First harvests and lightning strikes

Lots to share, lots has happened this year, we've been so busy I haven't had much chance to update our progress, but here are some highlights:

First HU peonies

AND

First Riesling harvest, and our first homemade young  Riesling wine, after first racking

First very small muscadine/scuppernong harvest, just enough for some jam

Our first commercial harvest was fantastic

Sauv Blanc

Chardonnay

Over a ton sold to Crowe Farm and Winery

Grew some sunflowers, yum!

And enjoyed the lavender blooms and harvest

However, we did have some unnecessary adventures in July when lightning blew a hole in the gable end wall, shooting through the roof, starting a flash fire, severing our satellite, burning out TV, computers, and solar panels.  We were very fortunate no one was hurt, as we were home at the time and in close proximity to the strike.   And, of course we had just finished pointing that wall (doing one wall a year).  We have just now completed almost all the repairs to the structure and systems.  It was a busy summer!

The amazing blackberries, seen here ripening, almost made up for the stress of the lightning strike.

Hope you are getting ready for the cold winter ahead.

Kate

Cycle of a season

Time has slipped away, a simple murmuration.  Where did it go so fast?

Maybe it vanished like a blue tail skink that slides noiselessly under the door.

Much beauty has appeared in its place

as a wispy dream,

a fond memory,

or peaceful reverie.

Growth, at once jumped up riotous,

giggling like a child,

and carried its potential gently.

Harvest time in the fall brought great treasures,

though much work separating the kernel from the hulls even though the oats were supposed to be hull-less, and we had to keep milling bit by bit to flatten the flake,

so that we could enjoy some apple crumble with homemade ice cream!

New fruit, pomegranate, was an unexpected treasure from this first year tree,

and our only 2013 grape bunch harvest holds the promise of much greater excitement, and healthy anticipation of the work ahead with our first full harvest in 2014.

Even our vegetable garden brought many gifts, as well as an overabundance of food that we shared with friends, but are still eating as the spring (lucky us!)

 Warmth will soon overtake the winter freeze.

This new year will bring many cherished gifts to the farm and the house, as our dear family and friends, and our newest babies and friendships, will find much love here.

Kate

Summertime

It's been a while since I've posted, because there's been a lot of work to do, and luckily we've had friends and family to help with a lof it, it's been a very busy spring.  There are a lot of updates to report.  Here's a comparison view of the house to the image above, which is one of the first photos we took of HU.    Big change from when we started!

Of course, the roses have all bloomed in the early spring, here's a bouquet of every type of rose that we are growing.  Each variety has just a bit different scent.

The lavender is in full bloom and the bees are everywhere.

Even Mia likes to hang out in the lavender field. 

One day in the early spring, I looked out the window and noticed a bald eagle sitting in the linden tree.  As soon as I snuck around the side of the house, and popped my head around the corner to take this shot, he flew away.  He's that dark blob sitting on up the right side of the tree, one o'clock position.  A week ago the linden tree bloomed, and the scent was incredible, it hung in the air as I mowed the vineyard.

The wind turbine is up, but not yet powered on.  Apparently my consultant is very very very slow to get work done.  We do have the inspection completed, he's said now we're waiting for Delmarva to say "go", but there have been more excuses and delays than I expected.  The solar panels are up and operating for several months now.  

A shot of the vineyard in early spring.  The vines are now through the top wires, second year in the ground.  We re-sheltered the vines, and this season we're spraying regularly to keep the Canadian thistle from breaking the law (it's illegal to grow it, but this persistent flower in a wrong place doesn't seem to want to follow the rules).  The most recent storm blew down several hundred vines, so a lot of our work lately has been tying up the vines so they can grow properly.

Finally, we installed brick steps in the front of the house, and replaced the temporary wooden ones.

Spring's Roar

Woke up this morning to a snow storm!  How did that happen? 

It's been a while since I've written, been busy outside trimming vines with my friends, and finishing up early spring chores.  We trimmed almost all 28 rows (over 2,700 vines), and are calling in the reserves.  This year we took the growth all the way back to two buds, so more energy can go into developing the roots instead of the canopy.  The Sauv Blanc replacements (over 60) are due in April, so more planting then.  It looks like we lost some vines this winter, mostly the Chard.

My youngest son and I built this boardwalk in the veggie garden out of recycled wood pulled from the house during renovation.  I need to finish up by trimming the right side even, but it's a great path for the garden and what they used in colonial times to keep the mud down.  We put the boards on top of joists laid flat.  I'll be fortifying it with block underneath as well, just in case a few years from now the petrified joists break down a bit.  Next weekend is planting weekend for the early season veggies.  I did plant peonies along the sides of the boardwalk this weekend, thinking it was warming up, hope they survive the chill.

