Taking on the heart of the Homestead, the patio!
While the pond project continued to drag on, we spent our early mornings and late evenings making steady progress on the front patio. The first step was a massive round of hand-weeding — clearing away years of overgrowth to finally see the bones of the space again. From there, we decided to pull out a few old, defunct raised beds and reshape the pond borders to create a more natural, cohesive flow between the two areas.
It felt so good to finally see things taking shape. Still, with the kids heading back to school in just a few weeks, we know we’ll need to get a little creative about how we keep the momentum going. Luckily, Patrick and I have an unshakable mix of confidence and (admittedly) a touch of ignorant bliss — and while we know we’ll be exhausted, we’re also certain we’ll have it all up and running by next summer.
In mid-September, we celebrated one month as farmers by harvesting the grapes! The girls were huge helpers in making very sticky and delicious grape juice :)
