My Favorite Season

It is been a very long, very hot and very dry summer. The weeds loved it. I certainly did NOT!
Herbs did great, as did the asparagus and we are still getting some tomatoes. Today we harvested peanuts from the upper garden which was a wonderful surprise! It is like finding a buried treasure and in my opinion it is better than gold.
It's time to plant some fall crops such as:

• Kale – Nutritious leafy greens on productive plants that over-winter easily even in cold climates.
• Collards – Another leafy green similar to kale but with larger, stronger flavored leaves.
• Lettuce – Plant varieties bred especially for growing during the fall season or in cold frames.
• Spinach – Not as easy to grow as kale and collards, these leafy greens will also over-winter.
• Turnips – Here’s a quick maturing root crop that’s productive and easy to grow.
• Rutabagas – Larger and sweeter than turnips, plant earlier in the summer for fall harvests.
• Broccoli – Popular, productive and much easier to grow than cauliflower.
• Cauliflower – Finicky grower, planting must be timed well in order to develop large heads.
• Mustard – Spicy hot leaves, this is a very fast growing vegetable.
• Mache – Very cold hardy, mild greens can be grown right into the winter months.
• Cabbage – Grow from transplants (like broccoli and cauliflower) or start seeds indoors under lights.
• Oriental Vegetables – Wide range of unusual varieties are available for fall production.
• Escarole – A bitter leafy green vegetable that can be cooked or used raw as a salad green.
• Endive – Similar to escarole with attractive frilly leaves.
• Brussels sprouts – Start seed in early summer or purchase transplants.
• Arugula – Fast growing leafy greens for salads or gourmet recipes.
• Leeks – One of the hardiest plants in the garden, leeks can even withstand winter freezes.

Enjoy the fall, and don't forget to get those cameras out and take lots of pictures!

Spring, not summer

Spring started out very warm here and I already have a jump on my farmers tan. Temps were soaring into the 80s for a few weeks, but now things have cooled off again. I am actually glad about that because my peas, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts were not doing well in the heat. There were two mornings with frost after the last frost date, but everything seems to be doing well so far. The apple trees are just about done blooming and the peach trees finished about three weeks ago, the cherries and pears are also done as well. I look forward to all the fruit this year.
We have started to give farm tours for the first time, and I think that they are going well. I love to tell the story of how we got here. The kids help a lot too setting up their rock collection and lining up the pet cages to show off all of our animals. Over the last few months we have sold some animals and gained some. Rabbits are the newest addition and I just love to watch them hop around the house and tear old coloring books to shreds, throwing paper everywhere and making a bloody mess! We now have a broody hen sitting on about 10 eggs so we are expecting little ones in about two more weeks. We were hoping for some broody ducks this year, but that is not looking too good right now. The white chinese goose is sitting on a bunch of eggs so we are hoping that some of them may hatch out this year because none of them hatched last year. I will keep everyone updated on our facebook page.
For plants I have started about 80 tomatoes, and equal amount of basil and then, in smaller amounts: cilantro, rosemary, sweet majoram, oregano, romanesco broccoli, leeks, onions, garlic chives, and flowers. I bought pepper plants and raspberry plants this year. I had my first asparagus come up this year, which I had found lying on the ground after I accidentally chopped it off while removing the chicken wire from that section from the garden. Keep laughing...it could happen to you! The herbs survived the winter well for the most part, except for the rosemary, which happens to be my very favorite. I have declared war on the mint, chocolate, and other types because they are running through the herb bed like wild unruly children. Mint makes a wonderful tea and has many other uses so none of it will go to waste. The one thing that I am most excited to grow this year are pineapple tomatillos. I couldn't believe it when I saw them in a catalog so I just had to try them. Last year the tomatillos did great in the garden.
Finally, to the right is my pea box, as I like to call it.
My friend got the box for 5 dollars, Dan salvaged the
four posts out of the trash, and I stapled leftover
chicken wire to the sides. The peas will grow up the chicken wire which will shade the lettuce growing in the box. I think that I will add carrots to the soil later when the lettuce is done.
So... what are you doing in your garden this year? And most important of all... are you supporting your local farmers? Please be sure you do!

