December 31, 2014 - The Farmhouse Year in Review 2014
The year in highlights! January. It snowed a lot last winter. As in, a LOT. School was closed more than it was open, and it was Morgan’s senior year. Seniors don’t have to make up snow days, but she was upset anyway because she loves school! Looking back at posts from last winter gets me...
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January 14, 2013 - Farming from Scratch, Year Six
I can’t believe I just typed year six. You’d think I’d be better at this by now! Okay, maybe I’m a little better! I’m actually willing to call myself a farmer now. That’s progress! Let’s start with a look back at how I did with last year’s farm goals: 1) GET MY COWS PREGNANT! Have...
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January 1, 2013 - The Farmhouse Year in Review 2012
WHAT. A. YEAR. January. How many plumbing calamities can one person have? Apparently, I was testing! Eventually, I replaced most of the plumbing in the house and the studio, and many of you helped. I haven’t forgotten. Thank you. I’d only been at Sassafras Farm for a couple of months and it was a scary...
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November 21, 2012 - Little Farm in the Hills
I love this Google earth view of my farm. Below is a very (very!) vague and non-exact drawing of the boundaries. It’s totally not drawn quite right, and is somewhat skewed from the perspective, but it will give you the idea of how this 100 acres lies, which is generally within the ridges all around....
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November 16, 2012 - The Spring Project
West Virginia is a land of water. When it’s not falling from the sky, we’ve got rivers, creeks, and springs. Recently, I was approved for spring development funds through the Farm Service Agency. The funds are to support spring development for farmers into fields that don’t have an existing natural source of water, or may...
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June 18, 2012 - First Sassafras Farm Party
That’s me holding the cup. “Where are all these people coming from? OHMYGOD, AM I HAVING A PARTY?” Ha. It was so much fun to throw my first party at Sassafras Farm, and it meant even more to have the fabulous Kelly Walker here putting her happy creative stamp on the studio during the party....
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February 15, 2012 - An Old Place
One of the enjoyable things about a well-established property is making little discoveries along the way. People have lived, loved, laughed, and worked hard here for well over a hundred years. The barn dates back to the 1890s. The original farmhouse of that era is long gone, and this house was built in the 1930s...
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February 7, 2012 - Two Pipes to Nowhere
The problem: Constant flooding of the barn drive, the front barn yard, and the rear barn yard from the culvert in the creek that appears to be clogged or collapsed. The situation as one can understand it from the surface: There is a cement culvert with two pipes at the barn drive. Two pipes going...
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February 4, 2012 - Problem, with Ramble
I have a little problem. Let’s take a closer look. It’s my culvert. Just barely, you can see the cement that braces the culvert on this side. Way under water. The culvert isn’t draining properly, and why is a mystery hidden under 100 feet of pipe. That’s right, 100 feet of pipe. It might make...
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January 1, 2012 - Farming from Scratch, Year Five
Could it be? Is it true? Am I standing on the brink of my fifth year as a farmer? I should be better at this by now! I start this year like no other–at a new farm. A farm that is really a farm. A farm that was a farm before I got here, and...
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December 30, 2011 - The Farmhouse Year in Review 2011
January. The goats sync deliveries and we have babies, babies, and more babies at Stringtown Rising Farm. For a time, I bounce between bottle feeding Sprite’s baby and holding her down so she will nurse. Eventually, she decides to be a mother after all. Following my previous year’s obsession with getting the goats pregnant, I’m...
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November 23, 2011 - Landing on My Feet
For the last few months, I’ve been very occupied with several projects. Today, I’m going to tell you about one of them. I do not discuss the details of my private relationships on this website and I’m not going to start now, so suffice it to say that 52 and I have parted ways. I...
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