Embarrassment of Riches

It is cold and crisp this morning, but I'm not sure we hit the freezing mark as predicted.

Yesterday morning, I picked all the tender vegetables which could have been harmed by frost.  This included nice lettuces, eggplants, cucumbers, and lots of green peppers.  In fact, there ended up being two big bags of peppers. 

I spent much of the rest of the day rinsing, seeding, cutting. roasting, peeling, chopping, and putting roasted pepper strips into freezer containers.

I am a squirrel, saving nuts for Winter at much expense of effort and time.

I'm in the middle of transferring warm clothing for light Summer stuff.  It gives a chance to find all the treasures which fill my dresser drawers.  I washed a load of sweaters so that I can enjoy the nice, clean smell and soft warmth.

Today, I'll look around the vegetable garden for tools to be stored in the shed and continue trying to clean up other garden areas which have been overtaken by pokeweed and tree of paradise.

Spring, Continued

We've had some hot days and some moderate days and some decidedly chilly days so far this month.  That's Spring for ya. 

The main thing is that it has rained a good bit of the time and that makes things grow.  After the big electrical storm last week, large trees showed green leaves and the redbuds revealed pink.  The weeping cherry burst into pink blossoms.  Peonies not only sprouted up from the ground, they already have their little globe buds.  Lilacs are just barely in bloom, and so it goes.

The plastic garden was pretty much torn to shreds by winter winds this year.  It looks to be in total disarray, but I am slowly putting it back in order with my grandson's help.  I did a lot of clean up and pulled weeds.  We brought in new heavy junk to keep the replacement plastic in place.  It's progressing.  Cattle panels attached to fence posts serve the dual purpose of keeping plastic down and of providing vertical growing stations.  Peas, cucumbers, tomatoes and squash will be planted at their bases.

The peas I planted are already up.  Ten blueberry bushes have new growth and blossoms.  Different varieties of berries have leafed out and have suckers growing at the base of the main plants.  We've been eating the beautiful kales that overwintered in a circle planted in the Fall.  Lettuces and other leafy crops are just tiny plantlets in the bed I weeded.

The six ducklings have graduated to a coop in the chicken house with the sole female mallard who had been out on the pond.  Their messes had progressed to the point where this became necessary.  Eventually, all ducks will go outside on the pond.  They are still yellow fuzz, with feathers just beginning to form.  I'd want them all white and feathered before they are introduced to deep water.

The chicks, on the other hand, are tiny but beautifully feathered out.  They remain in the large brooder in the shed and won't go to the chicken house until they are big enough to defend themselves.

Scorcher

"May" rhymes with "Hay" and every year it's a game of dodge the raindrops while surviving extreme heat.  Today is June 1st and the heat is on!

All around us, farmers are making hay.  The weather may cooperate this week, but dealing with equipment malfunctions is trying and delays progress.  Same old same old.

The first golden daylilies are blooming.  Asparagus is plentiful and requires daily picking.  I blanch and freeze as quantities require.  I never got around to planting the vegetable garden, but chard, tomatoes, and beans have volunteered.  The beans have grown to the top of the trellis.  There is much fruit on the trees, but the black raspberries are late this year.

The cows are happy to be in deep grass and the goats are fat and finding plenty of browse under the grass.  Baby goats are growing.  Some are already half the size of their mothers.

Not Everyone Can Sweep Their Garden Clean...

...but I can!  It's covered with black plastic.

Our Saturday helper and I pulled out all the tomato vines that covered the plastic yesterday.  He shook the vines to collect all the little yellow and big green tomatoes.  Once the vines were smushed into our little cart and dumped, I used a broom to sweep the tomatoes into piles and he shoveled them into five gallon buckets.

We took a bucket to the chicken house, where they were almost immediately devoured.  We also picked up buckets of freshly mowed grass from the lawns.  Chickens like fresh grass, too.  It's good for them and it supplements their grain-based feed.

I've got buckets of tomatoes to dole out for next week.  Planting tomatoes late worked out well this year, as I did not have the drought problems that others had with tomatoes.  There is still a lot of chard left growing.  If we don't have more hard frost for a couple of weeks, the chickens will get buckets of chard, too.

Surprises

What surprised me yesterday as I did my gardening rounds?  Well, it turns out we have not one, but two apricot trees.  The younger of the two has begun bearing fruit this year -- not a lot, just a little.  I picked some slightly under ripe fruit to put under a dome and let ripen inside the house to foil the bugs.

When I went in the vegetable garden just to monitor the newly climbing bean plants, I found, to my amazement, that there were lots of fully mature beans ready to be picked.  I filled a bag with beautiful purple beans, which I blanched and froze.  Since these were mostly self-planted from last year's crop, it was especially surprising.  Slow food isn't just a catch phrase around here, and I wasn't in a big hurry to start harvesting in the heat.

Two long cucumbers were ready for picking, and eating, evidently.

