Farm photos!

One little hint from a greenhouse...



















Our muddy friends....














Our little creek (much nicer in person)...




















A view of the barns (you can't see him, but Darin is in the farthest one, in the shadows, with the tractor)....

Teaching and farming

Well, this doesn't have much to do with the farm, mostly because I (Deb) have to stay inside and study most of today and finish my portfolio for student teaching. Darin and our nephew Quinn have been working out there all day, and I must say that I am jealous. As much as I enjoy reading and writing, on a day like today, I'd rather have on my muck boots and be getting my muscles sore turning the compost or working in the fields.

If you are still getting to know Darin and I, you probably are not aware that I am working on my teaching license part time, while I work as a newspaper reporter full-time. It is all a short-term sacrifice, so that I can have more time on the farm -- and, of course, I want to teach.

Darin and I both come from academic backgrounds. I have an English degree from Butler University, as well as a law degree from Indiana University. Darin has a degree in Geography from Indiana University and has completed his coursework for his master's degree in dendroclimatology at Indiana State University. He and I both -- long before we knew each other -- spent a lot of time dabbling in our various interests. Both of us took courses in education and both of us have a definite interest in teaching. The problem is, we both like many, many other things, too -- which is probably why we both are ridiculously over-educated and yet have determined we are most happy on the farm.

I write for the Terre Haute newspaper, the Tribune-Star. Writing is fun! News is not. But, for now, we must keep paying the bills.

I can't wait for some of you to come out and visit the farm! It is so beautiful to stand out in the field, listen to the horses, and look across the quiet landscape. We have a little bubbling creek, and this time of year, the birds are so busy.

The next time I write, I think I will write about some of mine and Darin's philosophies on how we grow things -- without using chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, and how we are working more and more to apply organic fertilizer where we can.

We would love to have comments from those of you reading!

Til next time,
~ Deb

First warm day

Darin and I have been taking daily walks out in the fields, and today, we have been enjoying one of the first truly springlike days! We fertilized the strawberries day before yesterday. Darin has been busily tying up the blackberry canes, and we noticed today that the cherry trees are full of buds. The seeds in the field still aren't quite showing, although Darin can hardly stand to wait; he has to poke his finger in and check to see if the peas are starting to put down roots. And of course, they are.

The greenhouses are sizzling, humid, and full of life, stacked from one side to the other with baby lettuce plants, spinach, leeks, tomatoes, beets, broccoli, and other baby plants beginning to emerge. It smells divine inside the greenhouses -- one of my favorite smells!

Speaking of greenhouses, we had to put a new cover on one of them the other day, and as we loosened the mulch that holds the edges down, we ran into hundreds, maybe thousands of earthworms! That's another of my favorite springtime things -- seeing all the worms getting active again. It means our soil is healthy and our place is a place they want to be.

We'll post more soon! Hope you're having a happy spring!

~~ Deb