Well I am just going to cut right to the chase….we’ve moved.

As you can imagine, life has been pretty hectic. Yet, despite the loss of routine, long days, and serious juggling we have managed to make serious progress on our garden. I am sure you are wondering how that is even possible, but with a little forethought and planning we have been able to pull it off ok.  This move was not entirely unexpected, and is just temporary.  Maybe when it is not so fresh I can delve into it more. But know that this is a step closer to our family vision. Sometimes when you are following the path of your dreams you have to pull over at a rest stop (or if you have two kids with you, you have to pull over at EVERY rest stop).  So instead of getting down and out about our little pit stop, we have been making the best of it – including chasing hard after the things that matter most to us, like growing our own food and living a home-centric lifestyle. Here is a little peek at some things around here, all much easier and fulfilling than packing boxes. (I can’t even begin to tell you how much I dislike packing boxes)

We attended the Mother Earth News Fair for our third year in a row. Last year I was 2 days past my due date with Sawyer (and begging him to stay put for a couple more days!) and this year he decided to take his first steps there.  How fitting. Ran in to a bunch of people I know and it really struck home how good it feels to be surrounded by like-minded people, and many are already around me.  More highlights this year were sitting front row to see Joel Salatin‘s chicken processing demo and later in the day hearing him close out the fair in a truly motivational and inspiring way.

Back to the move. The first thing that we moved when the time came, weeks and weeks before we actually moved, was our vegetable garden.  We were able to set up two 4×12 raised beds just like we had before, along with some additional small raised beds.  By the time we slept here our first night everything was sprouting and reaching towards the sun, the tomato plants already had flowers, and the garden looked like it was right where it always had been.

In addition to starting a garden right away at our new house, we also have been working on growing food at our community garden plot.  This is mostly filled with dozens of tomato plants, but I couldn’t help throwing in a few tomatillos and even a ground cherry I planted from seed.  Most of the tomatoes were starts I also grew from seed.  If you have been following along this journey with me you may remember the hope the little plants began with or the near disaster when I went a little crazy with the fertilizer.  Well I am pleasantly surprised that my heirloom tomato seeds have grown and grown and are clearly promising some beautiful lush fruit for us to preserve come fall. We also are really happy with our first attempt at using straw for mulch – I hate weeding and so far the weeds have been kept at bay.

Besides planting and maintaining our gardens this June, we also spent some time together as a family at our annual trip to the San Juan Islands. I think everyone in my family can agree that we never feel quite at home anywhere as well as we do there.  It is our happy place.  This year we stumbled across a wonderfully fitting new place to stay, a farm-stay at Sweet Earth Farm. We sleep in a canvas tipi, ate freshly picked sugar snap peas with our dinner, met the KuneKune pigs from New Zealand, and walked the orchard and fields as the sun set.  We will definitely be back.

The Orcas Island Solstice Parade, celebration and farmer’s market was wonderful as always, and of course the sun was out. Avery and I got hair feathers together. We ate strawberries from mason jars and made crowns of daisies. We had such a great time on our trip, we stayed an extra day and rode bikes all over Lopez Island. That is where I can across this quote, which really spoke to me, and I will leave you with this for today:

You can’t buy happiness

but you can buy local

and that’s kind of the same

Thanks for joining me again this month for an update on our life and adventures around the Brundage Homestead. Catch up on what has been happening the past few months here.

Do you have a favorite quote about sustainable living, shopping local, eating organic, etc. that you would like to share with me?  I would love to hear in the comments!