Maybe I’m rushing the planting season given that we’re expecting upwards of 16 inches of snow – but it’s not snowing inside my greenhouse and the pepper and tomato seeds need to get started. I have a laminated chart that I refer to every year and it says to start peppers and tomatoes before March 8th for my growing zone. So I’m tucked away in my little greenhouse, planting my Italian red peppers, Amish paste tomatoes, Big Boy slicing tomatoes, San Marzano tomatoes, grape cherry tomatoes and yellow pear tomatoes. The flurries are just starting and it’s warm-ish inside. In a few more weeks I’ll start the squash, broccoli and loofah sponges. The loofahs are this year’s experiment – but it will be fun to watch them grow… if spring ever gets here. I’m done with this snow!
Starting the peppers and tomatoes because my chart says it’s time even as the flurries are starting.And now it is accumulating – they say 16 inches are coming. Good thing my tiny seeds are warm and cozy inside the greenhouse.
Bruce – you were right — those damn mice moved right in once we insulated the basement. We’ve kept traps down there, and we would catch a mouse every once in a while – but it didn’t seem like a big deal. Until now…
I noticed that they are eating my squash! Damn mice. They climbed right into my wood crates, chewed holes, and cleaned out the inside of the squash. Thank goodness they didn’t eaten them all! I grabbed the rest of my good squash and rushed them to safety in the house. I scrubbed them good – with soap and water — just in case a mouse had walked over them. Then I roasted them, pureed then and packed them into freezer bags. Hah! No more squash for those damn mice.
Now, I hope the mice will go for the cheese in the traps – given that their supply of squash has been squashed.
Damn mice!This mouse trap will get more action now that all the crates are empty.
It’s hard to get away during the “growing season.” The grass needs to be cut, the garden is in full swing — and even a long weekend away means we come home to an overgrown mess. Winter vacations seem to work much better for us. We packed Chris’ skies in the car and headed north for a long weekend in Canada. He skied, I “lodged” in front of the fireplace, with a glass of wine — and my seed catalogs. It was a great vacation!
I made my lists, checked them twice, and last Friday with the help of a dear and very patient friend, I went to Rohrer’s to get everything on my wish list — and then some. Yes, I made a few impulse buys — the pictures on the seed packets just looked too yummy to pass up.
It won’t be long until I can start some of these in the greenhouse. I’m counting the days ’till spring.
An adorable little ski village.Getting ready to hit the slopes.I stayed tucked in with the fireplace and my seed catalogsLots of seeds — just waiting for spring!
The special delivery from that unexpected BIG purchase at the Farm Show is here. We frequently have trucks showing up to deliver things – the barn, the chicken coop, the greenhouse. They have to maneuver backwards up the driveway and then navigate the hillsides of our uneven farm to deposit their cargo in just the right place. This time, they just rolled our delivery off the flat bed – right into the middle of the driveway – along with all of its accessories.
Yes, Chris is the proud new owner of a John Deere tractor. I thought we already had one – it’s green, it says John Deere, and it works. But apparently THAT John Deere was only a lawn mower. THIS John Deere can do so much more. It’s bigger – in fact so big that it has a roll bar (that instills confidence right away), a ballast box, a front end loader and a grader (for our very long gravel driveway) — and it’s Diesel! Apparently that’s a big deal.
There was one happy farmer out there this weekend trying out all pieces and parts and making room for it in our garage. Already we are starting a list of things it needs to do – like uproot stumps from the meadow, scoop the horse manure out of the barn, and probably dig a foundation for a new barn to house this monster and all of its attachments (just kidding – I hope)!
Yep, another toy — here it comes.Check out that roll bar – and yes, it does come with a seat belt and head lights.Looks like it’s ready to go.Check out all those accessories! Chris says they are called “implements.” I guess he will be busy.
It was a really cold weekend but we bundled up and made the trip to Harrisburg to go to the 102nd annual farm show. Mostly I wanted to see the cute sheep and goats and decide which we are more inclined to add to the farm, I wanted information on tapping our two Maple trees so I can make Maple syrup, and I wanted some of the awesome “junk food” that comes with going to a place like that (sticky buns, sugar-coated & roasted nuts, bratwurst wrapped in pretzel dough, etc.).
I think we’ve decided on goats, I got some good information about tapping our trees, we saw the annual butter sculpture and I ate more junk food than I should have. So what’s the problem?
It’s what I didn’t expect to happen at the farm show that’s a problem. Yes, I knew they had vendors. Yes, I knew they have Farm Show specials. But I really didn’t expect to buy anything more some of that aforementioned junk food. But, we (actually he) bought something – and it’s big. In fact, it’s so big, it has to be delivered on a truck. Stay tuned.
There’s always a life-sized sculpture out of butter!
It’s been a COLD January, except for a few days ago when it hit 60° and then plummeted again – like a tantalizing taste of spring only to be thrust back into winter. Our house is made of sturdy stone and while it stands up well to wind and rain, the stone gets cold. The walls are cold, the floor is cold – and I’m cold!
I don’t know why we didn’t think about this before, but we decided to insulate the ceiling in the basement to help keep the 1st floor warmer. With the cold weather we’ve been having (like 0° F), it has been as low as 41° in the basement, and that cold has been seeping up through the floor boards.
