Toad Drowner

I must give credit to Ivan Doig for that description of a rainy spell, but it was too perfect to pass up as the summary of our last few weeks. I think we've topped 6 inches of rain in the last 2 weeks. We're getting a bit water-weary, and each time it starts to rain again, Abrahm asks, "Why is it raining again?....Eventually, it will stop raining!" And we think, again and again, "I don't know why it's still raining, and I'm glad you continue to be optimistic that it will stop." Perhaps our next building project should be an ark, rather than garden shed, pig house, greenhouse, or any of the other of the current short-list of projects we're contemplating.

Vegetable shares have been beautiful and bountiful, despite the rain. All the leafy greens are enjoying this cool wet weather, and we have collard greens big enough to use as umbrellas. If only there were a way to weed without actually having to set foot in the garden. We're hoping that it dries soon enough that the roots and fruits aren't stunted or rotted.

In non-vegetable news, Samuel weighed in at 11lb, 9 oz today, and has gained more than 1 lb/week these last few weeks. He's quickly losing the brand-new newborn look. Abrahm continues to thrive as big brother. He is starting to take on the big-brother-as-entertainer role. He helps with harvest days, albeit with decidedly Abrahm-devised methods (eg harvesting the radishes with his backhoe). He went strawberry picking with Grandma and Paka today, and managed to get at least a few berries into the boxes instead of his belly.

That's it for now, as I should go take a walk (or mudslide) through the garden to see how things are faring.

Leslie

Back home

Back from where, you might be asking? The hospital, again. One week after we came home after Samuel's birth, I ended up back in the hospital for three days with a nasty bout of mastitis. Once again, we were thankful that Arlene willingly and capably held home and farm together in our absence. We are happy to be home together again. I am slowly regaining my strength, and trying to find ways to be useful without exerting myself too much.

This week is our first week of vegetable shares for our CSA shareholders. Ben, Arlene, and Abrahm harvested and packed shares this morning despite more than 2.5 inches of rain in the last couple days. We're ready for some warm dry weather. It doesn't seem quite right to be using the woodstove in mid-June!

brothers

Hello,

We started this post a few days back, and the photos disappeared. Somehow between Samuel feedings, a planting marathon in the garden, and a somewhat needier big brother, we've not gotten back to it until now. The photo of Abrahm on the loader is documentation of the very real need for special time dedicated to big brother. Ben had a skid steer part to pick up at the dealer, and he and Abrahm checked out (and climbed on) every piece of equipment possible!

The summary of life right now, as quoted to me by my Aunt Tini: "The days are long and the years are short." I might amend that to include, "the nights are even longer", as Samuel sleeps better during the day than at night. Nonetheless, we're doing okay, and are continually thankful for Ben's mom being here for help with children, cooking, and garden. Thank you Arlene!

That's it for now...
Leslie

A new addition to Counterpoint Farm

We welcome the newest addition to Counterpoint Farm:
Samuel David Bardo Geissinger
born May 28, weighing 8lb 13oz, 21.5"

Workin' away

Well lots has happened since the last post. We're making progress on the shed which now has power and the shop has walls with insulation. Having never run power underground or installed a service panel before made the last while quite interesting and a bit stressful at times, that part is behind me and now I just have a few outlets to install and I'll be done with the wiring for now.
It's been busy around here as usual trying to get the shed done enough to leave for Minnesota. Which is only about a week away now! Hooray!! We are all ready have a vacation. Abrahm is looking forward to meeting his new cousin, as are we, and Leslie and I are looking forward to some down time. We'll be driving out this time in hopes of saving money as well as avoiding air travel around the holidays. We'll be gone for about 3 weeks and look forward to seeing many friends and family there again.
I don't have any photos of the shed progress at this point so I'll keep it short and try to get some more here in the next few days.

Shed in the making

Well I'm not going to write a whole lot as I'm quite sure that there are very few readers at this point. I can't even remember the last time I posted on here. Here are some pictures of the shed from this past weekend. We've been making very good progress and I'm now waiting for some supplies from Hammond Lumber to do the floor in the shop area. I still need to dig a trench for the power, and run some cable so that I can wire things up for the shop. I'll be ready for bed pretty soon so I think I'll end this now. Hope you're all well. Ben

It's been a long time

We've been a bit lax in posting here, so I thought we had better fill everyone in on what's happening around here. We are still contending with new snow on very consistent basis, and to be honest we are getting a bit tired of it. We have heard that the total snow fall for this winter in Jay has been about 130". Last weekend I took a shovel around the back of the yurt so that I could dig out Abrahm's window which was entirely covered in snow all the way past the awning! Our window was not far from that either and even the windows on the south side which are quite high off the ground have snow up to about the middle . As I write this however we are having quite a good rainfall which has knocked down the snow piles somewhat. It's been fairly warm here for a while as well and so we now have the pleasure of dealing with a muddy driveway. We know spring is on the way, but it's a bit hard to imagine at this point. We're pretty ready to be done with the snow since this will also mean the end of snowmobile season. Way to many and way to loud is about all we need to say on that matter.
We have just sent out our first flier for Full Circle Farm which is the name of our place. We'll be offering a few vegetable shares in a CSA setup this year as well as pork and soap shares. We're quite excited about being able to really start farming this spring, but also a bit overwhelmed. The snow of course does not exactly help in spring preparations, but we are lucky in that we will have a bit of established garden space courtesy of our neighbors Leslie's aunt and uncle. We will be working up some more ground as soon as things are dry enough and that is also part of the pork share plan. Our pigs will be enlisted in working up an area of future garden which is quite a handy way to do it, and they are quite good at it!
Leslie is still enjoying school which she finds generally not too difficult, but still a lot of work. She has recently started to do a bit of fiddling (violin) with a friend of ours who has a couple of gigs lined up for the coming months. It is great for her to get back to playing and to have something other than farm or school to keep her creative juices flowing.
I've been in a welding training program since the beginning of February. It has been fun, but also very challenging. I had never welded anything in my life before starting this program. I've learned quite a lot already, but realize that I have much more to learn. It is nothing like woodworking, but it is quite rewarding. I'm quite close to getting my first structural certification, and after that I will move on to pipe welding, which from what I hear is more difficult. I have about six weeks left in the program and then I'm expected to head out into the field and begin work on a huge project for the company I'm working for. We will see what happens in that regard as the job site is about 2 hours away and they are expecting overtime right from the beginning. I've mostly been interested in this program so that I will be able to make repairs around here on farm machinery and the like, but we'll see. At this point I'm just hoping to learn as much as I possibly can from my instructor who is an amazing welder.
Abrahm continues to busy himself with all matter of toy machines from tractors to trains, but he is also developing a great love of books. It's great fun to sit with him and ready book after book. He's still not very interested in talking, or I should say not interested in speaking English. He often keeps up a pretty steady commentary in his own tongue. He is picking up words hear and there and also showing much more interest in mimicking sounds and words that he hears. I still find it amazing to watch him learn and experiment with new things. A good reminder that the world is truly an amazing and rich place. I forgot to mention that he has also started to help me bake bread. He has a great time wearing and apron and measuring and mixing the ingredients. He also has a great time consuming the end product!
Well I think that is all for now. We are looking forward to a trip back to Minnesota in less than a week. Which will be a wonderful chance to relax and reconnect with friends and family.