June – Uh-oh, What Have We Done?

June 25, 2017 Jeanne at No Rhyme or Reason Farm After, Before, Canning and Freezing, Chester County, Garden, Homestead, Tomatoes, Uncategorized

The gardens are overflowing, and it’s not even the end of June yet! Already I’m up to my elbows in canning and freezing. When the plants were so tiny, it seemed like a good idea to plant a lot of them. There was so much space between them in the garden that I couldn’t imagine them filling it in. Even Chris commented that I hadn’t over-planted this year and there was actually space to walk between the rows. I was proud of myself for my restraint, but with two gardens to fill, I didn’t feel the need to shoe-horn stuff in like I’ve done in the past. This year would be different. A spacious garden, everything in it’s place, perfectly placed rows — I could picture it in my mind.

Then came lots of rain and hot sunny days, and the garden took on a life of its own. I think I must have bought my bean seeds from Jack, and the cucumbers too. The vines are reaching for the sky. I keep piling them onto up-side down tomato cages to give them something to climb on and still they grow. I’m thinking in investing in a bunch of extension ladders to line the garden rows so everything can just keep growing and growing and growing.

I thought a variety of squash would be fun this year — butternut, acorn, spaghetti, etc. Again I exercised such restraint. I only planted about four plants of each. They were barely a few leaves tall, with lots of space between each plant. Now, the garden is so overgrown with vines that it will take a machete to fight my way through to harvest them. What was I thinking?

Already there are cherry tomatoes, peas, beans, beets, zucchini, cucumbers, broccolini, scallions and spinach. Even if we were vegetarians, we wouldn’t be able to keep us with what is coming in — and so every other night or so, you’ll find me in the kitchen freezing and canning… canning and freezing. There’s nothing better than seeing the freezer fill up, or hearing the mason jar lids ping when they seal. And maybe this winter I’ll be glad I apparently over-planted the garden, but for right now… I’m not so sure.

DSCN7922 — The tomatoes are outgrowing their cages.

DSCN7923 — Even the tomatoes are ripening already.

DSCN7919 — How am I even going to get into this squash patch to pick my squash?

DSCN7924 — Almost enough cucs to make pickles already.

May – Tomato, Tomahto

May 18, 2017May 27, 2017 Jeanne at No Rhyme or Reason Farm After, Before, Chester County, Garden, Tomatoes, Uncategorized

No matter how you say it, we’re going to have a lot of them this summer — I hope. It started with an impulse buy at Home Depot. I can’t help myself. It was back in mid-March when it was cold and snowy — and they had tomatoes! I only bought two Beefsteak Tomatoes and two Husky Cherry Tomatoes and nurtured them in the greenhouse, up-potting them numerous times as they out-grew their pots. And then I started seeds — San Marzano tomatoes, tiny yellow pear tomatoes (Arianna’s favorite) and some green/purple striped tomatoes (another impulse buy when I was at the Philadelphia Farm and Food Festival). And then there was the trip to my Amish food market, which unfortunately is positioned right next to an Amish garden center — and they had 4-packs of Amish paste tomatoes for only $1.29! Another impulse buy — that got up-potted and grew like crazy over the last two months. My greenhouse was over-run with tomatoes.

Sunday was Mother’s Day — that magical day of the year when you can finally plant tomatoes in southeastern Pennsylvania. And… the forecast is for continued warm weather for the foreseeable future. So I planted. There are two huge Beefsteaks, two almost huge Husky cherry tomatoes, two really big Amish paste tomatoes, two yellow pear tomatoes, four nice-sized San Marzano tomatoes — and four purple/green tomato plants that are kind of wimpy because they got a late start. That’s sixteen tomato plants! I have more in the greenhouse — but no room in the garden. I’ll just have to be content with 16 tomato plants.

The internet says a single tomato plant can produce 20 to 30 pounds of tomatoes. Let’s just average that at 25 pounds per plant by 16 plants. I’ve never been good at math — but I think that’s a BIG number. Come mid-summer when I’m up to my elbows in dripping tomatoes and hot jars for canning all of these tomatoes — remind me I may want to check my math next year.

DSCN7846 — It started with the tomato plants I bought and nurtured in the greenhouse.

