Farm fresh, homespun works of heart from the Umpqua Valley of SW Oregon.
Rosemary Hill Gardens
Honey, Herbs, Eggs & Art
Starting a homestead is one thing, starting a homestead that will be your "retirement" home and branching out into creating a market farm while writing novels is another. When we bought Rosemary Hill in February of 2019, there were visions dancing in our heads of bee hives, dozens of chickens running around, vegetables and herbs bursting forth out of our deer-proof garden, and bushels of fruit coming from the orchard. The house was huge, the shop was almost as huge, the well and irrigation system were already in place, and there was an acre of meadow below the house just screaming for lavender.
By September 2019, the chicken coop was built, the 23 hens were 10 weeks old, and the 23 raised garden beds were ready to turn and plant with a red clover cover crop. Months had been spent getting settled and turning the house and grounds into our Rosemary Hill, so there wasn't too much gardening happening in the first season, but we did manage to grow a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes and dozens of sweet onions, and the cherry plum tree gave us buckets upon buckets of plums.
Knowing what we know now, we have so many plans in place for 2020. As we head through fall and into winter, we'll be finalizing a business plan, outlining the costs needed to make our gardens come alive, and planning -- oh, the planning. What to grow - baskets of fresh herbs, eggs, garlic, and greens? Where to sell it - our year-round farmers market, in a CSA program, to restaurants, straight to customers from the shop outside? What art to design -- cards? T-shirts? Totes? Beeswax wraps? Candles? Soap? Original art?
What tastes good? What is fresh? What is beautiful? What would make people happy?
Because we believe we all need more happy in our lives.
(NOTE: the cover photo was taken a month after we'd moved in. The blizzard had melted, finally, and we were so happy to finally be here. The garden beds all looked so beautiful, and it was easy to imagine them full of tomatoes and cucumbers, onions and garlic -- but then as we got busy with everything else, the weeds and grass moved in. Whoa! But it's okay... we will win this one and the gardens will be amazing next year!)
By September 2019, the chicken coop was built, the 23 hens were 10 weeks old, and the 23 raised garden beds were ready to turn and plant with a red clover cover crop. Months had been spent getting settled and turning the house and grounds into our Rosemary Hill, so there wasn't too much gardening happening in the first season, but we did manage to grow a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes and dozens of sweet onions, and the cherry plum tree gave us buckets upon buckets of plums.
Knowing what we know now, we have so many plans in place for 2020. As we head through fall and into winter, we'll be finalizing a business plan, outlining the costs needed to make our gardens come alive, and planning -- oh, the planning. What to grow - baskets of fresh herbs, eggs, garlic, and greens? Where to sell it - our year-round farmers market, in a CSA program, to restaurants, straight to customers from the shop outside? What art to design -- cards? T-shirts? Totes? Beeswax wraps? Candles? Soap? Original art?
What tastes good? What is fresh? What is beautiful? What would make people happy?
Because we believe we all need more happy in our lives.
(NOTE: the cover photo was taken a month after we'd moved in. The blizzard had melted, finally, and we were so happy to finally be here. The garden beds all looked so beautiful, and it was easy to imagine them full of tomatoes and cucumbers, onions and garlic -- but then as we got busy with everything else, the weeds and grass moved in. Whoa! But it's okay... we will win this one and the gardens will be amazing next year!)
Contact Rosemary Hill
Please contact us with any questions, and we'll do our best to answer them!
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Rosemary Hill Gardens may be contacted at P.O. Box 55, Umpqua, OR 97486
NOTE: Rosemary Hill is not open to the public at this time. In the future they will be open by appointment. |