It’s here! And it’s adorable! And it’s full of K-cups. Yes, those little plastic cups for making coffee. I’ve been saving them for months, emptying the grounds into my compost pile and saving the little cups that already have a little puncture hole in the bottom for drainage — to plant my seeds. My greenhouse shelves are lined with K-cups of dirt. I’ve planted San Marzano tomatoes, Yellow pear-shaped cherry tomatoes, watermelon, pumpkins, butternut squash, acorn squash, cucumbers and a bunch of other stuff — probably more stuff than my garden can hold. But, I had K-cups that I had to fill, and seeds I had to use up.
The Greenhouse has a little bottom shelf that’s just the right size for Arianna to start her seeds too. Usually she plants jelly beans. She’s had good success with that. They grow into lollipops overnight! Nothing like starting a love of gardening at an early age. Maybe she’ll start planting vegetable seeds soon.
Here it comes up the driveway — never an easy trip.Getting rocked and rolled into place on our foundation.A perfect fit, right next to my garden.Cute little K-cups all lined up — seeds planted and waiting for them to sprout.My potting bench.Arianna’s little shelf with her garden tools — just right for planting jelly beans.
We all know that when the men in white suits come for you – you must be crazy. But this crazy man was wearing a white suit – and installing three pounds of bees and a queen in each of two hives. CRAZY, I say.
The fact that the bees arrived on April 1st gives yet another dimension to the craziness/foolishness of this endeavor. And yet, here they are.
Perched on the hillside – far from the house, facing south/southeast with some trees and shrubs to protect the back of the hives from wind, we think they are in the perfect place. Now they just need to get busy and pollinate my garden, fruit trees, blueberries, raspberries and the like – and a little honey would be nice too.
A bit nerve-wracking for a first time beekeeper.Opening the package of three pounds of bees.Making room in the hive for the queen cage.Shaking the bees into the hive.Giving them some sugar water to get them started.Whew. Glad that’s over.
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.
Clearing out the bed of the spring house so the spring can flow again.Cleared away a tree stump wrapped in old fencing and barbed wire — ouch!My new stone wall for a flower bed between the trees.A perfect quiet place…To hang hooks…For a hammock!
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 2nd 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!
It slopes more than we thought.Squared up and getting tilled.
Against my better judgment, the bees are ordered; they’ll arrive April 1. But we can’t have the bees arriving without a place to put them. Chris leveled out our chosen spot – far enough away from the house, but close enough to keep an eye on them, and adjacent to our blueberries, raspberries and soon to be fruit orchard – just to make sure they get the right idea about what they are expected to pollinate.
Chris learned about a local place, an Amish farm with a woodworking shop, where they make – of all things – beekeeping equipment. Not only do they make it, but they will build it AND paint it. Having built more than my fair share of bee hives in the past, this sounded like a fine option. So, we drove out to Forest Hill Beekeeping Supplies in… of all places… Paradise, PA and loaded the truck. Yes, that darn truck does come in handy sometimes.
The hives are in place, the extra supers (hive boxes) are stacked in the garage – and I’m tempted to go walk barefoot (even though there is now snow on the ground) – just because I can! Before the bees get here.
Our local bee equipment store.Loaded in the truck.Getting ready for the hives.The base of the hives are in place.Seems like a sturdy enough spot.Ready for April 1.And far enough away from the house to keep me happy.
That is definitely a question that I would answer – not to bee. But Chris has a bee in his bonnet, and thinks this will be a good idea. I do love that our farm produces “things” – vegetables, eggs, and maybe – honey. I don’t love the idea of getting stung.
I’m not unfamiliar with the idea. My family used to keep bees. I can build bee equipment, and I know how to extract honey. It’s the stuff in between – actually tending to the bees – that I have no idea about, nor do I want to. So Chris is now attends the Chester County Beekeepers Association and he is also enrolled in a beekeeping class to get an overview of the ins and outs of a hive.
He came home with a collection of beekeeping catalogs and a Beekeeping for Dummies book. I’ll leave it at that…
Coffee Table reading on the farm lately.Stay tuned…
I love to watch those tiny house shows on TV. Our house isn’t really tiny; but it isn’t big either. So, I’m always on the look-out for creative storage solutions to expand our space.
