Susan's Album - Michigan

Susan in a solar greenhouse.  The greenhouse is a pit in the ground, solar and geothermally heated.  The plastic containers are filled with water for heat storage. The shelf you see  in this picture is part of a "ferris wheel" arrangement that increased growing space (and decreased heating cost) by at least 3 times.

Compost bins made of wood pallets at the farm.

Misty morning at the farm.

 

Bonneyville Mill - now an Elkhart, IN county park still operating as a grist grain mill.  The mill is on the Little Elkhart River.  Part of the funding comes from the operation of the mill.

They buy organic grain, grind it to make the most wonderful whole red wheat flour, stone ground wheat flour that makes the best bread ever.  There is something about fresh ground wheat that tastes better, besides having better nutrition. They also grind buckwheat into flour.  The top photo shows part of the mill pond; the second photo shows the county Dahlia society planting in front of the mill.    Tours of the mill are free, one can see how big the stones are, how the mill worked, etc.  The price of the flour is competitive  with the "junk" that we buy in today's stores, the value is much more.

This is a picture of my *new* house - and it looks smaller and closer to the neighbors every time I look at it.  This will be my back yard.

The center is a pile of sand where a swimming pool was.  As I have time, I will turn it into an herb garden, going back to gather cuttings from plants.  But I also want to grow my own vegetables.  Nothing like being able to tend the earth and the garden to calm me down and rejuvenate my spirit.