Right after our open house we started a week of planting. Up here it is definitely best to wait till after Memorial day to plant outside, but this year we had a night of 34 degrees even after Memorial Day, not quite frost but pretty cold none the less.

Since we are a small, family run farm it takes time to get our systems set up.  Systems are things that make farming easier but often have an initial expense, so we have to work slowly. This year we invested in a plastic mulch layer. Plastic mulch is used for weed control, to heat up the soil, and retain moisture. In the past we have laid the mulch by hand and it would normally take us days (literally all day days) to lay a fraction of what we did with our tractor in a couple hours–see what I mean about making things easier?

Proud helpers.

Admiring the view.

On the way to plant.

Pray loves planting. We just had to make sure the plants actually made it into the ground.

Under the plastic mulch is drip tape that will be hooked up to a large hose that will be hooked up to this water storage container. It is a gravity fed system. The kids don’t care, to them it is a jungle gym.

We are now in the heavy duty prep time for our CSA. If you are interested in joining we still have some slots available. More information is available here.

It has been a pretty lean year here at Crazy Boy Farm. This is nothing new for Proeun and I in our lives. Honestly I am so thankful that my parent’s always employed a budget for Christmas. We still had wonderful Christmases growing up–the highlight of the whole year. But I have to admit I loved most when the whole family got together and made a day of it. Now we have our own crowd but it is still fun to get together with family. I love that for the adults we like giving handmade gifts and just spending time together.

So this year even with a tighter budget than usual I have found that I am really enjoying Christmas preparations–and preparations for the new baby. I am 8 months pregnant and expecting our next baby just one month after Christmas, so in addition to preparing for Christmas we are preparing for a new baby and momma is pretty darn tired most of the time. Because of that I have forgone most of the homemade gifts and instead tried to pick out things that the children need, with a few extras thrown in.

This week we are working instead on filling the freezer with good things to eat for after the baby is born. So far we have lots of chili–Effie’s favorite, Chicken soup–Avril’s favorite, meatballs for spaghetti–Mavis’ favorite and lots of baked goods.

Avril decided she wanted to bake all by herself so we started with chocolate chip cookies. She even read the recipe all by herself!

Mavis helped with the blueberry muffins. So in one day we made chocolate chip cookies, apple peanut butter cookies, blueberry muffins and oatmeal chocolate chip muffins, so snacks and breakfast are taken care of for awhile.

For homemade gifts we are being pretty lenient on the timeline. I also decided that working on projects together with the children is a huge part of the gift. Effie saw me knitting a sleep sack for the new baby and asked if I could make something for her. So I found this pattern and had some pink yarn (she is in a pink stage). Now whenever she sees me knitting it she knows it is for her and loves to sit on my lap and watch the progress. I am hoping to begin an art kit for Avril. I had picked the pattern last year and have to find it again. It is a bit complicated. I thought about making it as a surprise, but have been enjoying my relaxing evenings cuddling with the children so much I wasn’t sure I wanted to give that up. But if we work together on it then she will be able to have 2 gifts, and if it doesn’t get done for Christmas that is OK.

On a side note as I progress with the pregnancy, get more tired and spend more time on the sofa I am finding these impromptu cuddling sessions they best gift of all. Feeling so grateful for the lean years!

A couple weeks ago we got over a foot of snow. This put a quick end to many of our outdoor projects other than taking car of the animals, making sure they are comfortable and coming up with a system for cold weather care that works for us. We have more animals this year then last including–1 horse, 1 donkey, 4 cows, 3 pigs, 8 goats (with babies coming soon), 4 turkeys, lots of chickens, 5 cats (some indoors, some out) and 2 dogs. The horse alone will drink 10 gallons of water a day so figuring out systems is pretty important.

But even with all this craziness I love the slower pace. It took me a little bit to get used to driving, walking and doing chores in the snow but now that I am settled in I am enjoying winter and the time it allows me to work on some of my favorite things like cooking, reading, creating and spending time with family.

Cooking–I love cooking but sometimes it can feel so rushed just keeping up with the family’s needs. Now that things have slowed down more outside I can take the time to cook those hearty meals that require a little more time. Another great perk is that Proeun and I get to cook together and try some new recipes. Here are some I am loving right now–

20 Crock Pot Recipes You’ll Really Want To Eat and

Healthy Holidays-Slightly Indulgent Sweet Treats. Who doesn’t need that right? It is at The Humbled Homemaker. If you subscribe to her blog you get a free copy. I love handmade gifts and love getting and giving gifts of food. This ebook has my mind running.

The children have also discovered a love for candlelight dinners and with the sun setting earlier it makes it so much easier to indulge in a little treat.

