mama earth farm

my old dear friend mary lives on a farm. she and her husband ben are living the dream! they work so hard every day on their 5 acre property in somerset and they now have created a CSA (community supported agriculture) and sold ten shares of their farm to their neighbors. in fact, nancy, mom's friend from the library, is one of their lucky buyers. they will provide a box of fresh produce from their garden and eggs from their gorgeous happy hens once a week.

they took us on a little tour through their growing goodies. kale, chard, carrots, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, strawberries, snap peas all flourishing green and lively in pretty curving rows. they also have all types of different herbs and they are starting an orchard with nectarines, plums, apples, two different kinds of pears, cherries.

ben told us all about what he feeds the chickens, how they grind it up and what is healthy for chickens. and sylvan, who fell in love with the little crank to grind up the peas, worked on grinding chicken feed for the next hour or so! he's a good little farm worker. ben also told us about how they store water and keep the plants happy. they're so smart about farming and ben and mary know everything about the somerset landscape and can name all the various trees and shrubs, both native and non. ben will just pick a little flower or weed and say, here, you can eat this, it's good for you. i learned that the little feathery things growing in my garden really are carrots, now that i've seen the real thing, and i learned that changing a watering schedule a little bit can jumpstart your plants to begin to produce.

mary and ben have woofers come stay and work on their farm. in case you don't know, wwoof stands for "world wide opportunities in organic farming," and people who join the network can go work in various places around the world, usually for food and lodging. ben and mary have met some great people from all over the US and even have a couple returning to spend this summer with them. it is a great way for people to share knowledge about organic farming and to help little farms grow and thrive.

they also have 3 goats named willy, nilly and gerta and one of them is pregnant. they drink fresh goat milk and make homemade kefir.

ben built a straw bale round building for mary to teach yoga in. going inside it feels so good; the floor is cool under your feet and it smells like springtime earth.

but best of all is their baby Yarrow. he is a heavenly little guy who smiles and laughs all the time and has the best little chubby baby thighs and two brand new teeth. he loves people and being held and carried around his farm and it is so wonderful to think of him growing up out there in the country surrounded by animals and fresh organic food with these two wise and wonderful people for parents.