Sweet Local Farm

When you really need to get some farming done fast, it’s always best to bring in the big guns.

Amidst talks of saving the world through recycling, D Welch and I tilled the soil til our arms could till no more.

Ironically, we were planting potatoes…Dave being a proud Irishmen and all. By the end of it all, our backs were as red as lobsters.

The title of this post comes from a morning over a decade ago when we made pancakes for Hoya, bass player of the NYC Hardcore band, Madball. Dave claims that to this day, Hoya still tells him those were the best pancakes he’s ever eaten.

Tofu barking at a wasp that wisely kept it’s distance

Over this weekend, we had a lovely visit from my nephews who were up from North Carolina. The day was perfect…blue skies, mid eighties weather…perfect for riding Big Wheels, playing croquet, and having a picnic.

They are going to make great fisherman one day. They were practically pulling the goldfish out of the pond with their bare hands.

Max riding his Big Wheel through the barn

Luke & Drew up in the 2nd level of the barn.

It was a cool, rainy day here so we didn’t get to dig any more vegetable garden beds. Instead I picked some flowers and arranged them to give to a friend.

We broke ground on what will be our main vegetable garden. This is what the field looked like before:

Luke staking out the garden:

After we cleared out all the sod, we brought in 6 wheel barrel loads of composted leaves:

This is what they mean by “black gold”:

Look at all the worms!

Once the beds were made we planted the soaked pea seeds:

We tamped down the seeds and filled the beds with pea brush for the little plants to climb on. Then we watered the beds:

All done!

Sunset from the window upstairs:

The view from my sewing room:

Luke had a fire in the wood stove in the garage. I enjoyed the bucolic view with the mountain in the distance.

This is one of my favorite scenes on the farm, both barn doors wide open and the woods in the background:

Our little friend Sonny stopped by to help Luke in the garage.

We enjoyed fresh baked Easter bread for breakfast…

Happy Springtime to all!

Here is what I found in the trees at the farm:

and some Forsythia I brought inside to bloom:

We are still unpacking and settling in, but life on the farm is good.