Last month, hubby and I visited some old friends of mine, friends I’ve had for over 35 years. They are my age (late 50s), but they have managed to retire early with the ambition to start up a farm. They bought a piece of property north of Baltimore (designated by a state land trust to be used for agriculture in perpetuity, so as to protect it from development), and started doing stuff. They have several different goals. One is to rehabilitate retired race horses and resell them to the sort of people who keep horses. Another is to grow vegetables and flowers for cutting, to be sold in a road-side stand. They are already harvesting honey from several hives. Longer term, there is a desire to start a nano-brewery using locally sourced ingredients. (They’ve already planted the hops.)
So we go the complete tour of the farm as it is developing, and even got to participate in the harrowing of the future flower beds. Photos to follow…
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Hubby, with his passion for gardening, his general interest in agriculture, and having horse-people in his family, was all over this project. Here’s a photo of the new stable and barn on the property. Note the solar panels on the barn.
Unlike Pennsylvania, where we live, which only allows generation of as much electricity by a consumer as they would use in a year, Maryland allows generation of twice that much electricity.
Apparently, most of those who live on property designated for agriculture in a land trust lease it to local farmers who then use it to grow typical cash crops, such as corn and soy. When my friends made clear that, while they were enthusiastic about keeping the land for agricultural purposes, they wanted to do their own thing rather than lease the land for someone else to farm, they ran into a certain amount of resistance. However, they have succeeded in having their plans approved as working within the land trust agreement, despite the disappointment of the farmer who used to lease their fields.
Their land was once part of a very large plantation which has since been subdivided. On one side, the property line is defined by a creek, and on the other side of the creek is the original plantation house, now owned by some very rich person.
It’s all terribly picturesque, but 150 years ago, slavery was practiced there.
During our visit, our friends wanted to start preparing the beds for the cut-flowers by harrowing them. They had just bought a small harrow for that purpose (see the photo at the top of the diary). The positions of the wheels had to be adjusted, and that took a bit of time, and quite a bit of effort. Eventually, though, we got to the point of actually harrowing the first bed. This was something none of us had ever done before, but how hard could it be? While I gave some advice regarding the positioning of the harrow, I mostly just stood and watched.
We had to leave after completing that first row, but my friends sent a photo of what the beds looked like when all the harrowing was done.
Quite lovely, I thought. All of this happened more than a month ago when it was still quite cold there. Since then, spring has sprung, and no doubt they have used the intervening time to further prepare the soil and start planting flowers. (That large mound on the near side of the bed is mushroom compost destined to be used to feed the flowers.) This is all one big experiment, so it will be interesting to see how it progresses.
Now, on to the comments!
Top Comments (April 5, 2017):
From elfling:
This comment by high uintas had as its goal the end of the primary pie fights by seeking to explain Clinton supporters and Sanders supporters to each other. From GoGoGoEverton’s post The antidisestablishmentarianism of Hillary Clinton.
From TrueBlueMajority:
nellgwen, in the CNN revenge note diary by Jen Hayden, modernizes an old warning for anyone who would dare take on Rachel Maddow.
Also, mhowell, in the DJT defends Bill-O diary, also by Jen Hayden, notes that predators minds think alike
From your humble diarist:
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry regarding the the New York Magazine item linked in this comment by txdoubledd. (I read it to hubby, and he immediately ran to the liquor cabinet.) From durrati’s recommended diary Steve Bannon Related Tweet of the Day. OMG It’s Hilarious.
Top Mojo (April 4, 2017):
Top Mojo is courtesy of mik! Click here for more on how Top Mojo works.
Top Photos (April 4, 2017):
Tonight’s picture quilt is courtesy of jotter!