18 Inches of Snow      29 degrees     Bright but overcast sky

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It has been interesting reading about all the events around the Puget Sound region. People have posted pictures of the weather and told tales of their lives as things slowed or for some, stopped.

There were trees down all over my area. We had well over a foot of snow with two-foot drifts in areas. Our power was out for the better part of six days and we were snowed in.

What did that mean for us? It meant that the first day that we thought the storm was headed our way, we got the headlamps, batteries, lanterns and emergency candles all ready. We filled 5-gallon buckets of water, filled the bathtub, cooking pots and jugs too. We moved patio furniture away from the eaves where snow might later fall and crush them and we made extra provisions for our livestock. We made sure our pantry was full and there were extra snack foods for the kids as comfort and last resorts if all heck broke loose as well as a large stack of library books. We cooked in the woodstove, buried the contents of the freezer in bins in the snow, brought in fire wood and pulled out all of the poly-pro and polar fleece. After that was done, we played in the snow, enjoyed the sleds, had snowball fights, made maple syrup candy and I taught my youngest how to use a knitting nancy. We played games, told stories and when we got tired looked out the windows which framed beautiful pictures of the weather.

On SongCroft, things were a bit more of a challenge but they were not a struggle. After having the power off for as much as 16 days, we have a system and can live life pretty easily but as a friend, pointed out, even without electricity life can be sufficiently sufficient or wonderful. I love our days of being snowed in and will cherish them forever as slow days with my family.

Here are some pictures of the weather for you to enjoy.

Please post some pictures of the weather in your area too!

High 34            Low 26    Bright and sunny in the afternoon, thick fog in the morning and night.

Whew, I made it. It’s been a busy holiday season. Even though I have worked a lot, I can truly say it’s been a Happy Holiday season. I have worked most every weekend selling our farms “value-added” items. SongCroft Naturals is expanding it’s all-natural skin, body and hair care from Farmers Markets, to Holiday Fairs and now in to retail establishments. This is exciting news. We now have products and gift baskets in the Yogalife Studio at Greenlake as well as the Natural Clothing Company on First Street in historic Snohomish. We are happy to partner with both owners who are wonderful people that support other small local businesses.

Now that the business events are over, I am taking the next two weeks off to just hang out with my family. We will go ice skating, make a gingerbread house, bake cookies, make name tags, watch classic holiday movies, wrap presents, play board games and create memories that can only be created through true connection and love. This is what Happy Holidays are made of.

My side of the family will join us on Christmas eve for a dinner of smoked chickens, roasted vegetables, baked quinoa, salad and pumpkin pies. A great deal of the ingredients will be from our land. We are still harvesting cabbages, collards, kale, carrots, turnips, beets, onions, spinach and parsnips. We have squash set aside from local farms (those who had extra sent some our way after our ducks made chop suey out of the vines).

We will exchange gifts, play some games and I think the younger generation will be playing with nerf guns and magic cards. (neither of which are something that I can relate to). The rest of us will likely be making jewelry, talking and laughing at life through stories and memories.

I especially value this Christmas as one where I can enjoy both my own family (as my children are still young and at least one still enjoys toys) and my mother who is starting to show her age. I find myself cherishing every moment that I get with her. How fortunate I am to be able to experience this before she leaves this world. A Happy Holiday for her is to have her girls together with their families.

To update you on what is happening on the farm, as mentioned, we are still harvesting the aforementioned vegetables and we also have a lot of herbs. We put up a few hundred pounds or apples and potatoes for the winter so we are enjoying them. Our “Liberty” apple and “Spartan” produced well for their first time. Next year I will likely have to thin them a bit to get bigger fruit. Our medlar gave plenty of fruit. They are palatable but not especially juicy. While they would be helpful in a time of scarcity, they are not proving to be a family favorite.

The hens and rooster , Iris, are doing well. They have a very nice dry space thanks to Brian’s work this past Spring as well as the recent coop improvements made this past week. There are now added roosts inside the coop and tomorrow morning I plan to staple a layer of greenhouse plastic across the top of the walls to lower the ceiling in hope of it holding more heat in. The plastic is clear so light will still come through the rigid clear poly-carb roof and the air trapped between the two should create insulations. We have not added a light.

