A Long Awaited Farm Update

Oh its been SOOOOO long! I have taken a little hiatus from blog posts, but I promise I have a good reason! My good reason was born on September 25, 2014 at Swedish Hospital and weighed 5.8lbs, was 17.25" long and is named Deyton . She came two weeks early, and was perfect upon her arrival. Before her arrival, Ross and I were running around like chickens with their you know what cut off trying to get as many chores done as we could before our lives changed forever. All the running around (or rather waddling around) and the exhaustion that comes during the last few months of pregnancy left me no energy to log in to the computer let alone try to gather my thoughts and write a blog post.

Then, the best thing Ross and I have ever grown on the farm came and we were a whole new kind of busy! Rather than spending long days outside working, we were inside staring at our little miracle. We were figuring out how to change diapers, feed a baby in need of a few pounds and learning all about our perfect baby girl. Now, five weeks later, we are all settling into a nice routine and I have found a few moments to sit down and share a few of my favorite farm activities that have happened over the last few months. Like I mentioned, the weeks leading up to Deyton's arrival were crazy busy! Kate took the goats to the Washington State fair and took home some nice blue ribbons and lots of fun memories.

That same weekend we opened up the big red barn doors for our first ever garlic sale. We met lots of our neighbors and fellow garlic lovers and learned a lot about what our customers want which gave us great direction for planting next year's crop. We sold about 70% of our seed garlic as such and the rest will be sold as food garlic to a few of the local farm stands in the area. To celebrate the end of our first every garlic crop we hosted a cowboy campfire which has been a lifelong dream of mine. We invited our closest family, friends and farm supporters to join us for a night sitting under the stars around a roaring campfire listening to a local cowboy poet and musician tell tales of heroic cowboys and life on the range. It was an amazing night and we plan on hosting one at least once a year. Then, on September 23, 2014 I was told by my amazing doctor, Lauren Pray, that I should be induced a little earlier than expected because our baby girl was on the small side and officially diagnosed with Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) because she was measuring below the 5th percentile. Although we were nervous we knew we were in the best hands with Dr. Pray on hand and my godmother and Aunt Deidre as my nurse. At the end of two very long days, Deyton Audrene Cunningham was born healthy and strong. It was my proudest moment to date! Then, we came home and let ourselves rest and enjoy the little lady we had created. We spent hours staring at her and getting to know every face, cry and grunt she made. Ross took two weeks off work to hang out with his newest farm hand and get caught up on chores. While family and friends were visiting, Ross was often found out in the garlic fields prepping the soil and shaping the beds for the next crop.

Since Deyton spent so much time napping I was able to get some work done in the house. My primary focus was getting our apples harvested and stored. I spent quite a few nights in front of the TV with Deyton sleeping by my side, slicing and peeling apples for applesauce, apple pie filling and dehydrated apples. Deyton and I also took a trip outside to visit the cows and feed them some of the ugly apples. Then, the leaves began to turn colors and before we knew it it was my favorite month of the year, October. We celebrated my thirtieth birthday with a family taco dinner and campfire. Snuggling my baby girl with my family by my side was absolute simple goodness! Of course, October was filled with all things pumpkin! Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin patches and pumpkin carving parties. We visited two pumpkin patches and got some great ideas for ways we can make the farm even more fun for our youngest visitors, we're thinking a corn pit and apples sling shot are in order for next year. And of course, Belinda and I took a ridiculous amount of photos of our little pumpkins, Henry and Deyton. Then on October 25, 2014 we hosted our annual harvest party. This year we tried some new activities including the gourd lasso, owl pellet dissecting and we of course brought back the crowd favorite, bobbing for apples. We also had a cider press on hand and a few of our guests braved the gale force winds and pounding rain and took home some fresh pressed apple cider. Whew!!! We were busy! As winter and the holiday season looms ahead I am hoping we can settle down a little and I can soak up every minute I have with Deyton before I return to work. Our next big task is to plant all our garlic so for the next few days, you can find me tuning into my next Netflix addiction and breaking apart about 80 lbs of garlic seed! And hopefully, writing a few more blog posts!

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