It's Official!

It is official...May 15th, 2010 Jonathan Michael Turkel graduated with a Master of Business Administration with a focus in Sustainability from Green Mountain College.  We are very proud of you and all your hard work.  Congratulations!

Happy Mother's Day...

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”~ Thich Nhat Han

Thank you Moms (Robin and Jeanne) for being ever present in our lives.  You have allowed us to grow and blossom and now we can share that with our family.   We love you~

Busy Bee's

The bee's are busy this spring and so are we.  Much to be done to spring clean, titivate and grow our food.  With Chapin and I outside, Jon is inside or at the office finishing up his Capstone Project (master project.)  The end is in site with a deadline to turn in the project on Tuesday, May 4th and present on the 5th.  Then he is done.  After two years of study and hard work he will complete his master degree and will be more available to help titivate (his favorite thing to do,) also!

Walking on Saturday we paid a visit to our friend Walter who has a huge organic garden one neighbor up the mountain.  He and his wife are in their 80's and are completing inspiring.  His garden is amazing.  Thankfully he supplied us with a bounty of lettuce for the week, while ours gets prepared to harvest sometime next week.   Thank you Walter...Thank you Ladies.

Chapin and I also worked on cleaning the porch with soap and water.   Chapin set up a car wash and had a blast.  We were able to paint and old table found in a shed to eat some meals out on the porch, while the weather so nice.  

Chapin and I were able to spend time in the hot weather (90's today) planting more seeds.  Some new things that should be fun including, mache (corn salad), different varieties of radishes, Five Color Silverbeet (beautiful five color swiss chard, ) and some new musclun.   Thank you Mom for the Silverbeet.  Chapin planted it and calls it "Grandma's treat."

Spring is truly amazing for all the plants look so beautiful...Starting to blossom and bloom. 

Suppertime and the Shenandoah

Jon is always a beautiful motivator allowing us to find adventure. Thankfully he pushed to have us eat supper in the canoe on the river the other week. Boy it was a beautiful evening and the river was moving. It was still early spring, so we were able to see the house from the River.

Chapin really enjoyed and even wanted to go for a swim at the end. It was a bit cold, which Chapin realized once he was in and wanted to come out immediately.   These boys...Just look at the goof balls that I live with...Like father like son! 

Garden On!

Life is busy with planting here on the farm. Last year we had lettuce in ground. This year we have lettuce, mesclun, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cilantro, parsley, carrots, radishes, swiss chard, beets, peas, potatoes, onions and more to plant. Plus, a bunch of strawberries and 5 blueberry bushes. Each year it is different trying new things. We still really need to get down the seasonal planting and I hope we have enough garden to put in the summer crops. Jon has interest in ripping up a new row in the upper field. One problem...H2O! Oh and another...DEER! It will be an experiment. So there are days I wonder if I am crazy trying to do this with a four year old and some days I have so much help. It is a balancing act, just as life! Many more, hopefully color filled, garden pictures to come in time. Mantra of the month = Plant on (oh yeah and patience!)

Easter was Fun

Easter was low key but fun. We had our friends Bonnie and Bob Jacobs over for an Easter egg hunt and a litte brecky with our beautiful chicken eggs. Later that day the Warner's our friends up river from us had their annual blue bells grill out and potluck. The day proved to be lovely with weather and friends. And warm enough that Chapin decided it was ok to take a little soak in the river at the Warner's.

Kite Festival...

Every year since Jon started to work for Parks and Recreation he has been in charge of Kite Festival. It is a fun event that has seen growth every year. This year the weather was pleasant with temperatures in the 70's. The wind was marginal, but kites were flying high. We went with our friends JiJi and Ray. The boys really enjoyed this bubble machine and helped fly the kite, here and there!

On the way home we took the back road, which brought us across some amazing flowering pear trees. Now I must say spring in Virginia is truly beautiful as everything that grows seems to bloom.