Spring Break

Over 30 years of parenting we have sometimes heard the complaint that while others spent "spring break" in Mexico or Florida, we always stayed at home and worked. It's true. So spring break 2010 arrives and what do our oldest children decide to do? Come home and volunteer to work! Painting our egg-mobile was an excuse to spent an unusually warm late March afternoon in the sunshine. Essentially a camper on wheels for our emancipated travelers ( our Rhode Island red hens and their men), the egg-mobile provides a place to roost overnight protected from predators as well as straw lined nest boxes on both sides to lay eggs in. These boxes are accessible from the outside for easy egg collection. Soon, new refurbished, it will be moved out to pasture as our hens range free for spring, summer, and fall. Seen here are 1 of 9 and 2 of 9: Seth and Emmy. Both married and parents themselves.

Another daughter, Camille(3 of 9), came home from college and made a couple batches of milk-based soap. A book brought home from the library about 10 years ago about soap-making started a younger daughter, Hannah (5 of 9), on this enterprise. She marketed her soaps under the label Middle Sister Soaps...being the middle sister in our 9 children. Hannah is also in college now, but Camille continues to put together these soaps. The soap in the mold above is mint.

These bars of lavender soap are on the curing rack for 6 weeks. They'll be ready in time to grace our table at the farmer's market in May...those bars that are not snatched for the personal use of family members at home and away.

Even the little ones had some project they wanted to do while at the farm. Before breakfast one morning (notice Pip's pj's) Grandpapa and Piper planted some Chocolate Mint cuttings from mama Emmy's home garden in Stoughton. Eventually, dried leaves from these plants will make a delicious tea.

Speaking of breakfast...at Ninepatch this frequently means eggs. We are very happy to note the return of the bright orange yolks and the more intense flavor in our eggs since they are free-ranging on the grass in the sunshine once again.

Another small, but significant milestone passed the week of spring break: the return of the rain gauge to its place in the herb garden (albeit very weedy herb garden). Farming has taught us the reason that folks discuss rainfall so passionately. Our grass-based farm depends on rain, and good snow cover in the winter. And it is dry, very dry this spring. We were glad to have a couple of showers in recent days. This frosty morning followed those too-good-to-be-true temperatures we experienced on spring break.

And, of course, taking time to hold a grandbaby on each knee is top priority. Calder on the left, Sylvee on the right.