Cloverleaf Farm is buzzing with activity.
May is our time for getting the fields and gardens ready for planting.
We specialize in heirloom organic produce and get our seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds in Albion Maine. Since Albion is only about 3 hours away, normally we make the journey to get our seeds and make a weekend out of it. This year, we have so much to do, we decided to just have them shipped.
We worked on the lilac garden this weekend. We are moving the lilacs to another area in order to eradicate the bittersweet out of our yard. Bittersweet may be a beautiful plant, but it is too invasive to have on a farm. The new location of the lilacs will actually give us a privacy barrier when they grow in.
Today, we will go to Remick Farm Museum and pay our deposit on the piglets. The piglets will arrive about the third week of June. We had been searching for Tamworth piglets. These piglets are half Tamworth.
Pyewacket the cat is sure to give birth in the next couple weeks. It will be interesting to see how many kittens she has. We are not sure who the father is. She is not telling. She disappeared for a whole week back in the beginning of April. We thought we had lost her for good. Now, we know what she was up to.
Nick and Nora Charles Bunnies are still a bit people shy. We pick them up and handle them daily to get them use to humans. Nick seems to be a bit more trusting then Nora.
Our new chicks arrived on Friday. We will be selling organic chicken by the pound this summer. They are peeping away under their heat lamp in the pantry. It is hard to believe that they will be ready for the freezer by mid July.
The hens have been busy making our daily supply of eggs. We get about 4 dozen a day. We have wholesaled some eggs to a local store, and we sell the rest at our farm stand.
Farmers Market starts up in two weeks. We were hoping to do more than one this year, but I have not heard back from the one in Wolfeboro.
Summer will soon be upon us. For us this means fresh organic food right out of the garden...who could ask for more.
Fixing the Coop
Yesterday, was indeed an unseasonal day. It got up to be over 90 in the sun. Of course that was the day I choose to fix the chicken pen and coop. The fence post have leaned, and it made the fence lean in right along with it. The chickens learned they could sit on it like a hammock. It was actually kind of funny to watch. After I fixed it up, they all looked at me as if to say "hey, you ruined our nesting hammock.
Along with fixing up the pen, came cleaning and fixing up the coop. They love to make a mess scratching around.
I also cleaned up the raspberry orchard. I can't believe how much hay mulch we had put down. They are budding now, and I can't wait for fresh raspberries.
By 7, I was ready for bed.
Along with fixing up the pen, came cleaning and fixing up the coop. They love to make a mess scratching around.
I also cleaned up the raspberry orchard. I can't believe how much hay mulch we had put down. They are budding now, and I can't wait for fresh raspberries.
By 7, I was ready for bed.
Back to the Past
When we bought Cloverleaf Farm a couple years ago, luckily there wasn't many renovations to do. Not any majors one anyway.
We started by doing small things like replacing the ugly plastic lights with 1800's replica lighting. I could not believe anyone would put a fluorescent light fixture in the bedroom. EEee Gads it was horrible. It looked like a space ship getting to land on the bed.
We then moved on to simple projects like wallpapering the ell. I don't think it had been touched since 1930 something. The back of the door was so dirty, it looked like it had been burnt. The ell came out beautiful. It still looks like 1930 something, only with cleaner wallpaper.
We then started the downstairs powder room. We still haven't finished that. It got to be spring, and I wanted to be outdoors in the gardens. I guess we can get back to it now.
Big projects haven't really been started yet. We plan on redoing the kitchen and date it back to the late 30's early 40's.
We have started to collect items from different eras for throughout the house.
We started by doing small things like replacing the ugly plastic lights with 1800's replica lighting. I could not believe anyone would put a fluorescent light fixture in the bedroom. EEee Gads it was horrible. It looked like a space ship getting to land on the bed.
We then moved on to simple projects like wallpapering the ell. I don't think it had been touched since 1930 something. The back of the door was so dirty, it looked like it had been burnt. The ell came out beautiful. It still looks like 1930 something, only with cleaner wallpaper.
