Fall Barn Party

Ideas for a Fall Party
Although we have been spending 12 hour days working on our new little farm, we decided to go ahead with our annual fall party.

We had very limited time to prepare and it would be a rush job, but we decided to have the party outdoors and in our barn.
Top of my list for a fun party?  Encourage everyone, including adults to come in costume.




We sometimes have a best costume contest with first place prizes for adults, teenagers and small children Everyone votes, then places their votes in a jar.  The votes are then tallied and special prizes handed out.

Buying a Farm

Oh my gosh what a year! My husband Bill and I sold our house in June 2011, but could not find a home we wanted to purchase.
We had our hearts set on buying a small farm, but could not find just what we were looking for.
We did not want to feel pressured into purchasing something that wasn't exactly what we were looking for so we decided to put almost everything into storage and move into a duplex.

Two storage units and a storage pod later Bill and I, our son Daniel and his girlfriend, our 2 wiener dogs and a cat, all settled into our little humble abode, all 550 square feet of it.
The tight living quarters was difficult at first but we managed to adapt being in the same room together.
After looking at about 100! houses for sale since March, we finally found our new home, a small "farmette."

Building a Pumpkin Arbor

Pumpkin Arbor (July 2010)

My side garden before trellis was finished

I love pumpkins. They are just a beautiful fruit, can be used in many ways and are edible. The bright orange color of pumpkin is a dead giveaway that pumpkin is loaded with an important antioxidant, beta-carotene.

Native Americans dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. They also roasted long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and ate them.

The origin of pumpkin pie occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in hot ashes.

Pumpkins are cucurbits, the fruit of a herbaceous annual plant of the gourd family that thrives in hot, dry conditions and includes squash, melons, watermelons and cucumbers.

This year I decided to construct an arbor for
pumpkins and gourd vines to climb over.  (Photo above right is before arbor was finished)

I first saw an arbor similar to the one I had in mind while visiting a farm market outside Chillicothe, Ohio last fall.