Life on Peace and Plenty Farm

Essential Work

Mar 30, 2020

At the beginning of February, I was feeling stressed and harried - so much to do in the next months and so many deadlines to meet. The weather was unseasonably warm and sunny and it felt like summer had arrived, skipping completely over spring. I wrote about my longing for a longer winter, and desire for more time to be quiet, slow, and do behind-the-scenes prep for all the big things that were coming our way in 2020. If the adage, “Careful What You Wish For” could be any more true than now, I don’t know when.

Mistakse

Jan 04, 2020

Exiting the Day Job

May 18, 2019

I have around three weeks left of my "day job" in tech before I take the big leap, this time with Simon by my side, and become a full-time farmer.

Strong Momma

Apr 13, 2019

The panic was real today. I was in the chicken run working on setting up some temporary outside nesting boxes as back-up, when Bree, our Buff Orpington, made it very clear that she needed to get to her favorite box inside the chicken house to lay. It’s amazing how much an angry hen can sound like some ancient creature out of Jurassic Park.

We sent our saffron to the lab for testing and...

Mar 22, 2019

Therapy

Jan 21, 2019

I have some trauma about being left alone. It's too long of a story for now and perhaps too deep and sad for me to graze over, but suffice it to say that I should have probably spent some of the last 4 decades of my life in therapy to get a handle on it.

Saffron Crocus Year

Dec 29, 2018

When a saffron crocus corm (a corm being similar to, but not a true bulb) is growing and reproducing, the "daughter" corms feed off of the "mother" corm and grow in size as the mother eventually becomes just a small, dried-out and shriveled remnant that then disintegrates entirely into the soil. Each corm can make many daughters, and a successful saffron farmer hopes for many large, fat daughters produced every year, thereby multiplying their yields of saffron in coming years. Plant one corm, and end up with dozens of saffron plants - it’s a great investment into the future.

Late Bloomers

Oct 14, 2018

You know what it is like to watch a seed germinate and get its first real leaves and then grow into a little mini plant...its pure magic watching the seed gather up the strength from the sun, soil, and water to burst out of its protective casing and emerge out of the soil.