What a glorious time on the farm. The roses, lilacs, lavender, oranges, iris's are all blooming. The scents of them all flow through the farm bringing back memories associated with their scents. Roses remind my of my  mother, Leona. She  loved and cared for her roses like a best friend. She always kept a rose in a bud vase  next to her mothers picture, just as I have one near her picture in honor of her. Lilacs bring back my husband, Matthew's childhood back East, where the kids were responsible for helping their dad clip off all the dried blossoms each year, their smell is so sweet and happy. The orange blossoms remind me of fruit to come in time for Christmas, just as we are now finishing last years harvest in fresh squeezed orange juice. Lavender brings me the experience of peace, of slowing down and appreciating all there is to be grateful for. Iris's were a gift from a neighbor and every year we have more blossoms, reminding me of the wealth of friendship.

Eggs are plentiful and I will soon be distributing them for pick up in San Francisco and Berkeley. I love my chickens.

Baby ducks are just starting to feather out and so are still wading through a pan of water waiting for their first real swim in their new home in a week or so.

Happy for the rain and it is SO soggy here! EGGS are abundant and I love milking each morning. It is such a sweet time with Leche and myself.

Kale, onions, potatoes, garlic, burdock, beets are all in the ground. Lettuce is being picked each day and the strawberry plants are blooming and we added 300 more this year.

The dogs are digging for gophers as the ground is so soft and wet!

   Not sure where all the time went, but now that I am no longer writing every week on the CG site I just chose to write more here...

Anyway, we are preparing for tonight's rain, much awaited and welcome, although I can never remember waiting this long or being this prepared, guess they go hand in hand.

The chickens aren't ready though, I notice they are all over the farm as it starts to dribble and not too anxious to go in the coops.

Good Morning,

Fall is here, we had our first morning campfire today! In the last week it went from a warm late summer to a cool fall day! Leaves are turning, figs and apples are ripe, almonds have been collected, and chickens laying is slowing down. Time to start going inward in the cycle of life.

Our cow, Cacao, which we thought was pregnant and have been awaiting a calf for months is being checked by a vet this week... we may just have a chubby cow, although for us "green" farmers we would be surprised, but this wouldn't be the first time!  Life is full of surprises!

How did so many months pass without me writing!

It is full on farming this time of year. Corn, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, zucchini, blackberries, peaches.... all bursting with goodness!

Cacao has not delivered her calf yet, we are expecting to see signs of pending birth any day now. She seems labored and heated and while I don't want the calf to come while we are in Kansas City this weekend, I do hope she arrives shortly after our return!

Good Morning,

Baby chicks arrived on Monday, just after Easter. Four new breeds to add to our farm family of layers! Our granddaughters picked them up early in the morning with me and were so excited to bring them home and get them settled into their new house. The box was literally jumping with baby chick excitement.

Cacao, one of our Dexters is pregnant and due to deliver our first farm born calf in July!

SPRING is here and we are grateful for the rain! The grass is so green and lush. Our cows are happy with all the grazing. The chickens, while wet today, are grateful for the longer days and eggs production is flourishing. The young lettuces and kale that we planted in the new greenhouse are now outside and we are waiting for the ground to dry in the second position of the greenhouse so we can plant early tomatoes soon!

We have finished spreading the nutrients on the soil and are now waiting to work the soil after it has dried a bit.  Everyone has a bit of spring fever and wants to plant, plant, plant... and we know it is important to be patient.

A new woman and her child have joined us, Lindsey and her son Newi have joined us and she is managing the sprout and wheatgrass production. We definitely feel like a real farm family now! She lived and worked on our farm in Maui for over 5 years and we are so happy to have her, her son and her skills supporting Be Love Farm.

I am hoping that the photo is available here. Love. Terces 

Good Morning,

I am thrilled to be sharing farm life with you this month, it so seems like early Spring and we are well aware that more rain and perhaps colder weather will still be coming, but for right now it is BEAUTIFUL. The mornings are cool and we start our campfire early so we can gather around it for farm breakfast. I have been studying and working on artisan bread making so many morning we have my latest experiment to eat with jam, honey and or cinnamon sugar (a childhood favorite of mine and my daughter Molly). Of course there are grandchildren running around along with the dogs, Amor and Bella.

Then the sun starts coming out around 8:30 -9:00 am and it is stunning. Rays of bright light shining on the budding fruit trees and dewy blades of grass. We even cut the grass between the trees in the orchard yesterday and I spread wild flower seeds in the cow area so they could push them into the moist ground while grazing. Quite a beautiful site the cows just the other side of the fresh water pool, which by the way is still really COLD (55 degrees).