The turkeys are doing well. I added a nesting box today so we will see if we get some eggs. There is a hen that is squatting every time I walk past her. This is a good sign that she wants to hatch some eggs. I will get a leg band for her and over the next couple of weeks, I will band three hens to save for breeding. Midget Whites are good breeders so no artificial inseminations is needed.

The goats are still not bred and just like last year, they are not showing strong signs of wanting to be. There has been no one calling out, flagging her tail or anything else. I thought for sure they would go in to ester on the full moon but instead they got totally silent and pretended to be statues because coyotes came to visit. Maybe the coyotes scared the hormones right out of them (kidding)

I sold six rabbits this past month.  Lots of people have been interested in our rabbits. They are a good bunch and easy for people in the city to raise. They produce great manure that is highly valuable. I have been able to use it to barter with. I love raising rabbits!

Our ducks are still quacking about. They are not interesting in going in to their pen at night and are hard to catch. I am hoping ot catch them soon before a coyote or bobcat gets them first.

Well, that is the skinny on what is happening down-on-the-farm. How are things up your way?

Happy Holidays!

  Things are really getting cold. It is down to the mid-twenties and the fog is so thick that it is hard to see across the land in the mornings. It reminds me of living on the coast but the taste of salt in the air is missing.

It is the perfect weather for staying indoors to play chess.

Btw, I was lucky to get a call from Ashley this afternoon. She was one of our WWOOF’ers that stayed here this summer. She is doing well with a new job at REI and her studies. It was nice to catch up, hear her voice and stay connected.

We have had several inquiries about WWOOF’ing here this winter but are not accepting new folks at this time. We are going dormant and curling up in front of the fire with board games and hot cocoa. Our son love is when we play chess with him. This is a great time to focus on our just being with our family.

This is not to say that there aren’t chores to be done but for now, we will be doing on our own. I’ll write about them later. For now, I am off for my daily practice in humility, I am about to play chess by my son who will undoubtably beat me again.

Please don’t forget to check out our all-natural skin, body and hair care products at www.songcroftnaturals.com

Last week I spent four days at the NW Herbal Faire. I arrived at midnight after running my farmers market booth. This meant packing up and working all day at the market, returning home to off-load and re-load new product and merchandise as well as all of our camping gear and then driving to Mount Vernon, Washington. All of this included my two children whom I have to say are quite the troopers.

Please bear with me as I am not a NW Herbal Faire employee  but believe that letting folks know about the event and why we should all attend and support it is a valuable service.

(Btw, the event is ran by Michael Pilarski and lots and lots of volunteers. If it weren’t for their vision and hard work, this resource wouldn’t happen! Thank you!)

NW Herbal Faire was from Thursday August  19 to Monday August 22^nd. In attendance were herbalists from all over the country. These herbalists ranged from the formally trained to those who grew up with gathering wild plants as a family tradition. There were professional practitioners, instructors as well as those who just want to be able to provide support to their family and community.

Workshops were offered by top-notch presenters such as Ryan Drum, Michael Pilarski and Heidi Bohan. There were over 100 workshops ranging from ayurvedic herbs to farming herbs and localism. The brain cells present could have lit up the entire state for a month is we had only thought to plug them in!

As far as I am aware, this is the only event like this in the entire country. There are a few conferences but while they are great resources for learning, they are rather dry and certainly not the family oriented, community building event this was.

We ate meals together, volunteered to make things run smoothly, camped out, danced under the stars and even sang songs.

One might wonder why it would make any difference to gather in the summer where there is a lake to swim and a stage that plays live music. The difference is the value of the conversations, the joy, and the heart-felt connections we make as we celebrate life as a community of healers. This is where the real healing begins because it’s the joy in life and what we do that gives us the energy to give more love and care to others.

Oh, and let’s not forget the support these young ones of herbalists and permaculturists need as they often live in an alternate world of electronics and fast food. It is a special time for children who live “outside” the mainstream to commune with other young ones who eat dried sea veggies for snacks, slather plantain salves on their “owies” and understand that Marshmallow is a plant. These young people need time to connect with their tribe too.

So whether you are an professional herbalist or someone interested in learning about how to care for your family, consider coming to the NW Herbal Faire in 2012. I know I will!

High 62  Low 34  Clear and slightly warm.

Visit www.songcroftnaturals.com to support our family farm and to get great all natural skin and body products!

