Someone once asked me what typical day at our farm is like.  It varies from season to season and whether it is the weekend or during the week I answered.  For example yesterday (a Sunday), our morning started very early with my hubby and I doing laundry and working on a presentation for our business.  After Joshua woke up, the animal care/chores began.  When the weather is good,  Joshua moves his six rescued factory farm turkeys to their outside enclosure.  We had dreamed of them wandering all around the farm but our frequent daytime fox visits ruled that dream out.  We feed, water, muck  etc. 

 I set off to make a solar dehydrator for drying all the herbs I need to dry.  I once read that your car in the shade is a perfect place to dry plants.  So rather quickly we made a large screen to sit in the back of our wagon.  We plan on making a much larger one later but this is working fine for now.  We also use an electric dehydrator.  I started the project but my sweet hubby had some great ideas to add to it.  The three of us finished it up. 

Comfrey, Narrowleaf Plantain and a tiny, bit of Chamomile flowers (they have just started to bloom in the greenhouse).

The lawn was mowed and more work for the business happened.  Joshua and I ran errands.  We then discovered this amazing tree frog.

It is a Gray Tree Frog.  We researched and read everything we could on this little guy.  Turns out this time of year is breeding season and sure enough we could hear him and many others calling.  At night I sat outside and listened to the Spring Peepers and the Gray Tree Frogs singing.  It was truly lovely and I knew their songs were all for love. 

It was so unseasonably hot, we needed to cool off.  We went for a very cold swim in our pond.  It is really wonderful to walk through a pasture field and dive in!    I even dragged out one of those floating lawn chairs that we had.  Relaxing!  A perfect break from our busy day.

The funny thing about our pond is, it is pretty clear until we get in and stir up all the mud.  We also observed quite a few tadpoles in the pond.

After dinner, we spent a considerable amount of  time chasing our ram to get him into the barn.  He needed to be sheared.   Last year,  I attempted to shear him with hand shears.  I removed a ton of wool from him but not enough.    This year,  we purchased electric shears.  I started shearing him but sweet, sweet hubby took over and I have to say....WOW he did a great job.  We sheared Romney standing which is not the typical way they are usually sheared.  We have had such difficulty getting shearers to come to the farm,  especially now that we have only one ram.  We also felt that some of the shearers were a bit too rough and often would cut our sheep.  We decided last year we should do this ourselves. 

Romney is a big boy!  We figure he probably weighs close to 300 lbs.  He also did not like being sheared but eventually calmed down.  He did try to ram us many, many times and at one point I had  to hold him in place with my body so hubby could shear his back legs. When he walked out of the barn he seemed so much happier and most definitely cooler.  He was back to his sweet self and gladly took an apple treat from me.   Phew,  now we don't have to do that job again till next year.  We were very dirty and exhausted at the end.

 My hands are so soft this morning from all the lanolin.  Romney is part Merino and Romney.  Merinos have very, very greasy wool.   This  year's fleece is not the best for spinning into yarn.  I will use it as mulch in the garden.  Next year,  we should have a good coat which will be washed, combed and spun into yarn.  (pictures to come later).

We went back to do some work for our business after putting Joshua to bed.  Our day ended around 11:00 pm and at 6:00 am this morning, we were up and ready to take on another fun day.  Our days ebb and flow but some things always remain the same.....like our animal care and  the seasonal chores.  We have a lovely Spring rain today.  I am grateful for it and it will give me a day to work on some much neglected inside chores. 

