Tag Archives: Garden

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May Day!

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It’s finally May!  Hopefully this means soon my tomatoes seedlings can be transplanted outside.  We’ve still been getting temps dipping into the 40’s at night and I am rather restless for that nonsense to stop!

It also means that all of the local hay people are just about out of their stock of last year’s hay and are soon going to be making their first cuttings.  Now that Paul’s splurged on a tractor, we decided we could stock up on a big load of hay at the cheaper prices.

05.01.13a

As you can see, we made out pretty well!

05.01.13b

Oona and Neve ran around begging us to make a giant hay maze for them.

All I know is, there’s nothing like seeing a solid store of feed for your animals to get you through for awhile.  I am going to be thrilled come winter when I don’t have to move giant wheel-barrow loads of hay out to the pasture by hand!

Tractors, as it turns out (duh) are a wonderful thing.  I’m wishing we bought one sooner.  After digging out the front garden last year it was absolute heaven to have the tractor do all the work this year digging up the giant squash garden out back.

The other wonderful thing right now is LILACS!  Every year my lilac bush gets just a bit bigger (making me wish I had planted dozens more with it!) and I spend time smelling the blooms and wishing I had enough to cut big bunches to bring inside like we used to when I was growing up.

05.01.13c

Looks like I am not the only one who likes lilacs!!!!

 

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Sum Total

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This:

04.26.13b

Is the sum total of my knitting for the month.

Two measly rows.

To be fair, it’s been an insanely busy month.  I am starting to realize that April seems to be THE busiest month of the farm year.  Between babies being born, shearing being done and garden work going on, it’s exhausting.

Plus, Susan is moving, and we’ve been helping her take things to the landfill and storage as needed.  It’s been a fun and hectic month, but it leaves little down time.  In the evenings, when I would normally be knitting, Oona has decided that snuggles on my lap are essential.

I can hardly complain about that.

The good news is that by next week the majority of the garden prep and planting will be done, everyone will be settled, and things will calm down a bit. Then that yarn and I are going to spend some quality time together.

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Well……

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Some week, huh?

Luckily I’ve had plenty to distract me and keep me busy so I wouldn’t sit around and worry about friends and relatives in Boston.

Paul did some tractoring in the area out back where the squash garden will be put in.

04.19.13a

It will more or less double the garden space we already have, and this way the squash can spread all it likes and it won’t overtake the tomatoes and peppers like last year.

We also did tails, tags and testes this week.

We dock our lambs’ tails to avoid the potential for fly strike.  Although we can do it ourselves, we prefer to let the vet take care of it.  It’s done with the use of a very tight rubber band that disrupts blood flow to the tail.  It’s uncomfortable for them, but not super painful.  After a while the tail simply “dries up” and falls off.  We do the testicles of our boy lambs and goats the same way.  The vet gives them some pain killer at the time the banding is done, and after an hour or so they don’t seem to remember that the bands are there at all, and they are back to playing and eating normally.

Ear tags were done this week at the same time.

04.19.13b

Darby.  Lord I love that little lamb.

04.19.13c

Doesn’t he look spiffy with his new tag?

04.19.13d

We also had a lovely visit from my friend Theresa who came down from  New Jersey with her little ones.

04.19.13e

04.19.13f

We played with lambs and the kids had a blast.

We are so fortunate to have wonderful friends and beautiful weather and adorable babies!

 

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Trying To Craft

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Some people say I have too many irons in the fire.

Other people say “jack of all trades, master of none”.

I disagree with both.

True, I have waaaaaaay too much going on for most normal, rational people.  Especially now that it is spring and I am working on getting gardens in, dealing with new lambs and kids, raising new ducks, clearing out brush, managing four homeschoolers and reorganizing much of the house.  It makes it pretty difficult to find time to knit or sew; never mind learn how to use my spinning wheel or loom.

But I think having many varied interests and projects can be a really good thing.  For one, I am never, ever bored.  Not ever.  There is always something that can be done, and always something that can be learned.  I can also generally find something to talk about with new people.

It does, however, make it challenging to find the time to do some of the things I enjoy.  Often by the time I’ve taken care of all the things that need my attention I am too tired for the things I want to do.