But not anymore. We installed 12 rolls of R-19 insulation up into the ceiling of the basement. Now we’re keeping an eye on the temperature in the basement to make sure it doesn’t get so cold that pipes freeze, and keeping an eye on the temperature in the house – to see if it makes a difference. I think my feet feel warmer already.
The floor joists had no insulation, and it gets cold in the basement.So we bought 12 rolls of R-19 insulation.We feel warmer, now I hope the pipes won’t freeze in the basement!
We had a little Christmas miracle this morning — a white Christmas. It wasn’t much — just a dusting, but it brought the peacefulness and magic of a special Christmas. And Santa’s reindeer weren’t far behind — grazing in the bushes just behind the picket fence.
We have one fence for keeping things in – and three fences for keeping things out. The fence for keeping things in works well. The fences for keeping things out – not so much. Between deer, rabbits, ground hogs and birds – my gardens seem to be fair game for anything roaming through the property. “Oh look!” they exclaim. “There’s a fenced in garden. Let’s go have dinner there tonight.” And they do.
But not next year. We’ve rabbit proofed our six foot tall fence with chicken wire around the base of it to keep the rabbits out. And we’re stringing fishing line across the top of it to keep the birds out. We’re putting up another six-foot tall fence to protect my fruit trees, raspberry bushes, blueberry bushes and strawberry plants – with enough room left over to plant potatoes and squash and whatever else strikes my fancy when the spring seed catalogs come out. And we’re putting up a picket fence where my “pumpkin patch” will reside.
Now everyone just needs to follow the rules. If you’re supposed to be inside a fence (like Pono), then stay in. If you’re supposed to be outside the fence, then stay out. I’m hoping for a bumper crop next year.
My pumpkin patch picket fence.The big fence…For fruit trees, raspberry bushes, blueberry bushes, strawberry and asparagus plants — and maybe some extra space for potatoes and squashThe bees (hive in the front) are close by to pollinate my fenced in fruit trees.It’s a lot of garden space to fill.The deer are wondering why they can’t wander through here now.The chicken coop is right between both fences.
The 2017 garden was a success – the freezer is full to the brim with a rainbow of vegetables – beets, carrots, green beans, squash. Our shelves are laden with jars of sauce, jams, jellies, pickles, salsas, chutneys and soups. The wooden crates in the basement are full of potatoes and squash, and the pantry is full of dehydrated tomatoes, herbs, scallions, onions, garlic.
What did we really get out of the garden? Here it is by the numbers (rounded to the closest pound):
Beans 25 pounds
Beets 28 pounds
Brussel Sprouts 3 pounds
Carrots 11 pounds
Cucumbers 19 pounds
Farm Berries (wild) 4 pounds
Garlic 1 pound
Onions 2 pounds
Peas (shelled) 3 pounds
Peppers, Green 8 pounds
Peppers, Red 3 pounds
Potatoes 25 pounds
Pumpkins 8 pounds
Squash, Acorn 9 pounds
Squash, Buttercup 7 pounds
Squash, Butternut 35 pounds
Squash, Spaghetti 2 pounds
Squash, Zucchini 4 pounds
Tomatoes, Amish 32 pounds
Tomatoes, Beefsteak 45 pounds
Tomatoes, Cherry 35 pounds
Tomatoes, Zebra 30 pounds
Tomatoes, San Marzano 44 pounds
That’s 380 pounds of produce! And that’s not counting the salsify that we’ve just begun to harvest, and all the herbs, and the gourds that were just for decoration, and the smattering of raspberries and blueberries.
What do I want to do differently next year? I think less tomatoes, beets and beans and more garlic (I’ve planted it already!) and onions. The acorn squash doesn’t seem to hold up well in the “root cellar” but the butternut, buttercup and spaghetti squash are doing great – so I probably won’t do acorn squash. I would have expected more zucchini, but the plants got some sort of blossom rot and didn’t do much this year – maybe I’ll try that again next year.
There is a coating of snow on the ground now. All my gardens are blanketed in white, but I gotta go… it’s time to start looking through the seed catalogues for next year!
Just a few beets for dinner.Lots of tomatoes!So many cucumbers, but where are they now?
I enjoy fall decorations. They are up from September 1st until the day after Thanksgiving, and even then, I’m reluctant to give them up. There’s just something about having gourds, pumpkins and bittersweet vines around the house to make it feel cozy as the weather changes. But all good things must come to an end. The fall decorations are gone. And when I say gone — I mean gone!
We had one decent pumpkin from our garden that we harvested probably the end of July. It’s been part of our fall decorations for the last several months, but we chopped it in half and fed it to the chickens. They loved the seeds and the pulp and there was nothing left when they were done with it.
So now it’s on to the Christmas decorations – which don’t stay up nearly as long as the fall decorations — but I like this too.
The one and only big pumpkin.The girls enjoyed every last bite.I love cutting the bittersweet that grows around the farm.And using it to decorate our window sills.But now it’s time for Christmas – already!And this is nice too.
No Rhyme or Reason Farm 