I look forward to welcoming you to our rustic Flower Hill Farm Retreat! My life here is a work-in-progress and both the magical overgrown gardens and restored 1790 farmhouse offer charm and continued challenges. If you have nature deficit disorder, this is the place for you. On my website I have documented with photographs and listed by families over 50 species of butterflies and 70 plus bird species living or migrating thru our farm. There are enchanting encounters with mammals too. I am working on a book I call 'A Bestiary ~ Tales from a Wildlife Garden.'
I am an artist and farmer, who has given much of the last thirty years to caring for my twenty-one acre hillside in Western Massachusetts. My greatest joy in working with the land has been to see how my farm has become home to a diverse community of wildlife. Through painting, photography and writing, I try to capture the essence of what it is to be closely connected to nature. To cultivating that connection within the rich loam of this Western Massachusetts hillside and my mind.
On my blog Flower Hill Farm, I share the beauty of the wildlife surrounding my old farmhouse. In this way, I try to convey that with careful consideration of conservation and only using organic practices, while being a steward to the land, one can create a true sanctuary for native flora and fauna. And while living in this manner we can create a lush, green, and nourishing retreat for ourselves.
Every summer I raise Monarch butterflies and love sharing the metamorphosis with my guests. I collect plants with eggs that are fastened to the young milkweed growing in our paths and bring the small plants in, before the rabbits or my mower chop them down - eggs and all - and raise the caterpillars for two weeks then enjoy the chrysalises for two weeks before releasing the butterflies into the gardens.