To Do:

Garden bounty to bring in and preserve, Fall crops to tend, and over winter seeds to get into the soil before the first frost date etc.etc. Also important is to take time to enjoy the cooler days and the continued blooming beauty all around us.

As well, we had an exciting event last week. Our San Clemente Island doe delivered two healthy kids- one doeling and one buckling.

The birth was quick (not sure that mama Solstice would agree) and both were immediately vocal and active. But for whatever reason, mama bonded with the little buck but not the doeling. Thus, Lily is a bottle fed goat. Well, to say “bottle -fed” is not quite accurate.

Both kids are VERY sweet.

Also, amid Covid 19 delays to our shop opening, we have changed course slightly.

As my family will tell you, a personal belief of mine is that Life Unfolds.

So as life unfolds including our dreams, we have decided to allocate more time and energy to the plant, garden and nursery side of Fiona’s Farm. We will still have the shop as conceived with additional items for garden AND lots of perennial plants, herbs and shrubs.

We are really excited about a possible Fiona’s Farm and Garden opening in March 2021, if the science and Covid 19 restrictions will safely allow.

Until then…

If a donkey and a dog can peacefully coexist, why can’t people?

I believe we can.

Love to you all. Take good care of yourselves and one another.

No, I am not “going postal” but seriously…the postal service?

The last best most secure way of communication in this present day and age.

The postal service is beloved and as old as our country.

” The USPS traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, when Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general. The Post Office Department was created in 1792 with the passage of the Postal Service Act.” (from Wikipedia)

I may be particularly biased on this subject, since my dad was a postal carrier, with a rural route in our small town in New England for decades.

I have vivid memories of his devotion to the pledge made as a US postal service member, that he demonstrated and walked out with more than mere words.

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

There were snowstorms that left him stranded, returning home late (even and most especially on Christmas Eve), chilled to the bone, frozen feet having shoveled out of snowbanks more times than he could count. That was the job… and the pledge. I also remember the “dreaded” day that the Sears Roebuck catalogs (Spring, Fall and Christmas Wish Book) would arrive and need to be delivered to everyone in town. And I remember when the population of our small town grew, as did my dad’s workload (aka number of stops.)

Every kid in New England would look forward to “snow days” from school. School would be called off and the day was your own. But not when your dad was a mail carrier and you possessed a Learner’s Permit to drive a car. I am a good driver, and credit my dad for this. At that time. he was making more than 600 stops, and thus the novice driver would attempt this task of stopping in snowbanks and slippery roads to fulfill his duty, honestly held . And throughout, he was pretty patient.

I am sickened by the effort to dismantle the Post Office.

I hope you are too, no matter your political affiliation, belief system or economic class. We all need to try and help save the Post Office and in so doing, secure our collective and righteous ability to vote.

My personal plan is to do the following:

1. Start mailing a letter a day to those I love. I will include a stamp in case that will assist in spreading the word.
2. I will call/ write to my county state and local representatives and scream if necessary about this atrocity.
3. I will contact my US senators and make a large noise, stating that he or she MUST make a stand about this.
4. The Postal Service MUST NOT be privatized as some propose. This is always a bad idea. (unless you have a vested interest in the competition).
5. I will vote, no matter what. Wear PPE And be as safe as possible.
6. Mail in voting is uncertain, Vote in person if possible, if if is safe.
7. I will be patient about the outcome, as this election may take some time to tally.

I do apologize for changing the dynamic (momentarily) of this web post. But someone is messing with the postal service. Lines have been drawn. Love you all.

So much for my plan to write a weekly post. 😉

Dog days of summer are felt around Fiona’s Farm.

We have been staying busy with passion and purpose.

Our herbs are much happier than our vegetables.

But the growing and use of herbs is really rewarding.

Making useful products to share with family and friends, we are now on Etsy as FionasFarmShop.

If anyone is interested, items can also be viewed and purchased on this website, though the process is admittedly clumsy.

We continue to hope and wish for the health, well being and caring community spirit that is so desperately needed at this time. Life is too short for mean-spirited division. Working together, kindness and tolerance needs to prevail. Take care of yourselves and one another. Coexist people! 🙂

Well…these are, as John Lennon mused, “strange days indeed…” .

Staying home as much as possible, wearing masks, being kind and considerate to one another…these are not partisan political practices. It seems like these are small sacrifices for the greater good.

These measures work, and here at our family farm, that is what we are trying to do, as best we can.

To that end, we delayed the opening of our small country shop here at Fiona’s Farm. It was planned to open in May 2020 but likely won’t be fully open until April 2021. More information later on this.