Visit the Farmers Market Thursdays 3-7pm

I’m not even going to put the date on this entry since I am embarrassed how long it took me to get around to writing. You see, it’s spring and although it has been the wettest April in Washington’s history, there are still a lot of spring shores to be done!

• Have planted a thicket hedge of prinsepia to help keep the neighbor dogs from coming over.

• Planted a variety of willows in blue, red, green and yellow along the creek.

• Trimmed back the rugosa, raspberries, woody herbs and several other plants

• Mucked the goat shed, cleaned the stall mats in them and sanitized all of the feeders and water buckets.

• Made a new perch for the chickens.

• Bred the rabbits.

• Got help re-doing parts of the goats sacrifice area as well as their browsing areas.

• Brian added on to the chickens poly-carb covered roof on their summer home (okay, they are a bit spoiled).

• Deconstructed some keyhole beds so I can reconfigure parts of the garden and add vertical growing space as well as an outdoor room.

• Fed the bees (It’s been so cold that they rarely go out and things are blooming late)

• Harvested lots of greens.

• The kids and I planted lots of carrots, radishes, lettuce, bok choy, peas, leeks, cilantro, potatoes, onions, and flowers in the garden beds.

• Planted a ton of seeds in trays that are now overcrowding the greenhouse (snow and hail in April!)

• Made compost tea and applied it to a test garden. (Amazing difference!)

• Taught two soils science class and composting class.

• Planted a berm with edible berries and trees with my apprentices.

• Planted a perry pear, cider apple and medlar tree.

• Planted forage plants including Nanking cherries around the summer chicken house.

• Did all the mom things like helping both kids enter project in a science fair and droving kids to and from swim classes.

• Did the homestead stuff like baking bread and making cheese.

• Got our www.SongCroftNaturals.com business ready for the Snohomish Farmers Market.

• And so the list goes on…

Soon I will be at the Snohomish Farmers Market every Thursday.

You might be asking yourself how I find time and energy to do all of these things. It is really more simple than one might think. I don’t have to go to the grocery very often and I don’t watch TV. I eat a healthy diet that includes very little processed foods and I have a positive attitude, even in this rainy season.

Attitude is everything!

See you at the Snohomish Farmers Market!

High 52  Low 43    Cool and with a rain on and off all day. Windy evening.

Did anyone else stay up to watch the lunar equinox? How cool was that? I hope you had a clear enough view. In my area, it was a bit cloudy but we got some nice clear views for sure!  Even though the evening air was quite cold, the kids and I were up until the early morning watching the magnificence of nature. The last time a lunar eclipse happened was in 1638! Although we will have more lunar eclipses, the lunar eclipse in 2010 will be the only most of will see in our lifetime on a Winter Solstice.

The next evening we kept the fire going. Our fireside vigil was kept with happy hearts. We drank tea and cuddled with quiet talk about dreams. We sang songs enjoyed each other’s company. Here is one of our favorites:

Round and round the earth is turning

Turning turning until morning

And from morning round to night

We hope all of you are enjoying this dream time season!

HIGH 52       LOW 47          Heavy Rain after 4pm

http://www.lucandthelovingtons.com

http://www.omculture.com/

The rain falls heavy outside. The darkness comes early and stays late. This is the week of the reversing the clocks. We adjust our clocks to leave daylight savings time and “fall back” an hour.

Now is the time for inside chores that make the house smell so good. Applesauce will be simmering on the stove by Wednesday and little noses will be scrunching up to get a whiff of cinnamon in the air. The kids love applesauce. I anticipate putting up about one hundred jars as it is a family favorite.

I am spending much of my time organizing the curriculum for the upcoming Self-Sufficiency Course that starts in January. A new syllabus and hand-outs are all underway. We are planning this year with a lot of excitement!

Our personal care product line is awaiting labels so we can get them on the market. We have natural food stores already waiting to carry our line. We are excited to get there all natural, fragrance free products out there. As someone who suffered from severe chemical sensitivities for many years, I know that there is a serious need for products that are truly safe! After formulating and making them on a small scale for a small number of clients and spa’s, I am glad to be able to offer them in stores and online through our soon-to-be Blissfully Natural website.

While it is true that I am taking care of responsibilities, I am also having a lot of fun!

