Back before Mark came up with his chicken waterer invention, we were running with every microbusiness idea we could think of.  One of the first was selling the daffodils that had multiplied like rabbits between when the last humans left this farm and when we came to take the land back several decades later.  That March, I sold budding daffodil bulbs for about 25 cents apiece on ebay and thought I was making a killing --- those couple of hundred bucks were much appreciated since we were getting a farm going on about $12,000 per year.

Always the long-term thinker, Mark talked me into planting some of the bulbs out in rows in what was then unused land (and which later became the forest garden).  He figured the plants would divide, and then one day we might become daffodil farmers.  Substitute teaching was getting old fast, and Mark was willing to grasp at any straw that would get him out of the classroom.

Our current microbusiness derailed the flower plan, but the daffodils multiplied anyway.  So I give away as many as I can every year until it starts to feel like I'm pawning off unwanted kittens on my family and friends.  I was able to talk Mom into taking home a backpack full this weekend, but have many more looking for a home.  If you're local and in need of daffodils, just let me know how many dozen you'd like!

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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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