StarLight Farm Blog 2014 (the Fourth year)
Every time I open this blog to include some new entries, I am amazed at all that gets accomplished. Its such a treat to have a blank canvass whenever we decide to start something new, something we have always wanted to try. For example, just before the year started, December 2013, we planted over 500 Daffodil bulbs, so that we would have early flowers for the farm house and our restaurant. How fun was that? So many projects start that way: conceptualized over a cup of coffee or glass of wine, than actualized by putting on some warm clothes and spending a sunny winter afternoon dropping them into a trench, all the while imagining them blooming in Spring.
Besides Farming, our life is very rich with infrastructure changes, grand children, and new animals arriving. Its a positive experience with the only occasional negatives of feeling guilty for not doing more or taking time off for recreation. We work on that though and try to remind ourselves how lucky we are.
Besides Farming, our life is very rich with infrastructure changes, grand children, and new animals arriving. Its a positive experience with the only occasional negatives of feeling guilty for not doing more or taking time off for recreation. We work on that though and try to remind ourselves how lucky we are.
One of the biggest events of the Winter was the increasing of our cow herd. We had three up to this point. An older Mother with her bull calf and the purchase of Poppy, a half Jersey and half Dexter. We decided we liked the cows and they were relatively low maintenance and we have alot of pasture..... so we purchased 3 registered Dexter female calfs. Our intent is to use these three as our foundation for our herd.
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SPRING 2014
Spring comes early in NC. Peas, strawberries and potatoes go in for example. It really is the best time of the year for
gardening, no insects, moist soil and moderate temperatures.
Spring comes early in NC. Peas, strawberries and potatoes go in for example. It really is the best time of the year for
gardening, no insects, moist soil and moderate temperatures.
We also own some woods that the naturalists of the family like to explore. We made a primitive road with the tractor for going on walks.
Sheep come to the Farm. A great addition and a whole new area of learning!
In June we started what turned out to be an enormous project: the renovation of our farmhouse. (It took seven months!) First we had to have a place to live while the construction went on so we purchased a camper to live in.
We wanted to preserve as much as possible from the 100 year old house but as we dug deeper and deeper into it, we realized that restoration was going to become very expensive.
Starting to come back together......
Their is alot of lawn to mow at the farm, but this machine makes short work of it. As summer starts to finish, the Pears ripen. Pear cider and pear vinegar making.
Our honey bees like the pear pulp
Here is an image of a sunrise with the temperature already in the 90's. Summer in August can be a difficult time here. The heat and humidity is oppressive. But my oldest son, Tobias, who has adopted the South whole heartedly opened my eyes to it and framed it eloquently. "Dad, I love those steamy summer nights, the softness of the air, the rich fragrance of the soil and vegetation, with the sound of crickets and cicadas."
Its Fall, and my brother and his wife, who are "snow birds" fly south from upstate NY and land each year at our farm on their way to Florida and Mexico.
Fall means the starting of Collards. After the first couple of frosts, the pecans start dropping. 2014 was a bumper year. To process, they get boiled.
Then sorted.
Our stockings are hung in our new dining room.
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The breed we chose are called Gulf Coast Natives: a breed brought over with the early Spanish and roamed wild over the deep south adapting themselves to the high humidity, high temperatures, and wet soil. They are a hardy breed and do well at our latitude with few health problems, and the ability to forage well.
Small campers don't have laundry facilities so we bought the ready built shed to set up a laundromat.
In the mean time, Susan decides she want to dye her own wool. So she started a dye-plant garden.
The house project moves slowly towards completion
Before the pears can be crushed in the press, they have to be chopped into pulp.
Before the pears are finished the grapes are waiting in line for crushing.The glorious sunsets never cease.
AUTUMN
Cutting and splitting firewood his continuing contribution to the farm.
One thing the sheep hate is to having to listen to a lecture from me.
then run through the cracker.....
2014 is coming to its end. Our house is finally done.
...and our christmas tree is up in our new living room. We have alot to be thankful for......
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