zach and emmy checking in for our first combined blog of adventures! time here has been nothing short of AMAZING! how can there be any complaining when you get to wake up in a treehouse surrounded by a forest of all shades of green!? our commute to "work" includes walking through the trees and up the lower gardens, listening to the birds chirp their morning songs. after a tasty breakfast we get to garden, work in the ceramic studio, cook, tend to the animals, and do lots of other fun and rewarding things around the farm! each day brings new adventures, lots of learning, building community which leads to an amazing outlook on life and being grateful for our absolutely beautiful surroundings! our days end with our bodies happy from being outside each day, filled with delicious food fresh from our gardens, and ready to get some sleep to start adventuring with the new morning! living here has created new awareness and a connection of mindfulness during the daily activities. these spiritual connections allow almost everything done here to be looked at in a meditative light. living each and every day in the present moment!

here are a few photos from the last couple of weeks here at the farm:


august - being his amazing self!


a great mushroom find on the way to the secret swimming hole


first big swarm of the season - grey's first catch and part of the beekeeping adventures going on here at the farm.


farm feast breakfast - joe with his morning cup o' java...


brand new kiln structure complete with removable roof section, soon to be the home of a 2300 wood kiln. the first firing brought everyone out to enjoy some major flames and sparks.... it was magical!


first few raspberry harvests of the season! soooooo delicious.


eco art workshop with cynthia robinson - regina, emmy, cynthia, and her daughter emily came together for a great afternoon of creating art with the materials in the upper fields. a nice throne to break on during some potato hilling!


herbal tea workshop with sarah! we gathered some herbs from around the garden for a big pot of fresh tea. while that was brewing, workshop participants made their own tea blend with some dried herbs to take home.


listening to some awesome bluegrass by parker hill road band at dorchester's old home day - bob marley and old crow medicine show cover were incredible along with all the other great tunes!


our first time at bread and puppet - it blew us away! the performance, the location, the people, the music, the art, the bread.... it all bring about the most incredible feelings of community and energy going towards something that is making a difference in this world. you could definitely feel the magic in that place!


the afternoon performances started in the main field and took us into the pine forest, later ending in this beautiful field!


some of the beautiful costumes at the performance and the audience enjoying every second of it!


chris overlooking the fields after the performance - this field came to be my favorite place in the grounds. we later watched the sun set over the trees. nothing but the most positive, powerful energy is felt in this place. what a great end to an amazing evening!

"slow down and enjoy life,
it's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast,
it's the sense of where you are going
and why."
- eddie cantor

"live simply that others may simply live."
- gandhi

Sun is shining.

Sun is shining today in a pale blue sky. Rain rain rain will come again some other day. The earth has gotten good and wet, Her offspring flexing fibrous green muscle.
Digging in the dirt to plant the things we need and remove what we don't lets me observe the world beneath the toes- earthworms aerating, beetles scuttling, orange salamanders shimmying. There is no lack of birdsong to the day. Chop wood, shovel loam, hill potatoes, harvest greens, weed the gardens, feed the animals, feed yourself.
Three weeks at the farm and I am proving the rule: the more you learn, the less you know. I've entered D Acres as a seedling, thirsty for the sustenance of fresh air, fresh food, and good-natured folks who are happy to be alive and learning.

What I know is that the farm is an ever-changing creation; an experiment with a few controls and many variables. Lots of positive energy and passionate creativity. Laughter during work. Laughter during play. Fresh food. An emphasis on self-knowledge and labor as practical tools.
This place is all right.

-Kati

Essentials for a Lifetime

This morning I started reading the editorial of one of my favorite publications, "Small Farmer's Journal." Lynn Miller has a way with his words--he is not afraid to publish his truths, radical they may read to some, he writes it anyway. I found my self immersed in his comments on food, the economy, and our complicated government systems. His words seemed familiar. It wasn't until I was 1/3 of the way through the piece that I realized it was the last issue--I had already read these words. But they were no less strong nearly 5 months later, and no less pertinent to my life's work and the work of many others in this country and world.

D Acres has a little article in this most recent issue. It is a basic overview of what we do here, and sheds a little perpective on our farming life and community. It is by no means comprehensive or ripe with the activism that we sometimes feel here. The kind of stuff that Lynn feels when he writes about HOW to leave "today's commerce-driven society":

By taking charge of our lives, by returning to the basics of a self-sufficient existence, by "re-villaging" into communities of like-minded individuals, by growing some, if not all, of your own food, by rejoining the biological world and demanding of applied science that it truly serve humanity and the planet, by rejecting sadism, gluttony, and ingratitude, by disonnecting from electronics and chemistry which deaden us.

It's an honor to me that D Acres has a little article in the Journal. I hope we are able to submit in the future, and really live up to the kind of farmers Lynn Miller is calling for--the self-sufficient farmer that provides "some measure of their own food, shelter, and heat" (and I will add, medicine) and calling that "essential." For it is.

Last month, I was proud to announce the anticipated release of the 2009 Local Food Guide. A listing of farms in the county, what they offer and where folks can get their products. The pictures above celebrate the Launch Event Spectacular held in downtown Plymouth on the Common on June 6th. We want more events likes this--bringing community, family, food, goods, and services onto the same "green." Because we are all involved with each other in some shape or form--to help provide for those "essential" human needs.

Please come celebrate, and help make some good times at D Acres homestead. The Summer is in full bloom for sure and bursting with food and medicine. Visit us anytime! For Pizza Night! For Soup Night! For Farm Feast Breakfast! Bring your friends and family too.

with the warm energy of the Summer Sun,
Regina

Here We Are--We are Here

The Summer season has brought many changes to this D Acres project. The many different ways we love the land are reflected in the many faces who travel through our farmhouse doors, and wander the woodchip-covered paths. This is part of what makes us unique and exciting.

Right now, we're a funny looking bunch of characters--and we're having a real good time!