Recently, while shopping at Kroger, I noticed a new-to-me offering in the dried bean section: mayocoba beans. I grabbed a bag, excited to try a new flavor and texture, then I swung by the library to pick up a book I had requested. 

I almost hadn’t requested this book because it’s title “Toxic Legacy: How the Weedkiller Glyphosate is Destroying our Heath and the Environment” feels alarmist to me. And I really don’t need to feel more alarmed than I already do.

However, I had been seeking informa…

The elderberry bushes will need to be pruned soon, but I want the cold to settle in and make sure the plants are fully dormant first. Then we'll cut them close to the ground so they grow strong canes with enough room between them for air to flow, which reduces disease and pests. 

In the meantime, I am tempted to linger in front of the wood stove reading the news.

This week I was intrigued by Cara Buckley’s article featuring Bill Jacobs, an ecologist who promotes including native plants in our …

Been thinking lately about beans. Not sure why. Does stuff like that happen to you too? One random thing showing up over and over again until you pay attention. 

Bean Thing One

First it was the giant glass jar of dried red beans I unearthed while cleaning out the pantry. 

They had been saved from the garden, at least 8 seasons ago, possibly longer. 😂  Of course, I hadn’t labelled them, but memory suggests that they were “true red cranberry beans”. And if you are a reader of seed catalogs, you…

Ben, the county forester, visited the other day.  He was here to look at our small woodlot and make recommendations for “improving it.”  

The woods are a pretty sad lot.  Ten acres crammed with Virginia pine in the overstory and determined cedars holding ground underneath.  The occasional anemic oak is giving it a go, skinny and straight in a race for the sun that, as Ben pointed out, it will lose unless we help out. 

Why favor oaks?  Many reasons, it turns out.  Several hundred years ago, thi…

Around 8 on a November morning a flash of movement from the window set Wilbur to barking.  “A hawk,” Beth said, moving to the window overlooking the pond.  “No. A heron.” She placed a hand on Wilbur’s head. “Look - It’s not even a deer. Just a bird.” Still, he insisted on a few more barks before circling and settling back on the couch in the position closest to the wood stove.

I stood directly in front of the stove.  The thermometer had said 27°F  that morning. Silver frost tipped the tall gras…

We've decided to do better about writing emails and blog posts.  So much is happening here and it's all too easy to just keep our heads down and keep working. 

But that's no way to build a community.  So the plan is to share farm and nature stories, more or less weekly, sometimes here on the blog and sometimes via email. 

We try to be informative without being preachy, to share both the triumphs and the failures, and to do it all with a hefty dose of humor and appreciation for beauty.  

To st…

Why do we want to farm?  

We both have full time jobs and are watching 40 in the rear view mirror, after all. 

So why start this now? 

We're motivated!  That's why!

We want to be part of offering healthy local food to our communities. It's truly ridiculous that our food takes such long and fossil-fuel-consuming journeys to get to us when we live in a place that is capable of growing so much.  

But it's also about BELONGING. 

Our world is so disconnected.  So isolated.  So out of touch with…