Ginger, thanks for your interesting questions. Sort of farm--During my growing-up years when my father ran it (I was born in '51), it was basically a hog and grain farm. He grew lots of corn for the pigs and to sell, plus some oats, but started growing soybeans in the sixties as a cash crop as well. We had a few chickens early on, but found it more convenient to buy at the store. (I think even store-bought chicken used to taste better back then.) My mother was a city girl from 200 miles away and hadn't inherited the gardening genes of her father. She did like to grow yellow wax beans and freeze them, which we all enjoyed. During my father's growing up it was much more diversified. At present, having retained about a third of the acreage, 122 acres, our renter/manager/neighbor specializes in grain--soybeans and corn. Organic veggies?--I've gradually gone to organic and permacultural gardening for fun. I really love fruit, and since my husband and I can be on the farm only three months of the year (we teach up in Alaska and fly our Cessna down every year), time is at a premium. Therefore, perennial edibles are my priority, with maybe a few yellow wax beans. So I've planted fruit trees and small-fruit shrubs, asparagus, rhubarb, hardneck garlic (not really perennial, of course), garlic chives, and (my namesake) Egyptian onions, plus many other kinds of herbs. All of these are just jumbled together for a permacultureal type of system, though I do plant them in such a way as to enhance the ability to mow around them. In the east garden, for instance, I planted over the years three rows of fruit trees, plus another row of currants, rhubarb, and grapes. In between the trees, I planted within the rows all kinds of herbaceaous plants, for organic companion reasons, but also so that I could just run the mower all the way up and down without having to go around each individual tree. (I initially scoffed at the by-word "easy to mow around," but soon incorporated it into my criteria of good gardening once I actually started mowing.) Rainbow garden-- Blue: blue flax Darker blue: Veronica austriaca 'Crater Lake Blue' Annual blue salvia that either survive or reseed every year, c.r.n. (can't remember name)--Victoria? Purple: annual reseeding larkpur, Consolida ambigua Veronica spicata 'Blue Peter' Veronica 'Sunny Border Blue' Salvia X Superba 'Blue Hill' Salvia 'Superba Blue Queen' Red: Ground cover rose 'Red Ribbons' (Jackson & Perkins) Dianthus, 'Flashing Light' and 'Brilliant' Orange: Asclepias tuberosa Gaillardia, 'Goblin' and a bigger c.r.n. Gold: Coreopsis, tall c.r.n. Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm' Yellow: Achillea filipendula Coreopsis 'Zagreb' Green: Juniper horizontalis 'Plumosa Youngstown' Euphorbia cyparissias (am phasing out as juniper grows) Historical restoration--As I view pictures that go all the way back to 1900, I see many changes, including the location of fences, the coming and going of huge trees, and in the ground itself as I describe before with the double terracing. And yet there are still a couple of barns and a corn crib that endure. Times change and new personalities come in. My blood link to the past allows me to both have some knowledge of the past, as well as the capability of gathing more knowledge from pictures, written material, and friends and neighbors whose relationships with the family go back for generations. I cherish this, and often repeat plantings to mimic the past. Yet I can't put it all back and I don't feel the need. As long as I have the family blood, the farm is still evolving as the family farm. I try to do it justice, and though I enjoy it tremendously myself, I'm really only borrowing it from the next generation, whether it goes to my nieces (we're child-free) or whether it changes over to a whole new set of genes. Please check out the gallery again as I will soon have some more pictures in it. Egyptianonion

I love black windows - i painted the bay window in my kitchen black when I couldn't afford the steel/bronzel windows I coveted. But having said that, if the windows are black OUTSIDE (mine are NOT), then they should be steel/bronze windows, not wannabes. Black steel/bronze windows and doors are very hot today on super-high end construction/remodeling. And they can be utterly stunning! There are problems with some, and one must be very careful when choosing them or they can be cold and drip constantly. But in the end, while a classic look found on many, many old buildings and houses, it is a "LOOK" today. And then came the wannabes! The price of steel/bronze widows is in the stratosphere. They're perfect for the backs of historic houses in the West Village or parts of Brooklyn where the cost of the house itself may be 8 figures! What's another half a million for windows! Heck, let's go for it, says the hedge fund manager. But when they appear in solid vinyl on subdivision houses, one knows this is probably a look that is going to die quickly as they just plain don't look right. Steel windows have very thin muntins (the strength of steel makes this possible). They are wonderful for allowing in light and not distracting from the view! But the wannabes are just like regular old windows with wider muntins. And it's a LOT of black! A historic house near my neighborhood did this with some very expensive wood windows. I drive by there multiple times each week and it just doesn't look right. It looks like they were trying to be "hip"..."trendy" and they ended up just looking sort of silly. This is a look that is going to severely date a house very quickly! And since they're not simply painted, it will be there for a long time and not easily changed. You are building a sort-of, inspired-by farmhouse, but your taste is more industrial modern for the interior. It's a look that I quite like, surprising as that may be to others on GW! But I would not try to mix the two on the outside. Go with white and white. That's what a traditional farmhouse actually has, unless it's an old creamy yellow one. You cannot go wrong with this. As for my bay window...I'm very happy I painted it black even though it's definitely a "wannabe"! I'm amazed how the muntins disappear and I see far more of my garden outside. But it can easily be white or any other color someone after me might want. And it's INSIDE.

And, because where you have farm houses, you have farm children, and therefore schools... Some one room schoolhouses from the same area This one has been purchases by the local hysterical, er, historical society. The plaque gives dates of establishment, when THIS building was erected, when it closed, etc. This one is the same brick style as many of the homes around it. The little "shed" entrance is a later (rather awful) addition. This one belongs to a local boy scout troop. Finally, this one was a private residence for a while. Then it was bought up by another local history group and restored pretty thoroughly:

It's been awhile since I made an update, but this is where I'm at now: Crown moulding is installed and painted. Double-curtain rods and sheer curtains are up, but talked to my aunt who mentioned that I should consider reinstalling them above the window to give the windows a longer sleeker look. Took down the art deco chandelier to have it cleaned and fixed, but I accidentally tipped it over while it was on the floor and it shattered into a thousand pieces. Turns out it was made of cheap pewter. So I found and installed a Turkish style chandelier I received from a seller in Turkey on Etsy. I also installed similar styled Turkish sconces (I'll be replacing the globes with more colorful ones soon). I pulled up the carpet from both rooms. I painted the fireplace insert black. I painted the ugly gold lamp stands black, and added new shades. Things still left to do: I'm still looking for a chandelier for the living room. Repair and refinish the floors (the floor needs a number of boards refilled). Figure out what to do about the gap between the floor and the quarter-round/baseboard that was revealed after I pulled the carpet up. Replace current projector screen with a floor-rising one so that I'm no longer covering 80% of the front window at all times. Install a picture rail about an inch and a half under the crown moulding. Update/add electrical outlets (which will include an upgrade to my breaker). replace carpet in the living room with a Persian style carpet that's approx. 9' x 12'. Replace couch and coffee table. Retile the front of the fire-place. Have a number of the cracks in the plaster repaired. Acquire and hang paintings and framed posters on the walls. And that's just the Living Room and Dining Room. Sigh...