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.
Tuesday: the last full day before Pierce Co Fair starts. It was also a Monday, because on Monday we were too busy to Monday, due to baking for fair, and taking stuff to fair grounds for turn in, and decorating at the fair grounds. But Monday is the sort of thing that cannot be indefinitely… Continue reading Elderberries, beans, crabapples
Last week was the first elderberry picking of the year. I did a second picking Monday morning, early. The dried elderberries from last weekend are done, so we transfer them into a bowl and put the next batch in. The previous batch yielded almost a quart after drying. We found that if the clusters are… Continue reading Elderberries, Basil, Baking and Brewing.
"Look Daddy! I'm a stwirrel!" "Tan I help you took?" When was the last time you had a squirrel cook you potato-water griddle cakes for breakfast? Tuesday morning we got over to the farm for another picking of blackberries. The big thornless blackberries are a little the worse for wear at the moment. We are… Continue reading Blackberries, First Elderberries, and Drought problems.
The Summer harvest is just beginning! On Monday we did another picking of raspberries (pretty slim pickings, at this point) and we did our first picking of beans. Ellie bet Uncle that he would not find any beans on the west side of the beans. She bet him one scone for each bean that he… Continue reading Summer Harvest
It was a clinic weekend, so busy, but... Our new hens, the ones we started in February are laying! Egg production is starting to come back up again. And at least one of them prefers finding her own nest rather than using the ones we so lovingly built for her. 10 eggs in the stack… Continue reading Clinic Weekend
Last Tuesday (July 28th) The three older kids were all at VBS, so it was just Daddy and Winnie for a few hours. We picked blackberries. Winnie loves being the only child. She chatters away, all the thoughts that come into her little head. Every other sentence is, "Daddy, I really love you!" She is… Continue reading Blackberries
Last Saturday was a 4H canning day. Kathleen is the canning instructor for one of the local 4H clubs, and one of our friends is the canning instructor for another local club. A few times a year they get together to do a multi-club canning day, teaching the kids how to can jams and jellies,… Continue reading Raspberries and Rhubarb and Canning, Oh My!
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
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
Little Farm in the Big City 