The cottage industries are in the cottages
Trying to avoid traffic last week I took a ‘long-cut’ through a town hoping to come out on the other side close to home and having avoided the traffic. Of course, I got lost in the winding lanes of the town and ended up spending some time there. I noticed that many of the homes had signs advertising ‘home-made products.’ It dawned on me that executives and workers in this town are finding ways to eke out a living. Today I went back to the town to take a look at the local wares.
Harold’s Cheeses
My first stop was at Harold’s Cheeses, a modern house on a half-acre plot of ground with a pleasant garden. The front door was open and we walked in to find that half of the living room had been converted into a shop. A long counter displayed a variety of white cheeses, among them Brie, Roquefort and different kinds of soft cheeses, olive oils, breads, pickled olives and other mouth-watering goodies.
Meet Harold
“This guy must be using Personal Loans to finance all this,” I said to my wife. “There’s a lot of money in all this.” At that moment a huge man walked out, presumably Harold, and invited us to join him for a cup of coffee on the patio.
Sheep’s milk cheese
“All the cheeses you see are made from sheep’s milk,” he explained. “It used to be my hobby, but now I’m trying desperately to make a living from it. I had a sweet factory which was doing quite well up to a few months ago. On the weekends I made a few sheep’s milk cheeses for my family and some friends. Then the sweet factory started to go sour. Excuse the pun. I closed it and got out before it collapsed and now I’m home all week making cheese myself. With these.” He held out his hands.
Customers
All this time there was a steady flow of customers walking in and buying goods. There was also a long row of paper carrier bags on the floor of phoned-in orders waiting to be picked up.
Pasta and flowers
Harold also makes a few different types of pastas and sauces and sells wines from a small boutique winery and flowers from a neighbor’s hothouse.
Sheep’s milk, cow’s milk
“I have to make a living and converting my hobby to a small industry seemed to be a good idea. Now I’m working on making it a commercial success. At the moment I buy all my sheep’s milk at a dairy quite a long way from here, so I’m busy trying to build a dairy nearby. Many of the people that drop in here don’t fancy the idea of sheep’s milk, so I’m getting into cow’s milk as well. I have other plans as well.
Looking for lunch
A hundred yards from Harold’s place we saw a sign that said ‘Jerry’s Lunches’ and an arrow. We followed the signs and finally turned into a large yard where a few cars were parked. Jerry’s Lunches was a few tables and plastic chairs on the patio of a house. Jerry, a tough looking elderly man was busy frying fish and chips behind a makeshift counter. A few people were lined up and waiting and Jerry was frying as fast as he could. We decided not to wait there.
All over the town
Signs everywhere. Strawberries – 2 trays for 50 cents. Flowers – 40 cents a bunch. Tulip bulbs – $20 for 10. Homemade jams and honey.
In this day and age, many of us have to come up with new ways of supporting ourselves. Anything to avoid going down with the Titanic.
Cottage industry can be awesome. It used to be the backbone of most of America – and other countries as well, in times gone by, and it is a time honored tradition that can really pay if you know what you’re doing.