Living and writing in a circa 1840 New England Farmhouse with three generations of my family
I grew up celebrating Independence Day with sparklers and barbecue. We lived in Kansas and didn’t really need the guise of a holiday as an excuse to eat barbecue. Fourth of July parades and celebrations seemed to be as ubiquitous as sunshine on a summer Read More
I love to find a new purpose for materials that would otherwise be discarded. I enjoy the challenge of re-imagining the use of items found in our recycling bin or stored in the old hay loft of our barn. I also much prefer using materials Read More
I enjoy the tangy flavor of sauerkraut paired with many dishes and also served on its own. For years, we have been purchasing local kraut. Each time we served it at our family table, I wondered if we could make a homemade version. The process Read More
A crisp dilly bean is like a celebration of the summer garden. Once you learn how to make quick refrigerator dilly beans, you’ll be making them all summer long.
Tennis Ball Lettuce was found in the United States as early as the eighteenth century. It was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson. He grew it in the famed garden at Monticello beginning in 1809. When describing Tennis Ball, he wrote, “it does not require so Read More
Here at 1840 Farm, we eagerly await radish season each spring. Radishes are the first vegetable crop harvested from our garden and announce the happy arrival of the growing season. They also enable us to enjoy eating a spring menu favorite: Sliced Radish Tartine. French Read More
Black Seeded Simpson Heirloom Lettuce is a staple in our 1840 Farm garden every year. I first tasted Black Seeded Simpson four years ago when I reached down on a sunny day to pull a fresh leaf from the lettuce bed. One bite of a Read More
Throughout the year, we produce as much food for our family table as possible. Through the years that we have lived here at 1840 Farm, we have covered the calendar year from maple syrup to summer’s garden produce to fall and winter’s fresh eggs from Read More
The Sunset Runner Bean is beloved for its ability to bring beauty and a nutritious crop to your garden plot. The beautiful salmon pink colored blooms are unique to the sunset variety of runner bean. The vines can grow to be six feet tall and Read More
Biting into a perfectly ripe ear of sweet corn is a summer rite of passage. There’s just something about the sweet, juicy flavor of sweet corn that instantly transports me back to my childhood. When I watch my children enjoying an ear of corn grown Read More
There are few images more synonymous with autumn than that of a ribbed, round pumpkin. Each fall, the Long Island Cheese Heirloom Squash grown in our garden move inside the house. They decorate the farmhouse during the season and through our Thanksgiving holiday. Once fall Read More
The Hidatsa Heirloom Sunflower is named for the Hidatsa Tribes who made their home in the Northern Plains along the Mississippi River’s floodplain. Their style of companion planting with corn, maize, and squash varied slightly from the Wampanoag’s traditional Three Sisters Garden. The Hidatsa added Read More