Waiting for Spring

I went for a walk around the farm the other day and guess what I say under the hazelnut trees? The crocuses have poked through the ground, but the flowers haven't opened yet. The weather people are saying we may get into the 50s later this week. I went through all my seeds the other day to see what I have and I walk through the garden trying to plan for this year. One of our geese has already started laying eggs so I will begin shipping orders of goose eggs soon. The chickens have slowed down with the cold weather, but we are hoping they will pick up soon so we will be able to fill more orders. I have been reading books by Joel Salatin and I really love his books. I have learned a lot about making my farm more profitable, and I am trying to take steps in that direction. Going local is all the rage right now, but we need to stop talking about it and start really supporting local farmers by putting our wallets into our local economy and not into the pockets of the evil empire. I bought some goat the other day from a local farmer and I would encourage you to take some of your money and put it into your local farms, without YOU we will all disappear! I love farm life, and I can't imagine any better way to spend the rest of my days here on earth.
If you are wondering where your food comes from I encourage you to watch the movie FOOD INC. Stay warm, and remember SPRING IS COMING!!!

It's Been a Long Winter

It has been a long winter here on the farm. We made it through the ice storm ok, losing power for under two hours and we also lost two pine trees by the pond. We were very lucky!
Our seeds arrived from Baker Creek this week and I was so excited. Spring IS coming, and the sooner the better. I ordered lots of tomatoes in different colors. I also ordered cukes, watermelons, leeks, pumpkins, corn, peas, carrots, and I will be growing LOTS of herbs. I have found that I enjoy growing herbs and I plan to expand my herb garden to at least twice what it was last year. I have started 3 trays of seeds so far, but I am just beginning! I am starting flowers, tomatillos, brussel sprouts and peppers indoors right now.

The animals did well through the winter and we now have a broody hen. The hens have started laying more eggs (thank you girls!) The geese have started laying eggs and we expect the ducks to follow any day now. We hope to sell baby ducks this year, and maybe some geese too. Last year we hatched out 4 ducks and one goose!

Right now I am reading The Plant Propagators Bible by Miranda Smith, so once you are ready to go beyond seed starting I highly recommend it!

Here are some links on seed starting. Have fun!

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/ten-seed-starting-tips.aspx

http://www.humeseeds.com/indoor.htm

http://www.savvygardener.com/Features/starting_seeds_indoors.html

Where do you order seeds? I get my seeds from Bakers Creek and Seed Savers Exchange. But there are other great companies. Here are a few!

http://rareseeds.com/

http://www.seedsavers.org/

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

http://www.wellsweep.com/

And then of course you have to prepare your garden for spring! If you don't have a compost pile start one now. Lay cardboard out on the area that you want to grow on and put some rocks on it so it wont blow away. Warm days are coming, before you know it you will be in your garden planting food! Until then read lots of good gardening books and magazines while wrapped in a nice warm blanket.

Happy New Year!

I can hardly believe that another year has gone by. 2008 flew by as if it were only a month long. It is true that the older you get, the faster time goes by. Life is still busy here, even in winter. The chickens are still laying eggs, though not as many. I am busy composting and putting leaves on my garden to protect my soil from the freezing temps. The chickens love to scratch it off just so I can put it back again! We have adopted a few more chickens and a duck as well. We also had our first clutch of ducks hatch and that was SO exciting. The babies are now larger than their mum. We have one chicken named Pumpkin who is very friendly. She will walk into the house if you hold the door open and she will fly up onto the couch or into your lap and sit with you. We have been adopted by a large rooster we call Captain Grey. My neighbor lost almost all of her chickens to a pack of wild dogs in the last two months, and I guess he was lonely so he has been coming down here each day. In the morning we went into the barn to let the chickens out of the coop and there he was, waiting for the girls! At first he would leave every night but now he sleeps in the barn, we leave a door open for him and he flies up there. He won't go into the coop, but all the better I say because we have three roosters in there already. I imagine that would be a bloody mess, as roosters love to fight! We have also added two dogs and two goats to the farm. I love the goats, they are very friendly and fun to have. I have also become a dog person. I just love dogs more each day. My favorite are still the chickens though. I can just stand outside for hours and watch them and listen to all the noises they make. When I go outside with the compost bucket I look behind me and find at least 15 chickens trailing behind me. Yes, country life suits me.
The seed catalogs have been coming in since before Christmas so I am often dreaming about growing a very large garden. It has been very warm lately but I find there is nothing that fills me with sunshine on dark and cold winter days then pictures of tomatoes, cukes and flowers. My favorite are always Seed Saver Exchange and Baker Creek. What are you planting this year?
It's never too early to start planning and composting so start today!
Don't forget to feed the birds and provide them with water this winter.

