Fall planting!

Getting the fall garden ready...I can't believe how many weeds took over this summer - more weeds than veggies, really. We did get a few really beautiful butternut squash, one I am saving for Thanksgiving. And of course, through mid July we had a little zucchini...but August? I think I just let everything get taken over - and now I am paying for it! The worst is the long, strong grasses that send runner even under the heavy path mulch layers. There is not a good way other than just pure muscle to get it out...I am digging out the paths and building up the beds a bit, and we have LOTS of lovely compost! Thank you bunny...

So this week, putting in garlic, greens, and maybe a small bed of asparagus crowns...pictures will come soon!


In other High Meadows and Charlottesville news... The first Fluvanna County Wine Festival is coming up - I can't wait to taste the wines from our friends at Thistle Gate!

Pippin Hill continues to be a favourite place to visit - most guests don't want to leave! The wide porches, the beautiful views - and of course the wine and food - I didn't want the day to end when I was up there last time either!

So - life continues on with all of it's beauty, here and everywhere...see you soon!

fall is in the (morning) air!

September...rain has been about all we have seen for a week - my daughter Sophia said just yesterday as the clouds began to break, 'wow - blue sky!'. I love the clear blue autumn skies - and they are in our forecast for the coming week, thank goodness. Nights are in the 60's, early mornings a bit foggy and cool. Days in the high 70's and low 80's - you can't get better apple picking weather!

Carter Mountain Orchard has been really working hard all summer - the peaches were the best ever, I am sorry to see them go - but the APPLES! Gala, Jonagold, Mcintosh - I don't think I have a favourite, til the Pink Ladies in October anyway. Morning crepes are now drizzled in Caramel Apple sauce, and the smell of gingerbread in the kitchen at dawn is so cozy. I am sure it won't be long til the hot cocoa requests are coming in...which leads me to my dream October kitchen purchase: a new cappuccino machine! Frothing milk for hot cocoa and lattes makes me happy, and I hope it will make our guests happy too.

Now, if we could just move a little faster to the crisp nights so we can light the fireplaces!

Thank-you!!

I can't believe it's been so long since we posted anything on the blog! Scottsville has been so busy, High Meadows included...starting in the summer of 2010, with a simple Groupon offer (if you don't know what Groupon is - sign up now - it's fun, and you can get some really great deals!) we have been at nearly 80% occupancy ever since. For a small B&B, that is life changing. So many projects are completed, or started, or in the works - all thanks to the over 2,000 new guests we have seen in just over a year! We have so many new friends, guests who are returning again and again - and now, Scottsville (on the James - see above) is getting some great new dining and shopping options...the Brewhaus, the James River Taphouse, Amici's, Slice of Heaven - all either up and running or soon-to-be.

Did you notice the beer theme? For such a small town, in the heart of Monticello wine country, we are blessed to have among us a few very talented brewmeisters...and a committed group of community members determined to see an annual beer tasting festival succeed! This past year, we incorporated into our 4th of July festivities - and it was great. Onward and upward!

News at High Meadows - summer garden was kind of a bust, despite the rain, it was still quite hot. So, now, turning the soil to prepare for fall planting - kale, collards, spinach, garlic - all to enjoy over the next few months as it cools down.

We are soooo busy still - but October is open, and if you want a nice place to relax in the fall, you can't get better than High Meadows in October and November...and don't forget a winter escape - a nice present for the holidays.

I seriously doubt it could look much SPRINGIER than this!! About the only thing still with fat buds are the dogwood. And only about 1/10th of the daffodils are blooming!

Easter week should be gorgeous - and we still have some rooms available.

I am headed today to Hilltop Berry Farm & Winery for some honey Mead!! Hopefully will get to stop at Basic Necessities for lunch, and if there is time I will call my friend Gail at Caromont for some of her amazing farmer's goat cheese - If not today, then for sure next weekend! Then calls to neighbors for lamb for next week's dinners, and our Easter dinner also - I am thinking about a braised or roasted butterflied leg of lamb, minted wheatberry salad, asparagus - something full of herbs and the fresh flavors of spring.

Plans are underway for our May Herb Festival - so many of our favourite herb growers are doing so well with their commercial sales, they aren't doing festivals anymore!! We couldn't be happier for them, but it also makes us want to get our greenhouse installed as soon as possible so WE can start our herb growing...we have a great location for a small shop, and if I ever get the bakery off the ground, the two things would work well together. Plus our guests would have something really nice and lasting to take home with them to remember us. Herbes de Provence anyone??

Happy spring!

http://chofoodhub.blogspot.com/2010/03/plant-row-for-hungry-details-emerge.html

LOVE these photos and this blog! Gets me in the mood to really get my hands dirty.

Which is exactly what I'll be doing tomorrow - our veggie garden needs turning this year, and hopefully I will be getting more seeds in the ground by this weekend...and then I am looking for a good place for a couple of raised beds - strictly for greens and root veggies. Pumpkins/butternut/hubbard squash? I don't know quite where to put them - maybe outside the hen pens...and what grows really well under Black Walnut trees? Not veggies of course, too shady - I am looking for some low shrubs or perennials? Ideas?

Wow...I returned from a nice little vacation in Florida to...snow still on the ground! I know that spring is around the corner, there are little bulb sprouts all over the place, trying to get above the melting slush - at least they will have enough water this spring. I was looking at the forsythia on the way home, hoping for a few fat branches - nothing there yet, but SURELY we are just a mere couple of weeks away!

I can't wait to get into the veggie garden - last year, it didn't get near the attention I should have given it, and this year my garden-loving sister is here working with us, so I KNOW I won't have any excuses. :) The blackberry mother plant is huge, and we planted loads of babies along the picket fence last fall - maybe enough for cobbler this summer? Definitely some heirloom tomatoes (my children still talk about the little sweet yellow ones they ate like candy last summer), basil, green beans, okra, peppers, onions, squash, pumpkins, spring greens - time to get out the seed catalogs. And also - we are replanting a couple of perennial beds near the gazebo - loading them with herbs - I am always needing something in the kitchen.

As soon as the slush is gone and we can get out there, hopefully by early March, I will turn the compost in the soil and lay the pathways...I can't wait!

MORE SNOW - but hoping for an early spring!

More snow! Another foot of snow this weekend - that's more than 3 feet in a month - for Virginia, that is NOT very common....happens maybe once every 10 years or so...and the forcast this weekend? That's right - SNOW.

Good news is, I hear the groundhog may be seeing his shadow tomorrow, and I would welcome an early spring...there will be plenty of moisture for the tulips, crocus and daffodils to pop out big and happy.

This may not yet be the year for blueberry planting - hopefully our new barn/event space will be completed though! Tentative plans are for a 40x60 'barn' at the southern end of the Vineyard - big doors that slide open in good weather, or a cozy place in case of rain...we could hold events year round - up to 150 guests, with a gorgeous view of the vineyard and inn. First phase is just the basics, with bathrooms of course - then later I could even envision a commercial kitchen to make catering down there easier...and, as 'green' as possible of course! Still in the planning phases...but maybe ready for spring weddings in 2011?

In the mean time - so much to do with the gardens this spring! Lavendar varieties, more hydrangeas and peonies...anything with fragrance and flowers we love - the gazebo gardens are getting an overhaul this spring, along with the walkway to the backyard....I will post before and after photos when we get underway the first of March.