Before we built The Martin House, the “famous” pie-baking
spot was in our smaller log cabin. I
thought it’d be fun to turn this cabin into a little farm store of sorts. My desire for opening the store was to
establish a prominent spot where I could chat with visitors at our festivals
about activities and life at Marigold Meadows and to encourage interested
parties in their pursuit of a more self-sustaining lifestyle. Considering that Caldania, our calico barn
cat, likes to head up from the barn to visit festival attendees, we named the store
“Caldania’s Cupboard.” I decorated the
store with old garden tools, wooden boxes, seed and feed bags, hung herbs to
dry, etc.
During our recent fall festival, I demonstrated how to dry
herbs, make herbal tinctures and oil infusions and I offered items that would
likely guide conversations in the direction of sustainability:
- Organic heirloom garden seeds from Baker Creek
- Free Baker Creek Seed catalogs
- Country Wisdom Bulletins from Storey Publishing
- Free Storey Publishing catalogs filled with sustainable living resources
- Honey and bee’s wax
- Herbs and spices
- Vinaigrettes, muscle rub, bath salts and hand & lip balm that I make from herbs and oils
- Eggs from Marigold Meadows
- Herbal tea blends that I make
While I have no desire or time to start a business, neither
am I in a position to simply give away costly items to hundreds of people; so everything
that I made available was offered on a “suggested donation” basis.
During the two weekends of our fall festival, I had the
wonderful opportunity to meet literally hundreds of people. It wasn’t uncommon for some of my visitors to
be on a mission for the homemade pie, consequently conversations with them were
short before they headed for The Martin House!
There were others, however, who simply needed someone to encourage them
in taking their first step toward a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. What a blessing it was to encourage them to
consider what that first step might look like for them. I also had opportunities to visit with several
like-minded people. If it was as
uplifting and encouraging for them as it was for me to visit about our
interests in gardening, preserving foods, raising livestock, etc., I
accomplished all that I set out for!
The view from Caldania’s Cupboard was simply
breathtaking. I wish you could have seen
it! From the east window, teamsters were
demonstrating how to work horses in the fields.
Seemingly with little effort, the horse drawn plows overturned the earth
in preparation for next year’s crops. A
bit of smoke wafting into the west window and the rhythmic clanging of metal
drew my attention to the other side of the store. Fanning the flames for their forges, the
blacksmiths were busy hammering out horseshoes, harness hooks, etc. Between customers, I sat on the porch of
Caldania’s Cupboard weaving a rug.
Across the meadow a cooper worked painstakingly to shave the top and
mold the staves for a barrel that he was crafting. A “colonial” lady arose from her weaving
frame to attend the soap that she was processing over an open fire. Yet another was gracefully spinning wool from
her llama. Along with the enticing aroma
of homemade pie, gentle strains of music drifting from the Martin House porch
added to the calm of the meadows. While
soaking all of this in, I spotted a family walking across the pasture after visiting
all the barnyard critters. Two of the
children were holding hands with their dad.
The other two were laughing as they skipped alongside their mom. Tears flooded my eyes as my heart overflowed
with a feeling of fulfillment.
There are two rocking chairs on the porch of Caldania’s
Cupboard. Maybe next year, you can come
join me! I’ll make you some tea and we can
take in, together, all that’s going on around us. I’m sure you’d agree that there are few
places in this world with such a view.
Whole-Heartedly,
Bonnie
P.S. Please
feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder
or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/. You may also contact me at:
Bonnie
Jaeckle
In Search
of the Whole-Hearted Life
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