The Nincom Dummies
The path to my morning puppy play date
At around 9:30 – 10 am, I head out plodding through the silence of the fresh fallen snow…. I head across my uhhh “field,” then I cross the small bit of woods that stands as a property line. I go by the trail my neighbor and I made. Oh yes, she knows I am at her house, not just because I texted to let her know, and not because she sees me through her kitchen window. She knows I am there for the same reason she knows I am not alone. As usual, my not so trusty great dane puppy Pikku, was in tow.
Pikku, the Wildflower Farm pupper.
Typically I am up at around 8:30-9 am, when I don’t have guests…. I sleep as late as life allows. And you are saying, “hey, you fraud! I thought you were a farmer!” It is a common misconception of lay people. Or it is the most well kept secret truth of farmers….. You only need to be up by 5 am if you literally have a cow. They need to be milked. But my goats aren’t in season and if they were, I would have them on a 24 hour milking schedule, but again, no need to get up at 5 am cuz of the way goats operate compared to cows. And I can do my gardening and egg collection and feeding any time. There is 1 hard and fast rule. Everyone gets fresh food every 24 hours from the time they last ate and no longer than that! Which means yes it is possible to be a farmer and to not get up at 5 am.
Hettie, my neighbor’s dog.
So my first act upon waking up most mornings, is going across a plain of snow, through a wooded property line to bring my dog to the neighbor’s. Next thing Pikku, and I know, Hettie, my neighbor’s large dog, comes charging out the back door with my neighbor! In a fit of joy, the two fur balls come together and get their crazy dog play on. They are both rather large, and it might scare someone who didn’t know, they are just playing! They love each other!
Farm dogs at play
The “game” takes many forms. Sometimes it seems to be about a tennis ball… Then it’s a stick………… Then, it’s just twenty minutes of puppy zoomies all across the yard….. Next thing I know, Pikku, is sitting on Hettie’s head and Hettie is chewing up Pikku’s front leg….. And it just gets more hilarious and convoluted from there.
Farm dogs at play
Dogs at play
Dogs at play
This is how most of my mornings begin. I stand around outside, trying not to smell the fresh snow that makes me shiver and I watch the nincom dummies, a pair of gladiator dogs, play together with ridiculous over the top expressions…. Usually they try to play on me between spurts of puppy zoomies….
Dead Hettie, is not really dead. Just tired from play time.
Eventually, even gladiator dogs tire…. Hettie, will wander a little ways and collapse in a heap of over dramatized minor exhaustion….. And it is time to wander home again with Pikku, to get on with the day. She will join me on my next project of feeding the “outside people.” And once that is finished it’s time for Pikku, to sleep by the wood stove while I get started on the house keeping…. From there, the day develops into me by the wood stove too spending most of the later afternoon in a good book…. The winter months are a farmer’s vacation.
This way of life is truly an adventure.
Thank you for coming with me on this grey morning.
Amanda of Wildflower Farm
Tags: B&B, bed and breakfast, dogs, farm, farm wife, farming, great dane, homestead, homestead wife, homesteading, hospitality, lodging, new england farm, new england homestead, rescue, rescue dog, travel, wildflower farm, winter farm, winter homestead
Wildflower Farm, is a small New England homestead, B&B and AirBnB, in the Baystate. We came out here 7 years ago, when we returned from the better part of 10 years as peripatetic aristotelian nomads, for my husband's post docs. Upon our return, we had a plan. We had a lovely home. Everything was so clear. Then, I got sick. Things I used to eat all the time during our travels elsewhere in the world and even here before I left almost 10 years earlier made me ill. It took a couple trips to the ER and a trip to specialist... It became clear, something had changed in the way food is processed in this country since last I lived here. Some off label things was inevitably going to be my demise.
My husband and I looked around to see the clear path we were on, had exploded in front of us. We decided we had to create a new path for ourselves. We put children on hold. We found a small piece of land with a house we loved in a rural suburb in a right to farm area. I began researching how to do it ourselves. Grow it ourselves, make it ourselves, survive on our own as much as possible. We bought the property, and began plotting a new course. One that didn't involve off label chemicals. Closer to nature, with a lot more DIY, gardens, and animals for the products they provide. We created a life we loved though it hasn't always been easy and has of course come with compromise with each other, and even with ourselves.
Our family thought we had lost our minds. What were we doing leaving the city? We had no idea how hard this would be. They thought we would be back in 6 months. That was over 7 years ago, now. We have been making it work. They were not wrong, it isn't easy. But has anything worth doing ever been easy? And for us, avoiding as much store bought food as possible was simply necessary so I could live given how sick I was getting.
Then Covid hit.... We were lucky to have this place. It has allowed us a lot less need for public use territories which has kept us a lot safer and spared us much of the risk others face daily. This place, has given us a privilege through this of great meaning to us. To be of use in a difficult time. We have been able to help friends family and even strangers in need when things couldn't be found on store shelves. Or money was tight due to not working, rent being due and a child at home, or some other draining situation. We are so very grateful to have been able to not be helpless like so much of society through this miserable time. Our families, got used to it some time ago, us being out here. They made peace with it the day there was no bread and they had to ask me for some. Or when fresh vegies were rotten due to supply chain issues but they could find plenty in my garden.
Wildflower Farm, was a place I dreamed of. One of those sweet pastoral dreams a city dweller grows up knowing will never come true, that became unavoidable when I became ill. I never expected to get to do this. I never thought I had what it takes to make this work. I have learned pacing myself is important, compromise is critical, hard work never ends, burn out is real so breaks are just a necessary evil.
We are not fully self sufficient, but we work hard in that direction as we create a new path through life for ourselves, always reaching to do even more ourselves and to get closer to the ideal we envision. We are however far more self sufficient than many in this world. 7 years in, we continue to learn and grow in this homesteading lifestyle. We welcome comments and advice and ideas and questions.
We welcome visitors from all over to our home with strict covid policies in place. We spend our time learning to live all over again in a more environmental and sustainable way though even there we are far from perfect always learning and growing doing better as we know better.
This little homestead farm is a magical place named for the New England wildflowers that grow all around. A place where a physicist, watches the night sky on clear nights with the aide of mirror and glass, and a woman, works endlessly in the gardens, the kitchen, and a variety of projects to create and to keep a very unique life style running and functioning. Wildflower Farm, has become so much more than simply a piece of land we can grow a few vegetables on. The longer I spend here, the more alive the land seems, the more I learn about it's function and the more meaning it has. My place in the universe and the next steps on our new path become ever more clear.
We welcome you on this journey with us.
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