Winterize Me

Preparing for hunkering down here at Bluebird Meadows. Stuart has been working hard in the after hours to get our wood pile to size for the cold weather that will be here soon. This weekend we have temps getting down to 44! Fantastic! The farm is winding down, taking deeper breathes, saying long awaited goodbyes to summer crops past their peak....we have just a few more weeks of fall crops to take to market and then we'll get a break from the market scene. I haven't been for two months now which is really weird. I miss it. But Ruth is definitely keeping me busy. Hopefully we will get our hoophouses planted very soon with goods for Nov. and Dec. I get the big house this year for flowers as we're trying a winter flower CSA. I'm pretty excited about it; I just hope little Ruth will be on board with letting mom get some work done. This morning was the first time I took Ruth to the field to work for a couple hours. She slept the whole time, thoroughly unimpressed with the beautiful lisianthus I cut. In other news, Clover wants to show off her new bed to everyone. Hank stole hers so she has been roughing it on the rug for a while now.

Ruth Eleanor White

Our little angel is here! We have had hardly a minute to spare in our lives since her birth. I had big plans to write up her birth story for you all and would still like to, but things have just been so crazy. This past Wed. we had to go to the ER with our little Ruth as she was running a high fever. We stayed there til Sunday morning, all three of us, as she was diagnosed with a UTI. We are all fine, but they still want to do a few tests on her to make sure all is well. We're not thrilled about any of it, and are still in disbelief about our luck. It's rare for a newborn to develop a UTI. She even had to have a spinal tap! Anyhow, just wanted to go ahead and post a few pictures of her, our finest flower. She is definitely the new light of our lives. She was born August 31st at 7:22, just hours before her due date, weighing in at 8 lbs 8 ounces. WOW!!!

Waiting

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”--Charles Darwin

So we're six days away from our due date. It's hard for me to move around, get up get down, walk, sleep, eat. I keep thinking I can't get any bigger, but sure enough, this baby keeps on growing (and the rest of me too). The last few weeks have been challenging for me, a test of endurance and patience as we move closer and closer to being full time parents. Stuart has been amazingly supportive and our workers, Emily and Adam, are heroes in my mind. I've been slowly working less and less as my body can only handle so much right now and I'm not getting much sleep. It's hard for me to not be at 100% on the farm. Surprisingly hard. I miss being able to shovel a bucket full of manure, carry a crate of onions, hand weed a desperate plant.....I know soon enough these things will be possible and necessary, but I also know everything is going to be different with a baby. But we can and will adapt and there will be new thresholds of experience to live and love.

Stuart left for market this morning in gusty winds and light rain from Irene. It was slightly painful helping him load the truck knowing that market would not be the bustling hubbub it takes to sell what all we bring. Flowers in particular are a much harder sell on a day like today. We definitely need the rain that Irene will bring, so I guess we should be thankful. We'll be able to shape and raise our strawberry beds and get things better prepared for fall. And if baby comes this week, I should be able to make a few killer bouquets from the leftovers, something for me to focus on during all the ruckus of labor. Crazy times!!!

Abundance

Of course all of the summer beauties bloom during this heat wave. Tuberoses all at once. Lisianthus so pretty in pink. Buckets and buckets of them. Have you ever had to cut yourself off from a good thing? Do you have any idea how hard it is to leave a perfectly good cut flower in the field????!!! And the melon patch! Whoa mama. Let us hope customers can make it to market for all the goodness.

Sunday Farm Fun

Short Documentary

A Farming Way of Life - Bluebird Meadows from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

Hey everyone! We're excited to share this short film of our farm done by Brad Herring. As he states on the vimeo page, "A Farming Way of Life" is a documentary film project that offers a glimpse into the lives of locally-based farmers committed to the practice of organic and sustainable agriculture in the Triangle region of North Carolina. This project is part of the Regional Artist Project Grant* from the United Arts Council.

Thanks to Brad for choosing to work with our farm.

Enjoy!