new focus, and then some

Well it has been a while since I've posted an update on our lives and work. Sorry about that. That's just the nature of agricultural life- the busyness can just get away from you and it can be overwhelming to try and get it all done.  And that's just the thing, as my former boss Neil Rowe Miller told me- when you're a farmer, at the end of every day you always leave things unfinished, your list never seems to get any shorter. It's totally true! It nearly killed me at WHRI, but I learned how to deal with it some.  Now here in Pennsylvania at Maple Hill Farm we're in crunch time!

The bed and breakfast will be open for business in one month and about that same time, Justin and I will hopefully have some vegetables to sell at the farm stand we're setting up at the barn. The bed and breakfast is demanding a larger part of our time these days as we have to get it completed in such a static time frame so the garden has necessarily suffered a bit.  We do have strawberries, sweet potatoes, chard, pak choi, potatoes, lettuce, spinach, onions,  broccoli, cabbage, and romaine in the ground now (yippee!)

We needed to cut back our planned plantings some so that we would have the time to devote to getting the B&B ready, so we decided to sell some of the transplants we started that would otherwise have to be thrown out.  we'll be advertising for that this week and hopefully we'll have people stopping in occasionally for some squash and tomato plants! 

A large part of our efforts at getting the B&B ready is grounds and landscaping which is pretty fun! I planted petunias, and begonias in the sunny areas and coleus and impatiens in the shady spots. Also we're using some edibles aaaaand medicinal herbs in the landscape!!  We put in lots of bright lights swiss chard (beautiful!) and pak choi, romaine and a couple broccoli for the landscape and I planted 6 calendula plants which I started from seed and will harvest all the flowers from! and 2 catnips. I have a few photos, not of the landscaped herbs, but of my herbs that I started from seed that are gettign ready to go in the ground. I am just so proud of these little plants, I have to hurry and get a spot prepared for them so they don't get wasted! these babies are very valuable as medicinal plants and I can really stock my medicine chest and have lots to share with others!

It might be hard to see but here I have Valerian, St John's Wort, Astragalus, Marshmallow, Motherwort, and Catnip! And that's just in this shot. 

Another large part of our time is spent getting the yurt in a shape where we can live in it. We have a long way to go! There is no running water, no electricity, no bathroom... and all of those things have to change before we move in there, though not in the conventional way. We are really excited about living out in the woods but if we are just camping out every day for the next year, then we wont be very productive. Seriously, I am all about pooping in the woods when you gotta, but not if you have to live nearby. Also, hauling water is pretty hard work, I dont want to have to haul all my cooking, drinking, dishwashing, and bathing water every day. we would never get anything done with how much longer domestic tasks take when you dont have a sink with flowing water.    Anyway, here's some photos of our meager progress. I forgot to take photos of the bathroom and shed Justin is building. it is fantastic! I'll have to show you later. but for now we have set up the "bedroom", the "living room" and the kitchen. though there are no walls in this round house, we're trying to divide it up a little so that when you sit down at the dining room table you don't feel like you're in our bedroom. that'd be awkward.  So you can see here a little bit of our arrangement and the beauty of our little simple home. It's actually nearly 900 square feet, plus another 40 in the bathroom Justin is building.  Our goal WAS to be in there by Memorial Day, but that just ain't gonna happen. We hope that within 2 weeks we sleep there and that in 3 weeks we are living there full time, no need to run down to the house for the amenities. Can't wait for you all to see it!

Did you hear we got our chicks?! they are getting close to 2 weeks old and they are strong and healthy!  As you can see the little king of the hill. They like to climb on top of the feeders.  I know I know, they're so cute...Just give it time. They mature into what I like to call the dinosaur stage so quickly and boy do they get ugly!  

Then of course I have to throw in a photo of our ladies:

And of Olga,

She wants those chickens so bad!! Not a chance, Sister!

and the beauty of this place

 Apple trees are all in full bloom right now and they smell wonderful! I cut off a low branch and put it in a vase in the kitchen. It's so beautiful! Also, check out that awesome trunk, y'all!!

Much love.