"Maple Moon Farm".

We pulled into the driveway of "Maple Moon Farm" at around 7 pm. It took us 6 1/2 hours with one quick stop for lunch. We covered 266 miles that day. A wonderful dinner and a first time woofing hosts welcomed us. Fresh salad, corn bread, rice and beans, and the meals kept on getting better every day.

The farm consists of 40 acres. Mike and Amanda bought it at a town auction for $70,000.The reason for estate sale was previous owner passing away and not having any family to inherit the farm.

"Two years ago we came up to the auction to buy a tiller, and ended up buying a house. Two of them, actually, plus the entire property with a pond", Mike told us.

Mike has been working on a nearby farm for a few years and has moved to a managerial status. Now he has very short commute, flexible hours, and is planning to gradually transition to working on their own farm full time. He does carpentry and other odd jobs to raise extra money.

Amanda was the very first woofer on "Nothing But Nature" farm that we had just stayed at.
A few years back she came for three seasons in a row, wanted to learn as much as possible and dreamed of becoming a herbalist.

As a gift from Phil and Diane, she got a milking goat with kids.
"I drove with them home after the end of the second season", Amanda recalled with a smile.
" The goat enjoyed the ride as it had a front row seat, and the kids were on the floor next to their momma. It was a fun drive home".

Amanda has become a herbalist and has been using her knowledge for her family's medical needs and in her line of work. She is about to complete her training to become a midwife.

Zen is a cute four year old blond, blue eyed boy who decided to wear a dress while greeting us that evening and then the following day as well.
"He is just overwhelmed with all the girls around him all of a sudden", Amanda laughed.

Sova is 17 months old beautiful blond, blue eyed girl.
"Sova??? It means "owl" in both Czech and Russian!", Mirek and I exclaimed almost simultaneously.

"That's right. We know. That's exactly why we picked this name. We had another name picked out for her, but it didn't suit her. The moment she was born, there was this owl hooting so loudly, almost telling us something. So, we came across this name in a baby name book and went with it", Amanda explained. Sova was born at home.

There was so much to be discovered on our new farm and we were drained from a long drive. It was time for us to retire to bed.