This photo is misleading, taken at an angle looking up it looks enormous, but it shows the wind turbine woo hoo!  It's an Air Dolphin and designed to start up on low windspeeds, as well as withstand high speed blasts that we get on this wide open terrain.  It's around 35 feet tall and not yet turned on, there have been massive delays but should be producing power this week.  The solar panels are completely installed and now power the house.

A view of sunset, some experimentation with my camera.

Happy spring!

Kate

Winter morning

This is the view out the back door by the kitchen.  Weather has been very fickle lately, this morning low thirties, last week mid 60s to 70s.  Today the snow is a thin crisp crust on the fields.  Not sure how long the snow will stay.  It's time for winter pruning, which will be easy to do, but lots of vines to prune.  We'll be taking off all of last year's growth in order to continue to strengthen the root system.  By the end of this year we should have two strong trunks to grow the fruiting canes from and probably will see some grapes forming on some vines...especially the muscadine.  Most of the labor will again by tying up the vines mid summer.  The real intensive labor will begin the following year, which will probably mark our first harvest.  The lavender looks great and so far we will probably have all 120 plants survive, although the Spanish lavender is looking kinda puny in the snow.

Here's the first pastel of HU that I've created so far.  More to follow from time to time.

Spring isn't too far away now....

Kate

Winter gifts

Sometimes, just sometimes, in the midst of the coldest winter, the grayest days, the shortest hours, sometimes unexpected joy deposits itself at our doorstep.

One of my rose bushes decided to produce a single flower, and the clove pinks agreed with the plan.  Next, the sunshine conspired to stream through the window just right. A bit of cheer, greatly welcomed.

And this, a completely replaced roof due to Sandy, even though one part of the roof was less than two years old, and the other part, less than four.  Sandy tore off the west and east corners of the main roof, and played games with the shingles all over both roofs.  A team of several roofers descended on the house last week and boom! All done in two days.

Green Energy Design is finishing up the turbine and should have it up in the next two weeks.  Then, we will be entirely self-sufficient and producing enough electricity for the grid to purchase back.  We talked today about a plan to put in a battery backup system in case of power loss to the grid.  

Happy holidays to all

Kate

Fog of the early morning

Woke up this morning and was treated to the most unusual sight.  It looked as if the field behind the house was covered in snow, but it was a low cloud of fog that was sleeping on the winter-bare field.

You can see the new solar panels are up, just waiting to finish the wind turbine installation and to bury the power line under the driveway.

Soon, no more electricity bills.  Woo woo!

You can see our anenometer, lonely on that pole, which was working until very recently.  I think Hurricane Sandy scared it into silence, while it played around with the shingles and destroyed the roof.  Our entire roof is being replaced within the next two weeks as it was damaged from the wind that hit the house, probably due to the extreme windspeeds generated from the wide open field.

Hope is waiting for the deer to emerge from the fog.  We almost hit a large buck who was strolling across the driveway for his early evening vine dinner at sunset a few weeks ago.  The deer are very clever you know, they stand in the field and it almost seems like they're mocking the dogs until the dogs go inside for the evening, then they have a feast.

Happy holidays!

Kate

Harvest

Wow! Fall is upon us with darker hours spreading out across the day, like dark ink on blank paper.

Teke and Hope are very busy now, and are mostly successful keeping the deer away.  However, I've lost a baby magnolia (the deer chewed it in half) and a serviceberry sapling (they rubbed and chewed it out of the ground).  I should have noticed the deer crossing sign on the road shortly before the driveway to the house.....that would have been the first clue, right?   

Nevertheless, the dogs are very happy to have such an important job and take it very seriously.

Some big progress on the solar/wind power.  It took several months, a few hurdles with zoning, planning, and historic boards, and a manufacturer who would actually produce the panels this decade, to complete the panel installation.  You can see the panel mount at the end of the field in the right side of the photo, the anemometer on a pole that I repaired today closer to the vineyard on a pole, and the deep muddy furrows left by the truck that transported the parts for the panel and turbine.

Below, some surprise harvest from the garden that ran wildly away from me by late summer.  Made some yummy ratatouille and salsa from the lot.  Not pictured are the mammoth sweet potatoes harvested before the first frost.  They will last us throughout the winter.  here were a couple as large as softballs, and having never grown my own before, was eager to taste them.  I made a yummy sweet potato pie to share with friends during a fall harvest dinner we held here recently.

As we ready HU for winter, I look back on the year with a sense of both accomplishment and relief.  I'm forward to an externally imposed extended rest, and feeling very grateful for having been able to create this spot with the help of loving family and friends. Now we can all enjoy it, and get ready to hibernate as the nights grow colder.

Enjoy these lovely autumn nights, and keep on the lookout for shooting stars.

Kate