snort...SO SORRY!!...

the story goes………

Farmer Luke loaded himself, the gear and Haurki into the canoe….having foresight enough to establish that Haurki couldn’t swim, Farmer Luke provided a life jacket….the Farmer did not wear one because he could swim…and he didn’t think it was that deep anyway…..so no life jacket BUT he did have on his brand new shiny gum boots that had arrived 4 days prior from New Zealand as a present from his parents….smart farmer always prepared for mud. Anyhoo…they were enjoying the evening floating and fishing when Haurki’s hook got caught on a branch…always a helpful fisherman….Farmer Luke said he’d grab it…well whether it was Haurki’s inability to completely understand Farmer Luke’s unique ‘kiwi canadianese’ or his insatiable need to assist…either way… Haurki thought he’d lean in and hold the branch for Farmer Luke….well…..common canoe knowledge tells you that two people leaning on the same side of a canoe does not make for happy canoeing….SPLASH!!!.....or maybe just more of a…SLUUURP! ...as the river engulfed the canoe sending gear and wwoofer bobbing and floating away……and clever Farmer Luke had his new gum boots on and his phone primed in case of emergency! giggle

Farmer Luke described the scene as such…..I quickly realized that I had to let me boots go or else drown…have you ever tried to swim in gum boots?.....well, no…I’d never wear boots in a canoe any good Canadian knows that… I THOUGHT TO MYSELF… well you don’t swim you sink! It’s like having a couple of led sinkers attached to your feet!...so I had to let them go…but I had a good look around so I know where they are if I want to get them back ….INTERESTING… holding my tongue… once I dumped my boots I gathered all the gear as Haurki bobbed in the distance observing the entire scene with a look of extreme concern and apology…once I got us all to shore, including the sinking canoe… Haurki broke the silence with a “SO sorry...and you lost your new boots...I’m SO sorry!!!”...all I could do is laugh!...there was nothing I could do about the boots or the phone it had happened ....and looking at us it WAS pretty friggin' funny!
 
OK….so once bitten, twice shy right?….um, ya right. From that experience we learned:
  1. Do not wear shoes in the canoe…of any type.
  2. Utilize water-proof bags for any electronics. Putting the phone in a bowl of dry rice for days may have contributed to the remaining limited functions of the unit…..however avoidance would be the best solution.
  3. Teaching canoeing and fishing for the first time to anyone should be done as separate activities…  
OK…..so flash forward to two weeks ago when Linda, a really sweet girl from Germany, ventured out on her canoe trip…..what were we thinking?.....I went off to run errands while Farmer Luke got her prepared and set her off…..when I got back Linda was home.....not a good sign. 

So the story goes….

Farmer Luke approached this canoe trip with the gift of hindsight ensuring the following was in place:
  1. All shoes were off
  2. Phone was in a waterproof bag
  3. Life jacket was on
  4. AND…no fishing gear was in sight!
OK….we’re good to go! ….er…I mean…YOU are good to go…See Ya Linda!!

WHAT? ….you’ve never canoed before?....it will be fine…. just paddle....she seemed so confident..... 

That’s right! Linda went out on her own having never been in a canoe before….OH and that’s not all….it was also a ridiculously WINDY day! BUT I’m sure that when the inevitable tipping occurred she was ever so grateful that she didn’t have any shoes on and that she could call for help once she made it to shore….YAY US! high-five foresight!!....of course what we didn’t factor in was the 10 mins getting to shore…in spring water….in April….that’s cold! The rescue involved knocking on doors and backyards but Farmer Luke was able to save yet another wwoofer from a canoeing mishap….feeling horrible for her (but also seeing the humour and the story-telling benefits) I decided to round off her Canadian Canoeing Catastrophe with s’mores around the bonfire ….#whenincanadaeh

Linda capping off her canoeing adventure with her first ever s'more
So now what have we learned about wwoofers and canoes? ….tell them these two stories and let them make up their own mind…. sometimes you gotta live life to laugh…making memories one tipped canoe at a time ;)


***no wwoofers were harmed in the making of these stories