Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm

I can’t believe summer is quickly dwindling to a close–we loved every minute of it. We spent time with friends and family that came to visit, and finished a huge list of outdoor projects. Our first summer at Old Salt Farm was a wonderful one, and I’m going to show you a little peek into what we were up to!

I love fresh flowers, and sunflowers in the summer are my favorite.  I get them very inexpensively either at our local grocer, the farmers’ market, or one of the many darling road side stands that sell fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers.  I fill vases, and place them in any room I can–the kitchen, my bedroom, the laundry room, and on our outdoor table.  They’re a summer staple, and when I think summer, I always think of sunflowers!

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

Speaking of flowers, one of our big jobs was to plant trees and flowers along the front of our house.  We moved in last fall, and over the winter and spring the ground had not only hardened, but grew about a million weeds.  It took quite awhile to dig up the earth, pick all of the weeds, rake it smooth, and get it ready for planting. We took a trip to our favorite nursery and chose plants that we loved, but that are also deer resistant.  We have SO many deer that live in our woods, and like to munch on just about everything. Boxwoods and hydrangeas line the front of the house now, and I LOVE them!

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Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

Our other outdoor projects included:

-installing a 200 foot zip line (and putting in posts 4 feet into the ground below the frost line…that was an adventure)

-building a fire pit area (cleaning out brush, building the fire pit, putting together and staining adirondack chairs, adding tiki torches along the path and around the whole area)

-building a DIY Patio

adding DIY posts for outdoor lights

putting up a wood playset (plus clearing out a huge area of trees

-seeding and fertilizing the lawn, plus killing the darn weeds (this stuff is amazing…expensive, but eradicates weeds so quickly!)

Phew.

We are also tractor owners now, which was pretty much the highlight of my hubby’s whole life. We use it all the time–it’s made such a huge difference for all of our projects.

Backyard Patio Makeover | oldsaltfarm.com

We usually travel a bit more in the summer months, but we ended up dedicating our time to getting the yard in shape.  When you build a new home, you may not have as much to do inside, but there is a TON to do outside.  We are best friends with the tool supply company down the road–we rented so many pieces of large machinery, and a couple of them (like the brush hog) we rented at least 4 0r 5 times.  By the middle of August, we had all of our goal projects completed, but also a project list for 2018 started!

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com
A view from the fire pit, looking down at the back of the house. This was taken at the beginning of the summer, before our projects were started.

I was excited to add flags to the front porch–I love flag buntings, and decided to leave them up the entire summer, along with the American flag. At first I thought I’d only have them up for the 4th of July, but they just felt like summer, and I couldn’t take them down! I also found some porch rockers that I love, and they were a huge hit with my kids. I think I need a couple more!

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

I also kept the inside of my house pretty patriotic for the entirety of the summer–I adore the combo of red, white, and blue!

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

 

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

I also used a lot of greenery from my yard, and put it in pitchers around the house–it’s a free way to add some summer color!

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

Our summer was full of bonfires & s’mores, camping in the yard with friends, lots of overnight guests, swimming, hiking, adventuring, our annual trip to the Adirondacks, and so much more.

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

Our First Summer at Old Salt Farm | oldsaltfarm.com

Goodbye, summer!  See you next year!

xoxo

 

 

 

Find more pictures of Old Salt Farm on Instagram, and see so many more project and home decor posts HERE!  

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5 Comments

  1. Beautiful! I have always loved each new season and the past…. Your projects are amazing and beautiful.

  2. We leave our bunting up Memorial Day through Labor Day. =) You’re in good company.

    1. Yay! I actually kept it through September 11th this year, and I think it’s my new tradition!! I love it!

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