Living and writing in a circa 1840 New England Farmhouse with three generations of my family
I found my gratitude in the garden again today. It’s that time of year, so it wasn’t surprising to find it there. It was waiting for me in the rhubarb patch. We have been growing rhubarb in our garden for almost 20 years now. What Read More
I found my gratitude today in a place I can always count on finding it: in the garden. It was a beautiful day here, so lovely that I had to give myself a bit of time in the garden even though I had a long Read More
Today I was grateful for these bright and cheery flowers. They brightened my day in spite of our windy, rainy weather. They made me smile every time I walked by them. While you would normally find these flowers planted outside, these are inside the farmhouse. Read More
I found my gratitude with a shovel today. My mom and I had a yard project to tackle and Mother Nature was kind enough to give us abundant sunshine and warm enough temperatures to work outside without a jacket. After the long winter, a warm Read More
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
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
2006 was the first summer we lived at 1840 Farm. That year, we planted a small garden with a handful of heirloom tomato varieties. We were new to heirloom gardening and selected the varieties for that year’s garden in a very non-scientific manner. We simply Read More
The Blondkopfchen Heirloom Cherry Tomato originated in Germany. In German, the word “blondkopfchen” translates to “little blonde girl”. My daughter was a little blond girl when we first began growing this tomato here at 1840 Farm. In fact, she was the reason that I first Read More
The German Johnson Heirloom Tomato is a potato leaf variety of tomato plant with an indeterminate growing habit. It produces large, round, Beefsteak shaped fruit with bright red skin. The ripe fruit commonly show bright yellow striping along its shoulders. The German Johnson’s flesh is Read More