Daddy: "Ellie, do you want a job that involves sitting in the shade?" Ellie: "Sure!" Daddy: "We need to cut the blossoms off these chamomile plants." Ellie: "I'll use my knife." If you are wondering where our seven-year-old got a knife, she made it herself. It's a stick she sharpened on Daddy's grinding wheel. She… Continue reading Saturday fun
Category: Our Garden
Prepping for Rain
It does not often rain during the summer in Western Washington. This is one of the biggest challenges of farm management in the PNW, the 60-90 days of drought that we get every single summer. However, last week we had rain forecast for Friday, and not just a little drizzle, but a good inch of… Continue reading Prepping for Rain
Catch up post
This has been a very busy week and a lot has gone on, so buckle up. It's time for a catch-up post. Literally. Mommy took Evie and Ellie to the fair last Wednesday. No, the other last Wednesday, the 6th of August. That's how far behind we are. They immediately started winning prizes. Ellie got… Continue reading Catch up post
Sauerkraut!
What do you do with a 13 Lb red cabbage? This cabbage was one of the late planted cabbages from last year that didn't sprout in time for winter, but took off as soon as the ground started to warm up in the spring. It has been growing next to the pea trellis ever since.… Continue reading Sauerkraut!
Harvesting Wheat and Garlic
Tuesday was the day we got around to harvesting our wheat. It was a bit disappointing. If you look closely at the picture above you will see that a significant number of the wheat stalks are missing their seed head. In this section it was 50% or more, most other sections were not hit quite… Continue reading Harvesting Wheat and Garlic
Sunday and Monday Fun
Mommy and Evie were fully engaged in Swiss Kids Kamp. I wish I had some pictures of it, but I wasn't there and they were both pretty busy the whole time. Swiss Kids Kamp is an annual kids camp held at the Swiss Sportsman's Club in Bonney Lake, where kids can stay for a week… Continue reading Sunday and Monday Fun
Back in the Garden
Daddy got off orders for National Guard last Saturday. Winnie was pretty much glued to him the whole day. The garden has been growing like crazy for the last two weeks. The beans that were so slow to start have been coming in buckets. Mommy picked ten quarts worth last week. Daddy and Winnie picked… Continue reading Back in the Garden
Goodbye Steers
Our two steers were slaughtered last week, on the 9th. You might be wondering what Seppi is doing in the willow tree. He is trimming willow shoots. We cut a big pile of them to feed to the steers when the slaughter team arrived. They love it, they eat it like candy. Partially it's a… Continue reading Goodbye Steers
Beet Failure
AS they say, one thing leads to another. Especially in the hardware store. Have you come up with a better way to keep them... in line? Early morning on the Fourth of July. These ladies are not much for chatting, unless they don't have enough grass. Then they bleat in surprisingly deep, gruff voices. Eunice… Continue reading Beet Failure
Prepping garden beds
The radishes are done for the first half of the season, and we harvested the chiogga beets. Now it's time to replant the beds. But first... A mater! One beautiful little Heirloom Marriage, ripening right on the vine! I am so happy! Broccoli for lunch. Trust her, she is very skillful with that thing, and… Continue reading Prepping garden beds