Sweet Local Farm

Memorial weekend was gorgeous and we were lucky to have friends come spend some time with us on the farm. It has been sunny with highs in the upper 80’s. As with everything this year, many of our perennial flowers are blooming early. I wanted to document these blooms so I can come back to this page next year and see how it compares.

Friends in the garden:

As I said yesterday, our vegetable garden is about half way planted out. The herb spiral is planted, as are the potatoes, garlic, onion sets, lettuce, strawberries, corn, tomatoes, pepper, swiss chard, kale, cabbage, radish, celery, brussel sprouts, jerusalem artichokes, and sugar snap peas. We still need to plant our beans and gourds.

This is an asparagus crown we planted a few weeks ago. We won’t be able to eat any for a few years.

The rhubarb is doing great. It made a delicious strawberry rhubarb pie and there is still more to pick. I just planted two more rhubarb plants so we will always have enough for many pies.

This is swiss chard that over wintered. Right next to it is more swiss chard that we started from seed this spring.

Luke prepping the squash beds:

Adam digging out big rocks:

In the flower garden the peonies and iris have started to bloom.

This past weekend was the first annual Snow Moon Blogger’s Retreat hosted by Sweetlocal Farm! Tiffany from Heist Jewelry, Sarah from Mystic Valley Musings and I took a break from bloggin and enjoyed life on the farm. We made homemade pizza, gluten free to boot, sampled home brewed beer, got cozy in front of the fire and hit up the Tractor Supply Store for some new country duds.

Sarah, Tiffany, and Karen

Feeding the animals:

Chillin in the barn:

Tiffany having a moment:

We bought rubber boots, gardening gloves, and cowgirl shirts here:

We had a very peaceful weekend!

Every day is Valentine’s Day when you have a pink front door!

I found this wreath in the barn when we moved in.

My dear husband gave me a box of chocolates from Rose City Chocolates. They specialize in gourmet vegan chocolates. They are so tasty!

Check out the Wicked Good Scene zine for an interview with my husband about the return of his band, Piebald.

We were so happy to have our niece and nephews stop by the farm after Christmas. They brought treats for the goats and chickens to eat.

Rosemary and Birch sure love visitors, especially if they bring food!

Bella Grace taking in the scene from a safe distance:

We hope they visit again soon!

The men of Piebald, Luke’s band, are on the farm rehearsing for an upcoming show. They took some time off from practicing to chop down some trees we have been meaning to clear from our berry patch.

Ryan took the lead and got to work:

Luke and Travis oversaw the cutting:

Later they got out the chainsaw but I was too nervous to watch.

After our first snowstorm the porch looked enchanting:

The world was quiet and still as I took these photos a few moments ago:

We decided on a small living Christmas tree this year. This tree was growing too close to the barn and needed to be moved. With the help of my friend and my sister, we carefully potted up the tree and brought it to the porch. I plan to decorate it with cranberries and popcorn for the birds.

Our lonely mailbox in the snow:

I can’t wait to see this winter wonderland in the sunlight.

My friend Megan does beautiful portraits of animals. She has painted her two cats, as well as many of the dogs that she works with. She painted these lovely portraits of our little goats:

Rosemary, the goat, with her crown of rosemary, the herb.

Birch doing what he does best, chewing on some birch.

Our friend and soon to be farm mate Michael Crigler is a very talented artist. He was asked to design a special pop art My Little Pony for Hasbro. You can buy one here.

He even designed the packaging:

I bought one as a Christmas gift for my little niece, Bella.