hollyhocks

Hollyhocks galore on the south side of our home. I read once that in Victorian days, ladies planted hollyhocks around the outhouse to mask it. Then when needing the outhouse, it was more genteel to say, "I'm going to look at the hollyhocks."

Come look at my hollyhocks anytime. Bathroom inside. :)

Aerial Farm View

This is our farm from the air looking NW. It was taken last year; today it would look a little greener especially in the paddocks. The red building towards the top is an old granery now used for storage and plans to install windows for a rustic guest cottage. Just above it (west) is our garden. If photographed today it would be larger and full of corn stalks.

Near the granery is a swingset and in the upper left corner is the orchard. Just looks like a bunch of trees which is also true today. No plums this year. Apples are out there but high up. I heard one guy say he pruned his apple trees so they would grow out instead of up; its easier to reach apples that way. I'm going to have to learn that technique for the new apple trees.

The long silver-roof red barn standing alone is the dairy barn. (see one of the first posts for a closer front view). Off to the right is the hay barn and a small shed for storage or animal shelter. The lonely old garage in the middle is the shop for tools and woodworking with wonderful storage above.

Thats our GrassStain Farm from the air.

Here is a closer look at our home. In the next blog I'll show you the hollyhocks now growing on the southsideof the house. (house faces east)

Garden Galore

Bloomin' Turkeys

Remember the flowers I planted in the tree last May? They have been blooming wonderfully with our humidity and warm days. I need to look for more crevices to fill with unexpected beauty. Sort of like making lemons into lemonade, or something like that.

Tree crevices are not all that's blooming on the farm. The turkeys keep growing. I know I've told you that, but now I have some pictures to prove it.

The lighter colored birds are Blue Slate and the darker are Narragansett. The Blues seem to be a bit hardier as we lost only one of those this year and none last year. Several of the 'gansetts died the first few days, but are all stout and holding their own. Now they just grub around and are making more gobbling noises. If little kids come, I warn the mom about how the turkeys will come running when they see me. It can look awfull daunting to have 16 turkeys your size running full speed right at you. : But once around my feet, they just hang out, bob their heads, peck the ground and wonder if I have feed.

When the turkeys were smaller (poults), the chickens would dash to the turkey feed trough, bully the turkeys away, and eat the feed. Now that the turkeys are same size or even bigger, you'd think they'd stop being pushed around, stand their ground, and let the chickens know whose feed this is! Nope. The turks bolt when the chicks come running. Makes me want to redefine the term "chicken."

And what about "turkey?" Based on their behaviour, I think I'm a turkey when I'm stuck in some old way of thought that's not true anymore, but still restrains me from taking action or moving forward toward a good goal/dream. Gobble, gobble, gobble.

I need to find a new farm animal to identify with :)

Shepherdess Duties

Today I need to prepare Paddock #1 for the sheep to return to it. Right now they are in the north woods which is several acres of plentiful trees and brush. Hard to find there. Once moved to the paddock, they'll have fresh grass, a shed to hang in and around, and we'll be able to catch them easier when needed. Less stress for all of us.

Also, they will be seperate from Bubba, the ram. The breeding season for sheep starts about late August and runs through the Fall. We don't want little lambs born in the cold February weather, so we'll keep the ram elsewhere until Thanksgiving Day. The lambs start coming mid-April. All of this means we need to prepare the paddock and get them moved in within the month. This year's lambs go to market end of September. Lamb meat, anyone?

I was at a Farmer's Market last week signing up customers for lamb. Some came ecstatic to find local, Icelandic lamb meat; a few ladies politely said they just couldn't eat a cute little lamb. :)

BH&G Here I come

I'm remodeling the Shop! Well, to say remodel isn't exactly right. Nor can I say redecorate. Nonetheless, the shop is getting a much-needed new look. When we moved in yearend 2008, all the woodworking equipment, tools, and later the tractor all got hung, arranged, stored, etc in the shop as it was. Its a very useful, good building. But ugly!

In May the outside got a facelift with new white siding; now the inside is getting the facelift. The walls have a variety of color and texture along with too many odd, mismatched cupboards and shelves. And Nails! And Screws! All over the place. Karl, my handy-dandy helpful son, and I moved everything away from the north wall and started removing unnecessary things (almost everything) and are painting it white. The walls are chipboard plywood but it still looks better white-washed. It already looks much better, however I doubt Better Homes and Garden will be out soon for a 2-page spread in their next issue. :) I'll call just in case.

I like being organized. I like things to look good. So does Bob. When this shop project is done, I know he will enjoy the look and the functionality so much more. I'll be scoring good wife points on this one!
Sorry, no pics. The camera is at camp with Elizabeth. This weekend we'll catch up.

gobblegobblegobble

The turkeys are growing! For more than a week they've been able to fly over the fence in their coop's backyard, so we just opened the front door and gave them free range of the farm. They move as a pecking mob grubbing up whatever they find worthy. I am recognized as the source of feed; when I come with my "turkey, turkey, turkey" call, the birds answer with gobble, gobble, gobble as they run pell mell to me. Its a frenzy in the small coop pouring feed into the long rectangle metal feeder while they are trying to peck, peck, peck. It is fun to watch their antics and see them grow so fast.

Gourmet Locavore!

Tonight we reaped a delicious, purely satisfying harvest. Supper consisted of our own farm products, and it made for a great family event. Our cull dairy cow from several months ago provided tenderloin steaks that Karl grilled to perfection. Bob and I walked to the garden and collected new potatoes, a couple radishes, and cherry tomatoes. Elizabeth had lettuce and herbs leftover from yesterdays Farmers Market. We threw the herbs in the food processor with some chicken stock and olive oil (not from our farm) for a tasty, fresh sauce to pour over the potatoes.

To know that this meal came from our own farm just made it tast all the better. And inspires us to press on growing and sharing the good, fresh, nutritious taste of local food

Rock-Pickin' Machine

What is a rock-pickin' machine? On our farm anything with two arms, two legs, and 2 hours to sweat! We continue to develop and improve our paddocks from horse pens into lush green forage pools.. This means clearing out lots and lots of fist-size rocks so the mower doesn't get too chewed up. Two wonderful, hard-working neighbor kids came to help; their willingness and cheerfulness helped make a toilsome job quite doable.

Now the weeds are mowed down. The next step is to drag the paddock and then plant grass. Oops. Before planting grass we'll have to remake the fence to keep the cows out when the newly-planted grass starts growing. Paddock 1 was planted last Fall and is looking much better. The ewes and lambs enjoyed the grass there this Spring.

What does one do with all the picked rocks? The first place they went was filling in large holes left from the old fence we removed last year. It'd be bad for a cow to fall in one and break a leg. Next, a pile got dumbed under a gate where there was a low spot. Sheep would slide under there to get into the paddocks where we didn't want them right now. It seems to be working.

And so a problem in one spot (rocks in paddocks) became a solution in another area. Isn't that how life is? God uses our problems (weaknesses) to do good things. It definately works.

Bloom where you are planted

I was inspired by the creative landscaping I saw at Inspiration Point Bible Camp a few summers ago and decided I could do something similar. I bought flowers and potting soil and headed out to the big hole-in-the-tree.
















A little problem arose when filling the tree hole with dirt; the dirt kept falling out. Nearby is our firepit with stacks of logs and sticks. I used small sticks to build a sort of two-tiered wall to hold the dirt. Its been working so far and the flowers are looking bright and colorful inside the dullish tree.

Do you see the wall of sticks? Looks a little like a fort or stockade. It holds well.