Starting Fresh - An update from the B&B

Hello there! So it's been about a year and a half since we posted anything to this blog. It's definitely not from lack of attention. As we walk around and explore the property we keep saying to each other "this would make a good blog post!".

• Go to a Ben & Jerry's Concert on the Green? "This would make a good post!" 

• Make some dams in the stream? "This would make a good blog post!" 

• Build a Greenhouse? "This would make a good blog post!" 

• Set up a woodland obstacle course among the sugar maples for our oldest child? "This would make a good blog post!" 

• Have another kid? "Yeah sure, why not! Blog post." 

First and foremost, yes. That last item on the list did happen! In addition to our 3 year old we welcomed another member of our family into this world in June. We couldn’t be happier.

Now we are a family of four! It’s hard to believe nearly a year has passed since we welcomed this little being into our world.

So, it's not for lack of subject matter that we haven’t updated the blog until now, but for lack of time! So, now that we have an abundance of time and are spending it at home, we thought we would finally sit down and update you all on the happenings around the property.

The added set of hands has allowed us to get a lot done around here! (Joking, but really…) We have been busily making improvements and additions to the property. We had another great maple sugaring season. We tapped 75 maple trees to make enough maple syrup to feed our guests (and family!) throughout the year. We successfully raised a flock of chickens, who lovingly roamed free across the property and were subsequently picked off by foxes. Our ducks remain happy egg layers and we have doubled down our predator control efforts, as we plan for the next flock. As usual, we have greatly expanded the gardens, moving the vegetable garden into raised beds, creating an acre of cut flowers in the lower field, and building a greenhouse to prepare for a lively growing season. We continue to make improvements to the Bed and Breakfast, including adding a grand piano to the living room and updating the guest rooms. Our efforts to increase sustainability efforts mean we have finished up a new siding project to improve our energy use and spruce the place up a bit. Even with all that we were able to sneak in a few concerts, take the kids to Shelburne Museum a few times, explore the Echo center, take a magical Christmas train ride, Carin taught our eldest how to ski and we are generally enjoy life in the Green Mountains! 

Celebrating Love!

We have enjoyed hosting weddings and elopements.

Fresh eggs!

We aren’t supposed to have favorites, but these ladies were so sweet! We miss them and will be raising another flock this summer!

The B&B gets a fresh look!

We added insulation and energy efficient siding to improve our carbon footprint.

So fresh!

When the season changes and the weather warms, we make our own maple syrup to serve to guests.

Now Offering a Guest House Getaway!

As a new option, guests can choose to stay for a week or more at our Guest House, located just up the hill and enjoying pristine views and privacy.

Life in the COVID-19 era has taught us a new appreciation for where we live. While we are far away from our friends in the city, we remain deeply connected to world events and share our incredible gratitude and appreciation for front line workers, who are risking it all to support survival and recovery rates. This experience has also taught us how to be more present and recognize the gift it is to live here, with access to outdoor exploration and a strong (and socially distant) rural community. With both kids at home, (as daycare closed down in mid-March due to COVID-19, ) we have been exploring the property more than ever before. Every day, we have ventured out to explore the outdoors. Our oldest takes us on long walks and shows us the world from a completely new vantage point. We are loving explaining what "peepers" are, what woodpeckers do, reading books from the little library by the pond, and watching him splash around in the stream, making little dams. We have also been learning new skills. Like everyone in quarantine, we are baking up a storm. Kneading, proofing, and baking a loaf of King Arthur Flour bread has become a new part of our daily rhythm.

Nothing smells better than fresh bread!

