Wavy and Henry and I played hooky the other day and went fishing in the little stream that borders our property. It was Wavy's first time and Henry's second time going fishing. Wavy caught a beautiful 6 inch brook trout, which we ate for dinner. Plus we went out for ice cream at Aunt Dee's, which isn't really called Aunt Dee's anymore, but if you live in the Peacham/Barnet area you know the store I am talking about. It was an awesome afternoon.
We were on the front page of the Caledonian Record the other day!
With a picture of Henry with CSA member Heather Copp! The article was about CSAs in the area.
Here is a link to our CSA info if anyone is finding this site due to the article.
Welcome!
Henry and Wavy worked this afternoon creating river systems in the mud by the greenhouse so that the water would drain and not into the greenhouses.
It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it!!
Henry with Peter in the corn.
Henry doing quality assurance testing during the tomato harvest.
Henry and Willa at market.
Wavy, mentored by her lovely friend Zea, did face painting at market on Saturday. That's how Henry got his awesome dog face. Anyway, Wavy left the market boxes there after she was done and Henry liked to hide all the way underneath them then pop out and make people laugh.
Playing house in the back of the car with Peter, Tim, and Olivia.
Henry selling the vegetables. He took the money, gave change, and then came around front to help folks pick a good cucumber.
Cucumbers are in and Henry (and his friend Tommy) likes to eat whole cucumbers out of hand, like an apple.
Waverly and Henry holding hands as they walk up the hill to go help with the planting.
I liked Henry's choice of reading material the other night.
In other news, after a week plus of gorgeous, even hot weather, we're back to more seasonal weather. Even a few flurries today but still sunny and nice. The cold got a bunch of our sungolds in the upper hoophouse last night, which was a major bummer, but we will plant more. In happier news, the bumblebees in the first greenhouse seem to be thriving. The kids and I watched them pollinating tomatoes this afternoon.
Our neighbor Don Davis runs a dairy farm. Sometimes in the evening, Maryellen and Waverly and Henry will go for a walk up to visit the cows. If Don is around, he will often come out from the barn and chat and let Wavy and Henry pet and feed the calves. All of this has made a huge impression on Henry. All he talks about is cows, and his favorite video is a Vermont classic about life on a dairy farm.
I saw Don at the general store one day and mentioned to him that Henry dreams of being a dairy farmer. Don thought this over for a minute and said with a grin, "Well, I am not sure if it is a dream or a nightmare." Dairying, you see, is not the easiest way to get rich.
But now that it is mud season, Henry has these mud boots he loves because they look like the barn boots that Don wears. He calls them his "cow boots".
Which reminds me of a song called "Eastern Cowboy" by Alan Greenleaf, folksinger and Peacham resident. Here is the chorus:
He's an Eastern Cowboy
He herds Holstein cattle
He ain't got a horse
And he ain't got a saddle
His range is kind of woody
But the snakes they don't rattle
and his boots are rubber and warm . . .
By the way, you can get Alan's songs on iTunes.
Or an alternate title might be, "Ask a silly question . . . " A conversion around the kitchen table at snack time today:
Papa: So Henry. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Henry: A dinosaur!
Papa: Uh, . . .
Waverly: (laughing) You can't be a dinosaur!
Henry: No, no! A butterfly! I be a butterfly.
Papa: Well, . . .
Waverly: (Still laughing a little) He likes the sound of a butterfly flying.
Papa: The sound of what?
Waverly: You know . . . (starts silently pantomiming a butterfly in flight around the table).
Henry: Yea, yea. I be the sound of a butterfly.
