A few more?

We could not stop with the eggplant..here's a few more?! I think we might be on to something. Or as my good friend, Steve, said "you've been on the farm to long!"

New MembersThe Whole Family

Veggies

A hobby of my roommate, Miranda and I's...putting eyes on veggies. This eggplant seemed perfect for the occasion. :) There will be more to come!

Summer...

is here in Virginia. All signs are pointing that way. Squash is being picked everyday, we have buckets of extra cucumbers, tomatoes are just ripening, eggplant is brilliant in its purple skin, melons are getting bigger, and it seems like all we do here at Waterpenny is pick vegetables. Seasons slowly change..gradually we adjust to the differences. The sun is long and hot in the sky, and the daily checking of the forecast for rain is telling of its need here. Our "garden" is enjoying the warm weather and the occasional water it gets from irrigation. Our carrots have been great..and we ended up selling some of them at Takoma Park Farmers Market. Our sweet corn is starting to tassel, and the okra is starting to bloom its magnificent flowers. Life is good. We work hard, eat well, and enjoy the peace of the mountains. Each day is a gift that we savor. I promise to post some pictures of farm happenings soon.
peace.

Free Time

Yes...this is how we spend much of our free time these days-as if we don't get enough field labor! James and I have taken on a good portion of the "intern" garden here-having planted sweet corn, carrots, peppers, green beans, and most recently, okra. Here are a few pics of the okra transplanting.

Working Hands

My hands have many wounds from the various tasks around here, but no worse for the wear I suppose. The cut on my left ring finger was done while cutting spinach for the C.S.A. It is finally healing up after a week of super strong band aids. I have stopped counting how many blisters I've got. Dirt under the nails is also an everyday occurrence in which I have given up on. Ahh... life on the farm-brings me back to my younger days! :)

Sunshine

Ahhh..finally a day of full sun. It has been really wet here the past week. We are hanging in there though! I have to say that I was getting mildly depressed with all the clouds and rain-but today the sun is shining.
Scenery
Green is the new color around here-the trees have their leaves and with all this rain the grass is tall. Temperatures in the 70's-pretty much a little slice of heaven. Lilies are in bloom and appearing around the house in arrangements. Ahhh..the smell of lilies is surely amazing too!
Work
We have started going to farmers market this past month-it's been nice to get off the farm and interact with customers. The past few weeks I have been attending the Warrenton farmers market by myself. Which to be said, is a lot of work. We load one of those Dodge van's all the way to the top with plants to sell. I get up at 5 a.m., drive 45 minutes and unload and set-up by 7 a.m. I pack it all back up the same way at noon and head home for several more hours of work.

We are working a lot more in the fields transplanting veggies, herbs, and flowers. I am anticipating being out in the fields all week if this sun sticks around! We have been working hard, but just when you think you've had enough you get a day off. Today is the end of our 1 1/2 days off this week. We have cleaned, relaxed, bird-watched, cooked, and listened to good tunes. Ready for another week of work.



Goods in the greenhouse


Hoophouse


Hillsides greening


Dusk

Making the News

Here's a link to an article a sweet local lady wrote about us in the Rappahannock Newspaper. She met us at the plant sale and interviewed both James and I. Got a few details off...but overall it was fun to read. Enjoy

(click on the title of my blog and it will take you to the article)

Birthday Wonders

My how the weeks how flown by and here I am almost a month in and haven't hardly blogged about our time here. First off...it has been simply beautiful and amazing as of late. Spring is coming into her own-the red buds are coming out and poplar trees are starting to bud. The rain has come and gone and the grass has taken it all in and greened up quite a bit. The hills are alive with life-birds, mushrooms, wildflowers, and the farm here is starting to wake from its winter slumber. James put up some feeders in our front yard to get in on some bird watching. So far we have spotted goldfinches, titmouse, cardinals, cowbirds, song sparrows, and even a hummingbird (on my birthday).

Speaking of birthday...it was wonderful..as I have said before "full of small wonders". James and I went out to hunt morels (edible mushrooms) for the first time. People we have spoken with have tried to prepare us for the possibility of not finding one for several years. Imagine our delight when we found over 20 our first time! Must have a knack for it. We fried them up with butter and garlic and savored each small morel. I have to admit though, it might turn into a small addiction-morel hunting. Just the thought of going out again in search of them is exciting. :) Here's a picture of them:

Also for your viewing pleasures a few pictures of the place from a few weeks back, and our hike up Old Rag:

Out our front yard

James and his horseshoes

Little Yellow Intern House

View from Old Rag

Week 1

It's the last day of our week and here's some of what this past week held:

Tuesday worked out in a full sun day-we weeded a bit out in the field as well as mulched asparagus. We were all anticipating people arriving for our Tuesday evening potluck but no one showed up..hahaha. So the intern house ate like kings-quiche, potatoes, shrimp & grits, and apple crisp. Next potluck we won't be going to as great of lengths in preparation!

