Living and writing in a circa 1840 New England Farmhouse with three generations of my family
It was a typical Tuesday morning at 1840 Farm. I was 90 minutes into a tomato soup canning session when the phone rang. When I picked it up, I could immediately hear the “cheep, cheep, cheep” in the background as a not very impressed postal employee Read More
I started making my own vanilla extract several years ago. I didn’t do it to save money or make a better product. I did it because it’s just what you do when someone in your family suddenly has food allergies.
I am on a mission. 1840 Farm will have a flock of chickens in residence before winter comes calling. No, this didn’t happen because of the salmonella egg scare that has been the news story du jour as of late. But I will not tell Read More
This just in. I harvested 17 pounds of organic, fresh produce from the 1840 Farm gardens yesterday. I feel proud. I feel victorious. I feel exhausted. This is the time of year that the hours of labor in our gardens finally seem to make sense. That Read More
I have always liked eggplant. Problem is, I have always disliked the way it was prepared. I never understood the point of covering it in a coating of breadcrumbs an inch thick and then frying it in oil. What ended up on my plate tasted of oil and stale bread without even a hint of the eggplant lying in repose underneath.
It’s time that I came clean. I love tomatoes. No really. I love them. Not the languishing in the produce aisle in February variety. Sorry. You may label me a tomato snob, but I can’t help it. If you’ve ever tasted an heirloom tomato fresh from your garden, still warm from sunlight, then you’ll understand. If you haven’t, get thee to a local farmer’s market. Immediately.
My family moved to the 1840 Farm in the Fall of 2005. It had been uninhabited for over a year and it showed. The grass was waist deep and the plantings would have been considered overgrown years before we found ourselves taking refuge from a New England rainstorm on its Read More