THIS & THAT.

Some random photos from the past week.Further loves sweet peppers...and his bouncy swing.All the rain has filled the forest with fun mushrooms. We seem to find a new kind every day! Oh, summer harvests.The shiitake logs are looking great! The white means its working.Making bouquets for market. 

ONION HARVEST.

Things on the farm have been a little chaotic, lately. If you have been wondering where we've been: Cher broke her leg (and is 7 months pregnant, by the way!) We had nearly 10 inches of rain, basically all at once. A giant tower of stacked soil block trays toppled over in the greenhouse. So, yes, I'm sure you are tired of hearing it, we are busy.But things are good! Cher is healing well, the weeds are insane but the food is still growing, the gardens are beginning to dry. We harvested onions a few days ago, and Further was complete trooper in the 95 degree heat. It was a somewhat sad harvest, as the recent deluge of rain was not kind to the onions, but we are glad to have them out! They are all laid out on woven wire fencing in the greenhouse, where they can hopefully dry out in the intense sun. After we get the potatoes dug, all of our "major" summer projects are finished....I'm already dreaming of the ease of the fall garden!- Hannah.

HONEY HARVEST.

We had a great harvest last week - a little over 40 pounds of honey and only one sting. At the rate the bees are working, there will be plenty for us and some to share with our CSA members! Further watched from the porch and seems like he'll be a great beekeeper someday.- Hannah.

DAY IN THE LIFE.

Monday, May 184:30 a.m.I wake up to the sound of Hannah sniffling and sneezing. Allergy season is a bummer around here for all of us––something that grows nearby really loves to pester our family. So I get out of bed to get her some tissue, then decide to start my day with a nice, warm fire in our already nice, warm house, per usual.4:30 - 7:15 a.m.I spend this time working on articles and making pancakes for breakfast. Hannah and Further get up around six, at which point he begins his daily hour of smiles, contemplation and, most recently, growling. It's probably his cutest new maneuver. I also feed the pigs in this time block. They're warming up to us, but I know how it goes. Once they are no longer afraid of us, they will be pushing us over to get to the food. Smart? Definitely. Friendly? Sure. But decorous? Not so much.7:15-10:30 a.m.I go to the gardens to harvest for our first CSA delivery and somehow forget everything I need. Rusty, I guess. Long winter. So added into this time period is a trip back to the house to get the harvest bins, baskets and the harvest knife.10:30-11:30 a.m.When I get back to the house I switch roles with Hannah. She begins to get everything cleaned and organized while I take over baby duty, which basically just consists of me giggling and laughing and cooing while Further stares at me incredulously. It's symbiotic.11:30-12 p.m.I drive onto the hill to take care of emails which will never cease to be ridiculous. Oh, I guess until we get electricity and internet here. Then it will cease, I suppose.12 - 1:30 p.m.I cook some pasta, beef and mushrooms for lunch and while I'm waiting for it to get done I do some mulching. If you ever find me not multitasking, I'm probably sick and you should maybe make me some soup or take me to the hospital.1:30 - 3 p.m.A bunch of piddly farm things happen in this time block that are not necessarily noteworthy––watering plants, checking on mushroom logs, weeding the strawberries, taking an eight minute power nap. You know, the usual.3 p.m. - 5 p.m.We drive to Tompkinsville to meet a shareholder and give her her food as well as stop by our beloved Brutons and pick up supplies for our water system which we plan to put together this weekend. And yes, we're excited, but the supplies cost double what we anticipated, so it's a little bittersweet.5 p.m. - 7 p.m.Bittersweet or not, when we get home I spend the next hour and a half or so putting the pipe together and hauling everything to the spring. I'm elated because water is finally happening, which helps when you're hauling heavy pipe over a creek and up a hill. Our dear friends the Ladniers will be joining us this weekend to help get the water going, and do some good old fashioned hanging out. Running water––oh man, sounds like a dream.7 - 8 p.m.I watch Further again so Hannah can get ready for market the next day and also work on some writing. Further growls some more––which is still pretty amazing––and I coo. Our conversations are extraordinary.8 - 9:30 p.m.I drive back on the hill in the dark to do internet work, and enjoy the company of a million or so lightning bugs, who all seem thoroughly perplexed by my headlights––by the two giant lightning bugs that just arrived. Then I go back home, have a salad and some chips, do a bit more writing (which I know, is not a very fun task to read about) and then finally join the wife and baby in bed.9:30 p.m.Sleep.- Jesse.