I love asparagus, not just because it’s delicious and has lots of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. I love it, because it’s perennial. No matter how long and cold the winter has been, that dutiful spring vegetable is one of the first signs of life in my kitchen garden every year. And, is it ever welcome! However, I must admit that […]
I had to do quite a bit of digging through family photo albums to find these gems. You can probably tell by my lovely, patterned trousers that these time capsule treasures are circa 1970’s. I am an only child and the daughter of a mother who documented almost every moment of my childhood. I am fortunate that she took […]
I found this recipe for tea cakes in a cookbook called Southern Cakes. It features some of the most delightful and delicious desserts associated with Southern baking: everything from sweet potato pound cake to red velvet cake. Reading this cookbook and admiring the lovely photographs of beautifully baked cakes so reminded me of Grandma Rieley. My grandma was a wonderful […]
“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer, restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.” ~Wendall Berry, The Unsettling of America: […]
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! With love from all of us at Green Hill Farm, Scott, Tonya, Maud, Dash, Clementine, Finn, Olive, Honey and all the sheep ********* Thanks so much for following Fourth Generation Farmgirl!
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” –Charles Dickens “Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.” –Laura Ingalls Wilder I love this time of year–beautiful music, snow, twinkling lights, festive decorations […]
This recipe for homemade dressing or stuffing has been passed down through the generations of my family: Great-grandmother Rieley, Great Aunt Florence, Grandma Rieley, Mom, and me. My family’s recipe for dressing has been modified minimally over the years and continues to be a favorite part of our Thanksgiving dinner. It’s even better on the second day due to […]
“For flowers that bloom about our feet; For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet; For song of bird, and hum of bee; For all things fair we hear or see, Father in heaven, we thank Thee!” –Ralph Waldo Emerson “God has two dwellings; one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart.” –Izaak Walton
With the arrival of fall, my thoughts turn to cool, crisp mornings, fields full of pumpkins, the smell of a crackling fire and the taste of hot apple cider. This time of year often causes us to reflect on happy times. It’s always interesting to me how our senses ignite memories. Memories that take us back to a single, meaningful […]
My name is Tonya, and I grew up on a 300-acre farm in rural Virginia that has been in my family for over 100 years. After graduating from college, receiving my master’s degree in speech and language pathology, and living and working in a small city for six years, I decided to return to the place of my childhood. Here, in this rural area, on this patch of green, where for four generations my family has farmed, gardened, and lived, I, too wanted to be a part of this continuity. As a fourth generation farmgirl, I have many interests that not only include, but also go beyond the basics of farming, gardening, sheep and chicken-keeping. It is all of this and more that I plan on sharing in this blog.
fourth generation farmgirl 