In another advent, a few months ago our neighbors relocated for work, and we were incredibly sad to see them go. They were amazing neighbors! And, in an interesting turn of events, we purchased their property and now have a guest house to offer for overflow guests of the Bed & Breakfast, or as a short term rental. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been busy painting and decorating to prepare for an active rental season. We are hopeful that the summer months will allow us to accept bookings and welcome guests to our new rental space. We are excited to offer this new addition, as it returns the property to the 75 acre parcel that preceded our ownership, rejoining the neighboring lots to maximize the mountain views. In addition to the new Guest House, the property has a beautiful little barn, which has been home to many horses over the years. There are well-maintained pastures and many trails that we intend to revive for snowshoeing and hiking. Carin and I are not exactly equestrians, so we are looking into getting some sheep(!) this spring to help us maintain the fields. We will keep you posted with lots of cute lamb and chick photos over the next few months!

I realize any one of these things could be an entire blog post on it's own - but it's been a year and a half! We had a lot to catch you up on. 

Cheers to a fresh start!

-Luke McCarthy

Welcoming a New Year at our Vermont Bed and Breakfast

Winter at Vermont Bed and Breakfast at Russell Young Farm

With the New Year upon us, we have been thinking about what an amazing year 2017 was. We had guests from around the world – France, Israel, and all over the United States, including a handful of guests who have come back for a return stay at our Bed and Breakfast. As always, we enjoyed visiting with our guests and helping them to experience the best of Vermont in a weekend.

Since our last blog post, we have taken some time for family visits and vacation. We enjoyed an amazing trip to the Azores, which was our first trip abroad with our son, Kellen. We had such a good time exploring, and it was a great reminder of what we enjoy as travelers – good food, kind people, and quality sleep after full days of adventuring!

We Took a Family Trip

Terceira island, Azores

Our Fall Foliage season was exceptionally busy this year and we are grateful that we already have a handful of reservations for next autumn. Last year, we were surprised by thoughtful gifts and gestures from our guests, who shared with us prints of their photos, wine from their hometowns, essential oils, and delicious treats from around the world! It’s always amazing to us how by opening your home you also open your heart. We love having guests and sharing the Vermont Bed and Breakfast experience with them.

Enjoying games and books by the fire at Vermont Bed and Breakfast at Russell Young Farm

With the quiet season that comes after the leaves fall, we enjoyed visiting with friends and family, especially spending time together over the holidays. This is such an incredible place for reconnecting and enjoying a slower pace. In the last few weeks, we have enjoyed doing puzzles by the fire, marking Christmas ornaments and cookies, and having friends and family visit.

Blue Skis at Vermont Bed and Breakfast at Russell Young Farm

Now that the ski season is ramping up, we are excited to welcome families who are looking for a relaxing retreat after a full day of adventure at the mountain. With both Mad River Glen and Sugarbush Resort nearby, as well as Sleepy Hollow Nordic Ski and Snowshoe Center, there are miles and miles of trails to explore in the winter. 

Enjoying an evening walk at Vermont Bed and Breakfast at Russell Young Farm

We’ve also been working on some projects at the house. Luke has more than 65 new Dahlia tubers to grow this year and I am excited for the beautiful flowers to decorate the property and bedside tables. Our seed catalogs have started to arrive and we are enjoying leafing through and dreaming of what to grow this summer. 

With the chilly winter months here, the chickens and ducks have slowed their laying. They are nestled in with a heat lamp and are enjoying their feather-down jackets. Luke and Stout bring them fresh food and water every day, and check that their house is cozy and warm.

Stout, enjoying fresh snow at Vermont Bed and Breakfast at Russell Young Farm

All is well on the farm. We are keeping the house cozy and warm and enjoying the restful pace of winter months. We hope you plan some self-care and travel into your New Year’s resolutions. We will have a room ready for you when you are ready for a getaway!

Spring in Vermont: Starting Seeds and Boiling Maple Sap

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Spring is my second favorite season in Vermont. And it's a very close second. There is so much going on here at the farm in late March and early April! The landscape is coming to life, and we are getting busy with preparation for yet another successful season at our Bed and Breakfast. 

