Easter Sunday, 2011, at Bottle Tree Farm. I designed the logo yesterday, a snappy flash graphic that also translates nicely as a still. Our first crops are in the ground in the large garden in the back, courtesy of Bob’s new tractor, a neighbor’s plow, and a lot of hard work. The rows are 150 feet or so long and filled with potatoes, peas, lettuce, onion, cabbage and broccoli. If only a few survive, we’ll have an abundance! It is still a bit too early to set out the tomato plants but they are thriving on the greenhouse porch with its southern exposure and sliding glass doors.
I’ve started working on planting flowers that Bob raised from seed: Bells of Ireland and Hollyhocks near the house to start with. I decorated the front porch with baskets and pots of herbs culled from the burg garden. There’s even a flowering orchid from the greenhouse! I hung a bird feeder and tucked in a small bird bath made from flower pots. They surround the “shabby chic” table and chairs. The table came out of the milking parlor, round rusty metal with removable legs. A little sanding and some green and white rustoleum, and I have a cute cafe table.
The chairs came from the dump. They weren’t actually in the dumpster but had been set off to the side by some folks who bought them at an auction and then decided they didn’t want them. They were just setting them there when Bob showed up so he rescued them. Two white wooden kitchen chairs with scalloped tops and small painted flowers. We’ve learned that the dump is something of a public freecycle with everyone having a story of some treasure they found.
The front porch is going to be a popular spot to hang out. We sat at until after dark last night after having margaritas and nachos at the local Mexican restaurant. With the long front drive, we feel very secluded under the trees. There are a few security lights across the way, but things quiet down pretty early.
I’m sitting on the front porch right now, our new dog Spot at my side. We adopted him from the burg neighbor who just couldn’t afford to keep him. He is a big dog, perfect for the farm, and we knew he was pretty well behaved but figured we had some training to do since we had seen him take off before and he had killed one of our chickens that hopped the fence.
Well, it turns out Spot is already pretty well trained. It only took one day to get him used to the property, and this morning he trotted contentedly along beside me off the leash as we explored the back acres near the silo. He spent most of yesterday snoozing in Bob’s truck down by the garden. We did lose control when the neighborhood dog pack showed up this morning and he followed them across the road, but I think we can tackle that by both discouraging the other dogs and just keeping an eye on him. Meanwhile, it just seems like a match made in heaven. He is even crate trained so at night tucks himself in and sleeps away at the bottom of the bed.
Life is good here at Bottle Tree Farm. The local farmer and sons have been working on the surrounding fields all week and this morning are planting. They are the family of Dr. Chamberlain, the previous owner of the farm so they stop by to say hello. We already feel part of the community and are looking forward to watching his crops grow right along with ours. They evidently tuck in a patch of sweet corn each year and have welcomed us to partake. Oh…tomatoes and corn are the thrills of the summer! I can’t wait.
We are going into town for dinner with friends and are a little reluctant to leave the peace and quiet for the Williamsburg bustle. I have been riding my bike into town; in fact, I haven’t driven the station wagon since I came back last Monday. I took a pleasure ride this morning to check out the surrounding neighborhood. Small, neat homes on quiet streets and cul de sacs, the outskirts of Waverly. I also got my wish: I raced a train home along Railroad Avenue, which as you might suspect, runs directly along the tracks that also border our property.
