Bailey Van Tassel

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17 May 2020
Day in the life, Gardening, motherhood

A Day in the Life: Jennifer Fest of Fest Farms

Jennifer is a wife, mother, and farmer in Arizona. Yes, even in all that heat she has managed to keep a flourishing garden, a coop with chickens, an orchard, and even happy goats!

She shares adorable photos of her two daughters and their farm life on Instagram. She is such a lovely and generous woman, and I’m excited for you to get a peek into her daily life.

Here is what a day in the life looks like for Jennifer and her family.

6am Rise and shine! Everyone gets up and ready for the day

6:45am Coffee + oatmeal + smoothies + toast

7:15am My husband goes to work and the girls and I head outside to let animals out, check waters, and tend the gardens. We sneak into the greenhouse to check on seedlings and then play outside before the desert heat catches up to us. Right now we have the last round of sunflowers, zinnias, and a few pumpkin varieties growing in the greenhouse, going into the ground this week.

10:00am School from home starts and while the girls settle in, I throw dinner into the crockpot.

11:30am Brunch! Homemade banana bread + scrambled eggs + fruit

My secret to amazing banana bread is to use the bread maker, and to add buttermilk. However, I never have buttermilk but a squeeze of lemon into milk does the trick and after just a few minutes, bam, buttermilk!

12:30pm This is when I typically tackle house chores, throw in a daily load of laundry, and answer emails.

2pm Snack in the garden. Although it tends to still be hot, we love getting back outside to enjoy the garden.

4:00pm Our outdoor chores for the day begin with feeding animals, gathering eggs, and harvesting from the garden.

5:00pm Dinner = Crockpot chicken + salad from the garden

6:30pm Goat walks! This is when we can return to playing outside with the heat having passed us. My husband and I grab cocktails, and the girls walk the goats while we all enjoy the end of our day. This is one of my favorite parts of the day – just before sunset, which is just so beautiful in the desert.

8:30pm Bedtime and reading with my ladies.

You can learn more about Jennifer and Fest Farms on her website here, or over on Instagram here.

TAGS:arizona gardendesert gardeningfest farms
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Hi I’m Bailey

Hi I’m Bailey

Teaching you how to grow veggies in any space while show you how to live a garden-inspired life.

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Edible flowers are a garden staple for me. I’ll grow any and ALL of them. 

Up first in this little series: flower ice cubes. As simple as putting flowers in the ice cube tray, filling it with water, and then freezing! 

It’s making mocktail hour very festive around here! 

Flower featured: dianthus. I grow it as a perennial and while I love it, the petals get separated when you destem them and they’re a bit fragile so I prefer to use them this way or fresh. 

#edibleflowers #eatyourflowers #dianthus #mocktails
baileyvantassel
baileyvantassel
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Edible flowers are a garden staple for me. I’ll grow any and ALL of them.

Up first in this little series: flower ice cubes. As simple as putting flowers in the ice cube tray, filling it with water, and then freezing!

It’s making mocktail hour very festive around here!

Flower featured: dianthus. I grow it as a perennial and while I love it, the petals get separated when you destem them and they’re a bit fragile so I prefer to use them this way or fresh.

#edibleflowers #eatyourflowers #dianthus #mocktails

1 day ago
View on Instagram |
1/4
A tiny pollinator garden! In the dead heat of summer ☀️

I planted a meter lemon (which, yes, will be great in this pot forever) and some fennel for the giant swallowtail butterflies. Then parsley which attract the black swallowtail butterfly, and Pentas which will give nectar to all the hummingbirds and bees and butterflies. 

I filled the very bottom of this pot with some rocks, then added a bag of citrus mix soil (good drainage) and potting soil above that. It’s just what I had laying around. 

I chose to place the parsley behind the citrus for a little shade and then the fennel on the sides and the pentas up front. 

Hope this is helpful for any of my small spacer gardeners - there’s so much you can do in one pot! 

