Winter Wonderland
Wildflower Farm In The Snow
A few days back we got had a “wicked stawm” or for those who don’t speak Boston, “a wicked storm.” Now for people unfamiliar with the term “wicked” it means very, or lots of, or something to that general affect. It can also mean severe, or major…. It enhances what it is applied to in Boston vernacular.
Pikku visits with some of her barn yard friends.
The thing is, I am a farm. So when wicked stawms hit, I have to go do the rounds, making sure everything and everyone is ok. I take my not so trusty dog Pikku, with me. She is a giant 1 year old great dane puppy. We hope in time the trustiness will take hold…. Till then, I just keep trying to acclimate her to the farm.
Some of the “outside people.” that is how we think about our animals.
The outside people can know many hardships during our New England winters, if proper precautions aren’t taken…. one year it got subarctic, I made them horse blankets out of old throws, another year their water was freezing, we got an electric water bowl. The point is, farm life means endless preparing and repreparing for whatever nature throws at you. Here in New England, that means be ready for everything. So we try to be especially in the winter.
Some pretty ever green trees in the snow.
goats in the snow
Pikku, visits the wood pile
Beautiful winter farm view
The facts are simple… Nowhere has a winter as magical as New England. Let’s also face reality… Large portions of this farm are unreachable without snow shoes or cross country skis in the winter. However, we are plowed out…. So getting in and out is no problem, and inside it’s warm from the wood stove and smells of wonderful baking treats…. As harsh and hard as it can get out here, the more I find myself spell bound by this place.
Olde fashioned farm house
We moved out here some years back looking for a different more environmentally friendly old fashioned way of life. It’s rough going…. But we are still here, surviving another long winter, here at Wildflower Farm.
Thank you for taking the time to read.
Amanda of Wildflower Farm
Tags: agriculture, B&B, bed and breakfast, environmentalism, farm, farm wife, green, homestead, homestead farming, homestead wife, homesteading, inn keeper, inn keeper's blog, travel, wildflower, wildflower farm
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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