My obsession with chili peppers...  so I've had this obsession for a great many years.  Before moving back to Illinois I had a big house on a small, city plot; which translated to zero space for a garden...  however - we still always had about 10 different varieties of chili peppers in pots on the patio.  The peppers were started inside in the winter and put in pots once it started to get warm...  we babied those pepper plants, including building a make-shift greenhouse to extend the growing season.  It's amazing what you can do with a gazebo frame and some clear plastic sheeting...  lol!  Oh and an old electric blanket!  Even during the snow - it kept the temp inside around 65 degrees. 

So... I currently have 23 varieties of chili peppers on the farm.  I have approximately 250 or so plants.  I am OBSESSED with them.  I'm nearing the end of the growing season and it's killing me!  :-D  There aren't enough hours in the day to harvest all the peppers that are on the plants... and then figure out what to do with all of them!  So...  I'm getting creative.  I've pickled Carolina Reapers and they have been a big hit at the Farmers' Markets.  I've now pickled Tobasco peppers too...  and tonight - a strange mix that includes chocolate habanero, tazmanian habanero, jalapeno, tequila sunrise, lemon drop, scorpion, white habanero, cayenne...  and so many others have joined the mix.  Ya know what's interesting when you mix spicy peppers in a pickling brine?  They get crazy hot!  That's what they do!  lol!  But... oh, my goodness do they taste wonderful.  So the mixed pickled peppers will be debuting at the Illinois Products Farmers' Market this week. 

So...  back to my obsession with chili peppers.  What amazes me about chili peppers is the versatility of them.  Even the super hots have great flavor once you get past the heat.  I love seeing what I can do with them to bring out the flavor and reduce the heat level of them...  which if you've tried my products you know I've been able to do this.  So...  as we wind down the growing season - peppers are being cultivated in the greenhouse and I'm doing all I can to save EVERY last pepper so I can turn them into something delicious for the many fans of Addie's Pepper Patch products. 

So…  the first market day at ALMH Market was May 12th.  It was my first day doing a market in Lincoln and I had no idea what to expect.  What I knew?  There was a bread lady, a cheese guy, a smoothie lady and a ton of farmers who seemed to know so much more about farming than me.  That morning I loaded the truck.  I had the beginning stages of Addie’s Pepper Patch products, some beautiful perennial flower plants  and herb plants.  Mother Nature ensured I had no fresh produce…  I arrived at the fairgrounds at about 5:30 and waited for the market manager to arrive so I could set up for the morning.  I had no idea what to expect…  I think I said a small prayer on my drive in, hoping…  just hoping.

So… having a farm based business is interesting.  The question I get asked more than anything is:  Do you pay sales tax?  And this is often followed by comments along the lines of suggesting my farm business is a hobby… which makes me wonder why.  At every market or farm stand I set up – I am a single, middle-aged woman standing in front of a sign that reads “Thompson Family Farm” and I offer stuff for sale…  produce and a whole host of pepper-related products that are not only made by me, the recipes are mine as well.  I have always been a “fly by the seat of my pants” cook.  I just finally took the time to write things down so I have consistency in my products. 

What is the tipping point between a hobby and a real life, genuine business?  Is it the number of hours logged?  The amount of money earned?  How much you’ve invested in start-up costs for your business/hobby?  So..  a peek into a typical week for me.  As a matter of interest – this is the past 6 days and today.

Sunday: Up at 5:30.  Take care of things in the greenhouse (plants I’m planning to over-winter so I have fresh peppers for the winter markets), feed my cats, have some coffee and grind peppers that have been in the dehydrator for the past couple of days.  Shower, get dressed and head to my PT job that allows me to pay my health insurance premium and a few of the household expenses since I’ve chosen to invest revenue into my farm vs taking a paycheck.  Get home from this job at 7:15.  Clean and put more peppers in the dehydrator.  Spend a couple of hours getting labels on product.  Find my way to bed around 11:45.

Monday:  Up at 5:30. Take care of things in the greenhouse.  8:30 - head to the other PT job I have followed by the first PT job.  Get home around 9:00p.m..  Spend time cleaning the house so I’m not totally mortified to have someone in my house on Tuesday doing an annual termite inspection.  Remember from a previous blog…  house cleaning has taken a back seat to getting things done in my field.  Get to bed at 1:00.

