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A great homeschool or home-from-school spring break project: plan the garden planting! Ivar and I spent the morning looking at the farmers almanac, our seed packs and notes from years past and wrote on our calendar when we should sow our seeds under grow lights and when we should get each item in the ground outside. It’s like the biggest word problem you’ve ever come across. Great critical thinking skills and a whole lot of hope because the farmers almanac seems to think we’ll be digging in mid-April. A hopeful word!
At dinner, during ‘hey, hey what do ya say? What was your favorite part of the day today?’ Alden reported that the best part of his day was busting up the ice between the truck and the van and asked if he could go back out after dinner. I just loved that at age 5, he has tapped into the universal joy and gladness of helping the ice go away.
A wonderful day with wonderful friends! About 50 undaunted Minnesotans braved subzero windchills to learn all about maple syruping and then we headed up to the (heated) barn for a pancake potluck. Good food, good fellowship.. a blessed time all around.
“Once upon a time a little girl was very happy to work. She love to work. All she wanted to do was working. She loved working. She was very happy to do that. The And.” If you need her, you can find Hattie loading and unloading the dishwasher...happily. Can you tell we talk a lot about the choice we have in working? You can work crabby or you can work happy!
Last year we had two families go home and tap their own maple trees that very afternoon! Our annual Great Maple Syrup Get Together is one week from today. We have just a few spots left for a morning of tree tapping, evaporator empowerment, snow pants and (new this year) a big brunch potluck up in the barn. We’d love to have you! Come try maple syrup in your coffee. You won’t be sorry. Gathering is Saturday, March 18th, 10:00-1:00ish. Sign up at gatherandgrow.us and bring something yummy to share!
Today Ivar led the tree tapping. Remarkable! He taught the kids how to identify maples and gave each one a turn with the drill and hammer. Every tap was dripping with sap which definitely means spring is on its way!
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What we do with all of our Pumpkins

  • November 11, 2022
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  • Becca
I started this blog post last year! Took the pictures, wrote some text. But then I never finished it, because I wanted to post all my pumpkin recipes in one…
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Kid Quotes

  • November 11, 2022
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  • Becca
I have started keeping this page open on my laptop so when my kids say something worth remembering, I come to write it down verbatim. Elias woke up grumpy and…
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For the Birds

  • October 28, 2022
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  • Becca
I wrote in the fall newsletter about our twice-a-year visit from thousands and thousands of birds. The birds are all black, the size of robins. They fill every tree in…
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Newsletter — Fall 2022

  • October 28, 2022
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  • Rory
“There’s Just So Much to Learn…” Becca aptly puts it in her article Patience over Panic. This is what we are reflecting on ten years into this homesteading adventure, but…
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Some Goat

  • October 27, 2022
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  • Becca
Darcy was the very first mammal we got on our farm. Well, her and her daughter Precious. But Precious was not actually very precious in the way of being well-loved.…
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Braiding Onions with Grandma

  • October 20, 2022
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  • Becca
I have always said my favorite days on the farm are when all sorts of family show up to join in the fun. This happens especially at harvest time and…
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