Baskets for days

The barn had an entire room dedicated to crafts. Specifically, baskets, wreaths and fake flowers. Near 100 baskets are stocked in this room in boxes, stuffed on top of each other. Very rural charm vibes when moving in, but also totally not my style.

They were in great condition though, so I needed to find them a second life. I have to admit I was annoyed to have them, to have yet another thing that needed to be managed and worked through with little to no gain. I couldn't bare the idea of throwing them out. I chose my path. 

I had a running joke that all visitors had to take a basket home. But with the garden on the horizon a new plan for these baskets is popping up. 

The garden is intentionally large, ridiculously large for a household of two. It's an experiment in our ability to garden and actually yield consistently. We intend to preserve, can and freeze a lot of produce to supply us throughout the winter but, we also intend to give a lot of excess away to friends and local community members this year. If the experiment goes well, we’ll be looking to formalize our produce growing for next. 

Giving away produce is something i'm really looking forward to. Food is so expensive and if my joy in gardening brings more joy to others by making their lives a bit easier, a bit more affordable and by providing and encouraging eating nutritious and locally supplied vegetables. Giving the produce away concerns me. What if we don't have a dedicated destination and the food goes bad?

Its the change you take and up to us to find avenues to sell and make our produce known and available to the community. 

When people pop by to pick up their goods, its going to necessitate that we have ways for people to carry items out. I’m not a fan of plastic options and we don’t want to invest in longer term options in case I do really suck at growing things. The baskets are the perfect short term vehicle! It makes me so happy to recycle them and to give them all a second life. 

There are however many baskets that are just a very poor fit for produce, like the heart shaped and wall hanging baskets, or in some cases both. I'll gladly donate those to the local community for crafts or other creative ideas.

If you pop by the farm this year to check out the garden, expect to head out with a basket full of fresh delights!