Finally, after months of not creating anything, I was ready to build Compost Bins for the farm! This has been something I’ve been wanting to do for some time.

Weeding on a farm is like nothing I’ve ever encountered before! When we purchased the property, the seller had let the weeds go on both the North and South sides of the property. By the time we moved in, they were so high on the North portion of the farm you could no longer see the Pole Barn!

This past winter while I was ‘patiently’ waiting for our property to be subdivided, I decided I would teach myself landscape architecture with the goal of designing the farm and the landscape around the Guest House and Artist Retreat

When my girls were little, one of our adventures to Happy Apple Farm was for berry picking and I painted a picture of the girls in the process of picking berries. To this day, it is my favorite painting of the girls.

Everything we plan to grow in the Boutique farm has a backstory or reason for being there. This week I will be writing out growing strawberries and what I plan to call Tessa’s Strawberry Patch.

The second fruit tree Andy and I planted in the front yard of our first house was an Apricot tree!

As with our other fruit trees, I’m thinking we will have at least two apple trees in our designated orchard area, with perhaps a third one as an espalier tree somewhere else around the farm.

As I’ve mentioned in other garden/farm related posts, I’ve always wanted to grow fruit trees. This interest stems back to my childhood when I’d spend part of my summer visiting my grandparents farm in Iowa.

Because Palisade is known for its huge mouthwatering peaches, I conducted a lot of research on this specific fruit.

After watching numerous Gardener’s World episodes with my gardening hero Monty Don, I’ve decided I’d also like to include ornamental cherry trees in my garden design!

When I was a kid, every summer my mom and I would visit my grandparents (mom’s parents) on their farm in Iowa. Until grandpa’s untimely stroke, they had a farm just outside Westfield, IA.

Originally, I wanted walnuts as part of the farm because they relate to directly to my childhood memories but as I wind down my research (yes this will be the last post on Walnuts… I promise!) I’m starting to question this idea.

As I noted in an earlier post, I’m keen on having a few nut trees on our property because they relate to childhood memories and growing up in Michigan. Walnuts were one of the nuts I collected as a kid!

Okay, I know I said I was onto Walnut in my last blog post, but after reflection I thought I should finish my Pecan research before I moved onto the Walnut!