Reading–I am finally finding time to read more. I was so happy this week to get the newest issue of Taproot. My favorite article was “Dinner with Sadie.”

The author talks openly about how she loved the idea of cooking with her children in the kitchen but found that her personality and time constraints made it very difficult for her so she and her daughter decided that solo cooking nights worked best for Sadie. It was interesting that I just read it yesterday and today Effie, my 4 year old, really wanted to cook with me. Lunch was curry and she loved cooking it with me. At lunch she asked her dad, “Daddy do you like my curry?” She was so proud. At the end of the article the author lists some cookbooks that are kid friendly, maybe Christmas presents for my children.

Creating–I love knitting but normally only do it in the winter. This year I am trying to focus on a sweater I started for Proeun oh say 7 years. But now I am going to finish it. I have decided that I will knit at least 2 rows a day and limit other projects until it is finished.

Of course with a new baby coming I am itching to make some cute baby projects. Maybe after I do my required 2 rows I can work on a smaller project.

In other news before the snow fell we were actually able to do a photoshoot for one of our sponsors. They sent us a nice picture for us to keep.

So I know I could just scan it but after a crazy busy year and trying to wind down this month and since I was already taking other pictures I decided to just take a picture of it for you.

Finally we have already had our first CSA share of 2015 purchased. It was purchased as a Christmas gift. This got me thinking and we made up some cute gift certificates if you are interested in giving healthy, local food for Christmas. You can pop over to our CSA page for more information.

Hope you have a wonderful start to your holiday season.

This year has been an incredibly busy one. As much as Proeun and I value the simple life and not over extending ourselves with too many off farm activities as the children grow so do their interests. So we try to be really conscious about what we take on but there were times this summer when we had swimming lessons for the 3 older ones every morning then between Tae Kwon Do, horse back riding lessons and training for the 4H dog show it seemed like we had something going on almost every night during the week.

Well with the coming fall things have slowed down a bit–no more swimming lessons or riding lessons and we decided to let Tae Kwon Do go for now while momma recovers but this weekend was the highlight of the summer–the 4H dog show. My children have been in 4H since we moved and we love it. This year Proeun II decided to do the dog project (with a little prodding from mommy who felt the 2 year old huge black lab living in our home could use a little discipline). So one night every week since May II has been training Jack. At the county dog show in August we didn’t know what to expect but were pleasantly surprised when II won first place in both obedience and showmanship and it was on to the state show this past weekend.

II getting ready to show his dog in showmanship. Quite the good looking pair!

It was a long day and September has been a hard month in many ways for me but it was worth it to see II come out of his shell and Jack really show off his talents.

II and Jack waiting on stage to collect their awards. I wanted to go home and skip this part but II really wanted to stay. I remembered back to May when he was so shy he wouldn’t look his instructor in the eye when she talked to him now he is excited to go on stage! He won blue ribbons in both odedience and showmanship at the state level. He already said he is excited to next year.

I have always been an organized person. My mother loves to tell stories on me. Like how from the time I was 7 I always packed my own bags (I am sure with some checking for her) for trips and often a week or so in advance. While in school it served me well as I was able to accomplish my assignments in a timely manner with little stress. My sister laughed at me when I confided to her that if I accomplish something not on my “to do” list I write it on my list just so I can have the pleasure of crossing it off. Now before I loose you completely I totally understand that organization is not something all people thrive at and truly being spontaneous is a great character trait (I just don’t happen to possess it). Luckily my husband does possess this trait and is helping me learn to relax a bit more.

But with 5 children, a homeschool plus a farm and writing business organization does help and honestly this summer I have kind of let it go a bit. But now this week as school is set to begin I am trying to figure out what method works best for me where I am. I used Franklin Covey for awhile and credit it for helping me launch into the world of planners. I loved them but as my shelf built up with binders from years past and each year I had to pay for the expense of a new one plus I used one of the smaller versions and didn’t have a place to store my full size papers.

Then I read a blog post which I can’t find now about using the Five Star Flex Binder and using or making your own calendar pages. I did this for the past year and made sections for calendar, personal development, homeschool, household and farm. I really wasn’t sure how I wanted to set it up and kind of fumbled along.

Then this year I found this planner and eagerly purchased it. I like that it had places to write down goals for the month, semester and year, places to separate out children’s school assignments and menu plan. Plus it had some great and insightful articles to read along the way. But I found I was missing some of my favorite elements of my planner, the own I made to fit my life. For instance we do mostly unit studies so it didn’t make sense for me to divide the day by subject and child. Plus some things like dog training don’t fit well into one subject but I wanted to record that we worked on it because it is an important part of education.

