growing curious: first market day

Yesterday was not as life-changing as marrying D or birthing E, but -- after those two important days -- it was hands-down the third most intense day of my life.

After years of study, work, experimentation, licensing, and a trial-run last year of selling my pickled products and fresh vegetables/herbs in a limited way from our home/small farm, I (Curious Farm) got to "come out" into the sunlight yesterday and share my passion with the whole wide world -- or at least the part of the whole wide world that came to the Beaverton Farmers Market on opening day.

It was a great day. It was scary. It was hard. It was uplifting. I felt affirmed. Folks were happy about what we're offering. They seem ready for these kinds of products and interested in exploring them.

D was there with me today, and I was very glad for that. He watched our system while I interacted with customers, and we learned a ton today. We will streamline a lot of our process by next week and even more in coming weeks. If you visited the Curious Farm booth today, thank you! Thank you mostly for your patience and warmth while we work through a few kinks in our system.

I loved being there. My neighbor vendors are great, and I look forward to getting to know them. I felt excited to be surrounded by so many people who are passionate about fresh vegetables, healthy food, and pickles. It was very affirming for me to be able to talk to many, many pickle lovers. Curious Farm is a business, but it's a business driven in part by my own particular passions, and I was ready today -- achingly ready -- to connect with others who share those passions.

And if all this exposure wasn't enough for a shy lady who has worked freelance (sometimes never meeting her clients who live thousands of miles away) or just with plants for many years, two articles about Curious Farm were published on Saturday:

--The Oregonian (Cedar Mill's Curious Farm debuts at Beaverton Farmers Market with pickles, herbs and vegetables, by Emily Smith)

--The Cedar Mill News (Curious Farm, by Virginia Bruce)

I am too tired and sore from yesterday to sleep, but I am happy and grateful. Thank you to everyone who has has been encouraging or constructively cautious about this venture. Today was quite a milestone, and now I will get to work!