“Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” — Hippocrates “A sad soul can be just as lethal as a germ.” — John Steinbeck...

Today is the day! Peter met a fellow beekeeper in the Northern Virginia area, and through sharing our story of our homestead and new...

We have another new critter on the farm, Black Soldier Flies (BSFs). Our goal is to create food for the chickens we plan to get next...

Japanese beetles love our gardens and orchard. They have made quick, destructive work of our apple trees, beans and zinnias...apparently...

Did you know that if you are a novice beekeeper descending the slick, wood-floor stairs in your stocking feet, carrying a recently...

The Gerards wanted a little social media time this morning when I was feeding them, so they wiggled to the top of the bin and had a...

Not the weekend we planned for, but we made the best of it. What we had in mind was a weekend with friends, what happened was rough...

We cleaned up what we could last night with an army of angry bees reminding us that what happened is not okay. Crime scene investigation...

Waiting for my sweet Peter to get here so we can survey the damage up close and try to put some semblance of our two hives back together....

A rainy-ish Saturday is a good reminder of how much our watering gig here at the homestead has changed for the coming growing season....

Bees! Peter made sure our newest bee family, Sting, was settled in this morning. What a privilege to care for these awesome winged...

Hive #2 is here! Meet our newest bee family, " Sting ," like Bilbo's elven short-sword and/or (depending on the mood of the day) the lead...

Bee check complete! Alright, so this is intense stuff...I am glad Peter was here for this hive check. We made sure the colony was doing...

Successful bee transfer to our homestead! Peter reports no bees or apiarists were harmed in the process. This family of bees will be...

Tomorrow morning, Peter, is going to pick up our first package of bees...that meant today was our last chance to prep! Also, please help...

As Peter and I are getting our homestead more established with plants and critters, our intent is to share the experience with others.

The unglamorous, sweaty, hard work of homesteading... Our second homemade raised bed is built and planted with more early spring veggies...

It's working! Last weekend we planted our first spring veggies, and what a joy to see little sprouts peeking through today. I am most...

More flowers coming up, fruit trees/bushes planted (including pomegranate, tayberries, elderberries, apples, peaches, nectarines, and...