DSCN7847 — And then the seeds I started.

DSCN7849 — The green/purple zebra tomatoes have a ways to go.

DSCN7850 — But I can almost taste these tomatoes.

May — Even MORE Garden Space

May 10, 2017 Jeanne at No Rhyme or Reason Farm After, Before, Chester County, Farm, Garden, Renovations, Uncategorized

With the addition of the greenhouse and all the plants I could start from seed, suddenly the 20′ x 32′ garden surrounded by a six foot high fence just wasn’t big enough. There are plants that take up more than their fair share of the garden; things like pumpkins, potatoes, gourds, cucumbers and a variety of squash. They don’t stay in neat little rows like peas, carrots and beans — they sprawl and climb and have a tendency to take over. So…it only took a little bit of pleading for another garden before Chris was on board with getting out one of those power garden tools and tilling me a 20′ x 20′ space. This one is only surrounded by chicken wire that we trenched into the ground to keep hungry bunnies from sneaking under the fence, and surrounded by some webbing sprayed with deer repellent to keep the deer from jumping over the fence. So far — its working.

My potatoes are coming up, the gourds, pumpkins and some of the squash have been transplanted into the new garden, and I even planted some corn! We’ll see how that works out this year. I have a bit of space left — but it’s not quite time to transplant a few of my other plants. I’ll stick to that rule of waiting until after Mother’s Day — and besides, it’s chilly this week.

DSCN7676 — The tiller is getting a workout.

DSCN7823 — Putting up the chicken wire was a bit of a project.

DSCN7825 — We trenched it into the ground so nothing can sneak underneath.

DSCN7832 — And added webbing around the top, scented with deer repellent — so far — it’s working!

April – A Little Color on the Farm

April 24, 2017April 2, 2017 Jeanne at No Rhyme or Reason Farm After, Before, Chester County, Farm, Garden, Homestead, Uncategorized

We aren’t into having a lot of flower gardens or landscaping that needs to be tended. We’re too busy with the vegetable garden, the fruit trees, the chickens and the bees. But we did need something to hide an unsightly hillside just off the back patio, and a little perky color in the springtime would be a nice sight to banish the cold and snow.

We recycled some old railroad ties that we found in the lower pasture and cobbled together a bit of a retaining wall (let’s just hope it continues to “retain”), filled it in with some bags of soil and planted four Forsythia bushes. My Dad hated Forsythia bushes, not that he hated spring flowers, but he hated the way the bushes spread every year. I think it will be good that they spread, in fact, a hedge of these bushes would be great!

DSCN7665 — Spaced behind our retaining wall to hide the hillside.

DSCN7664 — Filled in with some top soil.

DSCN7666 — I hope it spreads out to hide that hillside.

DSCN7625 — It looks nice from the patio.

March – No R or R on the Farm

March 30, 2017 Jeanne at No Rhyme or Reason Farm After, Before, Chester County, Farm, Garden, Homestead

Those of you who follow No Rhyme or Reason Farm know we named it that because it had been known as the “Reason Farm,” the last name of the people who had lived here for decades, and because there was — No Rhyme or Reason for us to have a farm at this stage in our lives when we should be considering assisted living options and not shoveling horse poop and roto-tilling gardens. It comes with a bit of irony that in abbreviating the No Rhyme or Reason Farm, it becomes the No R or R Farm — which is so true. We could have named it the No Rest or Relaxation Farm.

But, we are determined to have some rest and relaxation — right after a lot of hard work. We’ve been busy trying to clean out the insides of the spring house where rocks (actually boulders) have tumbled into it. We’ve been hoisting them out, cleaning away debris — and building more rock walls, because that’s what I do with all the rocks around here.

We cleared the brambles and vines away from several trees adjacent to the spring house ruins and we realized… this is the perfect place for some R and R. Chris’ niece brought us a hammock from her recent trip through South America, so with the addition of a couple of hooks on the trees — I’m ready for some R and R this summer. I think it will be a great place to read a book while Chris cuts the grass.

dscn7525 — Clearing out the bed of the spring house so the spring can flow again.

dscn7528 — Cleared away a tree stump wrapped in old fencing and barbed wire — ouch!

dscn7530 — My new stone wall for a flower bed between the trees.

