This week on the Farm...

JoAn and Elizabeth were a big help with the shoveling

This week my dear brother delivered us a nice load of aged horse manure.  Now if you don't live on a farm, that may not impress you.  It made me ecstatic!  He even delivered it!  I need bunches of it to set up my garden beds.  It is a start from scratch process for us here.  One of the neighbors did say that the last owner had her gardens over in the side yard, but that was years ago!  A big shout out of thanks to my best bro!  (And if you are inclined to bring more, I won't say no!)

The chickens were so excited about the manure also.  It is loaded with worms and they treated it like a fat man at an Old Country Buffet!

We loaded up the manure into a garden cart and pulled it with the ATV.  The hens wanted to go for a ride, not, it only looks like that.  They were actually just going through the manure that we had shoveled into the cart.

On the gardening front... I did get my shallots planted.  We had the two boxes from the old house's gardens.  I filled them with the manure and then I sprinkled them with ashes.  That is what the planting instructions on-line said to do.  It keeps away worms and whatever else wrecks shallots. We love shallots.  Using them allows us to feel like real chefs.  I heard one old saw say that the difference between an excellent home cook and a restaurant chef? Shallots.

I have been reading and studying the book, 'Gaia's Garden' by Toby Hemenway.  It is such a practical book on home-scale permaculture.  I have followed his directions in setting up my beds.  It is a no-till philosophy.  I am trying to set things up on the farm that we ( My DH and I) will be able to maintain for at least the next 20 years.  We need to be able to do it even when the kids are not at home anymore.

The first step is to figure out the size of the beds you need.  They say to figure 25 sq ft per person.  That meant that we need about 200 sq ft.  The first thing you do is put down cardboard where you want the garden to prevent weeds growing up through it.  Then you soak the cardboard with water.  We are blessed to have all our hose water to be pumped directly out of our spring fed pond. Gives a little nutritional boost, but you definitely don't want to drink out of the hose!!!

This is what it looked like when it was finished.  Michelle thinks it looks like a grave for a super thin giant.  Anyways,  we put down a layer of manure ( Harvested from our chicken coop) about 2" thick.  Then we put old  hay from the barn on top in a layer about 4-6" thick.  You soak all that with water and then cover the top with an inch or so of top soil or in our case, aged horse manure.  We then seeded it with lots of different varieties of lettuce, radishes, beets, turnips, chard, spinach.  The idea is to pull the plant when you harvest it and then plant something else in it's place.  We still need to add some herbs in to it.  Later in the summer, we will put in our beans, broccoli, and other plants we have started.  If this works, it will definitely be the way to go.  Really simple and you don't have to till.  Each year you work some more manure into it and at the end of the year you bring in your 'chicken tillers' and let them clean out the weeds and fertilize.  Those birds need to earn their keep!

Someone gifted me some blueberry bushes.  I planted them right by the pine trees, on the south side.  That way they get to enjoy the acid soil and they still get sunshine.

One part of living on a property for the first year is that you get to discover what the previous owner had planted.  A lot of the spring flowers had overgrown too closely and so aren't flowering.  We will have to divide the bulbs so that we get more flowers next spring.

You never know where you will find a chicken hiding when you walk around the farm.  That will change soon as, buying fences, is on my to-do list for this week. I can't have them cleaning out the garden!

This is the start of my hugelkulture bed.  Potatoes are supposed to do well in this kind of bed.  We shall see.  I want to get them in the ground soon.  They arrived in the mail a couple weeks ago and sitting is not making them healthier, even if where they are is cool.

The chicks continue to get bigger.  The boss has been so busy working that he has not gotten to the mobile chicken coop.  We need to get it done soon so these guys can get outside.

The black Jersey Giants look like crows in amongst the pretty hens.

 This week I got my real farm boots.  They fit well and are so much better for going through the muck.  This is going to save my shoes a lot of wear and tear! I needed something with good support for my feet and these do the job well.  Now I really look like a farmer when I am out in the barn!

The sadness in the back field was that something got the Killdeer's nest.  They broke and removed one of the eggs, and the parents have moved on.

It has been a good week on the farm and we are really enjoying the spring weather!  I trust it is nice where you are too!

Does anyone know What Kind of Plant This is?

This bush grows in out front yard. I don't remember planting it. Yet, it is growing where it must have been planted. I have never seen a bush like this. It has these reddish brown flowers with yellowish tips on the petals that almost look like they are carved out of wood.

The flowers bloom all summer. It sends these branches up and they stay there all winter, but in the spring it starts up all new foliage.

Here is a close-up of the flower and leaf. If you are the first person who can tell me about my plant, or at least tell me the name, I will send you a prize.

~Mom

Shade Garden Faithfuls

Our back yard is very shady with lots of clay. It is really tough to convince things to grow back there. Here are some things that have worked well.

