The Hearth of Sap Bush Hollow

These days, EVERYONE’S schooling at home….But it’s not quite the same as home-schooling.  And while some families are stressed out by this transition to schooling-at-home, home-schooling is keeping o…

Bob didn’t want a cake for this birthday.  He didn’t want a candle, and didn’t want a fuss.  But his family needed all those things.  That’s what I’ll be talking about this week on The Hearth of Sap …

As small farmers, we don’t ask for much.  We draw our wealth from the earth and our family and community.  That's fine.  But just because we don’t ask for much doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting when the …

Truth be told, it’s going pretty well for me right now.  Kids are making the masks, I was never one to go out in public much anyhow, the business is holding up and our family is enjoying our time tog…

Some people were super prepared for this outbreak.  Not only that, they were super-prepped for war, famine, hurricanes, earthquakes, you name it.  Does that mean they’re in better shape right now tha…

 I used to know where to put things.  I used to know when to put them there, and how to move them to create food.  With all these changes, I feel like I’m back to square one.  How will I re-learn my …

I’ve been reading and hearing it said that we Americans are too individualistic and selfish to make the changes that can flatten the curve.  This week, one of my kids reminded me of another powerful …

As farmers, we all keep reminding ourselves that we don’t get to stop just because there’s a new virus outbreak.  And it’s true.  The grass still grows, and the pigs don’t care, and those chickens ke…

Quick question:

What do the IRS and Coronavirus have in common? 

I’ll start:

They’re both annoying.

They both incite fear.

And they both teach us that our emotions are what makes working with them complic…

When Bob & I chose to join the family farm, run our own business, homeschool our kids & live in a rural area, we made a unique set of opportunities available to our children.  But that meant we depri…

They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure….But how do you decide which is which in a beautiful, albeit economically depressed rural county that needs to attract tourism?  That’s what I’ll be…

How do you stay healthy in rural America with poor access to healthcare, especially when you’re self-employed and living on a low income?  That’s a great question that came in from a reader in Baltim…

Death happens a lot on a family farm.  That doesn't make it any easier to face.  But it does give us, as parents, an opportunity to help our children learn to deal with it.  Sometimes this means lett…

It's hard to judge the profitability of a farm from a tax return.  The wealth and sustenance it provides can be impossible to measure.  But that doesn't mean we don't need an economic strategy for su…

After much debate, labor and considerable strife, Sap Bush Cafe was granted a beer and wine license on January 1st, and we moved from a Saturdays-only Breakfast-Brunch venue to Saturdays-only, Breakf…

In episode O1, Secrets for Thriving 40 Years on a Family Farm, I mentioned that one of the secrets is that forgiveness is good for business.   What I failed to mention is that forgiveness begins with…

Some say it's about location-location-location.  Some think it takes an MBA, or unbelievable luck, or incredible business acumen.  I say its way simpler.  But harder. Our family celebrated 40 years o…

Join me for the kick-off episode of the new audio version of The Radical Homemaker blog from Sap Bush Hollow Farm. This week's episode shares a little bit about how we got to here and now. 

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