Jeremy (my fiancé) and I went with his dad to visit Donald Staebler today. Mr Staebler is Jeremy's dad's mom's cousin and owns a large historical farm on Ann Arbor Rd known as Crick(creek) in the Back. It's a beautiful piece of land that I have driven past and admired countless times. Mr Staebler has recently signed a contract with the county stating that his farm will become county land and will never legally be divided or developed for anything other than farm/agriculture. Rightly so, as it's easily the most beautiful farm for miles.
The point of our visit was to drop off a drawing that Jeremy did as a tshirt design for the 2010 family reunion centering around Mr Staebler's 100th birthday.
This is a man who is completely fit, mobile, coherant and has the hearing of your average 50 year old. In fact, if I hadn't been told of his birthday celebration, I'd have thought he was 75, maybe 80 at the most! I have always loved agriculture and have daydreamed about farming for many years. To meet a man this hearty at 100 who has farmed his whole life was a real inspiration.
Here is a quick snapshot of the soon-to-be-sheep-pasture. I spent nearly two hours pulling hundreds of nasty thistle-like weeds out of this field earlier. I should have snapped a before shot! The difference is great. It looks like a grass field now instead of an abandoned meadow. :)
This is my first year trying to container garden. Here's a snapshot of my alpine strawberries, charentais melon, table ace squash and ambrosia cantaloupe. So far these guys are doing much better than their garden-planted siblings. I'm not sure if it's their location or planting method. Maybe it's because I talk to them more... Hmm...
On another note, I've finally started a cable knit project. I worked on this (a pattern of my own design) for a few hours and plan to complete my lopi wool hat sometime this week. Of course, it's supposed to be 89 degrees most of the week, but heck! I'll be ready for fall!
I got the yarn for this hat at a great wool shop in Traverse City while we were camping up there for a comic convention.
In case you're just dropping in, my fiancé is a comic book artist and a very patient man. He creates and illustrates Cursed Pirate Girl (cursedpirategirl.com) and is the most fantastic camping partner a gal could ask for. We had a blast camping during the C3 convention and will likely do it again. I also managed to find a new favorite Riesling from Arcturos (Black Star farms in Leelanau. I'm a sucker for all things sweet and this wine is sweet, crisp, and fruity but not sickly sweet like some. It's the kind of Riesling that could stand alone without cheese or fruit, IMO. I strongly recommend it, and pretty much anything in the Leelanau/Grand Traverse area.
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