INTO THE 2012 (pronounced twenty, twelve)

As I write my first blog post of 2012, I sit in shorts; I'm wearing my chacos. It's 52 degrees in Cleveland in JANUARY! And I feel giddy. I just ordered 1,000 crowns of asparagus and just received my Baker Creek Heirloom seed order (see jpeg). Furthermore, I just got done sulfuring Old Husher's Perennial Expansion Farm, which I didn't expect to get to til about March/April. So as I move into my third year of Cleveland farming, I oddly feel a little relaxed for the first time since starting this endeavor despite my fire hydrant having disappeared over two months ago.

That being said, in 2012, I will be expanding my horizons of both my business and blog. Subsequently, I am no longer an urban farmer. Rather now, I am an urban farm entrepreneur. What this symbolizes is a specific departure from thinking that the growing and selling of vegetables would be my only/main product; instead, that notion has been replaced with one that states the growing and selling of vegetables will be a major product line with future product lines to be added.

This new found business clarity can be directly attributed to the insane success of my small batch, 2011 Gray Market Edition of my Pennsylvania River Woman Mustard. This has caused me to jump on the commercial-canning-is-needed-in-Cleveland-pronto bandwagon despite my stronger and preferred belief system in food sovereignty laws. I envision a vertically integrated boutique mustard in about two years.

In terms of blog expansion, this will focus on two new areas of blog subject material, roughly described as my influences and schtuff that I think is cool locally/regionally/Ohioally as it pertains to small and regional business. I may even do profiles on other Cleveland farmers (but probably not).

In conclusion of my first blog post of 2012, I would like to give a shout out to Cool Cleveland Dot Com for using Sarah and I as models under the "Shop Local Cleveland Clothing" section of their fine website. See here: http://www.coolcleveland.com/blog/2011/11/shoplocal-gift-guide/.

Now if anybody has seen me lately and was wondering. Yes, I am growing out my beard as if I were writing a manifesto.