Update: Search for the farm

     We still haven't found the right farm, though we keep looking. We did come very close to ending the search when we found an old farm house down in Georgia. There were about four acres of cleared land and another four acres of forest. It seemed perfect. There were three outbuildings and an old farm house that was built in 1920. We made an offer on the property and it was accepted. We had a home inspector come and inspect the house. He found there were problems with the roof and post beetles. The offer fell through and we were back to searching. After that, we found a parcel of property in North Carolina. It was over nine acres of partially cleared land with over 1,000 feet of creek frontage. This was also perfect, but we couldn't get financing for land without building a house. We continue to see farm after farm as we keep hoping we will find the right on. We will find it, it's just a matter of time.

Giveaway Update

     We still haven't heard for the winner of our Homemade for Sale Giveaway. Lynne was the chosen winner in the comments of the giveaway blog post. Lynne, please send your contact information to sweetsummerfarm@gmail.com.  Thank You!

The Blacksmith

     When we were at the Mother Earth News Fair, we went to the John C. Campbell Folk School  Area. We met a blacksmith. The blacksmith's name is Paul Garrett and he owns Smokey Mountain Ironware in Brasstown, NC. P.O. Box 66. Phone Number 704-604-1777. All products are made in the USA. He was very nice and we enjoyed talking to him. We watched him make a nail and he gave my brothers and me each a nail. He makes many things such as hooks, knives, herb cutters, wine glass holders, and even Round Tuits.

Free Nail

Free Nails for everyone









Lots of Hand-forged items from the blacksmith

A really neat herb cutter



Hand-forged  nail, a hook, and A Round Tuit



A hand-forged hook

A round Tuit

Sweet Summer Farm on Facebook

Sweet Summer Farm now has a Facebook page! We are posting small updates exclusive to Facebook. You can check them out on Sweet Summer Farm. We hope you enjoy!

Giveaway Winner

GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED and we have a winner!

Congratulations Lynne, you are the winner of our Homemade for Sale Giveaway!!! You have won the copy of Homemade for Sale By: Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanco. Please send your contact information to sweetsummerfarm@gmail.com. We hope you enjoy the book!

Book review for Homemade for Sale

About three weeks ago my sister wrote a book review for Homemade for Sale telling what she thought about the book.  Here is what she said:

Awesome Book!!!

Homemade for Sale is wonderful, inspiring, and informational. We want to move to a farm and sell baked goods and canned goods and it is good to know we can start right now! I love the pictures and information. We met Lisa Kivirist and her husband John Ivanko at the Mother Earth News Fair in Ashville NC after a program they did. They were some of the nicest people I have met! This book is amazing!!!

Summer Post <3 = )

If you would like to see other reviews of Homemade for Sale go to Amazon

Broom maker at the Mother Earth News Fair

     While visiting the Mother Earth News Fair, my family and I, went to the John C. Campbell Folk School Demo Area. There we saw many artists at work. One that caught my eye was the Broom maker. Mark Hendry is a broom maker at the Folk School and makes brooms using methods from the 1700s. I found his work very interesting. Some of the brooms were multi-colored, Some of them had woven handles, and some of them had different textures woven into the bottom. I was very impressed by these brooms and would like to show you some pictures of the brooms on display.

Mark Hendry working on one of his brooms.



Different textures are woven into the bottom of this broom.

A beautiful multi-colored colored broom.

A broom with an intricate design

A broom with a woven handle

Brooms on display outside