Crazy fun 2021

This last year has been an enormous amount of fun. Despite still being stuck inside the confines of Covid we were able to explore more of the area around our Farm. I was able to teach classes at Roots and attend my very first Rendezvous. I learned a great deal about planting and growing willow for my very first season and I’m pumped to get planting again next year.

Purchasing this property was an investment and learning more about the land has been a beautiful discovery. Theres definitely some things I would like to change and I know I have to be patient with the progress I can make since I can’t be here full time just yet.

I had my very first garlic harvest in 2021 and I am amazed at how well they did with minimal assistance. I’ve always wanted to grow my own garlic and now that I know how easy it really is I’m mad at myself for not attempting it sooner. What a miraculous plant! I even got to try some garlic scapes, way better than anything I’ve ever had from a farmers market. You have to get them when they are young and tender and they will chop up so nicely and can be used just like regular garlic.

This fall I got a whole lot more planted and I’m super excited to see how they do next summer. This time in the most beautiful garden beds that now sit alongside my willow beds.

This summer was so mild and wet. My chanterelle spot yielded so many that I couldn’t eat them all. July was so cool, we enjoyed so many fires at night. I took the kids to the Herkimer Diamond Mines and swimming on lake Otsego for the first time this year too. We found all the good swimming spots and learned how to proficiently find diamonds at the mine. The boys were a pretty good help and I had a blast watching them take showers in the rain for the first time too. It’s always my hope that I’m giving them experiences they will look back on fondly.

It’s hard not to get caught up in the beauty of this place. I wish I could wake up here every morning. I typically walk around the perimeter of the property with Maggie and in the early spring and fall it’s amazing how long the fog can hold on for.

In June I got to strip bark from my wild willow stands. And in July I got to make a black ash backpack with Penny Hewitt of Lazy Mill Hill Farm. I am beyond thrilled to finally have had the chance to make this basket. It will remain an heirloom for many many years and I have a feeling that my oldest son might be the one to want this basket when he gets older.

One of my super favorite highlights from this last year has been the fun times spent relaxing in an 8 foot soaking tank that I purchased for soaking willow, although to be honest….it will be soaking myself or my kids for the time being. Especially on those hot summer days with a nice drink in my plastic pineapple and no one around for miles. If there is a heaven, I know how it feels.

The willow grew and grew…some varieties did better than others, but for the most part I’m just glad the majority of them survived, and are now on their way to the second year of growth. And now I’m one year in as a willow farmer, with plenty more yet to learn I’m sure. What a beautiful experience it’s been over the last year and despite the ups and downs I wouldn’t trade any of it. Cheers to learning and growing more with each passing year.