Much chard must be cut, cooked, and frozen.  Some of the fennel is ready for picking.  It is all self-seeded.  Black raspberries are abundant in certain parts of the weedy lower yard.  The cherries are all pitted and in the freezer.  Zucchini is shredded, the recipe for muffins open on the counter for later today.

So, continuing my voyage of discovery, I'm out the door to do the chores before the sun gets too high in the sky.  I'd like to trim some goat hooves early and start to catch up on their maintenance.

June is Also Cherry Month

'Got a chance to pick some tart cherries yesterday.  A neighbor invited me to help myself.  If I get a chance I'll pick some more today, as the window of opportunity closes quickly on ripe cherries.  I'll need to get them pitted and either frozen or preserved before they get moldy or rotten.

I don't want to jinx the deal, but I think I found the breach in the goat fencing last Sunday.  It was behind the greenhouse, so hidden from human view, although, evidently, not from goat view.  Crossing my fingers  -- no visiting goats on the lawn checking out the developing peaches and pears for the past week.

A mysterious bag of summer squashes showed up on the kitchen counter yesterday.  Hmm... wonder where that came from?

Yesterday, I pulled some beets, boiled and skinned them, made a harvard sauce and froze a container for our winter enjoyment.  There is much chard to be cooked and frozen.  That will be a task for later in the day.

I made lavender and thyme salve yesterday.  It promises to be a useful concoction.

So, now to go down to sort goats in the barn for an early morning customer before the heat builds and the day becomes sticky.

End of May -- Rain Roulette

It seems it's always like this for the first hay cutting.  The threat of rain looms and area farmers are consulting crystal balls to decide when to cut.  You don't want hay laying on the ground in wet weather if you can avoid it, because it will rot or mold.  It needs to be dry before baling or you risk poisoning your livestock or burning down your barn.

What to do?  What to do?  I guess you "bite the bullet", make a decision and keep your fingers crossed.

We're now into the weather in which you slather on some sunblock and spritz on some mosquito repellent before venturing out to do the morning chores.

The humidity is sometimes notable and we've been all the way up to 90 degrees recently, although sometimes 80 seems like the new 90 in terms of humidity.  It's muggy and buggy.

On the bright side:  plants in the vegetable garden have experienced a growth spurt in the heat.  There are already baby cucumbers forming.  Chard is big and beautiful.  Fennel has self seeded and already formed nice hands.  Bees are in the borage; snow peas will be part of today's dinner; beans are climbing right up to the sky.

Geese set on massive nests in both flocks.  In the chicken house, a goose is minding lots of guinea eggs laid in a ground nest along with goose eggs.  It's unlikely anything will come of it - but if it does, I'll let you know.

Asparagus Time

It's hard to believe, but I picked the first asparagus on Saturday and took them to the market.  Many more are coming up each day.

I pulled the turnips and harvested their tops, as well as kale. 

Eggs are abundant.  That is an understatement.  I'll need to make time to bake eggy poundcakes for the market tomorrow or Friday.  The geese are especially productive and those are the best eggs for baking.

The peas, greens, and even beans and cucumbers are up in the garden.  Some of the beans planted themselves, so there will be a good variety in addition to the new varieties I planted.  Shallots and garlic are looking good.

In the greenhouse, tomatoes, peppers, and cabbages abound.  It's time to start ferrying the overwintered plants up to the porches and courtyard.

Other tasks are taking up my time.  Today, I'll try to finish painting the baseboard in a bedroom in the old farmhouse so that we can move the furniture back in to prepare for visitors.  I painted the floor last week and paid for it in terms of muscle pain -- but it's done!

The roof that fell in on the shop ell is being rebuilt.  Hopefully it will be enclosed before the rains come again.  I'm looking forward to reclaiming the space.

The Whole Bloomin' World

A loud crack of thunder woke me at about 3 a.m., then the pounding rain started.  Yay, I thought:  all the seeds I planted in the vegetable garden can start growing now. 

As it is , even though it's been dry for more than a week there are tiny chard and beet seedlings.  The pea plants are up.  Overwintered kale and turnips have been doing well and the rhubarb looks splendid.

In the greenhouse, the tomatoes and peppers have emerged.  They'll stay inside until all danger of frost is gone and the nighttime temperatures stay above fifty.  We can be lulled into a false sense of complacency because we've had sticky near-90 F. temps during the daytime already, but I see some cooler weather coming on the weekend.

The weeping cherry is loaded with pink blossoms and all the fruit trees are now in bloom.  I've mowed the grass once already, dodging the bees busily pollinating pears, plums, peaches, apricots and apples.

Daffodils are declining and tulips are in full bloom.  Blue pulmonaria is blooming and the lilacs are ready to open their blooms.

The two day fly swarm is over.  I'm not sure what that's all about, but think it some mass mating ritual.  It's yucky, so am glad it's short term.  I see that wasps are already making nests in sheltered places.