Example of early preparation of the garden, at the start of the growing season 2016

We try to be fairly self-sufficient at the B&B. We have our own flock of chickens and ducks for eggs, we make our own maple syrup, and we try to grow most of our own fruits and veggies we use around the bed and breakfast. Back in mid-February we had a good run of weather to collect maple sap, which we boiled down into a few gallons of syrup. Right around the same time I started a whole bunch of pepper and tomato seeds. This is pretty early to be starting any kind of seed in Vermont, but as you'll read later on we start early because we take some precautions in order to set plants out a little earlier than normal. (Normal for our mountainous area is right around Memorial Day.) Anyway, after we boiled some sap and started some seeds, mother nature had a good laugh at us and it turned cold and snowy again. The sap stopped flowing and I questioned my sanity starting so many seeds early. 

Collecting maple sap from the trees

Then, at the end March, we saw Robins so heavy with eggs they could barely fly, and those that had already laid their eggs were busy searching for food to feed their hatchlings. Spring had officially arrived at the B&B!

By now the temperature swings are perfect for maple sap collection and those seeds I planted in mid-February are about 6 inches tall. We keep them under a combination of LED and fluorescent lights near one of the baseboard radiators to keep some heat in and they love it. They will soon outgrow their 4 inch pots, as well as require more light than we can give them indoors.

Indoor seed starter station

Just today I went out and shook the cobwebs out of our little 6 foot by 6 foot greenhouse. In another week or so all of the large seedlings will move out to the greenhouse where they will enjoy 80 degree days and a small electric heater will keep them at around 50 degrees at night. With almost two months until our official "plant out" date, how can we keep them in pots for that long you ask? Well, as soon as the ground thaws out a bit in the garden we will go out and cover it with black fabric, and then cover a few areas with row cover, or a mini hoop-house. This will heat up the soil where plants like melons, peppers and tomatoes are planted; and it will also provide up to 7 degrees of frost protection at night for the seedlings. With this system, we can plant up to two weeks earlier than normal Vermont gardens. 

Greenhouse grow space

I will collect some sap today, and then tomorrow I'll take down all of our taps and buckets until next year. Taking the buckets off the trees is always bittersweet for me; while i love the process of collecting and boiling, by the time they are ready to come off I'm usually ready to move on to other things. Tending to the garden, planting the annual flower beds, regular maintenance, and this year we are planting an orchard with peaches, pears, and plums which should all be arriving in early May! Stay tuned for more on that later.

-Luke

B&B Winter Projects: Preparing for Summer Flowers

We love to grow flowers to put on the breakfast table or in our B&B's guest rooms. Even in the dead of Vermont winter, we are starting seeds or planning the flowers to plant in the seasonal garden beds. It takes some love and care to keep the gardens in line.

During our last post we mentioned that our Dahlia tubers that we placed into storage this winter began to mold a little and were generally not doing well. We are going to devote an entire post to Dahlias because not only do they add a huge burst of color to the Bed and Breakfast property every summer, but this flower in particular holds a special place in our hearts. 

Dahlias run the gambit from small, 1 inch diameter flowers on short stems; to flowers the size of dinner plates on massive stalks that need stakes driven into the ground in order to support their weighty heads. Whichever type of Dahlia you choose, they run the rainbow spectrum in color and eye popping appeal. This is why they line the banks of our pond and adorn the nightstands of our guestrooms when they are in season. Dahlias do, however, have one major drawback for Vermont growers. 

Native to Mexico, Dahlias are closely related to the Zinnia and Sunflower. Needless to say, they are a very tender annual and do not handle cold very well. While Zinnias and Sunflowers are easy to grow from seed each year, the Dahlia's root system is a group of meaty tubers that take time to become established. Therefore it isn't as easy as throwing a bunch of seeds in the ground each spring. Dahlia tubers can be purchased from any mail order seed catalogue, or even purchased at your local hardware store; but if you live in a climate such as ours, and you want to save your favorite Dahlia plants from one year to the next, certain precautions need to be taken so they can thrive in a Vermont garden.

