First Winnicut River Farm Bouquet

O.k. not ALL of these flowers are from seeds or transplants I sowed. But most are, including the snapdragons, rudbeckia, celosia, and gomphrema. Zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, and (a few) dahlias are about to bloom.
My hope is to prepare the farm for growing and selling cut flowers. And the goal for next year is to produce flowers from May through November in preparation for selling the following year. It's fascinating hard-work but being surrounded by beautiful blossoms is clearly a huge perk!

Flying Cloud Friends Say Goodbye

See you next summer!

Good-bye Stone Turtle Shines

We traveled to Plymouth, Vermont yesterday to pick Jack up from camp. As each camper prepares to leave, a conch shell is blown and all campers and counselors holler out from wherever they happen to be, "Good-bye Stone Turtle Shines." But the most beautiful part is when they all come running and hug the departing camper good-bye. The brotherhood that develops at this challenging, reflective, and remote wilderness camp is really astounding to witness and I think is quite profound for these early adolescent boys as they face and share life in connection with the earth, sky, land, trees, and wildlife.

Pit stop on the Vermont/New Hampshire border.

Thank you, Leslie!

            a favored lunar room Tibet

          with moths & flags instinctive

          festival fruit a praying mantis lives

          on our porch it’s gotta be that

          raccoon slipping through the arts

          & crafts paper all sentient beings

          mad with pitched battles & tones

          imagine being able to sleep

          again what’s in that darkness

          & light upon the day it’s every

          leaf & wheel it growls & inside

          us sisters proceed in the drunken

          valley our hands in greater

          reeds humming

                                                 Leslie Bumstead

Stone Turtle Shines with Face Paint

Photo of Jack from Flying Cloud camp web-site. We can't wait to pick him up on Friday.

Irrigation Plumbing Repairman

Art worked all afternoon on repairing one of our leaking irrigation spigots. The main comes in at 6' underground and Art dug and tossed rocks from the pit for over 4 four hours in the heat and humidity. Whole new meaning to "The Granite State." I caught him here when I came out at dinnertime to check on whether he'd fallen in the hole. This spigot is right next to the wood-shop which will hopefully become our flower and fruit prep area.

Sunday in Maine

On Sunday we took Bodhi along to drop Naish off at Chewonki Camp for Boys in Wiscasset, Maine. Naish was so excited and gave us a mini-tour of the camp including the farm, nature center, cafeteria, art center, and waterfront. Here we are on the pier of the bay at low tide.

We stopped in Portland on the way home to visit with Noami, see her new digs, and have a bite to eat. Noami's new apartment is great and she has that incredible view out her front yard/park of Portland and the bay. I'm hoping Noami will come to the farm when the cukes are ready and teach me how to pickle!