We sold at the Owen Sound farmers’ market for the very first time on Saturday, and overall it went well. The reality of doing something is often quite different from the idea of it, and that was certainly the case here. Noise and crowded space are such a stark comparison to daily life on the farm. I came home and took a two-hour nap! I wonder if I’ll get used to the mental stimulation.

In Guatemala Rony used to say that the market is where problems start, and where problems get resolved. They’re much bigger there, with less rules and more people. In any case, we’ll be back at the Owen Sound market next Saturday, with many lessons learned. We’re selling Chocosol chocolate bars and our own alegrías. Amaranth is the main ingredient, and I made some fun variations of alegrías with honey, pumpkin seeds, sesame, and chocolate. They went over well! It’s great to be talking about amaranth once again, as we did for so many years when we were promoting it to combat malnutrition with the Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura.

In terms of farm news, I’m glad to report that cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, cats and dog are all doing well. Barn cats are now all spayed or neutered, which is a relief. Oh, the fun of driving an hour to and from Collingwood with a car full of barn cats. I won’t tell you how many there were. In our defense, there were a few cats living in the barn when we first set foot here. And a few more were dropped off by strangers. It seems to be a theme, this dropping off of animals here. In any case, it’s done! It’s done.

When I went out to snap a few pictures this morning, I saw that a few more ducklings were born. I really like ducks. They live their duck lives and ask for very little in exchange. These are Muskovy ducks, and they don’t quack.

Something astonishing (to me) happened just the yesterday. I was coming back from a walk with Clover the dog in the back fields. When we got to the spot where the cows were, Clover sent out a playful bark and started running fast towards the house. There was a solid fence between cows and us. As soon as the dog started running, the cows did, too. I swear they were playing. They weren’t scared – they just wanted to be part of our little herd, running along on their side of the fence.

And strawberry season has come and gone. Can you believe it? Summer always amazes me. Everything changes so quickly!

I hope everyone is having a restful Canada Day today. Today will be dedicated to house cleanup, laundry and dealing with the rhubarb. We also have some volunteers arriving today. Weeding help! I’ll take it, ohh yes.