On the Farm

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A Bit of Green

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!It seems that we may have skipped spring altogether. The calendar say's it's still winter but we have been having summer temperatures. We've started work in the garden and today we planted four rows of peas! Yes, we are enjoying a bit of green today.Someone really enjoys using the shovel - and it's NOT me!Oh, and Happy Birthday, Shirley!

Behind

We are feeling a bit behind. We should have frozen peaches and canned pears by now.We haven't picked them all yet because our counter is covered with un processed fruit.We have our first batch of grape juice in the refrigerator ready waiting to be canned. I'm trying not to think about the rest of the grapes on the vines, the raspberries it has been too wet and mosquitoy to pick, and the potatoes still to be dug.Yeah, we're kinda behind.I even told the boys I'd bake a pie if they came home this weekend. They didn't fall for that.---Why did I spend much of today making a larger back pack for Miss Petunia who says that her kindergarten back pack is too small for a first grader? 

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Twenty Eight Pounds - of Garlic

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Yesterday we harvested garlic.We save the largest garlic bulbs for planting the next year and each year the bulbs that we harvest are a little bigger.We cut the tops, trim the roots,and clean them up a bit.Then we spread them out to dry for a while.Our total garlic harvest yesterday weighed in at over 28 pounds! They will loose a bit of water weight before they go into long term storage.I love that there are a few foods like garlic, onions, and potatoes that we haven't bought in years.  We are able to grow enough and store them over the winter.  We have just finished the last of our stored onions and the new onions can be harvested as needed as can the potatoes.   

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Now We're Talkin'

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They just don't make them like the used to. That is so true. Some of the old things are much better than new. This little beauty now sits on my freshly cleaned desk. How can I have a cluttered desk with THIS sitting on it? I tell you this will change my desk keeping habits1 - or so I hope. I love this "new" phone. It makes such a satisfactory sound when you dial up a friend and it is heavy enough that it doesn't move when you use it. Someone please call me so I can hear it ring!! It replaces this less than perfect but still fun phone.While cleaning my desk, (I did a deep clean involving the drawers!) I found the box of 64 crayons I had as a child. I remember wanting the 64 color box for a long time. My sisters and I had lots of crayons that we kept in a shoe box all jumbled together. Many were broken but we still loved to color with them. I remember visiting my friend Mary and when we started to color together she got out her crisp new box of 64 crayons. Those crayons were lined up like little soldiers wearing pointy hats. Oh, that is when it hit. Crayon envy.  I finally did get a new box - much later.  It was so special that I made sure I labeled that box. My name is written on it in at least three places. And as you can see, I was old enough to write in CURSIVE!The box in the background is the box I bought for the 64 colors project. (The colors have new names and I had to make sure I was finding the right color for my photos.)I think the old box graphics are much better.Maybe I just don't want to grow up. Whatever it is, these things gave me a little thrill today.Oh, and look what I found at a rummage sale this weekend - a flower shaped hankie!Fun stuff.I'm off to do some food preservation. We have garlic scapes and strawberries coming out of our ears and the peas are coming on strong too. We'll be shelling peas till the cows come home later in the week. I love it when the freezer is full of home grown garden bounty!

Baby Chicks - again

Every year we get new baby chicks and every year I love to watch them and try to photograph them.Their little wing feathers grow so fast.They are fun to watch when we let them out and they peck at the plants and bugs.They are very wiggly and tricky to photograph.  This one jumped right out of the picture to get a mosquito!I left their cage outside for a while yesterday in the hopes that they would eat some mosquitoes but I don't think they made much of a dent in the population.

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Merry May

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We had a great weekend. It was finally warmish and we spent a bit of time outside and saw lots of signs of spring. Our bloodroot is in full bloom. The redbuds have a tiny hint of red and forsythia are blooming. We have several kinds of daffodils blooming all around the yard and lots of grape hyacinth.The frogs are making noise in the wetlands.We have plants coming up in the herb garden. Rhubarb and parsley are making a good show.We also spent some time pulling up garlic mustard, an invasive weed which has gotten started in a few areas on our property. We pull it each year before it goes to seed. Hopefully we can eliminate it.Now I need to gear up for the business that is May. We are always busy with planting and weeding and general outdoor activities that have been neglected during the colder months. Everything grows so fast that it is hard to feel caught up with it all.May is also full of end of year school activities and will be even busier this year with M's graduation. The first of the senior activities will be the Concerto Concert this Wednesday. I am really looking forward to it.  This year there will be thirteen performers. A few will play with the full orchestra back up. It always a great show and I love watching the kids who I have known since they were in Kindergarten or even preschool. P is also having her first concert this week, the Kindergarten spring concert.I hope I can fit in some sewing and crafting time this month.

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The Quest

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Today we went on  a quest,a quest for a Christmas tree.This is the earliest we have ever gone out to get a tree. We usually wait until the first or second weekend in December, but the next two weekends are already very busy for us so I thought it would be fun to go ahead and get the tree early while D is still home from school (after all, he is the master at putting on the lights so that the entire tree is lit up and we don't see the wires). B is out of town but we decided to go ahead without him.It started this morning with a drive to the tree farm where we have purchased a tree for the last few years. It was a lovely drive, a bit longer than usual because we missed the last turn. We did get to see lots of animals - cows, dogs, goats, horses, chickens, even little bantams running across the road in front of us.After stopping to ask for directions at two homes we finally found the tree farm. Sadly, it was deserted.Not open.Closed.There was no one there.So, we drove home.I didn't think any of the trees we had planted were big enough to be Christmas trees but, not wanting to go to another tree farm or purchase an already cut tree, we ran down to assess the situation in our field.Happily, there were a few trees that were tall enough.I like that this one is not too fat and has space for the hanging ornaments to hang freely between the branches.So exciting. The kids were thrilledthat the hunt was over and we didn't have to go out in the car again.The best part is that from now on our tree hunting expeditions will only be a walk from the house! 

The Sorting

This week we finished harvesting our heirloom corn. After collecting and shucking comes the sorting.The smallest ears are fed to the chickens. We save the largest and best looking (making sure that we save some of each color) for seed.I pulled about twenty that I will use in my K-2 art class. I'll have the kids do a macro drawing of the corn with oil pastels.P has filled a basket with ears that are pink. She plans to plant the pink kernels next year to see if she gets all pink corn.We'll make corn meal from some of the corn for our Little Red Hen Bread, a family favorite.What's been keeping you busy? 

Instagram Photos

Narrow hand appliquéd bias strips. 1/16” quilting lines not going over the appliqué. I’m about a month in on the quilting and ALMOST finished. Whoop! Quilted with Invisalign on top and Decobob in the bobbin. Threads by @wo
This summer we watched my two oldest grand kids one day a week. Towards the end of the summer they started making projects on their own in the sewing room. They made lots of little projects from my scrap basket including pillow cases and tiny quilts
Here’s the layout with all but one block done. I’ll finish that last block when I get more of the baby poop green/mustard fabric. I put out the call and the internet provided! This top will be finished soon! This is a remake of an 1870s
I’m finally getting around to putting these stars together. I made the stars a few years ago and have been on the hunt for the perfect setting fabrics. These @carolynfriedlander prints are the perfect match for the 1800s reproduction prints in