Summer has come and gone
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August 31, 2024Summer has come and gone…
Where does the time go? It seems like yesterday that the students from Misericordia University and Marian Catholic High School were on the farm at the end of their school year. We sure miss all these school visits during the summer months.
Saint Faustina Kowalska Parish, Nanticoke and St. Maria Goretti Parish, Laflin, brought their Confirmation students up to the farm to do some service. Lots of clean-up and summer prep work done - and of course, playing with the goat kids and chickens!
Fr. Alex Roche brought the Vocations Discernment Groups from Holy Cross and Holy Redeemer High Schools together to the farm. We had a blast!
Once again, Willow Haven Farm donated plants for our field. Their farm community is growing, with plans for a Willow Haven Farm General Store in Breinigsville. They are also hosting a Homesteading Conference on Saturday, September 7. The DeMasters are doing great things for homesteading community.
We enjoyed having some young visitors on the farm. Luke and Sawyer came to play with goats and chickens. Emma came over to help wash some wool and learned to wash her own fleeces, as well. Eliana and Jude weeded the tomato patch and helped string up the plants (and play with the goats and the chickens!). Love to see the children enjoying farm life.
Carmina had fun with some natural dyes - goldenrod and onion skins. The onion skins were done a few different ways and gave very different colors.
Lots of new life on the farm this summer. After Harmony gave us quints, Layla gave us twin does, Scholastica and Hildegard (good Benedictine names). We added a buck goat, Maccus, and two ewe lambs, Halo and Flannery to the flock. We even had a bird’s nest in our greenhouse!
The crops continue to do well. We had a plethora of cucumbers this year, and are planning to can a lot of San Marzanos. The peaches were amazing this year! Unfortunately, they were enjoyed by the squirrels before we could pick them. Hopefully, we will salvage the pears.
Fr. John Gribowich returned to the farm with a group of his students from San Francisco. They were fantastic! We had them paint the chapel for us - a lovely Marian blue color. They also hauled hay and got us stocked up a bit. They were real troopers on a very hot day.
God always surprises us with visitors. Cassandra and Kathleen stopped by on their way from the Philadelphia area to the St. Ann Shrine in Scranton. We enjoyed feeding the sheep and praying together in the chapel. Melissa, a former students of Larry’s and Carmina’s, stopped on her way from Washington, DC to upstate NY. It is so beautiful to see whom God sends to us.
Larry continues to write for Catholic World Report and the National Catholic Register, while producing his video interviews for his YouTube channel. He will be in Rome for the Synod on Synodality for the month of October.
Please send us your prayer intentions, and we will include them in our Morning Prayer. Pray for us!