March – My “Extended” Garden

March 24, 2017March 24, 2017 Jeanne at No Rhyme or Reason Farm After, Before, Chester County, Farm, Garden, Greenhouse, Homestead, Uncategorized

I’m extending my garden 8 feet x 8 feet. It’s not that big of an extension – but it’s a big deal. This expansion comes with a door, a thermostat, a fan – and glass!

My 8 x 8 greenhouse should arrive next week. We decided it should go adjacent to the garden. It’s a relatively flat spot with bright sunlight and close enough to take plants back and forth between the two. We bought some 4×4 landscape ties so we will have a frame upon which to place the greenhouse when they deliver it. Chris got busy with the shovel and the level. The problem is, it isn’t really level at all. In fact, it’s very NOT level. It took several attempts and a 2^nd trip back to Home Depot to get more 4×4 landscape ties – and now it’s level!

I love my garden and I never can wait until the appropriate time to start planting it. I’ll confess to having to replant things every year because I jump the gun, heel-in the tomatoes and basil, and come out the next morning to find them DOA.

So, not only am I expanding my garden size… I’m expanding my growing season. Now I can start those plants early and keep them toasty in the greenhouse. And just think of the advantages when fall creeps in. I can probably keep basil growing at least until Thanksgiving! And maybe some containers of lettuce and spinach too!

DSCN7544 — It slopes more than we thought.

DSCN7546 — Squared up and getting tilled.

October – Fruits of our Labor (Part 2)

October 8, 2016 Jeanne at No Rhyme or Reason Farm Blueberries, Chester County, Farm, Fruit Trees, Garden, Uncategorized

Planting apple trees started the momentum. Once we had scoped out where additional fruit trees will go, we realized we had some space on the hillside just below the barn that is perfect for blueberry bushes. Chris had spent several weeks this summer clearing the hillside in anticipation of my planting plans for the spring.

When we were walking out of the Tractor Supply store the other day – there were blueberry bushes just sitting there looking at me with those puppy-dog eyes, saying take me home. I bought six of them. Then I realized that blueberries need a cross-pollinator, so I had to go in search of yet one more blueberry bush of a different variety from a local nursery. So now we have seven.

Thankfully, this dirt is considerable different than the concrete-hard dirt just 100 feet away. Chris tilled a path, dug seven holes and planted seven blueberry bushes in no time. Then he trenched a path just above the blueberries where we plan to transplant our raspberry bushes once they die back this fall.

So now we have a row of apples (three makes a row, doesn’t it)? A row of blueberries, and a row just waiting for raspberries. The farm is shaping up. And in the spring, we’ll be adding pears, peaches and cherries. Yum!

dscn6783 — To get from this over grown mess…

dscn6850 — and a professional chipper/shredder to get rid of the mountains of brush.

dscn7256 — A trip to Tractor Supply for horse feed and a salt lick turned into a blueberry shopping expedition.

dscn7260 — Good thing we have that truck.

dscn7291 — Thank goodness this is nice soft dirt — no auger needed for planting these.

dscn7295 — The blueberries are planted and a row is tilled and waiting for the raspberries to die back this fall so I can transplant them in the spring. Then we can have fruit salad!

September – Fruits of our Labor (Part I)

September 30, 2016 Jeanne at No Rhyme or Reason Farm Chester County, Farm, Fruit Trees, Garden, Homestead, Uncategorized

When we bought this farm it was an overgrown mess. Parts of it still are, but we’ve made tremendous progress – especially clearing out the land around the house. As we clear away vines, dead trees and brambles, the last thing we want to do is plant more stuff – only to start the cycle again. So we’ve decided to only plant things that have a purpose and produce something for us to use.

I’ve wanted to get an orchard started, but even with five acres, our space is limited. The first problem is that the front meadow which has sunlight, is too wet and boggy from the stream that runs through it. The second problem is that the side yard has several large black walnut trees, and black walnut trees produce a chemical that isn’t compatible with trees with seeds (like apples and pears). The third problem is that the horses now occupy the sunny, black walnut-free hillside behind the house. Figuring out where to plant an orchard has been challenging.

