Inch by Inch

I love the method of planting a garden. The Maine spring allows each planting to happen in a carefully orchestrated rhythm that makes it enjoyable. We are busy, but it is such a wonderful, dirty kind of work that we all can feel part of, from the littlest hands on up AND it makes you look forward to the rain for a much needed break and a much needed help in watering. All in all I find these early days of gardening such satisfying work and am so hopeful to see a harvest at the end of it!

Easter Blessings

Simple joys and little traditions to celebrate the coming of Spring...
Thankful to be able to celebrate a turn around the sun with special friends by watching all our little ones who keep getting bigger search for eggs on a cool day.

Coloring (and eating LOTS) of eggs at home

And at school...

Making special eggs for the birds and wildlife outside our windows to give them a little love this Spring.

A little nest built filled with "sweets" for the birds and maybe a black bear too!

Hope this Easter brought peace and joy to your family this year!

Always the broody hen

Our sweet little chickens arrived yesterday and I am completely in love. I realize how I love mothering on all levels. Since I was a small I have raised many litters of rabbits, chickens, goats, fish and who knows what else. The smell, the little features, the sweetness of new babes makes me swoon! Animal husbandry had a lasting impression on me and I hope it will be fostered in my children as well. I can see their gentle holds and awe already and am hopeful that it will blossom into something special. And I am so hoping Minerva Louise, Virginia Lacey, Henny Penny, Penny Lane and their two nameless sisters (any suggestions?!) are as thankful for us as I am for them, they have brought such joy to me on these rainy days.

Sweet Sweet Life...

There are so many opportunities to teach in these quiet moments on the farm. The nights are cold and the days are warm and sweet sap is running through the maple trees. We talked about our own bodies and circulation and the trees and how they carry nutrients up and down their long bodies. What better way to describe it all but a classic celery experiment? Such silly fun...


Gently drilling and tapping with help from lots of little hands so excited for the outcome.

Each crisp morning or late golden afternoon is marked by a long walk (sometimes Mama wondered why she chose those maple trees far off in the woods) that is meandering, slow, full of conversation and, of course, a little cat who is never far behind in our adventures.

So far we have boiled over 60 gallons of sap, little testers are always ready to taste it at each sweeter step until we could take it outside, pour it in the snow and scoop it all up for a snow cone.

Or pour the finished product over pancakes for the first time. We have been talking about blending colors around here too so it was a perfect time to use food coloring again and make some rainbow pancakes to enjoy!

We have seen lots of turkeys, a pregnant coyote and many song birds on our walks but most importantly we have embraced the quiet of the forest and fields and just enjoyed the new routine of gathering from nature the amazing bounties it brings to us!