Gardens and Orchards

We’re autodidacts by nature— meaning, we’re self-taught in most things relating to the gardens and orchard. Our philosophy with gardening is mostly to let the herbs, veggies, fruits, flowers, and plants do their natural thang with minimal intervention (as you can probably see by the lackadaisical weeding practices). We plant herbs and veggies that we like to eat ourselves (cucumbers, corn, arugula, tomatoes, oregano, dill, basil, lemon balm, green beans, etc.). I dry the herbs and leaves for homemade teas, and we try to harvest the seeds from the fruits and veggies we grow to use in future seasons.

Our orchard is only two years old ! We planted four Apple trees in the Fall and two Peach trees this past Spring. We were fully prepared to have no fruit our first year because they’re just lil’ ones, but low and behold, we had a single, beautiful green apple cling to the highest limbs of one of our apple trees. That little guy hung on with dear life, and we got to enjoy the fruits of his labor in the Fall of last year. This year, I’m happy to report, our Peach trees gave us TWO WHOLE PEACHES!! As far as our fruit goes, clearly there’s a limited supply, so we cannot guarantee you’ll be able to sink your lips into one of our juicy fruits, but we can promise to show you the framed pictures of each piece fruit we’ve harvested; they sit on our mantel like we’re proud parents of three mediocre children who never amounted to much.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Can you eat from the garden and orchard?” Sure! If there is edible food growing in the garden and/or orchard, then just mention your interest to one of the hosts, and we’d be happy to get your some good eats from our humble garden. **Supply may vary.** And in case you’re wondering about fertilizer: we make our own fertilizer using the Alpaca beans, and we never put any harmful chemicals on our gardens or orchard. Even when spraying for bugs, we use an organic mixture called Mosquito Magician which is 100% safe for animals, humans, and the environment. We spray the devil’s weeds (Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac) with a home-made remedy of vinegar and water. It works 50% of the time, so make sure you’re wearing close-toed shoes when visiting.

We also have a handful of different flower gardens around the property. The flowers in the gallery below are a mixture of Spring, Summer, and Fall blooms. Some are annuals, some are perennials, and some are wild. We’re always adding, moving, and reorganizing our gardens, so every time you visit, you’ll probably see something beautiful and new … or dead and old. Hard to say.