Dianthus is a delicate flower that comes in shades of pink from white to red. It is often labelled an annual, but it is really a perennial. I like to have things that I don't have to replant every year.

These flowers are considered edible, although honestly, I have never eaten any. The girls do like them to wear in their hair. They are pretty. Mine have had a hard life recently as Dallas likes to run through and dig where they grow.

Cedum is another plant that does fine in the shade. They have a broad group of lilac or pink flowers that bloom in later summer. They are also perennials.

Hostas are the shade gardeners best friend. You can't kill them. If you go to a nursery they are expensive. There are over a hundred varieties. The leaves have different shades of green, white and yellow. Some on the inside and some on the outside. Don't buy them though. Find a friend that has one you like and just split off a piece of the plant and root. It will start and grow splendidly.

In July or August, depending on your location, the hostas send up a spike which blossoms with purple flowers. Each year the plant gets larger.

Hostas are great perennials. You can't hurt them. The basic green leaf variety spreads almost like a weed. If you want some of the basic green ones. Let me know. If you are nearby I will happily share mine with you.

What have you found that does well in shade and clay?

~Mom
"My garden will never make me famous

I'm a horticultural ignoramus.

Ogden Nash

Favorite Spring FLowers

I love the smell of Lilies of the valley. When I was growing up we had a large spread of them beside our house and I loved their sweet smell. I am so glad they grow well in the shade. That means they thrive as a late spring flower in our yard.

These are bleeding hearts. I only met these flowers as an adult. They look so neat and tidy and they really do look like hearts. I had to have some for the side yard. I wouldn't mind having a couple more of these in other places in the yard. There is a way to start some new ones from an established plant. Can someone tell me how?

Lilacs always remind me of my Grandparents. It makes me miss them both, but I like remembering them. They had a number of large lilacs in their yard of many shades of violet to white. They smell so heavenly when they are in bloom. They also look nice in a vase.

Grape hyacinths are a late spring flower that grows most anywhere. I like their neat attire.

Isn't God's creativity amazing, as it is demonstrated in His creation?

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's!!

~Mom

Spring is Springing

Today is the first day of Spring! Things are beginning to spring from the ground. I love it!

The crocuses are popping and the sun is shining and warm. It feels so good.

The boys (Ulysses here) are throwing Frisbees and running around like young colts.

The buds on the cherry trees are starting to swell.


I saw a honey bee on these crocuses just before I got the camera out. I was surprised that it was buzzing around so early in the year.

The daffodils are popping out of the ground.

T-Bob thought he would use the sun to try the old experiment of lighting a leaf on fire with a magnifying glass. We are really enjoying God's amazing creation as we watch it burst forth. We have such an Awesome God!

~Mom

Illustrations from around the Kitchen Sink and a Contest

Update: The closest guess will win. We would really like you guys to guess. The contest will be open until someone guesses correctly or until the end of January.






Plants have a difficult life around our kitchen sink as seen in the photos below.


We have mixed views about the place and purpose of house plants.









How many months do you think we have had this plant (picture below)? We were given it after a gathering we attended. If you can guess what the gathering was about we'll be impressed.























We have enjoyed these flowers though they are on their way out. We have had them for several weeks. They do well in a cooler climate. How much? $1.



God has given us a large variety of beautiful flowers and plants. He uses this part of creation to make a point about the importance of His Word.














"The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8


Let us use the time He has given us to know Him through His precious Word. We were encouraged to do this multiple times in various ways at the Rise Up conference.



It is hard work, but there is blessing in it.


"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workmen that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth."
2 Timothy 2:15

~JoAn

P.S. Leave your guess as a comment. The first one who correctly answers will be the winner. A picture of the prize will be forthcoming.

Flowers in our Yard

We do much better with vegetables than flowers in our yard. Our black-eyed susans are in full bloom. The Lilies are past their prime so I didn't try and photograph them. We try and keep some flowers mixed in with the veggies, so as to keep it looking nice and not just like a green jungle.

We have hostas that are growing like weeds. They spring up like weeds all over. I am constantly pulling them out like weeds. If anyone would like some of this basic variety of hosta, let me know. I have more to get rid of. In our shade garden we have some fancier varieties of hostas, but they don't spread like wildfire. They do fill in with green anywhere. and in the midsummer they send up this pretty spike of purple flowers.

We keep the marigolds around the perimeter and corners of our vegetable garden. The bugs seem to really be chewing on them prodigiously this year, but they persevere with their golden flowers. They also suffer from a lack of sun in the tomato bed, as the tomatoes reach to the sky and steal the sunlight. Oh well.

The backyard has some other flowers in the shade garden. I have lots of dianthus and some astilbe. Some other time I will talk about the shade garden.

Incidentally, I will be having a contest soon to see who can figure out which herbs are which from the garden. There will be a prize also. Keep posted.

~Mom