But it’s okay, because soon school will be done for the summer and the gardens will not need such intensive care during the day (in fact once the heat hits for real I’ll be doing outside chores early in the morning and late in the evening).  The animals will be in need of more attention, but nothing that I can’t knit in between.

So I have plenty of projects lined up waiting for this magical time of less things to worry over.

04.10.13a

This lovely Joel Dewberry fabric is waiting to be an A-line skirt for me.  I have a bunch of projects waiting to sew, actually, but right now this one is my favorite.

And just what does one do when one’s best friend is a star in the yarn and fiber world?

04.10.13b

You horde all the yarn she makes. (My craft room is looking better now that I’ve got this unit for all my yarn and fabric!)

Oh sure, I get plenty of free samples of her yarn.  The problem is, once you’ve held and petted the yarn it becomes imperative to get your hands on as much of it as humanly possible.  I’ve spent plenty of time trolling WEBS and buying out quantities of JMF yarn whenever I can.

SO there are plenty of yarn projects lined up.

The one I am tackling first is this lovely Honeybee Stole pattern with some luscious yellow Findley.

04.10.13c

Such a fun, light, summery project and I CANNOT WAIT to get started on it!  I have a flowy white sundress it will look perfect with.  Also, this yellow Findley just cried out for it!

I am hoping to cast on tonight – barring a thousand distractions.  It is lace, afterall, and as I have said many a time before, lace knitting and children  JUST. DON’T. MIX.

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Ducks!

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Susan came over on April 1st bearing a box – and not just any box.

I think in fact her words were “Happy April Fools! I brought you ducks!”

04.04.13a

Six of these little cuties are residing in a makeshift brooder in one of our chicken coops.  We don’t know the breed(s) or gender(s), but they’re ducks, so does it really matter?

04.04.13b

They have a nice heat lamp to keep them warm since it hasn’t exactly warmed up yet the way it did last year at this point.  We’re excited for them to feather out so we can let them swim!

Meanwhile the chickens are giving us sure signs of spring: they’re laying eggs again.  Lots of eggs.  I am about to be overloaded again.  I am not complaining about that, though.  I’d rather be overloaded than otherwise; I actually had to buy eggs this winter.  Free – range organic eggs are not cheap, let me tell you, and I won’t have extra money to buy expensive eggs for awhile because of this:

04.04.13c

We got a tractor.

There was just no getting around it anymore – we need a tractor.  Our road out to the pasture is usually too muddy for hay delivery, and there’s no way to move an 800 pound bale of hay without a good sized tractor.

Not to mention that we need to FINISH the pasture.

This weekend we are going to focus on penning in a portion for the animals to stay in while we remove the rest of the tree stumps from the field (again, tractor required) and get some grass growing.

04.04.13d

I also need to focus on getting the new squash bed tilled and ready for planting in a few weeks.  I’m actually thinking I may borrow Susan’s pigs for a few weeks to dig it up and fertilize it for me.

Things are getting exciting around here!

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Spring Seedlings

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First,  I should say that internet access at our house has been spotty; the ongoing Cyber Attack that has been in the news has affected people and websites everywhere, and we are no exception.  Whether or not I can access my blog host is hit or miss lately, so bear with us until this works itself out.

Onward to spring!

This past week I finally started my tomato and pepper seeds inside.  I used the tutorial from By Hand Magazine, found HERE to make soil blocks.

03.28.13a

The crazy thing is that I had sprouts the next day!

03.28.13b

The garlic I planted in the fall is coming along nicely, and I am seeing sprouts from the arugula I planted outside about 2 weeks ago now.  I planted carrots, beets, peas, and radishes as well.  I’m not positive, but I think I saw the faintest hint of beet sprouts starting.

In a few weeks – once we’ve past our last frost date – I will direct – sow the squashes and cukes along with  potatoes and horseradish.  I plan on buying a bunch of berry plants this year as well to get them started.

Paul’s been hard at work clearing the remaining tree trunks so I have a larger spot for the squash garden and all of the wood burning we’ve been doing means we have lots of wood ash to add to the soil with the compost.  Hopefully we’ll add bees in the next few weeks as well and our garden should fare much better than past years.

In the meantime we are airing out the house whenever we can and slowly putting away all of our winter clothes and boots.  Everyone is happy to see the warmer weather return and I’ve got an itch to make dresses and skirts.

Summer really is just around the corner.

