It’s not natural to my personality to peacefully accept a major change of plans, loss, or inefficiency; I was type A since toddlerhood and my earliest memories revolve around what I wanted to accomplish and how I could motivate those around me to cooperate.  Ask my siblings; they laugh about my slave driving tendencies as … More Thirsty Goose

Yesterday I took a deep breath before diving into a painful chore list.  After burying my sweet broody hen and her almost hatched eggs in the compost pile, I chopped down seven beautiful eight-foot-tall apple trees we planted as seedlings; for two and a half years I’ve fussed over them with natural sprays, homemade compost … More Growth

I used to admire those verdant, lush grapevines, defiantly creeping over fences and barns, growing gigantic from years of neglect.  Artistic and free, one has to marvel at their natural beauty; but when I began to focus on fruit production I learned to view all that greenery as a thief to the ultimate goal, sweet … More How to Grow a Sweetheart

After a lifetime in Alaska enduring REAL winters, I’m surprised to find myself suffering an intense case of spring fever while living in the south.  It didn’t even get “cold” until December, snow is rare (and it melts within a few days), and it’s warm enough to work outside year round.  Yet, the trees are … More Winter

Last month, my closet pyromaniac husband gleefully eliminated a long standing task on our farm to-do list: burn the brush piles.  These weren’t your average “let’s have a bonfire” brush piles; the previous owner stock piled wood and brush from job sites over a period of years, building the larger one to over eight feet … More Refining Fire