At the first signs of frost their hearty stalks turn black with winter chill and they begin to die off. Before that frost reaches the ground, we snip off the blackened stalk and use a pitchfork to loosen up the soil around the mass of tubers. Once we can extract the tubers from the ground we rinse the mass off with water and set them out to dry for several days. The reason we had some mold popping up on our crop this year was twofold: I was impatient and didn't let them dry enough before putting the tubers into storage; and the storage container I placed them in did not have enough ventilation holes. 

Dahlia tubers, being prepared for winter storage

Dahlias adorn the Blue Spruce Room bedside table.

Since there is a good 6-7 month stretch from killing frost to spring planting, these Dahlia tubers actually spend most of their life in storage, which means we need to be very careful about how and where they are stored. In years past I've placed them all in a cardboard box, separated by thin layers of newspaper, and placed them in the basement. This works well for many but here at the B&B our basement stays a little too warm. Ideally, they should be in storage conditions similar to a root cellar. Chilly, but never frosty. To meet these special conditions, our Dahlia tubers get stored in our garage for winter. I wanted to upgrade from the cardboard box to something more substantial this year, so we went out and got two large plastic totes to store everything in. Since Dahlias need to breathe, I drilled a few holes around the sides and top of the totes, and stored them just like I always had: with just a few pieces of newspaper in between them. 

Dahlia storage

After two weeks I went to check on them and lo and behold: MOLD! I knew right away what had happened. In the short time that they had been in storage, the extra moisture in the tubers came out and the few holes and sparse packing material were not enough to wick away the moisture. We were able to save them just in time! They all came out, got sprayed with 1:10 bleach solution, sat under a fan for a week, and we re-packed them for a long winter’s nap. This time I drilled many more holes in the containers and used a bag of pine shavings to pack in between the tubers. You want your packing material to pull extra moisture away from the tubers, but not pull TOO much moisture away from them. So now they sit in our garage. I make a point of checking them every other week to make sure they are still doing well; and waiting for their chance to be planted and enjoyed by our guests for another season.

-Luke McCarthy

Lucky Ducks! (Take two)

We love providing fresh food to our Bed and Breakfast guests, so this year we decided to raise ducks and chickens. In May we picked up three day old ducks that we had ordered in the spring from our local hardware store. When we put in our order we were not able to specify whether we wanted male or female ducks, we were only able to order a "straight run." Since we only wanted females for egg production we hedged our bets and ordered three ducks, hoping for at least one female who would produce eggs for our breakfast menu.

Duck eggs are particularly rich and good for baking. In addition to being larger than a chicken egg, ducks lay their eggs all year round, while chickens tend to slow down in the winter months. It takes a few months for either bird to develop to adolescence and start laying. We were hopeful that the cute little ducklings would turn into a brood of layers so we could make delicious breakfast breads and muffins!

Zucchini Apple Bread, made fresh from the farm!

As the weeks passed our little ducklings got their voice and started speaking to us. Not a distinct quack, but a shallow raspy honk almost. From everything I had read this was a telltale sign that we had males. Hoping for at least one female we waited a few more weeks for their full feathers to come in to find out exactly what we had. Sure enough, as their full feathers came in we saw a distinct curled feather on each of their tails. We had three drakes. No eggs would be coming our way.

The little ones, on their their arrival day!

After doing a little research I found out that when customers order from hatcheries, hatcheries fill the order for females or males first, then they fill the "straight run" orders after. Since a lot of customers are in it for the eggs, the female ducks get ordered first which leaves the straight run orders largely male. Since the local hardware store only fills orders for straight run ducks, I knew we would be in the same situation next spring if we ordered more. So, in early September I made a bold choice and special ordered four female ducks from a hatchery.

Taking a field trip to meet the neighbors!

Our four female Pekin ducklings shipped from Metzer Farms on September 6th, and they showed up at our Post Office on the 8th first thing in the morning. It's only been a few weeks but I can already hear a difference in their voices from the males. They are nearly fully feathered now and can go out and join their mates on a full time basis.