We are staying busy with renovation projects such as the siding and nice new deck.

We have had a visiting San Clemente Island buck since April and hope that our two does are in the family way. Due in September, we think.

The veggies and flowers are growing fine:

First attempt at a garlic braid. Harvested in early July.

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And look what we got on Friday!

Stay well Everyone! We will post again next week.

To be considered:

Opening of Fiona’s Farm Shop, stepping up the existing online shop, more farm updates, Zoom Book Club? 😀

And of course, a New Year’s resolution is to post more often on Fiona’s Farm website. It is just as “they” say when a person retires…Busier than ever! But loving it.

The crew at Fiona’s Farm have all been enjoying this mild winter weather.

We have added a wethered buck to our goat herd ( he is so sweet!) and we will hope to breed our does and have little goat kids by summertime.

The rescued chickens are amazing and look very healthy. They are able to free-range and are very amusing to watch.

Whiskey, our donkey is tolerating wintertime, but loving the warm sunny days when they occur.

Spending lots of time outside with construction projects continuing. The latest undertaking is a deck.

The Spring bulbs have already popped up through the mulch. Not sure how that will work if and when winter weather returns.

Efforts to renovate the Fiona’s Farm shop are underway with hopes of opening for business in May 2020. We will sell items from the shop as well as online. More details on this topic on a later post.

We have also organized a Meetup group called Foothills Homestead Network https://www.meetup.com/Foothills-Homestead-Network. The plan is to meet monthly, to cultivate relationships with others who share common interests: “Homesteaders, small sustainable farmers, and those striving for green and organic life choices for food, intentional living, and healthy communities who would like to meet, share, and network with other like minded individuals, growers, and producers in the area to exchange ideas, dreams, and experiences of the green living lifestyle.”

So keep an eye out for more news from Fiona’s Farm.

..and the Holidays approaching.

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Kevin made a new access door for our goats.

Everybody enjoying the fading sunshine.

And after the holidays, we will be busily working to make Fiona’s Farm Shop ready to open for business in Spring of 2020.

Until that time,  Mona just opened an Etsy shop.  Check it out and feel free to provide feedback.  This is all new territory. ;-D

https://www.etsy.com/listing/739237908/soap-vegan-handcrafted-organic-pure-gmo?ref=ss_listing

 

Why soap, you may ask?

Here’s how it happened:

Mona:  “I want to find ways to utilize these therapeutic herbs that we are growing.”

Kevin: ” I think you should make soap.”

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And that was that. It made good sense ( soapmaking is so fun!) and the soap is really nice. Our families and friends have trialed and provided feedback for us ( our R&D team) and we have  ended up with  gentle soothing bars of soap, many having exfoliating botanicals added.

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The price includes shipping in the continental US.

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***We will have a holiday release on November 1st with seasonal scents for Autumn and Winter holidays.

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Here are Fiona’s Favorites (available year round):

Bay Rum

Sandalwood

Patchouli Vanilla

Berry Oatmeal

Unscented

Spice

Lavender Citrus

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Fiona: ” Life is ruff! Use nice soap.”

 

 

 

 

Hello Spring…and Summer is knocking on the door!

We have a few new additions…

We adopted some Rhode Island Red hens.

Four of the chicken ladies are named after Game of Throne’s characters: Brienne, Cersei, Arya, Sansa and the other one, the tough little Gloria (of Gloria Gaynor fame…” I will survive”).  Guess where Gloria is in the pecking order 😉

 

First egg above and then, very soon…TA-DA!

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New fencing of the back land:

Fiona walking the perimeter.

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Whiskey needed his hooves trimmed…He is not a fan of the process.

We now have a beautiful new driveway and parking for the future Shop!

No more bottoming out when pulling in and out of the drive!

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Happy Memorial Day to you all!  Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

….and time spent on our farm is proving to be a  metaphor for life. Peaceful and beautiful days punctuated by unexpected challenges demanding attention, as planned tasks must be put on hold. Take the roof for example. Progress on our renovation “Honey Do” list gave way to necessary roof replacement. We now have a beautiful new roof on our house and future Fiona’s Farm Shop.

And the holidays were enjoyed with family here with us. It was a treasured time.

And the grey winter days are giving way, even just a little,

…to glimpses of Spring. Whiskey does not like the snow, and soaks up the sun whenever possible

So a belated Happy 2019!

With so much to be grateful for, and so much to look forward to in the coming months, we will endeavor to keep posting.