With the onslaught of Christmas baking and cooking for company, I realized how much I hated the cabinet where the spices were stored. I had them on one of those cute little stepped-up shelves so I could see all of the containers, but invariably, whatever I needed was toward the back and retrieving it meant either pulling out everything in front of it, or if I was lazy, reaching in and delicately retrieving the one spice jar I needed — and knocking everything else out of the cabinet anyway. So I was on a quest for a better storage system.
I found some organizers at Home Depot and convinced Chris it would be an easy project. Several hours later, we had a masterpiece! It’s so organized now, I can find what I want without dumping everything onto the floor and it looks so nice I sometimes leave the pantry door open just to admire our new-found space.
Now that the holidays are over and everything has been put away, I’m on a search to find a better way/place to store all that Christmas gift wrap. The basement can get damp, the attic is dreary, and the house — is full. I’m still looking for a solution to that puzzle.
An “easy” project adding storage to our pantry door.It’s awesome — I can find everything now.
What the heck is a pot crane, you might ask. I didn’t know either, except that I had these two round brackets in the fireplace where something used to be. After scanning the Historic Housefitters website for other accoutrements for the house, I saw the pot crane and realized we just have to have one. If for no rhyme or reason other than to sit in the brackets that were already embedded in the stone walls of the fireplace, just waiting for something to fit there.
It was a bit of a process. Historic Housefitters has ready made pot cranes in standard sizes. Who knew there could be such an unfulfilled need that they come in standard sizes. But not much in this house comes in a standard size. So I called the company, explained my dilemma and got a lesson in pot crane lingo at the same time. The round brackets in my fireplace are called gudgeons, and the pot crane, would be made with a 30″ swing arm attached to a riveted post joined by mortise and tenon.
We measured and re-measured and looked at the scaled drawings that Historic Housefitters created. Finally, we said “yes.” I waited impatiently for the package to arrive, holding my breath, wondering if it would fit.
A triangular looking packaged showed up at the door, looking much smaller than what I had envisioned. We opened it up and I continued to hold by breath while Chris raised the top tenon into the the top gudgeon, aligned the bottom tenon with the bottom gudgeon and let it fall in to place. A perfect fit!
Then it needed something to hang from the pot crane — like a pot. I have an old copper pot, not of cooking quality, but attractive none-the-less. It makes the fireplace look like we’re ready to stir up a pot of stew. The next step will be getting a cast iron Lodge pot that we can actually use, hanging it from the crane and stoking up a fire.
In the meantime, the wrought iron pot crane and shiny copper pot add a little colonial bling (if there is such a thing), to our awesome fireplace.
It took some time for the design to be just right.It slipped into those gudgeons like it was made for it.Now we need to strike a match and make a stew or a pot of soup.
Disa has been a resident of our farm for quite a while now, but we traded her for something smaller. Well, it wasn’t quite like that.
Disa eats a lot, and that’s hard on our pasture. We cordoned off part of the pasture so it could recuperate and grow, but it’s winter and the grass isn’t growing much anyway. So it made sense to swap out Disa for Lollipop. Disa moved to Becky’s other pasture and brought Arianna’s pony here instead.
Lollipop seems to like her new home. Pono was a little skittish right after Disa left. He wouldn’t come near us for fear of being snatched and taken away in that horse trailer into the dark night, never to be seen again. But he seems to have calmed down now that it’s apparent that he’s staying. And Fiona? She’s still here, and probably always will be because no one can catch her (except maybe Chris).
Meet Lollipop.Disa got traded, and she’s been replaced by this little thing.Pono’s not so sure what to think about the swap.Pono definitely has his winter sweater on.
No, not moving — just moving on to the next holiday. The Thanksgiving decorations have been put away and the Christmas decorations are now in place.
While Chris’ family was visiting, we began to transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas. They went with us to pick out our Christmas tree at the local fire station. We threw it in the back of that always useful pick-up truck and brought it home where it has been standing at the ready waiting for lights.
Chris tackled the outside decorations, I strung the lights on the inside tree, and between Sunday football games we got it decorated, put up the Christmas houses and hung the stocking by the fireplace.
We’re ready Santa. I’ll send you our list because we’ve been VERY good this year.
Decorating the TreeAdding the StarA fire in the fireplace — ready for ChristmasThe outside lights are up.The tree looks greatNow we need blankets on the porch!
No Rhyme or Reason Farm 