Gloriousness!

Erin's Weekly Garden Update: A Photo Essay;)

Let's see ya match this Matchless!

Peas, Cantaloup, Pumpkins and Cucumbers.

Rory's Garden Update

Peas at dusk...

The heat that this time of year brings is really turning the growth on in my plot. If I could just thwart the rabbit who has a taste for my pickling cucumbers, I wouldn't have any complaints. The bell peppers continue to thrive, the watermelon transplants have not only stabilized, but they've stared to vine out, the cantaloup are beginning to flower and the slicing cucumbers continue to pop up!

Happy Belated Build a Scarecrow Day! (July 1)

Typically, we aren't the type of family to celebrate a frivolous holiday but we made an exception as the "racking-frackin" deer won't stay out of our plots...even with electric fencing (more on our fencing strategy in a latter post). Pa had recently gone through his closet so we had a lovely pair of black dress slacks and a terry cloth lined robe to work with. Erin sewed some old work gloves to the sleeves of the robe and closed up the neck of and old t-shirt for the head. Meriah was an expert belly shape-er and straw stuffer.  Add a broken sun hat and a pair of Ma's dangly earrings for eyes and we were looking pretty good.

...and so it begins.

Brand-new Bella with Gramma

When Dave and I found out that I was pregnant (almost 2 years ago, now) we knew that we would be going the all natural route. We quickly found a midwife, and nine months later we gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at home (and in water). I jumped right into breastfeeding with a large amount of joy, but with the plan of weaning our little one as soon as she could use her big girl words to ask me. Ask me how that worked out for me.

Mob Barley

PAW Students & Staff 2012--The King & I

June is always a month that keeps us all busy. Personally, I have been employed at the Performing Arts Workshop, hosted by the Cam-Plex, for the past three years and I was a student in the program for four years prior to my employment!

 It is an intensive workshop that teaches young performers about the ins and outs of musical theatre. It lasts a majority of the month, and it is one of the highlights of my summer! This year, I had the very good fortune of making friends with several of my co-workers(some of whom traveled from as far as New York) who shone their light all over our conservative little town, and did a lot to brighten my perspective. You all know who you are, and guess what....I think I love you. :)

Photo Post: More Goats and a Turtle!!!

Buckling number 2, Naveen (bigger than Phil @ 21 lbs!).

Lil' Mr. Phil, who has doubled his weight to 10 lbs! 

The ladies.

A very manly group indeed.

Goatin' around!

Keep him in line, JB!

This is Lady Biddle (Biddy for short). She is a
Western Painted Turtle and we love her.

She is all about a freeze dried shrimp!

Her shell is 7" long and counting!

First Harvest!

A bouquet of green.

Most varieties of lettuce can be planted from the early spring (as soon as the ground can be worked) into the early fall. The advantage of planting at several stages throughout this long growing season, is a continuos lettuce harvest all summer long! I have been cutting from the leaf lettuce varieties (Rouge d'Hiver & Valimine) for a week or two already, and it has been tasting DELICIOUS!!! Tuesday night, though, was my first time harvesting a whole plant. One of the heads of Matchless was looking so crisp and tasty, we decided we had to have a taste!

Three Sisters

Tina's Weekly garden update

4 rows of 6 mounds.

The past weeks have been relatively easy as far as my plot goes. Steve and I made a deal in which he would build my three sisters mounds for me, and in exchange I would plant his corn for him. That meant no raking huge amounts of dirt for me, and help for Steve to meet his goals. Hooray for collaboration!

I have always been interested in Native American history, and, in choosing to dedicate my plot to the three sisters method, I hope to develop the same understanding in regard to companion planting. The traditional three sisters are corn, beans, and squash. While I stayed true to the original family, I put my own spin on things by choosing different varieties.

Excuses....

Storm season in Campbell County. 

Weekly, "shmeekly", right!? In our defense, June has been one whizz bang of a month for us down on the farm. Along with transplanting over 100 individual plants out into the garden plot and completing the rest of the direct sewing, our well was struck by lightning for the second time (frying our control box and leaving us without water pressure for more than a week) and we're battling some of the highest summer temps in recent memory. The thermometer on the outside of the greenhouse measured 113 degrees at one point...in the shade! And now we are turning our attention to beautification as we get ready for the Fulton Family Reunion. I'll be concentrating on getting everything up to date in the next few days and hopefully we'll be off to a more sustained pace! 


-Erin

Photo Post: Nigerian Dwarves!!!!

Tuesday afternoon, Ma n' Pa finally rolled up with our Nigerian Dwarf goat herd! We have 1 of our bucklings (named Philoctetes) and 4 lovely ladies: Begonia, Apple Pie (who may be pregnant!), Raven and her daughter Falene. We have one more little buckling (Naveen) to pick up on Friday. Enjoy the cuteness!

