by Ruth Klahsen
29. March 2009 20:55
It all started a little over a week ago when all of a sudden the sun came out and the birds got twitterpated, and spring finally started to happen in a big way: I developed a horrible case of spring fever lasting for the better part of the last 10 days.
Now for most people this means activity intensifies – windows get polished and closets cleaned. But not for me. I become dreamy and relaxed. I tend to spoil myself and don’t worry about things as much as I usually do. I show up late for appointments and sometimes, I even forget appointments – but not on purpose. I read more, I daydream all the time, and life becomes pretty sweet. It’s in this state that I’m writing my first entry.
Monforte over that last two months has been blessed in profound ways. It appears that we finally have a land-base in Stratford, and a businessman who will build us a dairy and rent it to us at an affordable price. We have a wonderful architect, Peter Moffat, who is doing the design, and a landscape architect who has drawn plans for the site that make my knees weak. The landscaping includes a farmers market, herb gardens, and use of an existing pond as a place of refuge for birds and interesting plants – as well as an island for tired dairymaids. It’ll be an oasis for anyone who wants to show up, recharge and then buy some ricotta.
We’ll post these plans in a few weeks along with the designs for the layout of the dairy drawn by Neville McNaughton, the dairy consultant we’ve been working with. Flux is the name of this game. These plans will keep changing until we really nail the flow of the cheesemaking. We’ll keep you posted about what and why.
Suddenly, it’s very, very real.
We’ve already received over 110 subscriptions. This is phenomenal considering that for all of these people, this was a huge step of faith. We didn’t even have a home yet – or designs – but they all committed based, I think, on the belief that local, sustainable agriculture is one of the most important things we can do in this world of ours.
Government bodies, and even banks have become very interested in the idea of Monforte, and so Mike Hays and I have been wonderfully busy submitting business plans and applications. We’re in an exciting and privileged place.
So thank you for allowing us to be in this place of privilege. I couldn’t have had spring fever without you.
Fondly,
Ruth