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What a week!

4/26/2017

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While having our quick morning meeting, Vasek and I discussed how we now feel like real farmers.  This week has been full of struggles and joys.  We unfortunately lost the twin goats we were so anxiously waiting for and with that we were plunged into the world of goat milking.  Cami, our sweet La Mancha, had a severe case of mastitis which caused more than a little stress on both of us.  She is milking wonderfully despite the setback and should be able to have more babies next year.  Until then, I get to milk her every day and bond in a new way.  

Vasek has been hard at work creating raised beds for the vegetable starts and battling the kudzu.  It is a full time job keeping those vines from strangling our fruit trees and berry vines.  The layout of our property has really come together as the new beds look orderly and the plant starts stand so perfectly in their rows.

We love having people stop by and see our progress.  Many people have sent messages that enjoy watching the progress as they pass by on there way to town.  If you see us out, please feel free to stop and chat.  We'd love to show you what is growing.
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Today just feels different.

4/15/2017

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Yesterday was Vasek's last day as a construction worker which makes today his first day as a full-time farmer.  It is Saturday.  Just like every other Saturday, we have plans to be out in the garden.  Today was different.  We began our day talking about our "why" and "how" of starting this homestead.  We have shared our reasons at different stages but I wanted to get them down on paper.  
We have always valued time together as a family.  That's on the list.  We want our family to eat healthy, nutritious, local foods.  On the list.  We want to raise animals humanely and treat them with respect they deserve.  Added to the list.  We want to share our passion with others so they can also enjoy these benefits.  We want to do this using our resources, time, and money wisely.  But most importantly, we want to live out our values.  
We then made our list of things that we need to get done and out the door we went.  We were blessed by an offer of bare root strawberry plants yesterday which had to be planted.  Out we went, all six of us, to build a gorgeous bed, mix soil, and plant these 50 strawberry plants on the new land.  It was there that I realized that today is different.  Today, watching my girls elbow-deep in soil mixed by Vasek, brother fully coated with dirt from moving rocks to fill a hole, I felt completely satisfied with our choices.  
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"Live out our values and share our passion with others." 
-Vasek and Brooke 
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Our very first ever CSA goes out today!!!

4/2/2017

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I know the blog has been pretty quiet for a few months.  It was due to massive changes happening on the homestead.  We have cleared, cut, built, and planted until we fall into bed exhausted each night.  Vasek will go full time on the homestead in two weeks and we could not be more excited.  

To test run how things will go, we started a very small CSA for this spring.  Very small.  Only three members for a six week CSA.  We are doing this for two reasons.  First, we needed cash upfront to purchase our seeds for the year.  We also needed to see how feasible it is to plan and plant to actually get the produce we need.  Let me tell you, this was more complicated than we had anticipated.  

Our first basket consists of a whole chicken, chickweed, lettuce mix, and a bundle of radishes.  Also "included" is a wonderful recipe for Chickweed Pesto inspired my herbalist friend, Anne-Marie Bilella.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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    Vasek and Brooke

    We are thrilled to share our homesteading successes and struggles with you. There's a steep learning curve here and we are ready for the challenges.

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