And so our first sojourn into homesteading comes to an end. We were able to spend an entire season on a farm we love with people we love even more. The long hours put in by Adam, Shelby, ourselves, and a cavalcade of WWOOFers, yielded a record-breaking year of produce, with plenty to supply our 20 member CSA, a healthy farmer's market, and local restaurants. And on top of that every week Shelby canned the excess, including pickles, kraut, veggies, and jams. But often there was still more leftover produce which the six heirloom pigs happily gobbled up.
Here is a pictorial journey through the unforgettable eight months we spent at Spring Creek Farm, working alongside a wonderful family who we will always hold in our hearts.
Fruits of our labor:
Plant it, sprout it, transplant it, weed it, harvest it, repeat.
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| Our first seedlings in the hoop house |
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| Tackling the corn and bean deluge |
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| Mixing together the 20+ ingredients that go into our salad mixes |
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Although peaches were the only fruit we did not get as many of
as we would've liked, the ones we did get were delicious |
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| Hey look, onions. |
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| Holly the Harvest Turtle surveys her domain |
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| Shelling peas on the porch was a welcome break from the heat |
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| Harvesting "apples of the earth" |
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| Asparagus bed hornets vs. fire: Hassan approves! |
Animal care:
Although most of our days were spent in the fields, occasionally we helped with sheep care.
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| Great Pyrenees watchdog |
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| We rarely fed the sheep corn but when we did, they did not form an orderly line |
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| How many farmers does it take to catch lambs? |
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| Trimming sheeps' hooves |
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| Farm breakfasts are not always kitchen-table affairs |
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| I am a mother pheasant plucker. |
Faces on the Farm:
About two dozen friendly folks volunteered their time and energy to help make this year a success. Here are a few of those generous souls, with some fun facts.
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| Adam (closet cotton candy fiend), Brian (insidious pool shark), Hassan (passionate chef), Randy (high school thespian), Holly (Society of Young Magicians former member), Marcus (French wisecracker) |
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Michael (German psychologist)
scoping out a yardsale find |
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| Matt (agricultural engineer), Shelby (herbal sage), and Lily Kate |
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| Marcus reading to Lily's preschool class |
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| Abby (barefoot master), Joakim (guitar master), Adam (croquet master), Marcus (chess master), Shelby (reluctant charades master), Holly (skinning master) |
Our swanky crib:
Adam and Shelby converted an old woodshed into a magnificent cozy cabin that provided us with our own peaceful sanctuary at the end of the day.
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| Our frequent front yard visitors |
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| Randy's contribution to the abode |
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| Home sweet home |
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| Farm fresh notecards for sale! |
Market Square Farmers' Market in Knoxville:
For farmers, Saturday is not a day to sleep in. We woke up at 6 am every Saturday, loaded up the produce into the trailer and headed off to market. The Knoxville Market Square Farmer's Market has been steadily growing since being revived about ten years ago, and now has close to 100 vendors. As well as offering our latest harvest from the earth, we delivered up to 20 CSA shares. Despite the early rising and hour-long commute, Saturdays were often the only time Adam, Shelby, and ourselves were able to leave the farm, and we all looked forward to "going to town" and seeing friendly faces.
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| Market feng shui |
Bonaroo:
For the second year in a row, we volunteered at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. For 18 hours of work, volunteers are able to attend the festival for free. With such an incredible lineup (i.e. Paul McCartney, Of Monsters and Men, and Weird Al), and since we were already in Tennessee, it was impossible to pass up.
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| McCartney's ode to an odobenine |
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| Sorry, no baseball bats or glowsticks |
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| Hello, welcome to Bonnaroo |
Randy's free time:
Somehow Randy found time to pursue other interests. He taught himself to make a braided sling, and restored an old rusty scythe.
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| An all-natural wort cooler |
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Don't let this little saison fool you,
it was quite feisty. |
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| Trying the sling |
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| Randy braided himself a sling |
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| Old school mowing |
Up the mountain:
Overlooking the farm is a rather steep (think 45 degree slope) "mountain". The mountain was home to morels and other mushrooms, pawpaws, several sheer rock faces, and even a cave worth exploring.
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| A recently fallen tree made a perfect bridge over the gully |
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| Forest and Holly hiking the tracks |
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| Exploring a little-known cave on the property |
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| Chilling in the antechamber |
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| Making cave-mud art |
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| Brian examining the crevice |
Dr. Whitey, a local mycologist joined us one morning for a fungal tour of the farm. We enjoyed having a knowledgable expert along with us to point out the marvels that we otherwise would have missed.
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Our second year of morel hunting
up the mountain |
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Dr. Whitey Hitchcock sharing
mycological knowledge |
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| Randy up a tree |
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| Randy finds a Dryad's saddle for soup |
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| polypore pickin' |
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| Adam super excited about finding chicken of the woods |
Cider:
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| Hassan loading the press |
This year witnessed a record-breaking apple crop. Starting in early August, and going through the end of October, we were able to get a large pressing of cider every week. Even after producing hundreds of gallons, we never got tired of the flavor. How often do you get all-you-can-drink apple cider?
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| Holly and Lily help add apples |
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| Prepping apples for cider |
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| Yep, more cider. So much cider. |
The CSA party: In September, Adam and Shelby hosted a farm party for all their CSA members. There was a fine dinner and music, with Jeff Alejandro, award-winning chef at the Crown and Goose, roasting a pig for us, and local band Check Engine jamming late into the night.
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| Farm ambiance |
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| Dig in! |
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Jeff from the Crown and Goose and
his piece de resistance |
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| What's more satisfying than good people gathered around good food? |
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| Quick, everyone, pretend to be posing for a cheesy album cover! |
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| Lookout over La Follette, what a view! |
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| Marcus at the Po-Ho's mascot tryouts |
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| FOCUS!! |
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| Jumping super high is so exciting! |
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Croquet: no longer just for 19th century aristocrats.
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Holly had been looking forward to the prospect of a hayride all year, and when autumn finally came, we piled into the flatbed trailer and had an old-fashioned good time.
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Even though we live on a farm,
a hayride's still exciting |
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| Nothin' like a sunset hayride |
We got engaged!
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Enjoying the delicious proposal picnic
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One afternoon Randy took Holly for a hike up the mountain. Along the way, there were breaks representing different points in our relationship, each stop yielding a picnic component Randy had prepared earlier. We got to the top and had a delicious picnic, and then Randy pointed out the view. We could see a hill on the farm where Randy had been sneaking out and scything for weeks to write an important question. Holly said yes, and Randy presented a beautiful gold ring he had made.
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| Query on a hill |
Scenic Views:
In case you need new background wallpaper, here is a small sampling of the beautiful sights we were blessed to see every day.
Saying goodbye:
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| Forest and Randy |
October came quicker than we could have possibly imagined, and all too soon it was time to say goodbye. We had an incredible time at Spring Creek Farm, and learned an indescribable amount of farming knowledge from Adam and Shelby. Even though it takes an immense amount of work to manage a farm, it's never a chore as long as you are around people who make it all worth it. Thank you, Adam and Shelby, for all the pancakes, croquet games, movie nights, popcorn, games of charades, farm (and safety) meetings, and bon fires. We loved and appreciated being a part of the planning and decisions that go into running a farm. Our stay at Spring Creek this season cemented our desire to have a farm of our own one day.
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| Cozy with the work gloves |
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| Hershey Sundae, farm dog |
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| Puzzling... |
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| (most of) Our farm family |
