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.
If only more people understood. If only I understood. This is what Traherne was on about. I complain about not having time to get into the garden as much as I would like, and sure, there are a lot of tasks that ought to be done, for productivity and for beauty, but honestly... It still… Continue reading God Provides
When I was a boy, I found a lot of four-leaf clovers. I also found a lot of five-leaf clovers. I found six- seven- and eight-leaf clovers. I had whole blank books filled with clovers I found and taped in for posterity. I wonder whatever happened to those books. It is unlikely posterity will ever… Continue reading For Such a Time as This
So there we were, in the garden, trying to get it ready. This was a good while ago. We have been too busy to blog, so I am trying to catch up in the odds and ends of time, and it shows. This is all from September 4th, the day Elli got her tonsils out.… Continue reading Turnip Fritters
This morning I decided to use my workout time to move wood chips. It is a nice, easy recovery activity after the harder workouts of Monday and Tuesday, and, let's face it. The garden needs it. There is nothing the farm needs right now more than a few days of dedicated wheelbarrow work. For no… Continue reading Matthew 13:24-30: A Very Disappointing Morning.
It isn't quite fall yet, but don't let that stop us. The winter garden crops are coming in strong. With the issues we had this summer with rodents chewing the sprinkler hoses, we are experimenting with getting most of the hoses off the ground. It seems to be working well so far, but it requires… Continue reading Fall Gardening
Last week we re-vamped the first flush diverter on the South side of the barn, and added an outlet for the rainwater tank. It worked amazingly! So much easier than the factory configuration. As set up in the kit there is a small nipple that threads on that is supposed to drip and empty the… Continue reading Odd Jobs
Last Saturday, (that is last Saturday but one by the time you read this, a.ka. the 16th) we processed most of the tomatoes that we had harvested the previous Thursday, ahead of the rain storm. On the right are the ripest ones, mostly Heirloom Marriage and on the left are the less ripe, mainly Cuore… Continue reading Canning Tomatoes
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
This was the first year we have gotten a decent crop of elderberries from the farm. So far we have only been harvesting from the black elder shrub, and have already gotten a huge haul. These are the elderberries we pruned back to the stump in early 2024. They grew out shoots in 2024, and… Continue reading Elderberries.
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
Little Farm in the Big City 