Weekly Update On the Farm

Here are a few pictures of farm happenings and fence repairs this past week. Michael and Matthew are still working to finish the fences, but for now the weather is too cold. As you can see our little man Seth was also involved in the fence work. The two horses had to poke their noses into the fence repairs as well. They can't let anything go unnoticed or unexplored!

We have all enjoyed a restful Sunday afternoon complete with naps for everyone except the 2 yr old. He didn't want to nap today, but we managed to take turns napping so that he could still be tended to. We are experiencing a cold spell here in East Tennessee. We were suppose to get a lot of snow last week, but we ended up getting less than a dusting. With the cold temps, much of our outside work has come to a screeching halt for now. Our third son was begging to work on the fence today, but everyone agreed that we would all stay indoors for now.

We did put in a large order for seeds this week with Heirloom Acres Seed Company. I was pleased with the service, and I am looking forward to planting and harvesting these wonderful vegetables. We tried several new varieties, and I can't wait to see if we like them. Michael ordered his favorite tomato which is the Cherokee Purple Tomato. If you haven't seen this tomato I believe it is the ugliest tomato in the world. It is a deep dark purple/black tomato. However, it has a wonderful flavor. When I first started eating it, I would put it on sandwiches so I wouldn't have to look at it, but I have gone beyond that now. I like the flavor very much and I am willing to eat it even if it is ugly. We will keep you updated on any new/old varieties that we come to love throughout the growing season.

On Friday evening, Hope and I planted some of the seeds that we had on hand. We are starting some herbs and some flats of lettuce. We want to get some lettuce and spinach plants started so we can put them in our raised beds with a hoop over them for protection. We will keep you updated on how this works for us. This is something new that we are experimenting with for now. Hope has always loved to work in the dirt and plant things. In the past few years, she has always helped me. This year however she is old enough to REALLY help. I was amazed at how much quicker it was to have both of us working. She is very excited about all the new seeds we will be getting. She is also a great reminder for me to water the seeds. I enjoy so much sharing these things with her. I think how much farther ahead all of our children will be just because they have learned these things early on in their life. Instead of having to read and teach themselves, they will have learned with us. That is exciting to me even if they act like they aren't interested sometimes.

I must close for now. I am preparing a Mexican meal for us to enjoy while watching the Super Bowl. We usually have a large Super Bowl party, but this year due to schedule issues we decided to enjoy it with just our family. I hope you enjoy your Sunday evening!

grace and peace,

julie