Nicky and Dave Schauder are passionate about helping families grow their food, and medicine and find God in the garden
The farm is almost ready. Are you?
|
Dear Reader, Meanwhile, at Bethany Farm, every day has been planting day for our family. As soon as the kids get off school, we do a nature walk/run at a nearby trail. And then head home where I unplug the wifi and get the kids moving mulch, building rock borders, transplanting or watering microgreens. There is still so much to do prepare for our upcoming farm tour on May 16-17 but we are excited to welcome you, Reader! One thing Dave and I have been considering is our hope that everyone who visits Bethany Farm gets closer to nature and therefore closer to God, no matter what faith they are coming from. We hope everyone finds peace here. It's very green and beautiful this time of the year. You'll hear and see lots of birds and wildlife. So we hope that amidst the tours and talks, garden demos and garden shopping, you will find a quiet, cozy spot to sit and take in all the beauty the natural world has to offer. And just soak it all in and relax. So we do hope you can make it to Bethany Farm on the weekend of the Loudoun Spring Farm Tour! It's free to the public, we only ask that you register so we can best prepare for your visit.
And if Virginia is too far, we'd love to have you join us virtually. We're hosting "The Solanaceae Festival." a webinar celebrating Solanaceas (The nightshade family of tomato, potato, eggplant and peppers). Grow abundantly, Nicky & Dave PS. Bug spray, long pants/sleeves recommended. Below you will see me getting bitten to shreds during a late summer farm tour with my cousins, nephews and nieces. So when you come, please be prepared for inclement weather and bugs. For more details, register here. |
Dave & Nicky Schauder
Nicky and Dave Schauder are passionate about helping families grow their food, and medicine and find God in the garden
Hello, Reader The sky turned a strange, hazy orange as we drove to Charlottesville this week. Not from anything happening here. Wildfire smoke, drifting all the way down from Canada, the same haze that's been sitting over Toronto, Boston, and New York this month. The kids kept asking why the sun looked like that. I didn't have a simple answer for them. So I looked up the actual numbers for the US. As of this morning, there are: 487 active wildfires burning across the US, covering 1.4 million...
Take time to draw your garden Inspired by Lara Call Gastinger's "Perpetual Journal Practice" and the works of Roger Tory Peterson, I started capturing my garden in this way. And I hope that despite the heat, and perhaps the mosquitoes this summer, we can all still find time to observe nature and perhaps draw it. Drawing forces you to truly look at something. And in a world of digital distraction, may very well be the last bastion of focus. That and prayer, I suppose. And there are...
When it gets hot Last week, our house hit 97°F. Not far from here, other parts of Northern Virginia were past 100°F. We had planned a family hike and despite weather warnings decided to drive to the Shenandoah mountains very early in the morning anyway, with lots of water packed. We did a loop trail about 4 miles and were delighted to find that just when we were at our sweatiest, a freshwater pool appeared, beckoning us to go for a mid-hike swim! This gave us just the refreshment we needed to...