FEVER, FEVER, FUN!

The temperatures are cooling, and we have tried to imagine what it will be like when these great outdoors become less friendly and less like an addition to our cabin. See, we have no bathroom or plumbing (our running water has frozen) and we are used to going “#1” amongst the trees and “#2” up the path in the outhouse or at the house. So far, we have still been able to find comfort in the chilled air, but we are anticipating the changes.

Work, Work, Work… FUN!

We have been pretty busy while living the “simple life.” Farm work never ends, there is always something to do. Besides the obvious planting and harvesting of yummy veggies, we have had the pleasures of learning some new skills such as preserving and storing what we harvested (cabbage, carrots, turnips, potatoes, beets, beans) for the winter in the root cellar. Whether it be freezing, pickling, canning, we are doing it.

Familiar Faces

We were so lucky and grateful to have had visitors since we have been here and are hoping to have more as the seasons continue. Our first uniting of Philly home and farm world was when our friends Kristin and Jason and Scrapple the dog came for a weekend.

Into the Wild

I suppose this blog could be over now (but it’s not), as we have come to settle our belongings for a time in Walden, Vermont. Just as the previous entry explained, we arrived at Lettuce Bee Farm with the intention to work for 2 weeks and possibly stay another week. We have now been here for almost two months and we are gearing up to stay thru a proper Vermont winter and then some.

Lettuce Bee Farm

It has been over a month since we arrived at Lettuce Bee Farm in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Through www.organicvolunteers.com, Lettuce Bee was the only farm we had secured a date to come volunteer before we had left Philadelphia in April. We signed up to volunteer 2 weeks with the possibility of extending it another week or so, and here we are 3 weeks later planning to stay the rest of the growing season and straight through a very snowy Vermont winter! Did I mention we have been staying in a little rustic cabin in the woods?

The Panhandle

Our next plan was to high tail it out of Florida and go to Biloxi, MS to meet a relative of Amy and family. We sent out a few couchsurfing requests to people in the panhandle where we were thinking about resting for the night after the lengthy drive. We had no luck getting any responses, and we figured we may need to get a hotel room. So we stocked up at NFP (Nature’s Food Patch) and then we get a call from a couchsurfer saying we can stay at his place for the night. Great! So, with the rain following us steadily, we made our way up north and then started heading westward.

C-Ville

So our journey has officially begun. We just left Charlottesville where we spent 5 days staying with Connie and Kieren. It was such a good time. We met so many kind, fun and interesting people. We played and learned new games, from Settlers to Set, and Civio to What was that Phil Collins hit song that had a homeless woman in the video? (thanks for your help Sam, all the way from California). After waking from the amazingly comfy bed we slept in, we spent our days doing things like… visiting Connie’s work, Innisfree Village, planting veggies, collecting eggs straight from the source, and meeting wonderful, unforgettable folks… going to project day and making dinner with friends… sharing a meal at a Food Not Bombs gathering… listening to music hanging out, fantasizing about hammock hostels and Hillbilly Segways… and of course giving Duffy the cat some love. We learned so much from Connie, Kieren and their friends- about car mechanics, chickens, traveling tips, smog blankets, plastic islands and so much more. We feel really lucky to have shared this past week with friends in such a great place.

Check out some photos…