We are all very well. I'm sorry that so many of you have been concerned about us. We had a wonderfully busy and bountiful summer on the farm. I honestly didn't intend on taking so many days away from the blog, but one day led to two and so on and so forth and as quickly as time can pass, many days went by. During those days away from the computer, I realized that it was very nice to be "unplugged". I spent most evenings knitting and during that unplugged time, produced four sweaters. My favorite of the four And... Continue reading

Up to our ears in garlic over here folks. We've almost completed the harvesting.....just a few more rows to dig. There's so much, and it's big and beautiful and smells so good. This time of year is wonderful with all the farm fresh goodness happening. {Garlic hanging in the barn rafters.} Today we harvested our very first ripe red tomatoes, and these gorgeous cucumbers. They are the "Painted Serpent", an Armenian variety.....the best slicing cucumber I've ever tasted got the seed here). They are amazing! Knitting season has begun. I have many a projects planned. Oh so exciting! Besides garlic... Continue reading

How nice it is to go unplugged for a while. It was unplanned and certainly I didn't mean to go for so long, but goodness it was so nice to be away from the computer. Thanks for all the emails and comments.....I read each one.....and I hate to have you worry, so here I am to say that all is very well here with us and the farm. Our monsoon season is here and we're enjoying the afternoon thundershowers so much. Oh the smell of rain in the high mountain desert.....it's divine! The plant life is enjoying the rain especially,... Continue reading

These weeks are rolling by too fast! Goodness! Since last week's Around the Farm post: The kids have been playing with the kids. Yuri is utterly impressed by the fact that little Pahpooshka, at only 3 months old is beginning to grow a beard. Ila and I planted tomatoes, Armenian Cucumbers, carrots, and Marigolds in the greenhouse that the chicken littles had been living in. I think those chickens did a good job taking care of the aphid problem, and they surely did a fine job at fertilizing! And where did the chicken littles go? To the old chicken coop... Continue reading

In celebration of the very first day of summer and the longest day of the year the farm kids and I planted our melon patch. It seemed an appropriate thing to do with melons being such an iconic summer fruit and all. I started the melon seeds (many heirloom varieties) in 4 inch pots about 6 weeks or so ago. They grew to be such healthy little plants. I wish them well in their new sheet mulched home, and hope to all goodness that Jack Frost will have the respect to stay away until late September! Happy summertime to all... Continue reading

The planting storm that is! It was a big one. A good one too! Lots of work planting vegetables I tell you. The corn is planted, the summer and winter squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, successions of beets carrots and peas, the beans are planted! Now we water and water and water it, and soon it will be up and growing! I wonder to myself how many miles I must walk everyday moving sprinklers, watering crops, seeking tools, etc. Many I suppose. Like I said in an earlier post....farming doesn't pay in any monetary sense, but it pays in good... Continue reading

There are plenty of fresh snow peas to enjoy around the farm this week. Miss Ila spends a lot of time in the pea patch. Poppies are blooming! The brassica transplanting is coming along. I'm hoping to plant the rest of these beds today. The first round of tomatoes are getting big big big. And the second round is coming along very nicely. I cleared out this little greenhouse the other day to make room for yet more tomatoes, and some basil too. You've watched this area evolve, from sheep and goats, to chickens, to being broadforked, and now planted!... Continue reading

What a whirlwind of work days we're having! This cold spring has set our summer crop plantings back to this week. Normally they're in and up by now, but we've had to be patient this year since Jack Frost is still visiting us on a seemingly regular basis! The planting whirlwind has got me behind on sharing here, on laundry (the same load has been hanging dry on the line for at least 5 days), on house work of all kinds, and everything in between. So here I am catching up a bit. Some Photos from last Saturday's Market: I... Continue reading

Good stuff is growing around the farm these days, which makes for the most excellent meals! This is the area that the sheep and goats over-grazed, and then the chickens scratched up (I posted about it here). The chickens worked at their scratching here for about 3 weeks, and did a mighty fine job. To make plant-able rows, I loosened the soil with our broad fork, then spread some sheep and goat manure over the loosened soil, then spread sheets of newspaper, and topped it with straw. It's a lot of hard work to bust the clay soil with the... Continue reading

Am I boring you with all this shearing talk? Can you tell how excited I am to have figured this out? It was a dream of mine for so long to be able to raise sheep, shear them, and turn their wool fleeces into clothing for my family; so this is big. A dream come true. So exciting. So gratifying. And very satisfying! I can finally do the first step.....the shearing.....myself!! So why not another post on sheep shearing?.......In celebration of this great gift the sheep have provided us with. Four sheep sheared! Dang it! I was just beginning to... Continue reading

Only one sheep left to shear. The sheep and are I are pretty much B.(est)F.(riends)F.(orever) now. I love them, and they seem to like me all-right too. After each shearing, all the sheep come into the pen to sniff the fleece, and the newly shorn sheep. The sheep feel a little "sheepish" after the shearing. It takes them a little while to get used to their new haircut, and each other again. This is Baba's big beautiful fleece. I'm so thrilled to be able to get the fleeces off in ONE sheep shape piece! I can't help but wonder what... Continue reading

Harvest Day As the weeks farm produce was harvested, washed, bunched, boxed and stacked into the cooler. There's such a huge amount of work and energy put into these boxes. So much value. I hope that people realize what an incredible deal they're getting when they purchase for example a bunch of carrots for $3. The amount of time and energy it took us to make beds to plant the carrots for people, plant seeds, take care of them each and every day pulling weeds and watering, making sure that each little plant has just what it needs, harvesting, washing,... Continue reading

Such a busy week we're having around the farm! Yuri and Ila and I have been planting all the tomatoes into the greenhouses. Such a big job, which has taken a lot longer than I thought it would! The tomatoes are planted with our carrots and radishes, and there's a melon planted between each tomato. Today the tomatoes will be staked! The trench has been filled in! What a job! This pile of slabs will be used to create a raised bed over that trench. There's asparagus growing back by our pond, and the currants are coming on. There are... Continue reading

After market on Saturday, I sheared one of our sheep. Hazel Sheep, because she is the least shy of all the sheep. It started off very well, but was really difficult, and at one point she got away from me and I had to catch her again. Tom and our good friend helped me finish the job by making sure she couldn't run off again. I really need to learn the proper holds! The blade method is an art in itself (a dyeing art), which I am determined to figure out. With only 4 sheep, it may take me years... Continue reading