Sunday Review 8/2/20

We welcomed in the first few hot days of August doing very much the same things we were doing in July- haying, enjoying the sunshine, tidying up around the farm, and eating some great food. 

We’ve been treated to some beautiful sunsets lately, including this awesome one which reflected off our barn windows. 

Our formerly “green barn” is nearly done with its makeover. We’re hoping to get it painted white soon. 

It’s going on five months that the country has been “Working From Home”. While we’ve always worked from “home” while taking care of the farm, it has certainly taken on a whole new meaning this year. While we’ve been experimenting all summer with ways to make our home a little extra fun with grilling, outdoor movies, and more. This week we found joy in our at-home coffee. While the whole family revels in our weekend Dunkin Donuts run, it is fun to try to make a similar version of our favorite iced coffees at home to power through the long days in the hayfield. 

It’s sweet corn season! While we do not currently grow sweet corn on our farm, we love purchasing it from local farmer friends. Our latest batch came from Pineland Farms in New Gloucester. 

Sunday Review 7/26/20

It’s still summertime which means we’re still spending most of our days outside and in the hayfield. We’ve been so fortunate to get a good start on our second crop and it feels like the summer is just flying by. We cannot believe we’re already entering the last week of July!

We do our best to take advantage of every last hour of sunlight so even in the fields aren’t quite ready for the next step, we’re still outside fixing up the farm, tending to the garden, or simply enjoying the view. 

This week we did a lot of grilling- it’s always fun to get creative with new ways of cooking things and it helps keep the farmhouse cool since there’s no air conditioning in the kitchen. 

We also had a carpenter over to help us continue work on restoring and repairing a few spots in the farmyard including our sawdust storage barn that needed some love in the form of new siding. The barn has been repurposed many times over the years and it’s always fun to breathe new life into it a little at a time. We used to refer to it as the “Green Barn” but with some newer white siding we’ll need to think of a new name! 

Sunday Review 7/19/20

We are back in the field on this hot, humid Sunday evening to start work on second crop hay, but earlier this week we were able to tackle a few non-hay-related tasks!

You may remember last week we mentioned starting a little foot bridge project. We were able to finish it up this week and are so excited to start using this field trail. 

We decided to take advantage of the warm summer evenings and have added a projector screen to the back side of the barn. Our fitting pick for a Friday night showing was the series finale of Friday Night Lights. 

Finally, it’s national ice cream day! We highlighted some of our favorite flavors and spots earlier today. This afternoon we stopped by Papa’s and celebrated with a Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip in a waffle cone and a dish of soft-serve with chocolate sprinkles!

National Ice Cream Day 2020

Today is National Ice Cream Day! Although we don’t really need a special day to celebrate ice cream, today is a great excuse to have an extra sweet treat. In honor of the holiday, we thought we’d share some of our favorite flavors and local spots.

Here are some of our family’s favorite flavors: 

Chocolate Chip the cow

Chocolate Chip- It may seem boring to some, but we believe that chocolate chip is such an underrated choice. The perfect balance of crunch from the chocolate and the simple sweetness of vanilla will always be a crowd pleaser. We love this flavor so much, we actually named one of our cows Chocolate Chip! 

Coffee Heath Bar- Even those who don’t like actual coffee would have trouble saying no to coffee flavored ice cream. Combine that with the sticky crunch of toffee and the slight layer of chocolate within the Heath Bar and this is the perfect summer treat. Plus when there’s coffee, it counts as breakfast, right? 

Cookie Dough- Chocolate chip cookies are a big deal in our family (maybe it’s due to the whole “Chocolate Chip” love described above). There are very few weeks in the year when we do not have chocolate chip cookies available in our pantry or in our freezer. “Testing” the dough is such an important part of this process. But when we’re not looking to risk salmonella for that great dough test, cookie dough ice cream really comes to the rescue. 

Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip- Okay, I know, Chocolate Chip again? But the savory taste of the chocolate combined with the tart of the berry makes for such a refreshing combination. Though not exclusive to the Northeast, this flavor is tough to find outside of Maine and New England so every bit feels just a little extra special (especially when it’s been made by a local creamery)!

Here are some of our favorite local ice cream spots: 

Papa’s Ice Cream, Standish

Located off Route 25, this is a place we visit a lot as a family since it is so close to the farm! They carry a great selection of Gifford’s ice cream. With generous portions and a friendly atmosphere, we’ve been regular customers since they opened in 2011. 

Beal’s Ice Cream, Gorham

A staple in the town of Gorham, Beal’s is a fun shop for trying unique flavors like German Fudgecake, Chocolate Doughboy, and of course Coffee Heathbar. 

Hodgeman’s Frozen Custard, New Gloucester

Although it’s a bit further of a drive than our last two picks, this place has been a family favorite for decades. Although not technically ice cream, the frozen custard served up at Hodgeman’s is a lot smoother than most ice creams. Plus, the small batch model gives visitors more opportunity to try out a flavor they may not have otherwise selected. 

Canty Cow Creamery, Turner

Our dairy farming friends opened their very own scoop shop and creamery last year. We’re a big fan of their seasonal Peppermint Stick flavor during the holidays but they have a lot of other fun flavors available this summer as well. 

Sunday Review 7/12/20

This week brought a little bit of a break from haying (we were still in the fields of course, just not every day) and more time to tend to other projects around the farmyard. More rain means more blooms so it was fun to check in on all the plants and flowers. 

We hosted a few out-of-town family visitors who were especially smitten with the goats. They were also able to test out some of our newly-cut walking trails through the fields. We are always looking for new ways to enjoy the land we have and COVID certainly brought about a renewed interest in walking and hiking for us. After some of the rainstorms this week we were able to identify the damp areas of the fields and have even started construction on a small foot bridge to help make our paths more accessible. 

The humble beginnings of a foot bridge.

One of the best parts about summer is being outside and being on a farm we’re often outside until the sun sets. We’ve moved many of our meals to the back side of the barn and have started cooking nearly everything on our grill. Lately, our favorite recipe to make on the grill is Beer Bread. Using just a can of beer, some sugar, a bit of butter, and a few cups of self- rising flour, it has been the perfect low effort treat at the end of a long day!

Sunday Review 7/5/20

Our rain dances worked! We had several days of showers early in the week and the grass is already looking a lot greener. We have a small patch of pumpkins planted that weren’t looking so great after all of those dry June afternoons but they’re starting to come back to life after the water finally reached them. All this growth also means that the weeds are thriving! In between haying and weed whacking, we’re having so much fun getting to know little Brady the goat who arrived on the farm last week. 

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We were able to get enough mowing done to finish-up first crop even with the extra rain. We also hosted an Engagement photoshoot just after the rainstorm on Thursday night. (If you’re interested in catching a great sunset for photos or an event feel free to reach out!) 

July marks the start of National Ice Cream month! Although our family celebrates ice cream every month, we are completely ready to give this treat a little extra love all month long. This weekend alone we’ve already visited a local favorite, Papa’s Ice Cream, picked up a Blizzard at Dairy Queen, and even tried a new brand (Coolhaus) from the grocery store.

We hope you all had a wonderful (and safe) holiday weekend celebrating family, friends, and the USA!

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