Enjoying the grass and pool on a sunny day!

We started out by housing them in the shed under a heat lamp with some supervised time with the other ducks and chickens. Now they have full run of the coop but are still finding their way around. They haven’t yet figured out how to climb back up the ladder to their house, so every night we collect them by hand and make sure that they are tucked in, cozy and warm under the heat lamp in their house. As the nights get colder, it’s a bit of race to see how quickly their full feathers come in.

The little ones enjoy the heated lamp at night, while their mates prefer to sleep outside under the stars.

The little ones are getting along well with the chickens and other ducks. We’re hoping they will figure out how to climb the ramp into their house on their own but until then, we’ll continue to make sure they are cozy and warm before we turn in for the night. 

-Luke McCarthy

Summer time and the living is easy!

Summer is in full swing!

We’ve had such an amazing start to the summer season! Vermont is greener than green and our garden is flourishing!  We are enjoying fresh fruits and veggies from the garden and planning B&B menus to share with our guests. In the next few weeks, we expect to have melons and some veggies ready to work into the menu.

The view from our front porch at Vermont Bed and Breakfast at Russell Young Farm

Updates from the farm:

Our strawberry towers have blossomed and born their first fruit! I’ve never tasted a juicier, more flavorful strawberry. We’re excited to share these delicious treats as part of our menu of breakfast offerings.

We planted blueberry and currant bushes, as well as a peach tree. While these won’t fruit for a few years, we’re excited to envision our guests walking the B&B property and enjoying a delicious tour of Vermont’s truly local foods.

Our brood is doing well. The chicks have grown into chickens! They are still figuring out their gangly bodies and exploring the lawn with great interest.  We are anticipating that they will be laying fresh eggs for the B&B by foliage season.  In the meantime, they are really funny. They spend most of the day stealing food from the ducks and keeping cool by rolling in the dirt. In the evening, they snuggle into the coop and – while they have spacious sleeping quarters – they all try to squeeze into one little nesting box together. It’s really funny to see. They have made us understand the term “all cooped up” in a new way.  They all appear to be female, so thankfully there hasn’t been any crowing or early morning wake up calls.

We had a funny story with the ducks. A few weeks ago, our neighbors approached us because they had found a little duckling that had been abandoned. Naturally, we took it in and tried to raise it with our ducks. It looked a little bit like a Wood duck, but we weren’t sure. It was a few weeks younger than the others, and they weren’t getting along so we had to keep them separate from the Pekins. After a few weeks of continued struggle, we started comparing images of the birds we suspected it might be. As it turns out, the little Wood duck was actually a Canadian goose! Our little "ugly duckling" seemed a little lonely with the ducks and chickens, which makes sense now. It had started presenting a little differently than the others, so we got curious and realized its true identity. Canadian Geese are federally protected, so we have re-homed it at a local rehabilitation center, where it was quickly adopted and warmly taken in by a true Mama goose.

The real ducks love to swim! They have their adult feathers now, and they spend much of the day jumping in and out of the water and then shaking their tail feathers, literally. While we have provided them with a little swimming pool, they sometimes take a refreshing dip in their drinking water.  One of the ducks is smarter than the others, and has figured out how to access the ramp to their coop with ease, so it always enjoys the freshest food and water. The others will figure it out soon enough, we hope!  It should be just a few months before they are also laying fresh eggs that we can use to make fresh baked goods for the B&B. Duck eggs are bigger and richer, so they are great for baking.

Our peonies are still popping in the garden and filling our guest rooms with aromatic scents of summer!  We have also planted a number of dahlias and other flowers for cutting along the edge of the pond. I’m excited to see them sprouting up and adding color to the landscape.

Dahlias, adorning the bedside table of the Blue Spruce Room

So! Sorry for the long-overdue update. We are busy enjoying the best of summer in Vermont and invite you join us.

-Carin McCarthy