The Garden

We are celebrating a quarter century on the farm and our garden reflects the years of change and growth. There has been a natural progression from annuals to perennials, to shrubs and trees. We now have a garden with good form and structure filled with plants that have proven themselves worthy from the border to the table. Our kitchen garden has filled our needs with herbs and greens, and we have had plenty of flowers to fill our vases.

This year we are thrilled to have our daughter Sophia back on the farm. She has been doing market gardening and working a barnyard full of animals in Maine, and has become a very serious farmer. With her help we finally have the ingredients in place to become more self-sufficient. Sophia got us started with animals many years ago and we have carried on in her absences when she was off exploring the world and learning new skills. Now that she is back we have the energy and time to really do it right. The animals play an important role in farming and gardening in addition to adding to our table.

We have added a new hoophouse to extend our seasons, which Sophia built and put to work immediately. We have been enjoying fresh cut salad mix since February and our summer garden starts are coming right along. We are excited about the prospect of summer tomatoes instead of our usual fall harvest. She will be also adding some field crops that should help carry us through winter.

We have a batch of fresh chicks coming along out in the barn and our goats will be kidding in the next few weeks. It should be a great year for harvesting the fruit of our labor.