Getting the trees has also been a challenge. In the spring we went on the website for the Adams County nursery and every tree we wanted was already sold out. The website said check back in July. I guess they meant it, because by the time I remembered to check back in August – many of the varieties we wanted were sold out again and the ones we did try to order went into some website abyss and the order was never received.

So, at a Mud Sale in Bareville we happened upon some apple trees up for auction. I’m not very confident with auctions yet. I’m never sure whether it’s my turn to bid again or even what the price is up to – but I gave it a shot and got three dwarf apple trees (a Gala, a Granny Smith and a Jonagold) – for $28 each – a good price since the ones we tried to order on-line were $30 each.

I must admit, the pick-up truck came in handy. Bringing home three trees was no problem – but planting them – that WAS a problem. There is a sunny stretch of land behind the house and adjacent to our patio. I envision sitting on the patio, in the shade of an apple tree and reaching out to pick a beautiful ripe and juicy apple – in a couple of years. But the dirt was impenetrable. My daughter offered to bring over her post-hole auger and her friend Luis. It took Chris and Luis an hour per hole – manhandling the auger through cement-hard dirt studded with rocks.

Once the trees were in, Chris wrestled with a roll of wire fencing and made nice cages for the trees — after all that work getting them planted, we didn’t want to find them chewed to the quick by the deer.

Finally, our apple trees are in place and I can’t wait to make an apple pie.

The truck came in handy at the mud sale — the trees are loaded.

dscn7242 — The ground was so hard, we thought maybe turning it to mud would help with the digging, but it didn’t.

dscn7250 — The auger and Luis are what helped Chris to dig the holes.

dscn7251 — It was an all day project by the time we wrapped the trees in wire fencing to keep the deer away.

dscn7254 — And now our three apple trees just need to grow — and give us apples!

August – Carrots

August 20, 2016 Jeanne at No Rhyme or Reason Farm Chester County, Farm, Garden, Homestead, Uncategorized

I wasn’t sure how the garden would do this first year. We had obstacles to overcome – rocks, stones and gravel – to begin with, questionable soil, and then pesky rabbits.

But those little seed packets seem to have overcome the odds and continue to amaze me. I planted two kinds of carrots – typical orange Nantes carrots and a specialty pack I picked up somewhere of “rainbow” carrots in a variety of colors – purple, yellow and white. Despite all the impediments in the soil, the carrots have grown fairly large, and mostly straight.

Digging the carrots out has been a bit of a challenge; the soil just doesn’t seem to want to release them. I thought a good tug would be sufficient, but it has taken a variety of digging tools to pry them loose.

Then they need scrubbing and peeling; but if you peel a purple carrot – you get an orange carrot. That’s just not fair. I wanted purple all the way through to add color to my soups and stews. So I scrubbed them extra hard and left the peels on. Then there is the chopping and blanching and chilling in a cold water bath and drying and then freezing on a cookie sheet.

The “girls” ate well — they loved the peels, and eventually – I ended up with two big bags of frozen carrots – a gallon of orange and a gallon of colorful ones. Now I need a cold fall day to make a big pot of vegetable soup.

DSCN7172 — The problem is, when you peel the red carrots, they are just orange underneath. That’s not fair.

DSCN7173 — Blanched and ready to freeze.

DSCN7174 — Peels and scraps for the girls.

And MORE Bats!

July 19, 2016July 19, 2016 Jeanne at No Rhyme or Reason Farm Chester County, Garden, Homestead, Uncategorized

What is it with zucchini? If you miss one day in the garden, those sweet little miniature zucchinis that are smaller than the blossom still hanging on to the end of them suddenly turn into monster-sized zucchini baseball bats.

I prefer the zucchini somewhere in between the two – a little bigger than just two bites, but not so big that they are six inches in diameter, full of seeds and the length of my arm. When they get that big, there is nothing else to do with them except…bake zucchini bread!

I love zucchini bread, but I’m not sure why it’s called bread because it probably has more sugar and fat than most cakes! It’s an unhealthy mess, with a scant two cups of grated zucchini to add beautiful flecks of green – just so I can pretend it is healthy. A bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream is green too – and probably more healthy than zucchini bread.

But given the over abundance from the garden, what’s a person to do?

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