They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
The hardneck garlic we planted last year is almost ready. It has been growing scapes. The scapes are the curly flower stalks on the top of the garlic "neck." These would straighten out and develop into a flower if left alone, but we don't want that. We want the garlic plant to put all its… Continue reading Garlic Scape Butter
When you head to Texas for two weeks... The weeds decide they own the place. Seriously, some of them were over my head. Of course, it's an ill wind that blows no good. The ruminants were all pleased as punch about the wheelbarrow loads of weeds they were getting out of the deal. It's hot… Continue reading Weeding and composting.
Not much farming happened while Daddy was in Texas. This should hardly be surprising, since Mommy was in Texas as well for 5 of those days, and the kids were with Deedee and Papa. And also, it's really hard for two grownups to keep up with work and taking care of the kids, and still… Continue reading Strawberries
This was Saturday, May 30th, the last day before Daddy left for National Guard orders. Getting to the thistles was a top priority, as they were starting to put on buds. But first: Cannellini beans! Dozens of little beanlets! And we took a few minutes to weed out another section of row 5 and seed… Continue reading Thistle Massacre
Things don't always go smoothly on the farm. Just when our ducks were getting used to being pasture ducks. Just when they were getting the hang of laying eggs in the duckmobile, so the crows couldn't get at them. Most of the time... Just when egg production was starting to go up again after the… Continue reading Duck Setbacks
After the beans and peas planting, it was a couple of days before any of us got to the farm. Mommy and Ellie flew to Virginia and North Carolina for Ellie's 3rd grade trip. The visited Roanoke, Jamestown, and Williamsburg. Ellie wasn't sure about it at first because she didn't want to be the only… Continue reading Elevated Irrigation
Let's see, what day was this. May 19th, a Tuesday. This was the day we got around to finishing the legumes row. The older girls helped out at the beginning by pulling out all the weeds to feed to the ruminants. Then I got on with the digging. As with row 1, the Tomato/cucurbit row,… Continue reading Beans and Peas
The farm is such a remarkable place! Things just grow out of the ground, all over the place. You just have to know where to look, And keep your eyes open, And you can pick up all kinds of cool things Just growing right on the ground.
Wednesday night after work I took the three younger kids to the farm to plant out our cucurbits. Mommy and Evie stayed home to finish a school paper and pressure can some ham stock. Mommy and Daddy had an Anniversary Trip planned for the weekend, so no one was going to be home to baby… Continue reading Planting out Cucurbits and Moringas
Monday Morning during chores I noticed this. Actually, I heard it from twenty feet away. It sounded like a toilet flushing. When I went to look, I saw water bubbling up out of the ground. I thought, "Dang it. I have to do a pipe repair today." But first, breakfast. Evie had made pound cake… Continue reading Fixing Leaks and T-Posts in the Garden
Little Farm in the Big City 