Monday Morning Amusement

Happy Easter and Quote for the Day

The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.

~Wendell Berry

Farm Friday

It might appear as if I've abandoned my blog. I haven't. I had  several blog posts planned but then time slipped away from me. My niece and her husband were in the area so we met them in Greensboro (about an hour away) for dinner one night. My aunt, our son, our daughter-in-law, and our granddaughter joined us so it was a nice family event. A few other events - farm and work - kept me from home so I've had less leisure time than usual which also kept me from blogging.

Spring has sprung in our part of the world. Bill got our seedlings planted yesterday. He worked into the evening anticipating an overnight rain that didn't come. Now he's going to have to lay down the drip irrigation lines. He planted potatoes today and will finish up tomorrow. A friend gave us some thornless blackberry canes and I purchased a couple of raspberry plants. We're going to put them in what has become our perennial/permaculture garden. Our asparagus crowns are shipping next week so we'll have an even larger asparagus bed.

Even though I haven't abandoned blogging, I'm planning some changes soon. I feel with my new job, our returning to a homesteading rather than market farm mindset, and other outside influences caused me to rethink this blog. In the meantime, here are some photos I took around the farm during this evening's paseo:

Beautiful sunset

The tulips I planted last year are coming in

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Have a good week!

Monday Morning Amusement

Hahahaha...

Quote for the Day

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

*As seen on Kathy Escobar's blog "The Carnival in My Head." If you're a person of faith who is tired of the same old story of patriarchy and power, I suggest you check it out. Here's an excerpt that really resonated with me:

when it comes to “the church” i think we have a really jacked up system related to power.  we have adopted the ways of the world and the methods of businesses as our central practices instead of the beatitudes. and even though a lot of people with power are taking more and more about “kingdom living”, often, they are perpetuating the same old power structures, where sexism & racism & inequality & oppression prevail.

 With the American presidential campaign really heating up right now, I decided to spend some time reading Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount." This is the very thing that Gandhi - a non-Christian - read every day. (So does Father John Dear, the amazing peace activist.) As I read through the passage, all I could do was shake my head and wonder how one can misinterpret "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the earth." How can any Christian believe it is okay to support leaders who do anything but support peace and equality? (Obviously today's quote evolved into something more than just a quote.)

Farm Friday

While my week on the farm quiet - I was busy with nonprofit work - Bill's workload increased. Spread lots of compost, prepped gardens, and even got some things planted. I did manage to get a few herb and flower seeds planted in pots.

After I finished working for the day today - since the day was clear and the temperature was in the mid-to-high 70s - I took a walk around the farm. Here are a few scenes:

Road to the pond (ignore shadow)

Looking through the weeds at the pond

Walking through some of the pines we planted

Our road

Bill returning from an errand

A rare sight - chickens crossing the road

Have a great weekend!

Monday Morning Amusement

Quote for the Day

"Dreams are necessary to life."

~Anais Nin

Farm Friday

Enjoying yet another Friday on the farm! This week the weather has been all over the place. Tuesday it was in the high 60s and then we got a light snow last night (it had melted by the time we woke).

On Tuesday I attended a talk by the manager and assistant manager for the Liberty University campus farm. I knew both of them as the manager has visited our farm in the past and we attended a film event that the farm hosted last year. It was encouraging to see students actively engaged in learning about the source of their food and the harm industrial farms do to our bodies and the planet - even animal cruelty was touched on. Not that long ago, such conservative organizations treated the idea of caring for our bodies and the planet like blasphemy (go figure). The times they are a changin....

We had some sad news this week. We lost two of our older goats - Missy, who was one of our 4 original goats (we only have queen bee Nellie left) and Barbie, who was part of the second generation of goats. Both left behind kids but fortunately they are old enough to wean so they should be fine.

The plants are coming up great in our makeshift greenhouse:

Sorry about the poor quality photo

Bill has been busy getting the gardens prepped for spring planting. He built some new raised beds and put down some compost. Next week is forecast to be warm and dry so it should be the perfect time for planting.

I'm enjoying the quiet of the winter, working from home, and eating delicious food that I put up throughout the growing season. But I'm also looking forward to fresh greens and juicy tomatoes! Those seasons are just around the corner...

Have a great weekend!