My favorite little pixie

my favorite little pixie, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

We've been spending a lot of time playing in the woods lately, especially on the warmer days. Today isn't that warm and I'm stuck inside cataloguing photos and working.

This afternoon we'll be planting peas and some lettuce. It's also time to set up the growing shelves and string up the lights to start all the tomatoes, peppers and other goodies that will go out when the soil and air are warm enough.

I'm being cautious this year. Last spring taught us what mother nature is capable of tossing our way. Here's to keeping fingers crossed and row covers ready at a moment's notice. There is already a stack of fleece blankets ready to cover the young fruit trees.

For now we'll enjoy the last brisk days of winter and look forward to spring.

snow bunny

snow bunny, originally uploaded by maggies farm.

Monkey finally gets some real snow - her first in two years! Generally snow days mean icy roads in the morning and slush by noon.

Snow Day Pizza

My aunt sent the Monkey a pizza making kit for Christmas. Today was a snow day (we've got about 6 inches and it's still coming down), so we made pizza for lunch. I know she visits the blog regularly, so I thought we'd share some pizza pictures. Monkey is a regular pizza queen. She did almost all the work. Somehow I ended up doing the washing up. Typical.


Mixing the dough

Starting the yeast

Kneading the dough

A little while later... pizza! Which would you like - Pepperoni or Mushroom?

Back from a break

I figure I needed a little break. This time of year always sends me into a spiral of too many commitments and not enough time. For the last couple of years, Christmas has been a dreaded season. Last year I spent most of the month of December working on school budgets, contracts and other drudgery. This year I've been taking it much easier and have managed to accomplish much more. I even sent out Christmas cards this year. And I've been scouring seed catalogs, contemplating flock additions and traipsing through every square inch of our new tract of woods.

I've also been busy with several projects...


There were the scarves for Monkey's teachers (a mohair/wool blend knitted in a moss stitch, a mohair pocket scarf, and an extra long stretchy hand-dyed wool),


Monkey's dance recital (her first - and she's a total ham),


a cheery red hat with little ear flaps for the Monkey (in a chunky hand-dyed wool) and a mohair throw (which was originally meant for my mother...but has turned into Monkey's favorite - it matches her eyes),


and now I'm busy knitting up a chunky ribbed hat with yarn spun by a neighbor from another neighbor's flock of shetland sheep. How's that for local living? My ears will be warm whenever winter finally decides to arrive. It's 50 degrees today and raining. I won't complain about the rain - we need it, but I would like a little chillier weather.

Here's to the days getting longer!

riding tigers

riding tigers, originally uploaded by maggiesfarm.

In case you need help reading kindergarten English, it reads:
I like to walk in the woods. I like to ride tigers. I took a walk with my mommy.

We are planning another girl hike tomorrow. Let's hope we don't see any tigers.

10 November, 2007

10 November, 2007, originally uploaded by maggiesfarm.

This morning is the first time in a week when I've felt I've been able to sit down and catch my breath. I spent an hour or so gazing out the window with a cup of coffee in my hand watching the sun rise.

This week I managed to finally get the garlic in the ground. It's now sleeping peacefully under a bed of goat bedding (that's my root crop secret...). The garden is all neat and tidy, if you ignore the dead plants finally wiped out by a couple of hard frosts. I'm contemplating getting out and laying down more mulch on the aisles because it's my least favorite spring chore.

I spent a morning raking leaves, grinding them up and setting them aside for leaf mulch. It's been so windy that we don't have many leaves in the yard. Most just seem to fall and blow into the woods before we get a chance to rake them.

Oh, and speaking of woods... We are signing a contract for several acres of woods to our north. I'm so excited. I haven't wanted to talk about it because I didn't want to jinx it. I've been coveting the woods to our north since we moved in. We'll be preserving it as woodland. It gives us a great plot to test our forest restoration and test products. We have talked about putting a small rather primitive cabin on the property for vacation rentals and personal retreats (mine). I'm planning some mushroom growing. The land does include the Morel Patch and an incredible spring. Future pasture purchases are in the scheming stages. And they'll have to be in the future. I'm feeling slightly stressed with rapid growth of both business and home.

In case you've been wondering, the discussion of local food last Sunday went extremely well and I don't think is was just due to my incredible PowerPoint creation skills. There was a great audience. I've been asked to come talk to other groups because of it. One woman told a story of a friend of hers who always asked the Hostess or Maitre d' of a restaurant if they know who the owner is. If they can't answer, she won't eat there. Interesting. I think I like that approach.

And one last story from the week - Charlie took his car in for a tune up and tire change. The mechanic came out to him and asked if a chicken had been nesting in the car. Odd. There were five eggs in a small cubby spot in the back. Charlie was a little dumbfounded and then he remembered that after he had unloaded feed this week, Miss Monkey had been climbing around in the back of the car. He had the eggs from the chicken coop in the back and she must have stashed some in the side panel. I like the idea that the mechanic thought we would have let chickens nest in the car.

Good morning, starshine!

The earth says Hello!

Sorry, it's the Monkey's favorite movie line...

And this is her favorite meal. Monkey loves omelettes and she made this one herself from an Araucana egg (it was blue!). Her first self-made meal. The kid is a natural. I helped her with the whole pan thing, but she cracked the egg, whisked it up, and poured it in the pan. She even added some cheese near the end. The color of the omelette was actually more intense than the photo. That's what happens with healthy, happy hens!

I may be slightly skewed in my feelings, but that's pretty good for a four year old, don't you think?