August Bounty Cooks Up
September 6, 2026
cooking, farm, food, garden cooking, garden, vegetables, watermellon Leave a comment
The garden was nicely productive this year. Here are some of the things we did with our fruits and vegetables.
Greek salad
Fried Rice with Zucchini
Tomato and Zucchini Paperdelle
Garlic and Onions and Tomato Compote
Pickled Jalapeno
Yum!
Flowers and Vegetables: Summer in Virginia
August 4, 2026
cooking, flowers, food, garden flowers, garden, tomato, vegetables Leave a comment
We grew all this stuff.
First flowers…by the guesthouse.
Then the garden
Food!
Here goes the garden!
August 4, 2026
garden garden, vegetables Leave a comment
Still eagerly awaiting the tomato tsunami.
Summer Solstice 2026: A Musical Treat
August 4, 2026
farm, fire, garden, music, party, who knows bonfire, garden, music, shenandoah river, solstice party, summer solstice, summer solstice 2026 Leave a comment
2026 presented us with a particularly fun iteration. The weather was balmy with only one slight rain delay. There was lots of music. The porch fest rocked on until 3:30am. Just really fun.
As we get older, the winter solstice has generally overtake the summer solstice in terms of audience participation. This summer was a welcome exception to the trend. I guess people were chomping at the bit since we skipped a year due to a death in the family in 2025. Thanks for joining us!
We’ve moved the party nexus close to the house, and it makes things swankier with Kitselman’s excellent patio in full swing.
Food is under Josie’s oak.
The garden is just ramping into production.
And off we go! The Charlottesville/NY contingent arrived early to get the party started. Early music!
And Leiden was the featured guest! Gonna keep him up…all night long!
Bubble?
John and Betty came as the ghost of wedding past.
Baby on the porch! Who knew that the dog gate doubled as a baby gate too?!
More early music on the patio.
It rained for a few minutes and we all temporarily raided the kitchen… but soon we were back outside where we belong.
At dusk, we lit the fire to turn the sun.
Woo hoo!!
This is my favorite picture of the party. Romey cooks a marshmellow.
Sure is a nice ritual.
Iulie obliterates a marshmellow.
Tunes around the fire followed. And after that, back to the porch for even more music into the wee hours. Special thanks to Gina, Allan James, the two Mikes, Emory, Chip, Linus, and all of the other musicians for a hella time.
Using a hay bale to block the heat…now that’s how to do it.
More fire pictures (thanks Dan).
Thanks to all who came.
Garden update June 20
July 31, 2026
food, garden garden, green pepper, summer squash Leave a comment
Oh lookee there! Summer squash and a green pepper. It’s early days in garden land. This year’s garden is beautiful.
2026 Garden In (May 9)
June 4, 2026
farm, garden garden, planting Leave a comment
A week early, we present the 2026 garden
One week early for the changing zone. Marigold, onion, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, zucchini, tomato, watermelon, cantaloupe, hot peppers, sweet peppers, ancho, beans, corn, sunflowers.
Fall prep for winter (swingset down)
November 10, 2025
farm, fire, garden garden, solstice fire, tree frog, treehouse, treehouse removal Leave a comment
The beautiful Fall weather had us prepping for winter on the little pretend farm.
Garden weeding and tilling
Solstice fire re-core (we cancelled the summer solstice fire this year and are going to light up in the winter…but a winter core needed to be inserted so the fire burns hotter and longer).
Finally, the ancient and somewhat dangerous swing set was deleted.
This tree frog was supervising.
Vegetables on October 8th?!
October 16, 2025
cooking, food, garden first frost, garden, green tomato, peppers, summer squash Leave a comment
We went out just before the FIRST frost warning of 2025 to see what might be left in the garden. A volunteer summer squash?!
But that’s not all. We pulled the peppers and tomatoes.
OK then, squash for dinner.
And fried green tomato for dessert (with spice from Africa).
