They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
Late August, the garden is gathering for its final burst of activity before the dark period. This is the most massive and vigorous stand of buckwheat we have ever grown. And the bees seem to be doing their job. I just hope we can get it ripened and harvested before the rains comes on hard… Continue reading Buckwheat, Triangles and Homeschool
This many banana slugs this large on the farm in August. There shouldn't be this much cordial and liqueur aging in the kitchen fridge at one time. It had to be moved to the shop to continue aging, out of the way of our daily food. There shouldn't be a band-aid case from the Pierce… Continue reading There shouldn’t be…
Monday, August 17th. Dear Diary... The day after fair is hard. Breakfast was leftovers. Leftover blackberry/rhubarb crumble. Leftover vanilla pudding. You know. Leftovers. After breakfast, Dad took us all to the farm and we had to pick beans and elderberries. (we've already written about the elderberries). This is a picture of me picking beans. Seppi… Continue reading Back to School, sort of.
Today we Took the second batch of blackberry wine and mead from primary to secondary fermentation. Both had a richer and more mellow flavor than our first batch. And took the first batch from secondary fermentation to bottling. It was drier, and the mead was a bit bland. And we had a homeschool science class.… Continue reading Blackberry Wine and Mead: A.k.a. homeschool science.
It was a clinic weekend, so busy, but... Our new hens, the ones we started in February are laying! Egg production is starting to come back up again. And at least one of them prefers finding her own nest rather than using the ones we so lovingly built for her. 10 eggs in the stack… Continue reading Clinic Weekend
Last week was Swiss Kids Kamp. This was Ellie's first year going, and Evie's second year. Ellie was not at all sure she wanted to go, because she heard that they serve soup for lunch. Like, every day. That sounds like a fate worse than death! However, she braved through it, took her "no-thank-you" bites… Continue reading Swiss Kids Kamp 2026
Everything is homeschool. Even a muddy former driveway that the pigs rooted through for a couple of months. This becomes a vehicle for talking about healthy and unhealthy soil with the kids. Think of it as a "before" picture. The "after" picture won't be for a couple of years, but ideally that same former driveway… Continue reading Spring Buds
It is funny how things never quite go according to (our) plan on the farm. It's also funny how one thing leads to another. For instance, we got to the farm on Tuesday with a list of tasks to get done. One of them, the smallest and easiest, was to come back with four 1/2… Continue reading Taking Apart Shelves
Tuesday was a school day at the farm. Seppi finished his school right away (being in Kindergarten). So he and Winnie had to be spoken to sternly about sword-fighting in the school area. There is a whole play room to play in, but in the school room around the easily distracted siblings is a much… Continue reading Tuesday
Little Farm in the Big City 