Wed-Fri.-We have spent most of each day in the greenhouse as the weather has been a bit rainy, cloudy, and windy. Waterpenny does most of their planting from transplants they start in their large greenhouse. Eric has it down to a science so he just tells us what needs to be done each day! We seed as well as do "spotting", which is another name for thinning. Basically you seperate clumps of seedlings into individual units to plant. It's the least wasteful and most efficient way for them.

We have a 3 day weekend...woohoo...and start again next Tuesday. It has been great thus far. Our roommates-Tyler a.ka. Boo and Miranda have been great. We all work really well together and make each other laugh alot!

Until next week.
Holly

p.s. Sorry if you have called me on my cell phone...we literally have no cell phone signal here at the farm so leave me a message and I will do my best to get back to you soon!

Beginning of Our New Adventure

We are here in Sperryville, VA, and we just finished our first day on the job. The scenery is gorgeous-mountains surrounding us with fields of rolling hills. The farm is located off the main road (211) up on a slight hill. The owners, Eric & Rachel, have a beautiful wood sided 2 story house and our house, or the intern house, is a slight yellow. It's quite cute and spacious. We have a large kitchen and living space which comes in handy since we are sharing the house with another couple, Tyler & Miranda, who is interning here. It's the first year that the farm has had 2 couples here. We all seem to think that it's ideal-as it's as if it's only 2 units to work with rather than 4 separate individuals. We will be doing community meals most of the time, and the farm has potlucks every Tuesday evening at 6-where previous year's interns, current interns, and Eric, Rachel, and their two boys, Nicholas, and Isaac come and eat too. We also have a once a week Waterpenny dinner, which just includes the owners and current interns. I am liking the community effort already! :)

Eric has already proven to be an excellent boss. Every Monday we meet at our picnic bench and he thoroughly goes over the schedule for that week. Then we get to work. This week our hours are 9-12, then a 2 hour lunch break (nice!), and 2-5. We have this next weekend off..and with the season getting closer we will be working more hours with only 1 1/2 days off. It's nice to start out a little slower, and to work into a fuller schedule.

Our housemates, Tyler and Miranda, have also proven to be wonderful. We have similar living habits, whether it's eating habits (mostly vegetarian), to cleanliness, to overall values in life. So far so good!

James and I feel fortunate to have received this internship. It's a beautiful place with beautiful people. We anticipate that we will learn lots and gain greater understanding of the overall process.

I will continue to post updates as I am able...although I know I will be getting more tired as time goes by! Thanks for taking time to read my blog-appreciate all the love!

Holly

On the Move

Again-yep that's right. I told you a few posts ago "who knows where we will be in a month"...we'll let's just say we'll be back in Virginia. We are going to be starting a farming internship at Waterpenny farm in Sperryville, VA on March 30th. Super excited to start. The farm is located 5 minutes from the Shenandoah National Park, which means we will be very close the Appalachian Trail. We will be there thru November and then it's anybody's guess! :) If you want to check out the farm here's the link:
www.waterpennyfarm.com

Peace-Holly

All We Need Is Love

Just a little shout-out to all my friends and family-Happy Valentines Day! I love each and everyone of you!
If we could just act like it's Valentines day more often our world would be a better place...don't you think?
Put out a little more love into the world-love our neighbors, our enemies, our planet.

As It Is

We are currently living in Tempe, AZ. The birthplace of all our inspiration, and quite frankly a place we didn't ever believe we would ever come back to. I guess that's what we get for thinking never :) It has been several months since being back and we are working at becoming adjusted to this new/old place.
James was almost all set-up to start graduate school this semester (as a non-degree student) at ASU Parks & Recreation Dept. He signed up for classes with the hope of a research assistantship to pay his tuition and a stipend. Well as we have learned SO many times before-you just can never really know what is going to happen. We found out right before a deadline that non-degree seeking students aren't eligible for assistantships. Whoops! Needless so say he was a bit bummed. He is currently working for a small computer sales company-which is what it is. Sales-which he never has been thrilled about, but it's income.
I am working at 2 coffee shops-Connections @ the Tempe Library (where I used to bake) & a new coffee shop in Tempe, Cartel. It has been an interesting whirlwind with Cartel, but they finally decided to hire me on as a manager in training. If you haven't checked it out...it's worth it. They do have some incredible coffee....and they pretty much know it! I am learning all kinds of things about coffee that most would find useless, but that I somehow find interesting. I am learning there is a definite science behind the prefect brew. But I won't bore you with the details :) It's a place where all kind of altnerative people go....and I was told that I really didn't fit. In fact, I was asked if I could dye my hair or get a tattoo...jokingly, but I plainly was like "No, I might not look alternative, but I think I have done some interesting things in my life." Can't handle being a poser! So there I am "plain jane" at the shop and feeling pretty good about it! I have learned that people judge mostly on appearances & what a shame that is.
We keep dreaming of our life-possibilities & what steps we need to take to do those things. Although moving back feels defeating, we also know that it is what we needed. We have loved being able to spend time with friends and family. We aren't nearly as lonely and feel supported. We can't say where we will be in a year...or for that matter next month, but we do feel confident that we will continue moving closer to those things which we value & we feel that is good enough.

Holly