I love following folks who are making the world a better place. Some of those folks can be found at From Scratch Farm, north of Grafton.
I've written a couple of blog posts about them in past years, one of them was the BEE-utiful Day.
Some people focus on one thing at a time. Not these guys. While they were hand-building their own home over the past three or four years, they were also developing their property (and working full time). Their dream was to share their home and property with folks with developmental disabilities. To add to that dream, they wanted to make their place a haven for insects, birds plus the bees that they raise. They also wanted it to look lovely. One of their first outdoor projects was to build a floral labyrinth. It's coming along nicely. I saw countless monarch butterflies flitting from flower to flower.
Certain wildflowers are the perfect for certain insects and then there's alyssum. What a scent. I am guessing that bees for miles around are zeroing in on these flowers.
I can totally understand why someone would choose their property because a specific tree lives there. We did that ourselves. And, we mourned the loss of our magnolia twenty years later. Isn't this willow magnificent? Many a good conversation has been had under this tree in the past few years. And, hopefully many more in the coming years.
Cut flowers grow next to herbs. My kind of garden.
And, birds take the time to marvel at the two completely parallel lines in the yard.
Today was market day on the farm. They have a small stand at the road and folks come from far and wide to pick up a few vegetables and flowers, but mostly for the home-made pies and fudge. Nice size, this one. Fits perfectly into anyone's diet.
I think this might be Kim's signature pie.
We chose some treats to munch on as we wandered around and some to savour at home.
Do you notice that some areas are mowed and some have been left to develop on their own? Apparently, birds and butterflies LOVE the wild areas. We heard a story of how their neighbour was wondering why From Scratch Farm had so many Monarch butterflies and they didn't. The answer was, "Don't mow your lawn." Well, they did! They stopped mowing part of their lawn and ..... whadda ya know! Butterflies and birds! Can you imagine waking up in the morning to a flock of indigo buntings enjoying the deck outside your bedroom window? Stop mowing your lawn.
We were interested in how their latest project was coming along. Ted was asked to deliver some cedar slabs to the farm a couple of weeks ago. You can see some of them in the solid westerly fence. Tomorrow there will be miniature goats inside this fence. Can you imagine how much FUN their clients will have with those goats?
If you were to visit the market next Sunday, you too could wander over and see the new residents behind this fence. They have thought of everything, even the protection from wolves with that electric fence top and bottom. Sounds like a fairy tale, one that will turn out good..... for the goats and for everyone else. Just don't touch the fence!
Visits there are always a balm for the soul. From Scratch Farm is a good news story.
And, the icing on the cake of the day was literally .... icing. Chocolate ganache covered cheesecakes. Oh YUM!!!!!
“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.”
Linda Grayson
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