FARM NEWSLETTER MAY 2007

Good morning from Justin's farm!

So much to catch you up on.

The woods and fields are lush and green. You can go for walks in any direction and discover new things. So many projects in the works... will it ever be done? Will it be worth it? I sure hope so!

In the evening sitting at the picnic table with the critters all lined up for a treat...
I reflex on where I could be instead. Here it is quiet and peaceful and beauty all around.
No rushing, no bills or debt. Such healthy home grown food - just about at no cost.

Simplify, get light, and radiate love to get more of all good things.
You get more of what you think about. So think about good things.
Create as many quality time moments as you can.
If something's not working change it.


Here on the farm we now have an office for keeping all the office equipment for staying in touch with all the worldwide wonderful Internet folks. We just built a front sitting porch which is a necessity in West Virginia. We still have a pile of scrap wood in front for building last minute things for the next few weeks. The white tubes will be filled with hundreds of strawberry plants soon. 
 

Also the basement has been finished out with a root cellar, a gym, a mushroom growing place and a cool summer bedroom and finally some French doors. The doors were the hardest thing to get done because standard doors were 4" higher than the cement block opening. Oops! I have learned now to measure for standard available doors and windows before making openings.
 

A 5 car garage was added to have room for cars and stuff.
Note the water storing barrels that go to the greenhouse in underground pipes.

The outdoor kitchen with 10 windows with the woods all around. It has a gas refrigerator so if the electricity goes out the food doesn't go bad.

Justin's future house - A Yurt that goes up in two days, fireproof, bulletproof, termite proof, super insulated, all doors and windows cut out for you, requires almost no maintenance...
under $25,000.

The greenhouse has been expanded to 12'x54.' You can never have a too big of a greenhouse. As you can see it is filled with plants and seedling flats.

The lush salad greens in the greenhouse.

A greenhouse shower /tub. I get free rain water> to a canning tub that gets heated on a small stove. Then the tub gets put by the bathtub then a small 12v solar powered mini pump/shower kit ($50) in the warm water tub delivers a great shower. A low cost, simple, sustainable shower.

I use under 3 gallons a day for the shower and 3 gallons of water for cooking/cleaning for a total use about 6 gallons a day - 42 gallons a week.

The majority of Americans use 5 gallons - 5 days worth of pure drinking water every time they flush the toilet. I use a homemade $5 composting toilet that doesn't require any water useage. I don't send my garbage or anything away... wherever "away" is, but find a natural, simple way to make it useful. I have no garbage but have to advertise for others peoples waste as I can make it valuable.

 

I have a bird feeder filled with finch seed is just outside my office window filled with eager goldfinches dressed in gold and black. This morning I am getting a rare and shy iridescent blue indigo bunting. It's hard to type with the show only 4 feet away in front of me.

I thought I would have a girlfriend by now but instead got two cats that arrived as deserted little squeaky kittens.
They have turned into wonderful loving cats that just loved to love on you. The female is Piewacket and the male is Tumtums because he loves to have his tummy rubbed. Piewacket just had five of the cutest kittens that get played with all the time as they sit in my secretaries office or on my lap.

Tumtums wandering around gossiping with the "Henna" chicken. Everybody and everything gets' along here. Don't you wish the big people in the world could?

I now have a dog, an Australian Shepherd that is the official greeter here. She loves to play with all the other critters here from the cats, rabbits and me. It's hard to get her to stay still for a picture. The cats nibble food while the dog tends to inhale it... and it's never enough.

Justin down by the creek doing something really important... or not.
 

I have lots of miniature roses growing on the new porch with lots of color.
I'm not doing too well with full size roses, maybe I'll have better luck with these.
 

A new guest cottage is up and is being finished out on the inside.

All along the driveway on one side are 120 different colors of iris. This has been popular so after we split bulbs in August we will put them on two more rows up the hillside.

If you want to feel popular just go into the bunny pen - all free range
22 bunnies to visit with you.

A`very rare Pink lady Slipper flower right behind the outdoor kitchen.

A hummingbird in the hand is worth two in the bush. They feel so comfortable here they just come to rest on you. The cat below wonders what all the fuss is about.

Thanks for visiting with us!

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Workshops coming soon on the farm. Learn, see, how to do it!