So this year I think I will be using my homemade planner again but with some great additions from planners I have know and loved. I have a better idea of how to use my planner, how to organize it and what to do with extra pages.

So my point is that there are ways to organize that will work for you. I have tried many and it has taken me awhile to figure out a method that will work well with my life, but in the end it is totally worth it to have an idea of what you need to do when and even more importantly a place to record the things you have accomplished.

I really really love this time of year (though I do hope that this winter will be a bit more mild then last). But I love the cool crisp mornings, the expectation for school and a new rhythm to the day and I love that the days are still warm enough to really enjoy that last bit of summer. This month has been really good to us as our weekend schedules and family duties cleared up a bit so we could spend even more time where we really love being.

The crab apple tree has been a center of family life this month. The children, especially the youngest 2, really love being able to easily pick their own fruit and enjoy the taste–a bit like nature’s sourpatch! Proeun was telling me that yesterday when I was away from the farm and he was playing with the children Effie (4) and Pray (2) walked over to the tree and picked some apples then sat under the tree talking and playing. Later they went to a clear spot in the yard and lay down eating apples and watching the clouds. I wish I could have captured that moment on film but it is a picture I love to imagine and hope they will remember. That is exactly why we moved here.

I love flowers but don’t have time to garden them so I love it when they surprise us. Like these flowers from our Asian pea tips.

Recently a neighbor stopped by and asked if we wanted turkeys. One of their females had hatched these out plus more and they were getting overrun. We got 2 males and 2 females. Right now we are enclosing them so they get used to their new home but soon they will be able to enjoy the great outdoors. Not sure what breed they are but they were free, and they are pretty fun. I love the noise they make.

Our pigs are growing nicely. This is a the feeder we bought this spring. They are really funny too. We are hoping to make animals a bigger part of our farm as I really love caring for them. Though sometimes they outsmart me like this last week when they grabbed the door to their pen with their mouth and lifted it off the hinges while I was grocery shopping. The children had to help me track them down and herd them in. They are becoming expert trackers and herders. So that is some of the fun stuff happening around here this month.

I remember reading the Laura Ingall’s Wilder series and other books about Pioneer life and reading about “chores” and not really knowing what that meant–now I do, believe me. All the animals need water, some need grain and some need hay, some need both. There are stalls and pens to clean, in the spring and early summer there is the greenhouse to water and manage, all fun mind you, but still chores. And each season has its necessary uniform. In winter I would love to get a pair of insulated overalls but for the most part it is long johns, an old pair of army pants and work jacket. Then in the spring and fall the pants without the long johns and a work sweater. But now it is warm enough that none of those options are comfortable and I am getting tired of washing all my clothes everytime I do chores (twice a day).

So I had a piece of linen that wasn’t really my color and a cool apron pattern from Heather Ross that I wanted to try. I did have to lengthen the sides a bit but it was a quick sew and now I can do chores in my best farm girl style without getting “stuff” on my clothes every times.

So much better.

Wow, it seems like forever since I have written. I am discovering though that summer is so fleeting and while as vegetable farmers most of our work is in the summer so is most of our fun so our days have been full with much joy and work. At times it has been hard to keep a balance with the slower pace I often prefer but I know that sooner rather then later we will return to the home days of fall and winter so for now fun in the sun. So what exactly have we been doing–well there were swim lessons and basketball camp. Mavis joined her 2 older siblings for both of these and feels like one of the big kids now. And for the last swim lesson session of the year next week Effie will join as she is definitely our water baby.

Then there was the county fair. This has become one of our favorite times of the year. The children enjoy 4H and preparing for the fair throughout the year, then getting to see their hard work appreciated is such a reward. Here are some pictures from the fair.

Avril’s dream of horses was revived likely crazy.

Just playing around on kid’s day.

Checking out some of the creative art in the open class. I was inspired by the children and didn’t even know adults could enter projects in the open class, I might just have to join next year.

This last weekend was the 4H dog show. Jack and Proeun II have been working so hard and they got a trophy in obedience and showmanship plus 2 ribbons and a trip to the state dog show. He is very excited. And it is so nice to see the change in Jack as he learns the commands. He really follows Proeun II around “like a little puppy,” waiting anxiously for the next command.

In addition to fun we did get a bit of work in. We are diversifying our farm and adding Berkshire hogs to the mix. So last week we drove to Cass Lake to pick up Anna and Elsa our first 2 breeding females.

They are just babies right now and loving all the special attention the girls love to give them. Soon they will grow though.

So we had a great July. Hope you did too.