‘Community’ Category

Winter Storm + (Almost) Famous Friends

Posted on December 14th, 2012 by Tonia No Comments

We woke up this morning to white light streaming in through the windows, which can only mean one thing: Fresh snow! A whole foot of fresh snow–to be exact–stealthily fell during the night. And the forecast calls for more to fall over the weekend, so I guess it’s time to break out the ice skates and skis and snow-pants! My friends Sarah and Ashley had the right idea this morning, and ended up appearing on the local news when they were spotted out on a trail with their skis by a reporter (at 1:03 in the video below–which probably won’t work if you’re viewing this on a mobile device, sorry!)

 

 

Lookin’ good, ladies!!

We’re planning a weekend of slow mornings spent with delicious books and multiple cups of coffee, skiing, sauna, and belly-warming soup made from the contents of the root cellar. And I’m buckling down and working on a few handmade Christmas gifts as well.

What do your wintertime activities look like?

***Update: Unspeakable evil happened yesterday. While I was peacefully sipping coffee and writing this post, 20 children and 6 adults lost their lives in Newtown, CT. This news is absolutely crushing. I am brought to tears every time I think about it. We are shutting off the electricity in our house tonight and lighting candles in our windows as a vigil to the innocent lives that were lost. I hope you’ll join me in praying hard for the families that are suffering.

Date Night Done Right {and The Greenhorns}

Posted on November 14th, 2012 by Tonia No Comments

Mike and I went on a date last night to our local theater {StageNorth} where the Bay Area Film Society was showing a film called The Greenhorns about the recent wave of young people across the country who are turning to farming as a career and lifestyle. There was good turnout for the event- mostly farmers and people interested in farming/local food- and the film society got a local BBQ master to cater. We loaded our plates with pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad and chatted about hoop houses and winter composting with our friends.

When the film started, we were handed bags of organic heirloom popcorn, covered in organic butter provided by one of the local dairies, and a bar of dark organic chocolate. As much as we enjoyed the film {although, it was preaching to the choir a little bit…}, the movie-snacks were a highlight for me! I’m a sucker for dark chocolate, what can I say! It was so fun to snuggle up next to Mike with our delicious snacks, surrounded by most of our closest friends.

After the film, there was a panel discussion with five organic farmers from the area {all of which are in their late 20’s and early 30’s}. The film was a great conversation starter, and some great questions were raised and discussed. It was unanimously decided that we are all so lucky to live in an area that is supportive to the local food movement, and that we have so many young people who are willing to devote their lives to the hard, hard work of growing food for the community.

The party eventually moved to a pub in town, and we didn’t end up getting home until after midnight. Not bad for a Tuesday!

First Day of Fall

Posted on September 23rd, 2012 by Tonia 4 Comments

It’s full-fledged fall around here. These past couple weeks have been pure heaven for fall-lovers like me: The colors are changing, the days are sunny but there’s a nip in the air, I’ve broken out the wool socks, we’ve made soup with one of the massive squashes in our garden, and apples are ripe and ready for the pickin’! And pick we did:

Saturday morning we headed out with a few friends into the neighborhood to poach apples from peoples’ yards.

That sounds way more bad-ass than it really was. Explanation: The apple trees on our property are in their off year {apple trees naturally produce fruit every-other year unless they’re manipulated via pruning to produce every year}, so we called around town asking neighbors if they’d be okay with us picking some of their apples. The answer was ‘yes’ in every case. We ended up only needing to visit two trees, and we filled the whole bed of the truck!

No husbands were harmed during the climbing of this tree….

We headed back to our place to eat lunch, press cider, and play a little touch football in the field. I made the winning touchdown. I’m not even going to re-structure that sentence to sound less gloat-y. It was a big moment for me. Sadly there is no photographic proof.

This year’s cider is sweeter than last year’s. It’s incredible how different it tastes depending on the mixture and variety of apples you use. We pressed 16 gallons of cider from all these apples, some of which will be fermented into apple cider vinegar and hard cider.

A toast to my favorite time of year: May the nip in the air remind you you’re alive, make you snuggle closer to the one you love, and provoke a feeling of gratitude for the simplest pleasures and privileges in life- the roof over your head, the food in your belly.  Happy Equinox!

A Sweet Farmstead Wedding

Posted on September 4th, 2012 by Tonia No Comments

Our dear friends Jenn and Trevor got married this past Saturday under an old apple tree in the field behind their yurt with 40 family members and close friends in attendance.

It was a magical moment, listening to them read their vows to each other while their beloved dog Coal pounced on field-mice behind them in the long grass and the evening sun warmed our backs and glinted off the tears on our cheeks.

Mike and I took photos for them as a wedding gift. It was pretty easy to come away with good shots, considering the setting and the subjects were so beautiful! I’d love to share some photos of the reception once we’re done editing them. Jenn put so much work into all the little handmade details- everything looked so beautiful.

We could not be happier for these two- they’re soul-mates and their love and partnership is an inspiration. We’re so blessed to have them in our lives, and I look forward to many many years of memories and merriment together. Congratulations, J&T!