We’d better get a move on if we want to be ready for it!

 

 

 

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The Perfect Day for Soup

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I’ve been lucky enough the last few days to spend time watching Susan and our friends Jeannie and Tanya working on a craft article for By Hand Magazine.

The spring issue is getting put together now and it has us all dreaming of spring and spring-y activities and weather.  But, the reality is that it is still winter.  And it’s been cold.

When I’ve been home off and on we’ve been doing more clearing and burning (coupled with the cold air it smells DIVINE outside) and even more dreaming of spring.  Paul ordered my seeds for my vegetable gardens for Valentine’s Day and I have been longing for some fresh – from – the -garden radishes ever since.

In the meantime we’ve been feeding ourselves with hearty fare to keep warm, and tonight I decided to make some of Susan’s French Onion Soup.

Now, the thing about this soup is that it is unbelievable.  I can’t even tell you how much I crave this soup.  I’ve made it many, many times and it never disappoints.

But.

Usually I am short on time and I tend to skimp a bit on time where I can – I caramelize the onions a bit too fast and I don’t let it all simmer together for very long.  All just to get it on the table before it gets too late (usually because we’ve been working all day and I’ve run out of time).

Today I decided to start early and let the onions caramelize nice and slowly, over the course of more than an hour.  Once I got all the ingredients added (except the brandy/cognac) I let it simmer on low heat for another hour.  Then, as usual the french bread with gruyere were added and stuck under the broiler.

Was all the extra time worth it?

YES.  This time it wasn’t just unbelievable, it was TO DIE FOR.

I’ve linked to Susan’s original recipe above and I implore you all to make it.

You will not be sorry!

 

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Slow Week

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For some reason this week has felt never-ending.  At the same time, I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished much.  Maybe it’s just the winter doldrums.  It’s gone from bitter cold with a smattering of snow (enough to lightly dust the ground but melt by the next day) to sunny and in the high 50’s.  There’s talk of rain tomorrow.  Winter rain is not something I handle well.  It makes me grumpy and bitter that it should be beautiful snow; delicate, beautiful flakes of happiness to settle on branches and cover the world in a layer of fresh white.  Instead it’s rain and mud and brown and grey and cold and BLAH.

On the plus side, we actually did get those bitter cold snaps that I was hoping for.  With any luck this will keep the overgrowth of parasites and pests in check this year.

02.07.13e

Also I should be happy that we’ve gotten some snow.  Some snow is better than no snow, right?

Plus, in between the snow and rain and the cold and the warm I have managed to get outside and take care of a few things here and there.  Which is when I discovered these:

02.07.13f

My garlic has sprouted! All those many bulbs I planted in the fall are waking up and sending out shoots in preparation for spring.  I have already begun dreaming of my garden this year and my head is full of plans for what we’ll grow and where we’ll put the new squash bed.

But for now it is still winter, and I still need to tough it out and finish my darn sweater before it gets too warm to wear it.

02.07.13c

One sleeve to go!

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Decking Our Halls

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Even as we are busily preparing for the arrival of winter by composting and mulching over the garden beds and cleaning out chicken coops to place in fresh bedding (and a whole host of other things) we are also preparing for the arrival of winter’s greatest offering: Christmas.

I always liked the ancient idea that celebrating throughout December with feasts and friends – and plenty of gluhwein  (right Celeste???) and mead, I am sure –  was to enjoy the harvest and perishable items before they rotted and to fatten up their bodies and hearts for the long, lean, dark winter to come.  When we lived in upstate New York I could certainly empathize with such an idea.  The good times and goodies we amassed through the holidays got us through the rest of the cold grey winters, which often lasted through April (I clearly remember friends still skiing at that point – wearing shorts!).  Not that I disliked winter – far from it.  I still love the snow and wish we had more of it here in Virginia.

Though we have fairly warm winters here (generally our days remain well above freezing) it is still nice to use this time as an excuse to spend as much time with friends and family as possible (and bake up enough goodies to hopefully last long after).

So, we have put up our tree, hung our stockings, and placed evergreen branches generously throughout.  I even made a wreath for my new garden gate.

Even Alabama looks festive in his new jingle – bell collar:

Soon the cookie baking will begin, the parties will start, the house will be full of the sounds and smells of impending Christmas.

We can’t wait!