Tuesday:  Up at 6:00.  Take care of things in the greenhouse.  Work on labels for pepper product until the inspection is done around 10:00.  Head to my farm.  Pick green tomatoes & peppers so I can make salsa – since it’s now allowed under my Cottage Food license.  Till and plant some fall crops:  radishes, turnips, beets, spinach.  Get annoyed because I can’t find my Kale seeds!  :-/  Spend time in the field picking peppers so I can get more dried for the spice mixes.  Get the peppers into the smoker (on the farm).  Head home around 8:30.  Grind the dried peppers that have been in the dehydrator.  Finish the labels on the product I need for this week’s markets; including printing the labels for the salsa.  Did I mention I'm a little behind on labels.  lol!  Get to bed around midnight.

Wednesday:  Up at 6:00.  Take care of things in the greenhouse.  Mix seasoning blends and get them in the jars.  Shower and head to PT job. After work at 8:30p.m. – collect the peppers from the smoker and get them in the dehydrator.  OH MY GOODNESS – they smell amazing.  Check the product line for what’s needed for Thursday’s market and refill most of the boxes.  This is an early night.  I’m in bed by 11:30 this night.  Yay!

Thursday – it’s market day.  Up at 5:30.  Take care of things in the greenhouse.  Head to the farm.   Get the last of the cantaloupes picked – since the squash bugs have now wiped out most of the melons.  Pick tomatoes, peppers, eggplants…  head home with all the produce, get everything washed and ready for the market.  Make sure I have all the samples made, signs made and everything else I need for the  market.  Shower and head to the market at 1:30.  Arrive at 2:00 and begin set up.  Complete set up around 3:30, smile, chat and sell what I’ve brought to the market.  I get home around 8:30.  Unload the truck.  I’m done with this around 9:15.  Finish labeling the salsa jars that I didn’t finish on Wednesday.  Head to bed around 11:00…

Friday – Up at 4:30. Take care of things in the greenhouse.  Head to PT job at 6:15. Finish job and get home for 9:30 call which lasts until 10:30.  Head to farm.  Make the decision to destroy all the squash/melon plants in an effort to reduce the bug problem.  Ask my dad for help.  It’s too muddy to till – so we make the decision to mow them over.  While he begins this process, I’m collecting all viable melons and try to make sure my dad doesn’t see me cry…  I can’t believe how quickly the bugs wiped out such a large amount of plants.  Finish this and discuss options for next year to ensure this isn’t repeated.  Pick produce for Saturday’s market:  tomatoes, peppers, kale, eggplant.  Head home, wash produce, get it ready for the market and into the cooler.  Load what I can in the truck.  Grind the smoked peppers that had been in the dehydrator and put more in.  Shower and into bed by 10:30….  But I can’t sleep…

Saturday – Up at 3:30.  Take care of things in the greenhouse.  Finish loading the truck.  Head to the market at 5:15.  At the market until 12:30.  Head home, unload the truck.  Grind peppers in the dehydrator and put more in.  Have lunch with my parents.  Out to the field to collect more produce for the market on Sunday… head home, clean the produce and get everything ready for the market – loading what I can in the truck.  While cleaning produce – also watered things around my messy patio…  and saw monarch babies on my milkweed…  so I took some time to enjoy…  This particular milkweeds is a tropical. I got the seeds my a dear friend who lives in Florida.  It’s hairy balls milkweed.  One of the caterpillars was on the seed pod.  It made me smile.  I have 3 babies.  Yay!

This is one of the millions of reason I don't use chemicals on my farm...  this, right here.  We have done such a good job of destroying our eco system and I'm hellbent on doing what I can to fix it.

Technically my work week is over…  at 6:30 on Saturday and if the Farm Gods are on my side, I will get to bed by 10:00 after the advil has kicked in so I can get some sleep…

Next week?  Mostly the same…  except I have to find a way to get 4 batches of pepper jelly done, two batches of salsa, get one of them to the lab (an hour away) to be tested and drop off a donation to Illinois Stewardship Alliance – for their fundraiser.

And every day when I'm doing something in my field, I'm usually praying for one day...  just one day to get EVERYTHING picked... or one day to get caught up on weeding - because I weed by hand.  And this week I want two.   Two days which will have to be squeezed into everything else and I'll work out what is most important and get done what I can. 

So…  to answer the question.  Yes.  I pay sales tax.  Every month, on time, without fail…  So, you tell me.  Is this a hobby business?  My world revolves around farming; either growing things or making things from the things I grow.  This isn’t my hobby.  It’s my business and I intend to find a way to my a living doing it.

