small-scale living

Last night I passed on blogging. Why?
Lazy? Nah.
Away from the farm? Please.
To bed early??? Nope.

Reason: I talked to my sister on the phone for almost an hour and a half. Really nice. I feel very fortunate to have family that I love and enjoy talking to and can be around for hours/days...even if we only get to do so once a month... or year. The basic things in life.

Thanks family!

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So, yesterday, E and I continued our self-management stint. Though, to be fair, D was just about back in action. He spent the morning doing office work. Obviously just as essential as anything else. Also, to be fair, I think he should have been home resting more. A troo trooper, this guy.

The rest of the broccoli, 700+ sprigs of basil and 180+ summer squash were harvested to make up the balance of our Tuesday shares.
With the help of Johanna we got a jump start on filling the 69 bins to be taken to the city for Tuesday's drop off. With D laying low in the office, I seized the opportunity to take the "share picture" for the week.



Not terrible, but not even close to what D can capture.

With bins loaded and placed back in the cooler, we took a short break. Coffee and cookies. Chips Ahoy cookies. Yeah, yeah, I know. Questionable ingredients. But, good gravy, they tasted awesome!! Thanks Johanna.

Before lunch I managed to rototill two beds in F and help finish hand-weeding the carrot row in E. Carrots are, without doubts, the most painstaking weed experience on the farm. For me anyway.

After lunch we loaded the van, I made myself comfy in the driver's seat and sped off toward the city. A truly by-the-book drop off. No news is usually good news when on the road.
On the way back I stopped for groceries. My body was screaming for some fresh fruit. ...all is good now.

I cultivated the sides of the path in the 3 Sisters field after I got back. And must say, AGAIN, it's looking really good.





Look at that corn!!



This is one of the MANY reasons why I will pursue (and stick with) small scale farming. One has the luxury of being able to pay attention to detail. Individual plant growth.
Dozens of acres of corn?? Numbers. Figures. Works for some... not me.

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Today. Wednesday. June 25th! Already.

We played catch up. Seeding flats, (trans)planting and cultivation. Rutabaga & lettuce in the greenhouse,



herbs/parsley/lettuce/scallions in D/summer squash in F, and winter squash in A...respectively. I learned how to direct seed with a Planet Jr. Love the human-powered implements. We then pulled out the drip tape to water in the transplants as the sun was pretty merciless this afternoon.

So, yeah, F saw its very first seeds today!! Cucumbers and squash! Now, come one soil..Do it up!



This afternoon we weeded A (Winter squash). Period.

I don't have a "before" picture, but this is what it looks like now.





Just reinforces that small-scale notion. This could not be done so thoroughly/carefully were it on a larger scale.

Post workday had me mowing around the 3 Sisters and F. Meditation time...

A full belly and a shower earlier finds me quite satisfied and happy with this Wednesday. Another great day with its own unique discoveries, successes, failures (or "learning opportunities), laughs and reflections.

I'll end this post with that thought... and some pictures of the sheep, older chickens, "teen" chickens and baby chickens at the request of my sister. All from today.









The teens and Scrawny were hanging out on top of the root cellar.









for H.



Dig.