There have been oodles of studies conducted about the importance of "play" for our children.  I agree with those studies. I watch Joshua invent and create each day through his play.  Some folks have a hard time understanding how  "real" learning opportunities are a part of play.  For example,  Joshua has *discovered* Turkium.  (it is a pretend substance that he has created in his play).  However,  as he plays, he tells me that Turkium is made from Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Carbon and Oxygen.  So we go to the Periodic Table of Elements  to learn a little more about the elements he has chosen for his substance.  He tells me that Turkium is highly explosive and we must handle it with care.  Well,  "Why is it explosive?  Do you think we need to look at your elements and figure out why it is?  Are they explosive?  Do they become explosive when they are mixed with other elements", etc.?  As we *play*  we ponder, create, learn and go on.  Within our imaginary play around Turkium, we are learning about the chemical composition of many things. We flow back and forth between play and real learning, but it is seamless.  It is like weaving... round and round we go. Our days flow and can change with a whim, but the learning never stops. 

The other day he decided he wanted to create a book.  His books was titled:  "My Rocket Book by Joshua" He wrote everything down and started to create the pictures for his book.  He also wanted to show the orbital path of his rockets in space over a one year span.  He brought the book to me to show me what he had created all on his own.  He showed me how many days are in a year. He then showed me how he added the days up in various months.  On a page in his writing were math equations written out and solved correctly....all on his own through his play.  31 + 28 = 59 days.  January and February.   Through his play we have learned multiplication,  fractions, percentages etc.  I love watching him expand his knowledge through inventive play.  We support him in his play and help him dig deeper on all levels so he continues to question, learn, and invent.

Today,  we hoped to go to the local Botanical Gardens to see the new show about Emily Dickinson's Gardens, "The Poetry of Flowers".  Our schedule was a bit tied up, so we will go another day.  While looking at our flowers, we were inspired to create poems as well. We had a lot of fun coming up with rhymes and such.  We talked about who Emily Dickinson was,  we looked at her homestead, and I'm waiting on a book of  her poetry from the library.  Literature..... all inspired by our passions....plants. 

Yesterday morning when Joshua and I were moving the cows,  we heard this "HONK, HONK" loudly coming from our pond. 

Ten Canadian Geese decided to stop by and take a rest on our pond. 

As I mentioned in the last post,  I am ever so grateful for our weeds.  Perry Hill Farm is now drying and preparing various medicinal plants (a.k.a.  weeds) and herbs for Three Sisters Herbals.  We are very excited about working with them. 

Some of my favorite weeds......

Chickweed

We eat chickweed in our salads, drink tea,  make tinctures with it and use it in salves.   My favorite herbalist has a great article on the uses of chickweed.  Susun Weed.

Stinging Nettle

Ouch that stings......oh but you are a wonderful plant.  We love to drink her tea and eat her.  More info on nettle.   Not only is she a delicious food,  you can make twine from her stems.  I have not done that yet, but I did make cordage from Dogbane stems. Check out this site for info on dogbane and it's cordage. http://www.primitiveways.com/hemp_dogbane.html

Mullein

According to some legends, Johnny Appleseed used mullein in his shoes when he wore out the soles.

I love making the "Wild Facial Lotion and Skin Softener " using mullein and wild lettuce from  "The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide"  by Linda Runyon.  She also writes about making lamp wicks from the mullein leaves.  For more medicinal info about the plant,  click on Susun Weed's site.

Narrowleaf Plantain

I've bet you've seen this beauty  in your lawn?  It is a wonderful healer.

Dandelion

 Dandelion flower petals
 

 This morning I made dandelion pancakes, dandelion fritters and we're having chickweed/violet salad on the side.

 I also started a batch of dandelion massage oil yesterday and dandelion vinegar today. 

This is only a small sampling of the weeds we love. 

I borrowed a beautiful book from the  library the other day.... The American Meadow Garden  (see book above).

We were enjoying looking at all the meadow pictures  and discussing how nice it would be to create a meadow instead of a lawn.  We also talked about why it would be much more sustainable to have a meadow versus lawn.  Joshua jumped up and said,  "I'll be right back."  He disappeared for a few quick moments.  He came back with his sketch pad.  He had planned out our front lawn.

I loved how our conversation inspired him to think about options and how he was a part of our plans.  I loved how quickly he sketched out his plan and shared it with us.

