A Little Bit of Time to Reflect

From the country...

A brilliant green in the chicory family called Puntarella (popular in Italian cuisine)

Beautiful Big Bomb peppers

Miss Mae inspecting the curry squash (sporting a new mustache).

The most perfect tomato (inside and out).

I wish that there was multiples of me. One inside doing all the domestic duties, a couple out in the field tending to the crops, one with a patient demeanor spending time with the kids (because I just cannot talk/read/play anything to do with Pokemon), one for the livestock and another with an active social life. I realize that this would be a nightmare for certain people (Mark says he has a hard time with just the one of me) but a lot of things would get done. Not to mention, guilt would take a back seat (still present mind you-always present...).

So here I am on a Saturday mid morning attempting to write something for our ghost town of a blog. I can't feel guilty about this because as we all know life has a tendency to get in the way. Life with 3 children and a farm business is to say the least is demanding and busy. I do love this life though, and look forward to the day when my children are a tad older and not so needing of me. When I can look up at Nate and say "It's your turn to do the chores my boy".  I rely heavily on routine(never thought I would even say that...), Mark and help from our friends. This year we tended to our biggest market garden ever.

My co captain/sister is a little fed up with my lack of blogging and so I am going to make a stab at what has been going on around here.

Most of the crops have been harvested. The sweet potatoes have been harvested, cured and almost all sold. The onions have been cleaned and are stored (aside from the ones that we had to leave in the field). The dried beans are drying in the greenhouse for winter sales, the herbs are bunched/ hung up and there are still lots of leeks to be harvested. We are attempting to extend the season as best we can with greens in greenhouses, coldframes and a large planting of radicchio and kale in the field. We are closing down gardens, planting some perennials in the new orchard garden (Haskap berries, rhubarb and some chives), finishing the turkeys, weeding out the old hens (for stewing hens) and getting ready to eat some male drakes from the duck flock. We need to plow next years garden, order our bean cleaner, re plastic a greenhouse, tidy up/straw the pens in the barn, take down all poles in the existing garden and just general tidying up/putting away before the snow flies.

So there you have it in a big ol' black walnut shell (dang black walnuts anyway...)