Fall on the Farm

The cool weather is finally setting in, and there are changes all around. The trees are bursting into beautiful colors, one last chorus before they all fall to the earth. This morning I went outside and stood in the garden and just listened to the sounds of the chipping sparrows, song sparrows, house sparrows, blue jays, nuthatches and many other birds. I could smell wood burning, I assume that is someone's attempt to ward off the chilly air. Soon there will be a frost so it is time to think about covering the roses and cutting the herbs one last time before putting them to bed for the winter. We have acquired two goats, and they have so graciously mowed down my garden of all weeds so I can think about planting some cool weather crops now. The harvest this year was good despite the lack of rain. Peppers were abundant, as were the McIntosh apples. There were so many apples that the branches had to bend almost to the ground under the weight of them! The tomatoes did well, and we had some lettuce as well. The potatoes did not produce as much as we had hoped because the potato beetle got them again, but we did enjoy eating them. This year we ordered all blue and red gold. The red gold are creamy and so yummy, and the blue are great for making fries, chips and mashed potatoes. The flowers and herbs did well, and I was so pleased.

Each day as I walk out and just take in the sights around me, like the six black fuzzy baby ducks that hatched, or the chickens who come up to me and talk to me, the sun coming over the mountian, or the moon lighting up the night I am just in awe and wonder of all the blessings that farm life has been. I can't imagine any other life now. There are times when I miss home and some of the things that city life has to offer, and I will always miss the ocean but this is where I belong. Here in the midst of roosters crowing, hens laying, birds singing, and food growing. Here I will live and grow and discover and learn and pass it all on to my children. This is the good life.

Warm Days on The Farm

This morning I got up and went straight out into the garden. I went out just after ten and it was about 70 degrees out and starting to feel humid. I started to move pieces of wood around to mark around what will soon be the watermelon garden. Meghan helped me. She is so funny, she loves to help in the garden. I had to move these 6 foot long wood poles and she grabbed one end while I got the other. She also helps me pull weeds in the strawberry garden, which will be next to the watermelons. On the way by something red caught my eye. There were cherries on the cherry tree! Perfect little red cherries! I was so excited. Meghan wanted to eat them, and I was trying to explain to her that they weren't ripe yet, so they wouldn't taste that good. We then went into the garden and I started to pull weeds from the herb bed. She went down to check her potatoes (which she keeps calling tomatoes) and she started yelling because she found two Colorado Potato beetles. Don't worry, the plants have been saved, I squished the bugs with my sandal! Joshua made some horseradish spray by putting leaves of the horse radish into water in a spray bottle and letting it sit in the sun, and that is supposed to help keep the beetles off, so I will have Meghan spray hers potato plants with some the next time we head out there.

I pulled up some radishes, which are shown above, and they are extra spicy even when they are this small. YUM! Radishes are by far one of the easiest things to grow. Even if you don't eat them it is so much fun to grow them with kids who can't wait for things to grow! They are ready to pick within ten days. In the garden there is one tomato that has flowers, there are some florettes showing on the broccoli, there are flowers on the bean plants, some of the shallots that I planted and thought for sure they were dead have come up, the onions are doing great as well. The peppers aren't growing as fast as I would like, but they are doing ok. The corn is coming up, and you can tell which one is the strawberry popcorn because it has dark red stalks. My climbing rose on the side of the house has its first open bud, which is a beautiful pale pink and there are lots of other buds just waiting to open. The climbing rose in the duck area is in full flower and has a wonderful scent to it. The peach trees are doing well, the fruit is about the size of a kiwi fruit. The apple trees are just weighed down with apples, so I am hoping for a great harvest this year. There are grapes on the grapevine, and I still have three grapevines that need planting! And unfortunately the weeds are also doing great so I have hours of weeding ahead of me...but that can wait for tonight when it isn't so warm.

The birds are very active right now. As I sit here writing there is a chipping sparrow carving out large chunks of suet, letting them drop to the ground to eat it, then flying back up to wipe its beak off on the branch. The red winged black birds are also eating the suet, along with the downy woodpeckers, and red bellied woodpeckers. I haven't seen the white or red breasted nuthatches yet but I am hoping they will make an appearance soon. There are Carolina chickadees nesting in a dead tree in the orchard, and the bluebirds are very active, which is great because they eat tons of insects. There are cardinal and robins and grackles and the list could go on and on.

The pond is starting to become covered with duckweed again, and the boys brought home some fish for the pond although I am not sure if any of them survived. The bullfrogs have started singing and the peepers seem to have quieted down now that they have finished announcing "SPRING IS COMING! SPRING IS COMING!" I love watching the changes that happen all over the farm season by season. It reminds me so much of God and how things are new every morning, and how great is His faithfulness! When you live on a farm you get to see those promises unfold in so many ways right in front of your eyes.