What’s the Hap?

Happenings at Rock Bottom Homestead these days is probably much like yours – trying to wrap our brains around what’s going on and what we can do to help.

What are we thinking/planning/on about?

• Setting up bulk meet deliveries near you – I hear there’s a surge in baking these days but we’ve got you covered if you have other things to do (requests?). We have a ‘driver’ who is willing to make a trip or two to the Portland and Bangor area – which will really help alot.
• Trying to figure out how to get a small caravan or tiny house up here to help those who want to escape the cities to quarantine – if you see anything let us know – we will build a composting toilet to function with it, and can rig it with water and maybe a generator for temporary electricity – we’re really just looking for a safe insulated structure to keep somebody (or somebody’s) safe and healthy. We may not have much but we have space and hospitality to share (and bread!).
• A couple of new items we’ve been trying out, too, – like sourdough bagels (plain, sesame, and sea salt/ground pepper), flax and sesame seed crackers, and hamburger buns, and spicy kimchi. Soon there will be micro and wild greens!
• And with that, I’m pushing for a Farmstand (there is nothing more that gives me glee and maybe even hope than an honor farmstand, I take advantage of them whenever I see them – last year we got wild plums, seedlings, fresh sandwich bread and butter, and then – there’s the dreamy wild blueberry pies we get at Grafton Notch when we go camping). As soon as the ground hardens a bit and the snow is finally gone…
• The Layer Chickens are coming before we know it (not til June but we have nowhere to put them, so that still feels like soon) – so a coop plan is in the works.
• An outside bread oven plan is in the works (though we have to dismantle the old coop to steal the site, first) and a smoker. (yes, you read that last bit right, we’re working on charcuterie and cheese…)
• And speaking of seedlings – the babies are coming up nicely. We will have some for sale as we get closer to planting season – lots of nightshades: heirloom tomatoes, smaller rare/interesting eggplants, and peppers (bell and hot!), companion flowers, herbs, melons, pumpkins, we’ll see what else I get in this week (I’m running out of room!).
• Made another plant/seed order yesterday of golden raspberries, strawberries, more flowers to go along with an order of potatoes, onions, white grapes, a couple more apple trees (Josh can’t help it – he gets excited – ha!), and dried beans (new beds for beans with espaliered grapes this year).
• Today is all about redoing the electricity in the laundry room so J can put up some walls, making bone broth, and me helping students with papers and proposals. The Big D is making little cardboard dogs today and doing ‘math’ (she has such a better head for the latter than I do – that’s for sure!).

And thank you to the wonderful folk who take a country drive to pick up goods – it’s nice to see you, even from 3-6ft away. ❤