My ninety days is up so it is time once again to leave the farm ... but this time my travels are over and it is time to head back home. The summer on the farm has gone so quickly and I hope that I leave having made some small difference to lives of all that live here … two legged and four legged.It has definitely been a summer of the shovel … old dirt, new dirt, gravel, compost … you name it, I’ve shovelled it. Whilst Emmanuel has been busy building lovely things out of wood, I’ve been painting pretty much anything that will stand still for long enough. So the farm is looking really pretty. The photographs show the house when I arrived at the beginning of June and how it looks today … with the amazing ‘mothership’ trellis, porch, swing, hammock, new trees and flowers, and blooming grapes. We have taken out doors, installed new windows and added new outside spaces … it is almost a mansion (just don’t tell the County).
The rock wall for the root cellar has been started and is looking great, the boys will hopefully have a door on in time for all the winter squashes, figs, pears and persimmons that are on their way in the orchards. Sadly again I have to leave before the fab looking watermelons are ready and I have spent most of the summer trying to get beets to grow … the new batch of seedlings look the most successful to date. The goats are super happy and the kids are getting bigger each day … it is quite the strain to pick them up these days. It will soon be breeding time again and come March 2011 the next batch of babies will be arriving. I will miss them terribly, especially my (not so) little bouncy Penny.
It has been a summer of making the most of what we grow and make on the farm … from all the lovely vegetables and grapes, fresh eggs and milk to making cheese and ice-cream. Just this week I used some of the basil to make batches of pesto for the freezer. One of the lovely things about being on the farm is eating food that you make from scratch and not relying on processed and packaged foods … breads, pizza doughs, etc.
It has again been a great summer on the farm and to my dear friends Nancy, Terry and Emmanuel … I will miss you all so much. Thank you for making me feel so welcome … I will remember this summer as a time of fun and laughter. Dx
