We three are slowing recovering from our day.  For the first time, it was just the three of us manning our booth.  And, boy was it an eye opener.

As usual getting ready for September 8 started weeks in advance.  Ron had to plan which and how many logs we were going to soak in order for us to have enough shiitakes to sell.  The weather this year had played havoc with all of his plans.  So hot and dry and then days of rain.  It really messed with his schedule.  So, being Ron, he decided to take no chances.  We would soak just about every log that we could.  I honestly don’t know how we survived the last week of August and first week of September.  Every night after work we headed to THF to pull logs out of the tanks and toss another load in.  That was moving a totally of 100 logs each night.  Exhausting work even in the best of time, but when you add in the heat and humidity we were dealing with…. it got old very fast.  Of course we still had to pick what shiitakes were ready, clean them and get them into the frig.

I was also busy getting more things ready to sell.  I decided to try my hand at sewing lavender sachets.  My plan was to get started on this project in July.  But I was dealt a serious set back when I discovered my sewing machine laying on the floor. Seems my Milly cat knocked it off the table.  I didn’t think much of it, as it landed on the thick rug and really did not fall that far.  The next week when I sat down to start sewing I was greeted by an ugly grinding noise.  A couple of phones calls later and I had a place I could take it to. Unfortunately they were closed until the beginning of August.  I had to be patient, but it was well worth the wait. Not only did they fix my machine, but they also sharpened my sewing shears.  It was lovely to have them cutting properly again.

I went through my stash of material and cut out lots of 4 inch squares.  A few minutes of sewing, a bit of iron use and I had a small pile of lovely lavender sachets.   I think they are pretty darn cute and they smell great too.

Without warning all of our soaked logs suddenly decided to start doing their job and produced shiitakes for us.  After the first few days of picking 12 and 15 pounds at a time, we began to get a bit nervous.  They just kept coming.  We crammed every bag we could into the big frig, the tiny one and then Ron took 15 pounds to his brother, John’s frig for storage.  It was crazy.   How were we going to get all of them to Little Falls?   Not sure we had enough coolers and I really did not want to buy another one.

In the middle of all this I still had to work with my elderberries.  Picking, cleaning and freezing them in one pound bags.  Right now I have 15 pounds in our freezer waiting for me to find the time to try making jelly.  I did get another batch of my tincture going and some elderberry syrup too.  That is always a lovely thing to have in your frig.  And I broke the little toe on my right foot.  I smashed it into the same chair, twice.  Just want I needed this week.

I had taken Thursday and Friday off, while Ron had Friday off.  Trips to the bank, the store, John’s house, and all the other last minute things were done by Friday afternoon.  Or so I thought.  At 8 pm we got set up in the kitchen to re-bag the shiitakes into quart bags.   At our first event we measured them out on site and learned immediately that we needed a better way.  We got started and quickly worked our way through our first 100 lunch bags.  That was when Ron realized we only had 200 bags total.  This to use for what was just over 100 pounds of shiitakes we had on site.  For some reason when I was at the store I grabbed one bag not thinking we should have extra on hand.  So another trip to the store for me.  By 9:30 pm we were done.  All shiitakes stuffed back into the frigs and we headed to bed.  Early wake up call tomorrow.

So beat from the past two weeks of hard work, Ron and I just could not sleep.  Thank goodness we had already loaded most of the equipment on the trailer and in my Camry.     Up at 3:30 am and jumped right into the day.  All of my natural skin care products into the car, along with cash box and other small boxes.  Then it was time to get the shiitakes into coolers.  Ice into the coolers and then as many bags as I could fit in. Thank goodness they fit into the coolers we had.  These went into the back of Ron’s Transit and we all grabbed a quick breakfast.  Showers, dressed and out the door we went.  It was a hour drive to Little Falls and we arrived right on Ron’s scheduled time.

After doing four events, our set up system goes really well.  Unload everything and move the vehicles.  Tent goes up first and then everything else fits in and around it.   We were done with plenty of time for getting another breakfast and bathroom calls.  Each vendor was given a discount on a breakfast sandwich from the Ann Street Restaurant & Deli.  It was just eggs, with sausage, ham or bacon, and I don’t know what they did, but it was simply delicious.

The gates opened at 10 am and we did not have another spare minute.  With just 3 of us running the show,  it was all hands on deck for all tasks involved.  By 5 pm, I had just over 20,000 steps on my Fitbit most of it done in our 20 foot wide vendor space.  Back and forth from offering up samples, to the mushroom log spiel then across to ask if someone wanted to try my calendula cream.  I was in charge of the money again, while Ron again was the grill master and Jo was putting together the samples.  All of us focused on selling the products.

It was a long day but again we had fun, burned a ton of calories and as always, learned a lot.   Planning is the key.  Making lists and checking things off is the way to ensure you don’t forget something.  Even then you will, but you will find a way around that if you have planned well enough.  Preparing for one of these events is seriously hard work, but getting everything put away again is even harder.  We got home about 7:30 pm and just left everything on the trailer.  Beat to the bone, none of us had the energy to bring anything more than ourselves into the house.  All the equipment and supplies were covered with a tarp and strapped down.  After all it is not a matter of just getting it into the house.  Everything has to be cleaned and repacked into one of our many bins.  We still don’t have the shed on THF moved to its new location (that is another day’s post) so it is all going back in the living room for now.  And I have already started making a list of things we need to replace, like the frying pans and heat diffuser. And the two hot pot holders that Ron burned to a crisp.  He has a habit of doing that.  I may have to look into finding him flame proof ones that he simply cannot destroy.

As exhausting as these events are, they are crazy fun.  We learn something new at each one so we get better and better at it.  And the people we meet are just terrific.  Both other vendors and customers.   There is a special kick you get when someone stops by and says they brought from you at the last event and are back for more.  Repeat customers; a very cool thing.