A crazy fall…

Ok, looking at the blog title, I should say, a crazy Autumn, not fall; thank goodness I didn’t take a header! Where we live in Arlington, VT, it’s crazy we haven’t had a real frost yet. We’ve come close a few times with the temps in the high 30’s, not cold enough for a frost. In past years it’s snowed in September or early October. Ugh!

We are up before the ass-crack of dawn most days, and there hasn’t been a frost. However, guess what popped up this morning in our backyard? Dandelions! 

Dandelions in mid-October are a bit strange. What’s even crazier is how hot it was again in our production kitchen today. I can tell when making my spätzle batter how hot and humid it was. I literally was sweating the whole time, especially when doing dishes for two hours with scalding hot water. 

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What’s not crazy is this year’s foliage which is gorgeous and breathtaking. There is a part of the mountains when I get on the highway that is packed with color. I’m not really one of those people who pull over to take photos, but I did stop at the rest area, getting off our exit on Route 7, and took a few. Lord knows I keep seeing tourists pulled over in the most dangerous spots with their cameras.

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In a Vermont Farm to Plate article, Marty and I read that this may have been one of the busiest weekends ever. Vermont general stores, coops, independent supermarkets, and specialty stores had banner sales this past weekend.

For Vermont to have its busiest weekend ever, it took many people behind the scenes getting food to stores and restaurants. Distributors, warehouse workers, drivers, farmers, specialty food producers, operational support staff, buyers, and sales staff made it happen.

How fantastic is that about our economy? Hopefully, the food and supply shortages forecast won’t become problematic for everyone in the food industry. However, we have started to see some backorders which have affected us already.

This week we had an enormous amount of retail orders to fill, and the clamshell packages we use are on backorder. We had to shift things around during production this week to do what we could. Hopefully, the packaging will come in mid-week next week like promised. 

Going to the grocery store last year and seeing empty shelves was horrific; I think I’ll never get over that frightening feeling. Now stressing out over getting ingredients and supplies for our business is even more terrifying. 

If food and other manufacturers can’t get ingredients, supplies, and packaging to make their products, everyone will be affected. I’m not putting that negative thought out into the universe, but it’s there, lurking under the surface. 

Two weeks ago, the labels that we ordered for our retail packages were also on backorder. We didn’t know the label company we use was swamped, and the lead time was much longer than normal. We made due using some leftover original labels that we still had. We used these for our farmer’s market customers and called the labels our commemorative labels. 😛

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We are taking things in stride and trying to stock up the best we can. Small businesses like ours don’t usually have the funds to stock up on an abundance of supplies and ingredients; at least we aren’t in that position. 

I’m trying hard to remember to be on my journey and not focus on the destination through all this. I am trying not to get caught up in the news; I am always striving to live in the now. I am focusing on all that we do have, being grateful for the number of orders that are pouring in and our customers who continue to support us. 

Right now, I am grateful for this beautiful fall and the warm weather since we don’t have to turn the heat on yet. Another thing to be happy about is that our state, which is supported by tourism, had all of those tourists pulled over on the side of the road to take photos, shop in stores, eat in restaurants and buy Vermont specialty products like ours.

My journey also takes us tonight to the Troy Music Hall to see Patty Griffin with our friend Martin and a few of his friends. I love music, but to be completely honest with you, I don’t have a clue who Patty Griffin is. Martin knows her after cooking for her as a private chef earlier this summer and invited us to see her with him. How could we say no? We are going to have fun no matter what.

Before the pandemic, when I was living my life only focusing on the destination, I would have already looked Patty up and started listening to her music. I know she is a singer, songwriter, and musician who has written songs for many artists…that’s all I know.

The journey has me waiting to see and hear her perform her songs; waiting for anything used to be very hard for me to do, but I now want to be surprised. This is definitely new because I’m not too fond of surprises and things being sprung on me. The pandemic taught me the importance of this whole journey vs. destination lifestyle; so far, it’s worked out nicely, and I’ve started really enjoying life as opposed to racing through everything.

I cannot believe it’s already Friday; another week has flown by. It really is true that time goes by quicker the older you get. October used to be one of the longest months for me as a kid waiting for Halloween to come; now, it comes and goes in the blink of an eye.

Happy Friday, guys! Have a great day, and I’ll be sure to report back about the Patty Griffin show.