Hello Friends!! It has been a few months since I've updated you on the happenings at Forest View Farm, and now winter is almost over! The chores changed with the seasons, but we stayed busy. The holidays were lovely, we spent them with friends and family. There was middle school basketball, high school cheer, and a dance recital. We tried to enjoy some quiet, down time during the winter months as well. We follow the patterns of nature when we can, working hard when the days are long and conserving energy when the plants and animals rest during the colder months. It has served us well to live this way, although it can be a challenge. There's always work to be done and the kids never run out of energy!

The housing addition that was started in the fall got put on hold for a time so Tyler could butcher the last of our meat birds, deer, and finally our pigs. The work he does takes a lot of time. When you do everything yourself, you have to accept that things won't happen as quickly as you might like, or as you see happening around you. In this fast paced world, that can be harder than it seems. People tend to hire others for the work that needs done, whether it's carpentry, butchering, or chopping and hauling wood. It's really important to value the quality of work that goes into each venture that we take on so we don't lose sight of the big picture. Tyler has a lot to be proud of, and I'm so grateful to have a self-reliant lifestyle. Our freezers are now full of high quality meat. Here are some pics of the work Tyler did!

Now, Tyler is back to work on the house and making maple syrup. We tap trees every winter and get the kids in our community involved. They get to learn about tracking weather and evaporation, use a drill, and hammer a tap into a tree. We get help with the work of collecting sap. It's a really fun way to end the winter. Plus we get liquid gold at the end!! And yes, we share with the kids. ;)

I've been reading Little House In the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder with some of my students, and we learned how they collected sap and made syrup in the old days. We also read about making butter, so we made our own! We churned our cream modern-style, using a marble and mason jars. We left one jar plain, flavored another with salt, one with garlic and herbs, and flavored a final jar with cinnamon and sugar. It was delicious, and the kids got a lesson on the three phases of matter and changing a liquid to a solid.

I also jumped on the sourdough bandwagon and started baking bread recently. A friend gave me a sourdough start that I named Frankenstein because, "IT'S ALIVE!" and I have to feed it regularly. I'm enjoying it so far, and my family loves eating all the fresh bread. Here's my first ever loaf of sourdough. Ta da!

My birthday was in January and we went roller skating. That has become an annual tradition since there isn't much else to do in the middle of winter. It's always epic. The dogs had their first birthday this winter, too! We made a dog-friendly cake and bought them new toys. They're spoiled.

Life is good. We're hoping to get a few more opportunities to collect sap before we say goodbye to winter, but we're already planning our garden and looking forward to long, warm days. We'll be ordering a batch of chicks soon so we'll be prepared for our CSA members and farmer's market! We do not have enough chicken to provide a spring share this year. We have to raise what we can in the fall for winter and spring, and this year we were only able to raise enough for winter. Tyler is hoping to double the amount of meat he produced last year, though, so we should be able to accommodate your needs in the near future! The summer share will start in June and we'll let you know when it's available. We're very grateful for all of you who care about what we do on the homestead and support our small business. I hope everyone has enjoyed their winter. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Love and permaculture,

Sandi