Perennial Food

Scott and I knew from the beginning that building the farm would be a slow process.

This is us about nine years ago. Don't we totally look like we
know what we're getting into?

Cultivating healthy soil, determining the best vegetable varieties for our specific needs, and finding a supportive community to allow us to pursue our dreams (thank you, thank you, thank you! for being a part of that community) are all, by nature, time consuming endeavors.

Winter squash harvest happens only once every year. We make note of
what worked and what didn't and move forward with plans for improvement.

Even armed with that knowledge, however, we've been surprised by how long it has taken us to pull together the little things that we dreamed about when we first decided to pursue farming. Not the things that make our farm a viable source of income for us (we've had to focus on those things from the beginning), but the small touches that are just for us.

The small touch that I have most dreamed of over the years has been an edible forest garden, aka a permaculture plot. This year I've been able to get one started.

It might not look like much now, but imagine it 20 years from now :)

I actually got things started last year with some catnip and a lot of mulch.

Here is the catnip this year. Seda has been helping me gardenscape. I think
the bent hula hoop is a lovely touch :)

This spring I've been able to put in a plum tree, strawberries, gooseberries, sorrel, walking onion, rhubarb, and horseradish. 

Happy rhubarb.

I also have some hardy kiwi in the greenhouse that I'll plant when they have sized up a bit.

Yay for dreams come true!

Gooseberry flower

My view from the garden seat