Ah, it’s the calm before the storm here at our pretty little farm – both literally and figuratively. I’m working on the computer in my sunny living room (all the brighter for the reflective snow blanket outside the windows) and compulsively clicking weather.com every hour to follow the progress of a blizzard predicted to hit this evening. From my cozy “office” (on the couch in front of the fire) I’m also savoring my last few weeks of the lull in farm tasks. Come February, we’ll open the seed packets and greenhouse, starting transplants to be popped into the fields as soon as the ground can be worked. And so spring will begin. Yeah, but I do love winter. continued »
The farm is awful darn quiet these days. Late fall is harvest-time for most of our animals, and many of our pastures and paddocks are now empty. While we do miss the many voices of our barnyard companions, the very real flip-side is that our freezers are now full as we head into the heart of winter. We’d like to share some of the fruits of our farm labor with you. Just in time for Christmas eating and giving, we have our complete array of Garden Pork Cuts and Market Baskets now available. continued »
Many thanks to those of you who came and made our 2011 fall open house a wonderful day! Can’t wait til potluck at the spring open house. Here’s a little album of the wool activities… continued »
We sure hope you’ll be able to join us sometime today between 2 and 10 pm for our fall open house. The weather promises to be gorgeous, the wind is just right and we’ve got the whole farm spruced up as pretty as can be. You can expect to have lots of chances to sit and look at animals, wander around the pastures and gardens and visit with nice folks. We’ll have woolcraft activities, blue grass music and a potluck dinner at 6 pm. So bring a dish and join us! Click here for the full schedule of events. continued »
October 6, 2011 at 8:12 pm
· Filed under Homestead
Thanks again, Sheila, for the awesome video and for all the great recipes. Most excited about the Quick Pickled Turnips and Sexy Swiss Chard. Click here for recipes and check the video out below:
Looks like today will be the last really hot day of the summer (or at least for the length of the weather.com forecast graphic). Oh Lord, let it be so! continued »
What a treat it is to get a break from the heat! We’ve moved 6 am harvests back to 7 am, pulled the shade cloth off the baby bok choy, and this morning I’m celebrating by baking (in the oven!) the fabulous Basil Chocolate Cake shared below. Summer on the farm is like labor with a child – you can do it as long as you get some rest in between the really hard pushes. And the payoff is tons of amazing food… continued »
Wow. What can be said about this weather? Truth is, I barely have enough energy after a day in the heat to think, let alone write. Certainly, the past few sweltering weeks haven’t been my favorite as a farmer! But I do feel immensely grateful. I’m grateful for the hard work of my young crew members, who’ve come out at 6 am each day this week to get the harvest in before the heat index became dangerous, and for the volunteers and work share members who came out this weekend to pick beans, do some much-needed weeding, run some much-appreciated electrical wiring, and share in the season’s first pesto meal. I’m grateful for our new drip-tape irrigation system, which we installed just in time this June. And I’m grateful for our almost-finished Cool Room – which will hold our tomato harvest at the just the right temperature (between 50 and 60 degrees). That project is wrapping up just in time, as well, as we are just now picking our first ripe tomatoes. Maybe we’ll sleep in the Cool Room tonight! continued »
