luna acres

I have been thinking a lot lately about money, and in particular our relationship with it. Today was our first Monday off. We now have Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off each week, with Monday being our resident farm work day. We need to work on tons of mushroom logs for next season! But back to my point, money.  Jonathan and I have made a conscious decision to live in a manner where our time (with each other, on our land) is more valuable to us than money. Don't get me wrong, we have to have jobs. We are very fortunate to be given such circumstances that we can get away with out working much. We live with my parents, which is sometimes incredibly frustrating (we are grown adults, what are we doing here?!?) but we deal with it because of the value of what we are given here. We aren't simply living here because we have a bedroom, like if we were living with parents in town, we are doing this, dealing with this, for the land. We will never be able to afford 35 acres of la

Over the past several months we have had more than our fair share of water issues on the farm.  First there was a broken joint under the house, fixed that. Then we lost water pressure. We moved the pressure tank up from under the house (why on earth do they put them where you can't get to them??) The next move was to pull up the well pump, 180 feet below ground. It was a tough job, but a family learning experience. After a long days work, all five of us covered head to toe in mud, we still didn't have water. FAILURE. The next morning, Sunday, we pull it up again, we're getting good at this now, and return the pump to town in exchange for another one. Put down the new pump. STILL NO WATER. Back to work for all of us on Monday, filthy and sweaty and gross. Tuesday we rush home from work, pull the pump for the third time, we're becoming professionals now, replace the entire line running down to the pump, drop it back down... WE STILL DON'T HAVE WATER. At this poin

the garden - before the ducks the newly covered duck house - on the garden the garden - after the ducks. goodbye weeds! the backside of the ducks house, with their door to the run and a little window for ventilation The last week has been very windy, stripping the colorful leaves from the trees and leaving things looking much like winter, much too soon for my taste. This morning I recovered the duck coop with clear plastic, less drafty and more sunny. When I was doing my homework about preparing the bird house for winter I was pleasantly surprised to learn that ducks are much more hardy than chickens. They just need a semi-draft free space, unfrozen water, and some dry hay to keep their feet warm. Of course we try to give them more than just what they "need", like a brighter enclosure and access fresh grass. Stay warm duckies! Live simply, Angela and Jonathan