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.
Well, Fair Week is over for the year. Mommy was exhausted. She is superintendent for Food Preservation and Nutrition, and so she has been doing prep work regularly for months. Then she was busy the whole week leading up to it decorating and accepting entry turn-in. Then she was busy the whole week managing the… Continue reading Pierce Co Fair, 2026
Fair season is fast approaching, and the girls are working hard on finishing up their last projects for fair. Ellie-Belle is entering another quilt. After she finished tying it she decided she needed to embroider a heart into the attachment point of her quilt frame. On Thursday Daddy was at work, and Mommy banished Seppi… Continue reading Fair Projects
Monday morning Seppi got up and asked "Daddy, What kind of day is this? Do we get to eat meat today?" (We do the traditional meatless Fridays in our house, and Seppi hates days without meat.) Upon being reassured that it was in fact a Monday, and therefore meat was on the menu he asked,… Continue reading A Day without Mommy
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
Busy runaround day, last Thursday. Seppi, Daddy and Winnie started out with a run to the dump to drop off trash. We managed to rub the sidewall of the tire up against something and rip a flap in it. We will need to change that this coming week. Seppi helped Daddy build a prop for… Continue reading Thursday
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
Little Farm in the Big City 