Well, it's official, sweet Keith has a red neck and I'm sporting quite the tan line from my rubber boots!  I have heard of a "farmer's tan" as it applies to the upper arm paired with a t-shirt, but I honestly did not know the term "Red Neck" was just that.  I thought it meant you had cars in various states of disrepair on your lawn.  And, never have I heard of a distinct line from one's rubber boots... I even have a circle from where I pull them on!  In my former life I took great pains to guarantee a very even tan, even if it meant laying in odd positions on my chaise by the pool.  Ah, a moment of silence for tropical vacations...

We are in the thick of summer so there is no time for day dreaming; we have chores to do!  Keith identified a great space for a vegetable garden and before I knew it he had marked off a 50' x 40' space (perfectly lined up with the corner of the house, of course!) He built raised beds and a rustic, yet artistic fence that he created using found pallets that he disassembled, painted with steel wool - soaked vinegar and tea to turn each piece a different patina, then reassembled the panels and added them to the base of the fence.  We are harvesting beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet peas, pole & bush beans, melons, lettuces, squash, peppers, fava beans, herbs and eleven different heirloom tomatoes. Corporate finance by day, green thumbed super hero by weekend.

We are very ambitious people (Keith with his huge garden and me trying to turn this beloved space into an event venue) with no extra cash to hire help so we are busy all day long, every day just trying to keep up with the rapidly growing grass and even more prolific weeds.  We eat dinner at 9:30 or 10:00, clean up, fall into bed and do it all again the next day.  We are blissfully exhausted!

After a winter like this past one, everybody in New England is anxiously awaiting the first signs of spring.  April 1 brought the first day of lovely weather and the yard work began.  The snow was completely melted on April 13, just in time for one last snowstorm 3 days later.  Thankfully, it was quick to melt which was a good thing because we had work to do.  With the overwhelming task of learning life on the east coast while figuring out what is required of this house and property, the weeds and brush were allowed to grow uncontested all summer long.  The remaining spindly stalks that survived the winter were now ready to be cleared.  Better late than never, right?  Plus we were running out of days on our burn permit.  As a side note, living where you are allowed to burn your yard waste is another addition to the “new” list.  In California, you aren’t even allowed to burn in your fireplace so the idea of setting a large fire on Main Street felt daunting and thrilling at the same time.

With clippers in hand I went to work on the unruly mess and 3 weeks later (I am NOT exaggerating!) ended up with a pretty impressive pile.  It was very validating to see the fruit of my labor since my body felt like I had pulled this many weeds.  And then, just like that it went up in smoke.

My cousin (and realtor extraordinaire), Beth Sager, found out about a TV show that chronicles the stories of people that make major life changes associated with a big move. It sounded intriguing so I applied.  From application to approval from the producer to the film crew descending upon our sweet New England life took 3 ½ weeks!  They liked our story of moving from the west coast to the east coast, city to the country, wedding planner to wedding venue. Oh my goodness, we’re going to be on TV and I have boxes that need to be unpacked and a VERY overgrown yard.  Oh, and they wanted me to stage a wedding in my 227 year old barn with a huge hole in the roof with 2 weeks notice.  Well, that is obviously crazy so we staged an engagement party outside the barn instead. 

A fine idea expect for the aforementioned overgrown yard.  Enter my champion with pruning shears and former neighbor from Cranberry Lane, Dick Labossiere, who graciously gave up several hours in the heat and humidity to tame the beast disguising itself as a wisteria bush.  When we started you could not even see the trellis or walk upright on the path next to it.  This family gets even kinder, Dick’s step daughter Karen (whom I’ve met twice before!) spent a whole day clearing weeds from another long forgotten garden.  Honestly, how did I get so lucky to meet such fabulous people?

Our first project began just a few days after we moved in.  As I mentioned, the growing season in Massachusetts is very short and since we didn't have any soil of our own until late July there was no time to waste.  We chose the space that was formally a green house; Benjamin my second cousin pulled all the weeds then he and I shoveled top soil (for 6 hours!!)  Keith finished the job by shoveling what we couldn't finish, laying hundreds of pounds of field stones and planting tomatoes, cornichon, beets, brussels sprouts, radishes, arugula, butter lettuce, carrots, parsnips and green beans.