Original Sin

After standing in our garden the past few sweltering nights, eating fresh from the tree apricots and right off the bush red raspberries, I started to ponder if original sin isn't just referring to the act of disobedience, but to the act of eating fruit in a beautiful garden.

There is something about the way that fruit tastes if it truly fresh, how you have to stop yourself from picking the entire tree or bush or vine clean in a glutinous manner. Our apricots are the juiciest fruit I have ever eaten, sure to drip off your elbows with each bite. They are so tart and sweet at the same time!

The red raspberries are on their way out, but not before I pick handfuls at a time. The slightly overripe taste of these little rubies is tormenting me.

Our peas are amazing, and bountiful tomatoes are threatening to turn red at any moment.

When I look around our personal Eden, I cannot help but echo God's sentiment...

"...and God saw that it was good."
Genesis 1:10

New additions to the family!!

 These are our new twins, Alik and Nika!

 Nika is the smaller of the two. She is a female Siberian Husky with heterochromia, or different colored eyes. She was the only one of her litter to have this! Nika dives head first into everything and is super inquisitive.

Alik is our male Husky. He has darker markings and a more hesitant nature. He is much bigger than Nika, but just as snuggly!

The House on the Farm of danger and Excellence

 Due to a recent request to see what our very original house looks like, we have added some pictures. This first shot is a front view of our 3 story house. Sliding glass doors on the 2nd floor are not attached to anything. They are simply in place to give us the ability to open the entire front of the house.

 This is a back view of the house from the garden.

 This is a view from the side. The 3 bottom windows are to the kitchen.  You can kind of see the peaks of the roof that go up to 3 different levels.

This last shot is of the the house from the porch looking up.

Shots of summer

Veggie Update!

Just a few weeks into the true growing season, and our garden is really taking off!

 Squash

 Cukes

 Beans and Peas

Tomatos

The Good Life

 I am pretty sure that our farm makes me want to believe in reincarnation.

 I want to be one of these cool kitties, catching critters and relaxing.

 Or maybe a little girl lounging in the shade on a warm afternoon.

 Nope, definitely want to be a cat, snuggling on the best farmer in the world's sweet shoulder.

Ah, the good life.

Cream of the Crop

This farm grows kindergardeners too.

Growth spurt

I have never succeeded in starting tomatos from seed then transplanting and surviving early spring.

This year, I decided to try again.

I told Farmer Trav well in advance that the tomatos may die, and we may have to purchase local plants instead.

The tomatos sprouted well enough indoors. The transplant went off without a hitch.

Then it rained. First for ten days, then for a week. Following the flood  were some of the hottest temperatures on record for May. I figured our little seedling were done for. Because of all the rain, I wasn't able to venture out and check our progress as often as I thought.

Finally, the rain stopped, the heat abated, and I ventured to the garden. There I found some of the healthiest tomato plants I have ever laid eyes on.

SoI guess I really juust needed Mother Nature to kick me out of the garden for a bit so she could do her thing!

Happy Hens

 Look at these beautiful brown eggs!

Farmer Trav installed some new privacy curtains for the hens. They are so happy! Less egg eating, higher production, and generally seem to be laying more consistently.

Neglected but not forgotten

My poor little blog! I have missed you so!

 Baby strawberries.

 Iris

Knock Out Roses

We are so busy on the Farm that all I do is mentally write after snapping a few pictures. So I am finally catching up!

Reptar and Alcatraz

 One left over aquarium.

 One red eft newt courtesy of Mommy's garden.

 Farmer Trav's amazing terrarium landscaping.

 Ta da! A new home for a new friend!

 Her name is Reptar.

She lives in Alcatraz.

R.I.P

The chicken to the left is "Black Head"  Sadly, she departed this world last night at the paws of an unknown predator.

About 3am, I sat upright and shrieked that something was after the chickens. Farmer Trav ran downstairs, collecting his shoes and flashlight and gun on the way down. We could hear squawking and a general uproar outside in the chicken pen.

Farmer Trav ran outside and spotted a set of eyes off at the back of the enclosure. He took a shot, and was rewarded with grunting and growling. The eyes ran towards him, then back again. a second shot was met only with silence.

This morning, we found lots of feathers, and a very dead chicken. No prints, no remains of a predator, nothing.

So security has been beefed up here at the Farm. Motion censor lights, better spot and flashlights and attack plans are in place. The chickens are scared, but we have a plan.

Our little chicken will not have died in vain.

In Bloom

 Azaleas!

 Grapes!

Little girls!

Spring Planting!

Another nice day of planting! Our weather has been much better, so we were able to get all of our seedings and the rest of our seeds in.

 So our garden doesn't look like much now, but soon all of the hard work will pay off!

Garden Helper

 It was very hot and buggy, so Sarah decided to take a little siesta.

She is not very helpful.

Croatia

One of the first characters that we met on the Farm was a cat we have decided to call Croatia. When we met her, the owners of the Farm casually mentioned that she was an alley cat from Croatia. In central Pennsylvania.

I kind of chuckled to myself, wondering how I was going to call a cat that may not speak English. This wonderful kitty has ended up being one of my favorite personalities! She is very expressive, demands to sleep on her own pillow (but only after it has been warmed up by your head) and also follows me in a remarkably canine fashion. Actually, last week we walked all the way down to our mailbox, and Croatia followed us the whole way!

So however she ended up here, we love her and are so glad that she is here. I also have a sneaking suspicion that she is bilingual.

Orchard in bloom!

 Apples and peaches and pears oh my!

 Our first real taste of spring was marked by 70 degree heat and blossoms that seemed to burst out overnight.

The grapevines are also ready to go!

Easter at the Farm!

 We had our first holiday at the Farm!

 All of our geographically close family joined us for the first time.

 Before we sat down to eat, we showed a quick slide show of the past year and some of our favorite moments before announcing that we had tied the knot the day prior.

 Our first egg hunt confused the chickens a little, but they have recovered.