Yesterday,  a friend of mine was talking about a lanscape architect and his work.  http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/edibleestates/about.html    She had attended a presentation and said it was amazing.  Fabulous work!

Of course,  my  favorite folks who did away with their lawn are the Urban Homesteaders.  This link takes you to their front yard.  http://urbanhomestead.org/photos/details.php?gid=143&pid=1418

The last couple of years, we have made a conscious effort to reduce our lawn area.  We will continue on this path.  As I  have learned more about edible and medicinal plants, I no longer  hate the weeds I used to pull all the time.  I embrace them.  We eat them or use them medicinally and I am  ever so grateful for them.  Yesterday,  Joshua and I were standing in the front lawn and he was talking about all the food he could see.  He rattled off dandelions,  violets,  wild raspberries,  wild strawberries, and garlic mustard.  Then we looked for medicinal plants as well..... jewel weed and yellow dock were near.  He proudly told me this morning that there was a huge Jack-in-the-Pulpit growing near the house and when he and his father went hiking yesterday,  he saw some beautiful Trilliums.  Joshua shares this passion with me.  His love and knowledge for plants and trees blows me away.  His enthusiasm is contagious.

It is official,  Perry Hill Farm is a licensed and certified nursery grower in our state.  We are gearing up for this season to sell vegetable and herbal plants.  The seedlings are popping up in the greenhouse.  We have probably 300 tomato plants in the greenhouse!  For a complete list of what we are selling,  click on our website:
http://perryhillfarm.com/produceandproducts/plantsforsale.html

We have also been enjoying lots of salads with all the fresh greens we harvest daily from our greenhouse.  Here's a pic I took this evening next to a loaf of bread I made today.

The pond is full and we've been going canoeing quite regularly.  Today,  we were excited to find frog eggs!  The pond is only a few months old and the frogs have already moved in. 

The dam has been planted with rye, oats, and tricalate. 

We love to go to the NY Hall of Science.  For my little boy who adores everything about science, he is in heaven. 

Joshua was giving me a long explanation of rocket parts.

Wow,  what a long journey from space....glad to be back on Earth.

Happy, happy joy dance!  Joshua was absolutely beaming as he walked among the rockets.

We had a blast at this exhibit.

Joshua liked this exhibit too. 

However,  his favorites are the rockets,  space, and molecule models.  He was busy making molecules from different atoms.   He also loves their library and so do I.  Their librarian is excellent and a really big help.  As a member of the museum,  we can check out materials.  We were excited to see yesterday,  "The further adventures of Penrose the mathematical cat" and "fractals googols and other mathematical tales".  Joshua has a love for math. He's obsessed with numbers and is always wanting to understand and learn more.   We also checked out several other good books on the Universe, Jupiter and Pluto (and you probably guessed....  outerspace is another obsession.)

Can you believe that Peter Rabbit took Joshua's colored Easter eggs and hid them on the farm.  He left them in a trail to our outside building with Joshua's trains.

Joshua following the trail of eggs.

Inside,  Joshua found an Easter basket with yummy candy and some train cars.  That Peter Rabbit is so clever. 

Then a few days later,  Joshua was running, tripped and fell.  He sustained a deep puncture wound which required stitches.  Joshua's first time with stitches.

Joshua loves to draw.  Here he is waiting for the numbing solution to start to work so they could irrigate the wound.  After irrigation,  he was re-numbed and stitched up.  He thought he looked pretty silly wearing his big bandage.  It was only on for about 20 minutes.

We decided to bring our canoe up to our new pond.  Our little canoe fun is part of our celebration of the Vernal Equinox.  We will be having a bonfire later as well.

Although the pond is still not at it's fullest capacity,  we had fun paddling around.

Emily tried to get in but she didn't want to stay in the canoe.  Oh well,  maybe next time Emily.

If it continues to stay dry,  they will be coming  back to finish the dam and spread the topsoil back around this coming week.  Then,  we will seed around the pond.  I'm envisioning a lot of wild flowers growing on the dam.