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
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.
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
What do you do when you wake up on Monday with a hankering for pancakes (a.k.a., a "pankering.") but there is no pancake mix to be found in the house? Well, once you have gotten over your shock and disappointment, figure out what people did in the olden days before pancake mix was invented. We… Continue reading Growing up
A lot of things get disrupted when Daddy goes on National Guard orders. With all the things that fall behind when Mommy and Daddy are both here, it is inevitable that with one of us gone for an extended period, things will fall apart a little. Honestly, if it weren't for Uncle Adam, we could… Continue reading Monday Catching up
Harvest and scrub: Two small turnips One large radish One medium rutabaga Five small carrots Six green onions. Clean and dice. About 1/2 inch cubes is the goal. Slice and dice sausage, to about the same size, 1/2 inch chunks. Stir fry and simmer together until rutabagas are just starting to get soft. Salt, pepper… Continue reading Root and Sausage Pasties
As we mentioned on Sunday, it is Advent! It's the most butter-ful time of the year. Seriously! With our annual Christmas cookie baking frenzy, the amount of butter we go through from Thanksgiving to Christmas would probably grease a steam engine, if we were so inclined to be wasteful. We prefer to use it to… Continue reading Advent Baking
