As thoughts and materials are starting to pile up to begin the next round of summer projects, it occurs to me that I haven’t ever documented the progress made on the homeplace during last summer’s race with the calendar. Sometimes we’ll get comments that imply that, perhaps since so much time has passed we just didn’t update our blog with all the wonderful finish work on the house and property because – surely, by now – surely the house must be finished. Oh, my…no. But – some neat progress was made over the last summer and preceding fall that we are happy about and enjoying. So, stealing a few moments between finishing taxes/PFD filings and beginning to plant seed starts for the garden (yes, late again on those brassicas…), I (Shannon) am going to attempt to dig through the thousands of RAW and JPEG files on our computer and external hard drive (did we ever mention the girls’ love of photographing this wonderland where we live??) to compile a stunning photojournal of Progress on the Homestead. Glad to have you visit!
P.S. ….Aaaand now, more than a month after that clever paragraph, the brassicas are 4″ high, basil has been started twice…and here I am for another attempt to “file” this update.
A dream come true continues: our own family string quartet!
Rachel planting nasturtiums in our new window well retainers
New member of the Miller work force: we lost track of how many square yards of garden soil and gravel were hauled for our newly-cleared circular driveway and the road that serves us and our neighbors
Drive cleared up to the newly-cleared garden space
Looking back from the new garden area toward the house; dump truck doing its work
Burning off small spruce and spruce trimmings in the new garden space, which will also add some alkali to the soil (oh, yes – and a solar panel array)
Water retention pond in the garden area. Lower than our roof line with pipes run underground to feed it. Waiting for a liner for the pond and gutters for the roof.
Clearing orchard space
Turning the cleared spruce trees into poles
Jack-legged spruce fence, tall enough to protect apples and raspberries from moose
Apple tree in its new home
South-facing bay window above the kitchen sink, waiting for next spring’s garden starts
Nasturtiums in the window wells
Fall is coming: auroras and stars!
View down the road from our driveway as fall arrives
Millers in Alaska 
Thanks for all the pictures and notes to go with them. I like to see people raise a garden. I hear there are some who have no idea how to start seeds and make them produce into vegetables.
Glad you enjoyed them, Melvina! 🙂