Rain, Glorious Rain……. Finally!

It’s been dry, really dry. In fact one might even say the dreaded “d” word. (Drought) Alas, this evening it rained and all the little water lovers came out to say hi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Painted turtle and a green frog came out to have a look around. I picked up the turtle to bring inside to say hello to Zoey and then put him back in his same spot. I think he enjoyed the adventure as much as Zo Zo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The frog was funny. He let me take pics about an inch away from him without even blinking. It’s been about 4 weeks since we got rain, we so needed it. I hope the gray skies come back soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ahh the obligatory veggie shots…..Pickling cucumber almost ready to pick, radish and hot pepper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Father’s Day Everyone! Here’s what I got, Thanks Mindy!

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Planting, Planting and some more planting…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bush beans planted by Uncle Keith and rows of peppers and tomatoes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cabbage, Black Berry Bush and Chickens love Watermelon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cucumbers and Zucchini

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s always time to take a break and find a dragonfly resting or watch the kids canoe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Pepper Plant, Manure in the Wheel Barrow and a long garden shot of the pepper rows. Of course I like to plant a couple of cherry tomato plants on the corner. That way I can grab a snack as soon as I walk in the garden.

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T-Minus 16 days till Spring

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, Spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere on March 20, 2012, at 1:14 A.M. Let the countdown begin! If you live in the Midwest region of the U.S. (like us) you better get your seeds started inside to get a jump on summer. Now is the time to start: Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Leeks, Onions and most importantly  Peppers, Tomatoes. A lot of seeds can be sown directly into the earth but these guys need a head start.

Get your order into Baker Creek (my favorite seed company that only sells heirloom seeds and NO GMO’s) There is also a really cool site that you type in your zip code and it figures out when you should start what veggie. http://sproutrobot.com/ If you don’t know how to start seeds inside I have to quote the movie Tommy Boy by saying “I’d have to hit you in the back of the head with a tack hammer.” Cause it’s that easy…. Get some seeds, some dirt, a couple of lights and wait.

Soon, it’ll be planted and you’ll have fresh veggies on the horizon, like these cherry tomatoes. I plant cherry (or grape) tomatoes just to munch them fresh off the plant while I’m working in the garden. They’re so sweet and delicious.

 

Corn you sow directly into the ground and in 75 short days it looks like this. Nothing is better in the summer than hand picked (in the morning) sweet corn roasted on the grill.

Ahhh Spring flowers from last season. I always plant a lot of flowers around the garden to attract pollinators  and of course there’s the aesthetic reasons…

 

 

I miss our goats. They were a funny pair around the farm.

 

Also, one quick question for any soil experts out there. We’ve had an extremely mild winter in Ohio. Usually at this time of the year, the ground is frozen solid 30″ deep. This year, it’s been so warm the ground never froze. My question is; What effect on the soil does this mean? Since it never froze did the insects never die? Did the bacteria never break down?

Not all bugs are bad. My upcoming post will discuss beneficial insects for your garden. Like this praying mantis I snapped a picture of in the rear field. After that post I’ll be going over “Making Your own Worm Farm” with Red Wigglers.

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Hazy Shade of Winter – A Pictorial

I braved the frigid cold (5° windchill) to stroll around the farm this morning and take some pictures. Jake couldn’t make it out back, the snow was too high. I guess that’s a problem when you’re only 7″ tall. A lot of people complain about the winter but I love it. Everyone needs a break and It’s so quiet and serene and so close to heaven I should pass around a collection basket.

 

 

 

Hang in the gardening friends! Soon it will all be green and overflowing with life, so enjoy the cold calmness of winter.

Next Blog: Starting Seeds Inside.

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A small toad

I cut the back field today. It took so long it was so tall.

  

The finished field. I’m thinking about tilling it and planting corn or maybe pumpkins.

toad

After cutting the grass, I found this guy in the field. So, I took him next door to the pond for a nice swim.

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The Chicken Coop – May 26, 2011

The roof was just a wreck so Dave and I broke it apart with a sledge hammer and crow bars. The carpenter bees were everywhere but neither of us got stung. It was hot and humid and when you’d break the roof apart the wood and dirt would fall down and stick to you.

All torn off, now we had to pull out nails.

Added some 2×4’s and used reclaimed wood we found sitting around the farm.

Brother Dave was a huge help. Definitely couldn’t have done it without him and he did really good for his fear of bees.

The chickens liked the new roof. We got 4 leghorns (white) they lay white eggs. 4 silkies (black and gray) and 2 baarred rocks (brown).

They were a little shy but started laying the next day. 6 Eggs and another 7 eggs the next day.

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