Goodbye Twin Springs

I worked my last day at Twin Springs Farm on Friday. It's been a wonderful year and three months learning the ins and outs of small-scale, sustainable agriculture. I had the pleasure to work for amazing people - Gary and Jeanne Scott - and learned a great deal from them. I learned to identify common garden pests; how to grow throughout the year using unheated hoop houses; how to seed, transplant, and harvest a variety of vegetables; and a host of other important skills. I also learned to love cool mornings, afternoon breezes, the changing leaves in the fall, ripe blueberries, and soaking rains. I'm going to miss the early morning drives to Nelson County, the warm welcome from Akira the farm dog, the joy of harvesting (and eating!) fresh produce throughout the year, the cackle of hens laying eggs.......I'm even going to miss the satisfaction of pulling weeds and smashing squash bugs, but most of all, I'm going to miss the farm itself and the joy of growing. Thank you, Twin Springs, for everything.

Below are a few photos of the farm recently - you can see it's the height of the season right now with tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupes, watermelons, lettuce, squash, beets, okra, and raspberries all being harvested. You can also now keep up with the farm throughout the year on the new blog: twinspringsfarmva.wordpress.com (featuring many of my pictures from throughout the year!)

It may be a bit before my next post, but check back for photos of the new house and adventures in my new garden! I'm already planning where to plant the first blueberry bushes.....

Summer Delights

I've decided I love summer. I thought fall was my favorite season with its changing leaves, crisp mornings, and hint of woodsmoke in the evenings; or maybe spring, with fresh rain, muddy boots, and the promise of life returning with the first sprouts of the season. But, alas, I've been converted to a summer girl (at least for the next few weeks until we move to Arkansas where I might die a quick and sweaty death of heat exhaustion). I think it has something to do with the endless days, golden suntan (I once had a friend say even fat looks better when its tan - I totally agree), a cool breeze driving with the windows down, oh, and of course......the food!

The past few weeks have been exceptionally good for fresh food forays. Between the farm, garden, and other adventures - I've had plenty of deliciousness. I apologize in advance for these photos that will undoubtedly make you hungry, but, alas, this will have to suffice until someone invents edible film........

Blackberry picking on the 4th of July, turned into........

.......the most delicious dessert I may have ever eaten.

The other food was pretty tasty as well (everything homemade with mostly local ingredients): potato salad, coleslaw, corn salad/salsa, pasta salad, refrigerator pickles, watermelon, sausage, and berry mojitos! (I neglected to take a picture of them - I think I was too busy slurping mine down)

And a sampling from the UVa Community Garden.......

Purple hull peas and "sun gold" cherry tomatoes

Peppers, patty pan squash and more tomatoes (these all went into omelets with eggs from the farm for dinner the other night)

Garlic drying on the patio

Freshly dug Yukon Gold and All Blue Potatoes......before.....

........and after.

Cucumbers and garlic from the garden, dill from the farm........before.....

......during......

......and after. (I'll let you know how they taste in about a week)