Our family has been enjoying more social time. We have been out dancing several times. We feel truly fortunate to have the opportunity to have access to places that encourage families to dance together. Family dance is a great activity to start the kids with while they are young. They tend to continue to enjoy dancing as they get older, they tend to feel comfortable in their bodies during those awkward teen years and they tend to connect “fun” with family time. Also, unlike activities that they grow out of, dancing is something they can do their entire lives. An added bonus is, even if the power grid is out, you can throw a family dance for your neighborhood and have a great unplugged time!

Also, it create memories that the entire family can cherish. For example, I will always cherish images of my 13 yo dancing with her girlfriend- twirling, spinning, hugs and a dip. These are the times that life is about. Unplugged entertainment.

One of the places that a family can go to is Om Culture in Seattle, where we danced to Luc and the Lovington’s. Live music and dancing with children! Whoohoo! It’s a great place.

We hope that all of you are enjoying these darker, slower times. They are times for gathering, reflection and a little good ‘ol hibernation!

High 51 Low 43 Misty morning with sunny afternoon

About a month ago, our family had a beautiful salmon dinner. As we were eating, my 9 year-old son Simon looked up from his plate and said, “Pretty soon Mama, I’m going to put the fish on your plate.” He said this in a deeper than usual voice and with all sincerity. He is my little man.

This Saturday was the opening of fishing season. The lakes in our area are clean and well stocked. Simon got his gear together and at 6 a.m. came in to our room to wake up his Daddy so they could “Get a move on.”

The two of them went off into the morning with sandwiches and fishing gear. They met up with our good friend Derrick, who Simon has decided is his best fishing buddy outside of his Dad. Simon just turned nine and was given a beautiful fishing pole and gear by Derrick.

Having come from a long line of fishermen and having many of my best childhood memories of catching my own meals off docks and jetties, I was secretly elated that my child has fishing in his blood.

About mid-day, as I was working on chores around our place with Sofie, the guys came back. I waited patiently and refrained from asking if they had a good catch in the case that they got skunked. I instead asked if they had a good time, which they said they had

Simon looked at me and smiled his sweet “I’ve got a secret” smile and then disappeared out the door. When I went back to the door to meet him, with my camera in hand “just-in-case”, he was standing there with the biggest grin and eleven trout on a line! Some were quite large.

He had me call his grandmother and invite her to dinner. Simon set a table with floating candles and flowers that he picked. He was one proud boy.

He and his Daddy cleaned the fish and used the innards to fertilize some of our fruit trees. I cooked up a dinner of baked beans, corn bread, salad and the best pan fried trout I have ever tasted.

This was a day that will never be forgotten, by Simon or by the rest of our family. Self-sufficiency can start at a very young age.

High 59    Low 40            Overcast morning with clear afternoon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xWHETBd8BA

SongCroft Spring Tour (click above to see the video)

Today was the first warm day in along time. I actually saw people in shorts and tank tops. With all of the hail and heavy rains of late, I think people were truly optimistic and taking whatever they could get.

It was a beautiful day to explore with my son Simon. Among other things, we went on a trillium hunt. We looked for the precious flowers that hide in the shadows of the forest. We found lots of them but were delighted with every one. Simon was pleased to bring to a secret place where fifteen bloomed together, all in different stages.

Simon and I explored the creek, looked for frogs and salamanders, discussed the lives of the arborial faeries that live in the massive cedars and hemlocks and watched a pileated woodpecker. We collected maple blossoms to add to our supper, a mediteranean quinoa dish, and told each other secrets.

Today was a day to slow down and enjoy the weather, my children and the arrival of Spring.

It was precious.

The kids and I will be dying eggs this weekend. It is kind of funny since our hens lay blue, green, pink, brown, white and tan eggs it always seems like we have Easter eggs anyway.  Some years they just stuck stickers and colored on the eggs because they liked the colors as they were but this year they want to color them.

We will use onionskins, spirulina powder, beets and red cabbage to make our dyes. One of the tricks to make the colors really work is to let them sit in the dye with a little vinegar added for about an hour. Allowing them to sit makes all of the difference! The colors are really amazing and quite vibrant. You can use your own creative ideas as to what to try as a colorant. Simmer your dyes for 15 minutes before using them and of course, don’t forget to hardboil the eggs! (Even if April Fools is close to Easter this year)

I’ve included a couple links incase you would like detailed instructions or a video to see how it id done. The photo is of our eggs before we dye them. Aren’t they beautiful!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4825511_dye-easter-eggs-naturally.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/natural-easter-egg-dyes/33289.html

Enjoy!