Ugly vegetables…

As I sit here sharing my cheese and tomato sandwich with Otis (one of my cats), I reflect on a conversation I had with another farmer earlier this week.  This farmer sets up across from me at the Illinois Products Farmers’ Market in Springfield.  As I was finishing, he walks over and says “I’m glad I’m not the only one who has ugly tomatoes”.  My reply was along the lines of “Hey!  Don’t insult my tomatoes, you’ll hurt their feelings”.  This brief exchange prompted a conversation about human expectation. It seems someone had asked him where the “pretty” tomatoes were…  So, I’m looking at my tomatoes and realize they aren’t perfect.  They aren’t perfectly round and uniform in size.  They have strange little bumps and bulges and range in size from that of a golf ball to those the size of a soft ball.  But…  my strange, little “ugly” tomatoes are amazingly tasty; so why would I care if they are perfect and uniform and LACKING IN FLAVOR?  Which is where our conversation landed.  Our vegetables aren’t perfect from an appearance standpoint – but they are spot on where it counts…  flavor.
 
So…  how did we land here?  Are we so programed by mass produced vegetables as to what is acceptable and what isn’t?  When did taste become the lesser important factor vs the visual appeal?  For me – never.  Taste will always be the important factor with food. 
 
On my farm, every single item I raise – does so on its own.  It’s not genetically modified.  I don’t add chemicals to control bugs or weeds that may alter the appearance of my produce.  Who wants that on their food anyway?  Sheesh!  Vegetables that need to be plants when they go out in the field are started from seed in my greenhouse…  that way  I know chemicals haven’t aided their growth.  Something to think about.  I grow milkweed along with the many other things I grow.  I grow it specifically so Monarch butterflies have a place to make babies.  One thing I found out a few years back…  Miracle Grow is toxic to butterflies…  makes you wonder what it does to us when we eat food that has been fertilized with it.  Something to ponder as you look for perfection in your vegetables.  Me?  I just want food that taste good and doesn’t have any added chemicals.  And those tomatoes?  They taste unbelievable great!  You couldn't ask for a better tasking tomato. 
 
Ugly vegetable growers unite!  Haha!

As noted on the blog page,  I’m Angella.  Youngest and only daughter in the family.  A long, long time ago all I could think of was getting off the farm.  Within months of graduating high school, I did just that.  I have worked in the corporate world and spent a more significant amount of time working for a well-known non-profit.  As the years passed, I started longing for a life that revolved around that farm the younger me couldn’t wait to get as far away from as possible.  Towards the tail end of 2016 I returned to Menard County, bought a house that was older than dirt and made the decision I was going to farm.  Six months in, I started doubting the decision and returned to corporate life…  which left me miserable.  So… in January of this year I made the leap of faith.  I have spent the past five months cultivating seeds into full grown plants, tilling, weeding, watering and praying…  A lot!  Praying the weather is kind – which it hasn’t been this year.  The storm yesterday made a mess of my field and destroyed the storage shed.  Praying my finances hold out until the produce is available for sale.  But mostly praying that I’m not taking on this new chapter in my life too late.

So…  why do I farm?  There are three primary reason I farm.  The biggest reason is family.  I am blessed.  I have an amazing family and farming has helped me reconnect with my parents and my brothers.  Mom makes sure I remember to eat and Pops helps me in the field.  My brother Don has been there for me since the beginning.  He works harder than anyone I know yet he finds the time to help me too.  To list all the things he has done for me would take hours…  My brother, Mark helped build my greenhouse.  My brother Jim has been there as well.  It has also made me appreciate just how hard Pops worked all those years to keep a roof over our head.  He made it look easy…  so did Mom.  Coming from a family of farming – it makes me proud to carry on the tradition. 

The second reason is a simple as it gets.  I like growing things and I like feeding people.  What could be a more perfect fit for me than farming?  This farm has been in my family since the 30’s.  As noted in the previous post, Pops purchased the farm from his Mom.  I don’t know a darned thing about soybeans and field corn – but I do know vegetables; particularly peppers.  It seems like every week, there is a new food recall.  I want to make sure the food I make available to folks in central Illinois is good for them.  So – grow tasty things which feed people. 

The third reason is wanting to do my part to take care of our planet.  The longer I’m on it – the more damage I see being done by us.  I know full well one person can’t fix it; but I want to ensure what I do makes a positive impact on the planet vs taking away from it.  I don’t use chemicals on the farm.  I use organic, natural products to feed the plants.  I take advantage of companion planting to keep pests at bay.   I take care of weeds the old fashioned way; mulching, proper planting and hand weeding.  We have bees to help pollinate….  No matter how easy it would be to take short-cuts; I won’t.

So that’s why I farm.  Most days I wake up tired and sore from the day before.  Most nights I’m almost too tired to climb the stairs to go to bed.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I’ve spend 35 years working for some amazing companies/organization.  None of them come close to providing the personal satisfaction that comes from farming.  My farm within the farm is small….  But there is room for growth in so many ways.  I can't wait to see where this chapter of my life takes me.