If it rains some more, I'll transplant Cannas which I was given last year.  New growth has emerged in the pots in the greenhouse.  The fig which looked like a dead stick has not only developed leaves, there are tiny fruits at the ends.  It needs transplanting outside too.

The Geese are Laying

The geese are laying.  It must be Spring.

Things are winding down to a steady routine in the goat barns.  I managed to get out to do a number of errands yesterday. 

We are back to light rains and warmer temperatures.  I imagine that any greens alive in the garden will benefit.  I planted some peas and hauled a little compost to the garden beds.  Three of the chicken coops are cleaned out.  Big piles of pruned material are on the lawns and most of the asparagus/berry beds have been cleaned out and raked.

Most of the ag records are "spreadsheeted" and I'm ready to plug them into the tax software.

I've made half-hearted attempts to begin cleaning up the greenhouse to start seedlings.  I guess I think that direct seeding works best outdoors for most crops.  Still, I'll start some peppers and tomatoes and see what I might plant out in the plastic garden.

September

We have come to the season of beautiful sunsets and sunrises. I seem to be up to see both each day. They are changeable and beautiful, giving my brain the message to step back and just look and appreciate.

The temperatures have cooled down. We've had cloudy skies for days, but no rain on our farm.

I'm picking mixed salad greens, hot and sweet peppers, tomatoes, a very few summer squashes and amazing winter squashes. A brave watermelon plant decided to begin growing a couple of weeks ago and there are actually watermelons on the vine. The fig tree has recovered from a late frost and little green figs hang on the branches. Will these fruits make it before the first frost? Stay tuned.

There's been a little time to begin cutting down the gigantic weedy poke and brambles that have invaded the lawn areas. The goats have finished their breeding season, as far as I can see. It's time for Mr. Buckman to go back home.

I've already started cleaning out the Maternity Barn and stocking it with hay and pine shavings for the kidding season in the winter. There are ambitious plans for cleaning out all barns and outbuildings before winter. Will we make it? Stay tuned.

There's actually a long list of "to do" jobs on the white board. We'll just chug along and do what we can. That's what September brings.

The Pumpkins Have Wanderlust

This is a picture of the infamous plastic garden on August 1st. As you can see, the Seminole squash is trying to escape. As of today, three days later, there are a couple of vines which have made it all the way into the driveway and some trying to get over the fence on the side of the bed.

For those skeptics out there who saw the garden in early Spring, you can also see that stuff actually grew! It was looking a little sparse, as I left room for the inevitable expansion of squash plants.

The cucumbers and beans have been producing prodigious amounts. Baskets, bags, and buckets of produce is going out into the kitchen every day to be rinsed and refrigerated. Peppers are on the plants, as are tomatoes. Beets are being pulled weekly. Some Seminole winter squashes are ready to be harvested. I'll take a few to market on Saturday.

I'm still picking wild blackberries. The thornless are also getting ripe. Red raspberries have re-appeared. A big crate of peaches is on the counter in the kitchen waiting for processing and wine is bubbling in the basement. I've threatened to make cucumber wine, but so far have only made jars and jars of bread & butter pickles.

For some reason, I'm having good luck with summer squashes this year. I think its the weather and the rain.

So, if you don't hear from me for several weeks at a time, at least you know I'm too busy to get into much trouble.

Ta ta.

Planting Days

It is cool and rainy until tomorrow, when we expect the heat back. I am planting intensively, trying to clear out the seedlings in the greenhouse.

Since Saturday, I've had some visits from friends bearing plants. My plan to restrict my pepper planting to two types has been quashed. Last night, I tucked pepper plants into beds until it was too dark to see. There are at least six types of peppers that will grow in the plastic garden this summer.

Nearly all the tomato seedlings have been planted. Squashes are coming up. Beans are flowering, and little cucumbers are formed. I can see the beets have begun forming. Chinese greens are big enough to harvest, as is spinach.

The plastic garden liveth!

In the meantime, red and black raspberries are ripening and need to be picked daily. Plums have begun to ripen.

There's a new batch of tiny chicks under a tiny chicken and a brand new calf in the pasture.

There is not enough time in a day to do everything that needs to be done on the farm.

June is Berry Month

I picked the first eight red raspberries today. I ATE them all. They were very refreshing, and full of antioxidants.

All types of black raspberries and blackberries are loaded with blossoms.

Fruit hangs on all but the fig tree. It got zapped by the last surprise late frost.

There is a little spinach and some snow peas which I can pick tomorrow morning. The asparagus continue to bear.

If poke and Virginia creeper were cash crops, I'd be rich today. That stuff grows so fast that you could probably sit and watch it. 'Don't have time.

Beans and cucumbers want to grow right now. The cucumbers have started growing and have flowered and there are tiny fruits on the vines. I forgot how swiftly the plants grow and develop in June. Even an overwintered pepper plant has little fruits developing.