#pollinatorgarden #gardeninginspiration #smallspacegardening #urbangardening #urbangarden #urbangardener #gardendesign #gardenlife
baileyvantassel
baileyvantassel
•
Follow

A tiny pollinator garden! In the dead heat of summer ☀️

I planted a meter lemon (which, yes, will be great in this pot forever) and some fennel for the giant swallowtail butterflies. Then parsley which attract the black swallowtail butterfly, and Pentas which will give nectar to all the hummingbirds and bees and butterflies.

I filled the very bottom of this pot with some rocks, then added a bag of citrus mix soil (good drainage) and potting soil above that. It’s just what I had laying around.

I chose to place the parsley behind the citrus for a little shade and then the fennel on the sides and the pentas up front.

Hope this is helpful for any of my small spacer gardeners – there’s so much you can do in one pot!

#pollinatorgarden #gardeninginspiration #smallspacegardening #urbangardening #urbangarden #urbangardener #gardendesign #gardenlife

2 days ago
View on Instagram |
2/4
It started on a dead patch of lawn, which I turned into two raised beds. 

And now after *years* of research, trial, moves, waiting on global pandemics to end (♾) we have a garden with 10 beds, an arch trellis, a potting bench, and 8 hours of sun! 

Honestly, my husband has pushed me to not half-ass it. I like progress over perfect, and without his help and nudging I’d just have thrown some seeds in the ground and called it a day. Which is totally fine, and so very good enough. 

But he knew I wanted a specific place. A room. A setting for my dreams. A location that beckons visitors and creates admirers not for the sake of ego, but to inspire into appreciators of the garden in general. 

So, go all in on yourself. Don’t half ass it. 

#gardendesign #raisedbedgarden #organicgardening #liveauthentic
baileyvantassel
baileyvantassel
•
Follow

It started on a dead patch of lawn, which I turned into two raised beds.

And now after *years* of research, trial, moves, waiting on global pandemics to end (♾) we have a garden with 10 beds, an arch trellis, a potting bench, and 8 hours of sun!

Honestly, my husband has pushed me to not half-ass it. I like progress over perfect, and without his help and nudging I’d just have thrown some seeds in the ground and called it a day. Which is totally fine, and so very good enough.

But he knew I wanted a specific place. A room. A setting for my dreams. A location that beckons visitors and creates admirers not for the sake of ego, but to inspire into appreciators of the garden in general.

So, go all in on yourself. Don’t half ass it.

#gardendesign #raisedbedgarden #organicgardening #liveauthentic

5 days ago
View on Instagram |
3/4
I love this plant. Calendula is an edible and medicinal flower that self sows quite well. I haven’t had it growing in my garden in about 6 months, and yet here she is! 

She likes a cooler season, but apparently end of July works too! Once I saw this volunteer pop up, I immediately started the rest of my seeds. 

Follow natures queues to best learn your own garden. Mama 🌎 knows best. 

Hoping for a big calendula year to make salves for friends and family. We love it for cuts, burns, and irritated skin. 

Oh and then there’s the pure unadulterated joy of calendula flowers adorning a cake or salad. She’s a queen, this one. 

#calendula #edibleflowers #medicinalherbs #herbalism #slowliving #livesimply
baileyvantassel
baileyvantassel
•
Follow

I love this plant. Calendula is an edible and medicinal flower that self sows quite well. I haven’t had it growing in my garden in about 6 months, and yet here she is!

She likes a cooler season, but apparently end of July works too! Once I saw this volunteer pop up, I immediately started the rest of my seeds.

Follow natures queues to best learn your own garden. Mama 🌎 knows best.

Hoping for a big calendula year to make salves for friends and family. We love it for cuts, burns, and irritated skin.

Oh and then there’s the pure unadulterated joy of calendula flowers adorning a cake or salad. She’s a queen, this one.

#calendula #edibleflowers #medicinalherbs #herbalism #slowliving #livesimply

6 days ago
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4/4

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