Phil! He had to ride up front b/c the ladies were being protective of the baby, Falene.

My old nemesis......vegetables!

It's true...they're gross. At least most every vegetable I've tried in my life has been. However, I'm realizing more and more, that produce from the store and produce from the ground outside of your house, are two very different things...especially where taste is concerned. Last year, we were home for the tail end of the carrot harvest and they were unlike anything I had ever tasted from any grocery store chain. They were crisp, sweet, light and refreshing. I felt like I could climb a mountain (or at least a pretty steep hill) after I ate them. This was so very different from the tough, stringy, chewy and oddly tasteless foe of my school lunches from long ago. This is why I've decided to take a good share of the veggie variety on in my plot. I figure I might be more inclined to try those once yucky veggies again if I grow them myself. 

The Damn Deer Ate My Strawberries!

Isn't that how it always starts? We have a small plot of wildflowers, strawberries, buffalo berries, blueberries, and potatoes up where my wife, Erin, and I are building our house. We left our starts out just a little too long after dusk and our strawberries paid the price. In the name of all strawberries (and manly pride) I had to find a way to keep those deer away! I needed a cost effective and sustainably minded solution. I looked around for some thing to reuse and remembered the old fence I'd torn down a few months before. It would work perfectly. 

Overwhelmed, yet determined.

Confused, but committed to finding the answers. Both feelings I've become well acquainted with over the past few weeks. I've been working on 2 very different, yet connected projects, and have learned a lot, some of which may help others, and further the ideal that this life CAN be for everyone. If a reformed city girl can do this, ANYONE can!

One of the projects I've been working on is "the garden". Let me be perfectly honest and say I am NOT a gardener. I hate to get dirt under my finger nails. I would rather not crawl around outside on the ground, or get mud on my shoes so thick I can hardly keep them on. I rarely enjoy sweating, physical labor is not my strong suit, flying bugs freak me out, I don't care about calculating the size of my flower plots to allow for proper spacing or selecting the proper automatic sprinkler nozzle to ensure adequate irrigation of my vegetable plot.
    

I Love Bread...Bready, Bread, Bread...

Hence, my decision to grow wheat on my plot this year. The process of growing a plant and transforming it into a warm loaf of bread intrigues me (and by "intrigues" I mean "hungers"). 

Spring Has Finally Sprung!!!

And I have been eagerly awaiting it's arrival for months!!! It means warmer weather, new life, baby horses, etc. Most of all, I've been excited for all of the new things happening around the farm this year. Personally, I've just begun my Master Herbalist certification course which has prompted me to get serious about my herb growing. After researching permaculture, I've decided to use a new kind of bed called an herb spiral. Essentially it's a straight herb bed spiraled up like a conch shell or a rams horn.

Let's Talk About A Few Things: An Intro By Pa Fulton

I look forward to a similar scene in our pantry this fall.

When people find out I live on a sustainable living farm, they often ask me if I'm, "One of those "Doomsday Prepper"people?" So I thought about it. Am I a Doomsday Prepper? I did some research on these peculiar people hoping to find some common threads to understand where they were coming from and how close to them I stood.

Who Goes There?

Pa & Ma Fulton, Dave, Meriah & Bella Gammage & Rory & Erin Roberts

You can learn a lot about us from this picture. 4 out of the 6 adults have on flip-flops, our farm dog is a pug, Pa Fulton is wearing silk pants, Ma's sporting a white dress with leopard print cowboy boots, Meriah's hair wants brushing (we kid), and you'll catch Erin working in that dress or another most of the time. In short, we're not your average farmers or Wyomingites for that matter.

Pa (Steve), Ma (Tina) and their six kids (Spencer, Erin, Chris, Nate, Meriah & Tessa) moved from Fresno, CA to Douglas, WY in 1997 and then to Gillette, WY in 2001. All their children still live in Gillette with Meriah & Erin living on the family farm with their husbands. Dave's family hails from New Mexico (he met Meriah at Casper College), leaving Rory the only Wyoming Native. He was born and raised in Star Valley (Etna, WY...which couldn't be much farther away from the farm in Gillette and still be in the same state.) and met Erin in Denver, CO.

Coming Soon...

Salutations!

If you've stumbled upon us already, you're a bit early! Check back starting June 1, 2012 to stay caught up with the story of Fulton's Folly Farms' three families as they run toward independent living. They include: a mad scientist (Pa Fulton), a doula and Super Mom/Gramma of six and seven respectively (Ma Fulton), a home educator (oldest daughter), a carpenter and craftsman (her husband), a soon-to-be Master Herbalist (middle daughter), a musician and green thumb (her husband), and one pip of an Indigo Child (their daughter), so there is sure to be a point of view to interest everyone!!

Please bookmark us and come back soon!