Fall, the Farm and the Future...

As we slip into the short days of fall the harvesting of apples, the prepping of the beehives for winter, our minds look to what the farm will hold for us.  When we look to what the farm means to us it is more the lifestyle.  We strive to be self sufficient, we are at the whim of the weather and the changing seasons but we enjoy that challenge.  We are not getting any younger and maintaining some of the things we have created takes its toll on living  the lifestyle we strive to enjoy.  We are looking at scaling back some of our day to day endeavors and refocusing on the things we enjoy and the things that brought us here in the first place.
Honeybees
Honey and the bees have been a surprising joy.  Both of us knowing little about what it means to keep bees we are looking at plans to make the farm an oasis for the bees to help provide for them and keep them healthy in a sea of pesticides and lack of environmental support.
Our Orchard 
We began with sixty trees, some have died some where replanted we added some pear, peach and plum.  We love sharing our harvest with friends and family and we look to keep our fall cidering event sharing our bounty.
The Garden 
This year it got away from us the weeds were never ending and between working on the wagon our yield was not quite what it could have been. This is the main reason for the farm.  We strive to grow what we need and share the extra by the road.  It is here where we will refocus and look to develop our gardening skills to be more successful at growing the food we enjoy.
Lavender
Lavender is work.  We love the scent , the beauty and the benefits to the bees.  We feel that the bees are healthier because of this flower.  A natural miticide we haven't had to medicate our hives this year for varroa mites.  We hope this will continue.  We will harvest lavender for our home, our friends and the wagon but it will be here mainly for the bees.  Their lavender honey is second to none and we will maintain it for the bees.
Our Health
We moved here for my health - our health and we have seen the benefits in our medical checkups.  Weight loss, lower cholesterol, lower stress.  Increase vigor in our lives.  By switching to a primarily plant based diet we have seen dramatic improvement in our way of life.  You will see in our blog more of an emphasis on how we made our changes to this way of life and how it has affected us.  We are not vegetarians or vegans in the strict sense of the definition.  We eat much more than just salads and the food we create is rich with nutrients, full of flavor to the point we don't miss what is out of our diet.
If we can share with you our journey maybe it can help someone else who is struggling to lose weight, or rebound from their diagnosis of heart disease or diabetes - and to live healthier richer lives.