We then started the downstairs powder room. We still haven't finished that. It got to be spring, and I wanted to be outdoors in the gardens. I guess we can get back to it now.
Big projects haven't really been started yet. We plan on redoing the kitchen and date it back to the late 30's early 40's.
We have started to collect items from different eras for throughout the house.
A Long Winter
This winter is not as bad as last winter. Last winter we had by far more snow than we have had in this area in close to 40 years.
Thinking of the cold and all the snow they had, makes me wonder what they would have done when they first built Cloverleaf Farm.
We don't have the farm animals they would have had, but that could not have taken up their whole day.
Thinking of the cold and all the snow they had, makes me wonder what they would have done when they first built Cloverleaf Farm.
We don't have the farm animals they would have had, but that could not have taken up their whole day.
Another One Down
We finally got bedroom number 4 almost to where we want it. We had been using it as the "junk" room, but it is now almost completely back dated to about 1940's. The last bedroom will be done last since we need a place to put my fabric and sewing stuff until we find a trunk.
We hope to start working on the library this weekend. Family is suppose to be coming for Michael's birthday, so we figured we could put them to work shuffling furniture around. This back of mine is making it hard to do much of anything lately. Unfortunately, the dogs can't help with such matters. I am still trying to get them to get them to stop leaving their toys in the middle of the floor.
I would like to think that Spring will be here soon. Lots of projects in the pantry and in the shop can't be done until Spring because it is too cold out there.
Why does Winter seem so long?
We hope to start working on the library this weekend. Family is suppose to be coming for Michael's birthday, so we figured we could put them to work shuffling furniture around. This back of mine is making it hard to do much of anything lately. Unfortunately, the dogs can't help with such matters. I am still trying to get them to get them to stop leaving their toys in the middle of the floor.
I would like to think that Spring will be here soon. Lots of projects in the pantry and in the shop can't be done until Spring because it is too cold out there.
Why does Winter seem so long?
Time Warp
Back dating a house is fun, but it can also be tedious. We aren't just talking buying a retro kitchen table and plopping it in to the room. We are going the whole 9 yards, and also back dating everything. This includes accessories, appliances, and decorations. Curtain styles, color schemes, and furniture.
Dishwasher Proves The Stupidity of Fred
We moved into a house with a very dysfunctional kitchen. Stove on one side, drawers with utensils on the other. This due to the fact Fred, the former owner who lost the house to the bank, decided to put in a huge dishwasher under the cabinet. In order to do this, he had to take out 2 drawers, and a cabinet underneath. He also had to cut into the cabinet to do this leaving a huge gap that let cold air in from the foundation. The kitchen started out as a shed or summer kitchen, and we don't think the walls are thick or the floor is not insulated. Why he didn't fill it in with insulation like we did is beyond us.
We had wanted to take out the dishwasher right after we moved in, but never got around to it. We finally decided to take it out the other day, and couldn't believe what he had done. We already knew from other things he had done in the house that he wasn't too bright, but this clinched his stupidity. Not only did he mess up the cabinet, he detached the plug that came with the dishwasher, and rewired it with an orange extension cord...with the ground cut off. Not that we used it much, but we are lucky that we didn't electrocute ourselves when we did use it.
We now have a hole in our kitchen where the dishwasher once sat. For now we are going to patch up the floor of the cupboard, and put up a curtain until we decide on how to redo the kitchen. I hate to go through all the trouble of fixing it just to tear it out.
We had wanted to take out the dishwasher right after we moved in, but never got around to it. We finally decided to take it out the other day, and couldn't believe what he had done. We already knew from other things he had done in the house that he wasn't too bright, but this clinched his stupidity. Not only did he mess up the cabinet, he detached the plug that came with the dishwasher, and rewired it with an orange extension cord...with the ground cut off. Not that we used it much, but we are lucky that we didn't electrocute ourselves when we did use it.
We now have a hole in our kitchen where the dishwasher once sat. For now we are going to patch up the floor of the cupboard, and put up a curtain until we decide on how to redo the kitchen. I hate to go through all the trouble of fixing it just to tear it out.
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