Farming and gardening are in my blood. My mother used to spend her early summers at the family’s farm in Nova Scotia. She would help bring the cows in to be milked and help collect the eggs. My Great Grandparents, on my father’s side, owned a 300-acre potato farm on Long Island, NY. My father, who basically grew up on the farm, carried over the legacy of gardening to our 12-acre home in Maine where I grew up helping to tend our large vegetable garden, pick potatoes from our potato field, harvest raspberries from our large patch, and pick apples and pears from our orchard. What was harvested from the garden, was preserved by my mother to get us through the winter. We never bought vegetables from the store- we just went to the basement to get what we needed.
My grandmother followed us to Maine and planted the most amazing perennial gardens- usually housed within rock walls that she had built herself. I can still picture these beautiful gardens-and her working diligently within them. When we bought our first home, I couldn’t wait to get started building my own rock wall gardens and filling them with flowers. No matter where we have lived over the years, the addition of garden beds, rock walls and paths, and apple trees have been a vital part of making our house feel like home.
Chickens have also always had a special place in my heart. I would watch them free-ranging at other’s homes and dream of the day they would be scratching and pecking in my own yard. My husband on the other hand, was not on board with chicken keeping. So, I bought the book “Fresh Eggs Daily” and prepared for the possibilities-I mean the power of positive thinking is a real thing, right? Three years later, we moved “home” and bought my childhood home. My “not on board” husband, agreed to build me a chicken run and coop for my birthday. He always says he won a lot of battles but lost the war when it came to chickens. We agreed on 6-8, I came home with 9, we now have 10 and we also have 2 ducks.
Along with gardening, tending to our small orchard of apple and pear trees (and recently added plum trees) and tending the flock, for the past 25 years I have worked as an Occupational Therapist, helping children and adults of all ages to gain or regain independence in their activities of daily living. I am also a Master Gardener, having completed the training through the University of Maine. Gardening and farming activities can bring such joy and a sense of accomplishment. I look forward to sharing ideas with you that you may not have known about, adaptations that can be made to make gardening and hobby farming accessible, no matter the challenges you may face, so that you too can begin to, or continue to, enjoy the boundless blessing gardening brings to the mind, body, and spirit.
Thanks for stopping by! For partnership opportunities, please email me: Laura@chickensbeesandappletrees.com
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