Potatoes.

Potatoes went in this weekend, lots of help from the smallest farmer (little feet are great for packing the soil down around the spuds).

Reds. 14#
Yellow. 12#
Fingerling. 8#
Purple. 7#
Herloom red. 7# (I will find out what they were)

Sheetmulch!

We are trying something new on the farm this year. Sheet mulch. I saved a bunch of boxes from work, and although we don’t read the paper, a co-worker saved some for us. The area by the hoop house will be for squash, gourds and such. What you don’t see is the deep pile of half rotten hay from a wet round bale we had. Once the weather is better the zucchini, acorn squash, pumpkin, hubbard and other winter squash will go in.

The beans and potatoes (coming in another post) went in today as well. Summer is coming!!!

Baby chicks went into the deck brooder today as well. Ah peace and quiet in the house again.
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All done with potatoes.

Late summer and fall are busy times. Today we finished digging potatoes and horseradish. The apple sauce was done last night and if the weather holds today we might get enough yellow raspberries picked for a last batch of jam.

I am hoping to get back to a more regular blogging schedule, and although one might think the first fire in the wood stove signals a slow down, there is still much to do.

Oh and I will work in dragging out the camera more as well.

Posted with WordPress for mobile, please excuse any rough edges..

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Getting a swollen head….

I’m speaking of pride here.  Our garden this year is very utilitarian (read weedy but full of food).  I have never had much luck with brassicas, until last year and the MASSIVE cabbage…  This year we skipped the cabbages (they went mostly uneaten, and so slipped off the ‘to grow’ list) and put in some broccoli starts.  Next year I am going to start my own, and simply hope for heads half this big…

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It’s coming…

All of it.  Like a freight train on a downhill slope.  Spring.

The chick weed is starting to get new growth on it in the garden, the dandelions are getting bushy, and the deadline for package bees is fast approaching.  The goats look like if it were up to them, they would have these babies NOW.  With a quick clip for the births, they look like they sat in a bucket of Nair.  I’m trying not to laugh.  ‘Gatti’ is bagging up, and looks like a little mini dairy goat.  ‘Crazy-Chendo’ is in strong denial.  She even turned away when I showed her the ‘birthing tote’ all ready with the hopefully unnecessary items.  So did Farmer J.  “Yes I know my hands are smaller than yours, but it doesn’t mean I’m looking forward to it”.

I’m trying to track down a supplier for a couple of packages of bees to install in my hives in Duvall in Mid April.  I’m hoping for Carniolans, but really, any bee will do.

The order went into Territorial Seed last week…  More stuff that we proved this winter we will indeed eat.  Now to wait for that last April Frost that ticked me off so bad last year…  Oh, and fill the cold frames with compost in the mean time for some earlier greens…  (oh and the berries… yes the berries)

“Chicks are in”.  If you are anywhere near a farm store that’s what you’ll see..  And we have some crazy big hopes for this year.  Replacement layers, meat birds (heritage breed) and in another 8 weeks or so, some turkey polts.  That also means in another three or four months we will be having a ‘processing day’.

Oh and the mower won’t start…  Grr.  That’s going to be an issue here shortly.

Bringing in the harvest (or making hay)

So this has several meanings for us. At the moment we are swimming, no drowning in produce, eggs, fresh fruits and berries. There are also weddings and other target rich work for the camera, prep for the upcoming school year, birthdays (August has like 4, just for the immediate family). There are the fairs (and “required” entries), parks, and the odd nap in the sun… Life at the moment is full. So updates here have gotten sporadic, and probably won’t really fill back in till the weather turns, and the veggies and fruits are all safely tucked into cans, jars, freezer bags and the fall foodstuffs are looking after themselves.

So in the mean time, here are some of the yummy snap peas that were on the vine in early June. All these little guys are now taking a freezer nap till they are called on for a fall stir fry. How fast has the summer gone. This planting is about the have the last of the peas harvested, shelled, and frozen (or canned, we haven’t decided yet)..

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Succession Planting

Succession Planting.  The process of planting a similar or same crop in intervals to allow continued harvest all season long.  For me, it’s re-planting the cucumbers for the 4th time that keep getting nailed by the slugs.  Urg.  Normally I have a live and let live mantra with slugs.  My eldest has an oddly warm spot in her heart for them.  “Daddy look!  Don’t run over the slug on the driveway!” from the back seat.  I swear she has slug radar.

When I have company slugs get “airlifted” into a big patch of brush about 40′ (or as far as I can throw) from the garden.  When I am operating in solo it’s a different story.  It’s rather stunning how quickly a slug will eviscerate from the light brush of a razor sharp knife.  Quick, clean, no touch.  And in a very macabre way, satisfying.  So when it’s time to lock up the hens for the night.  The sharpest knife I can get my hands on always goes with me.  MuHaHaHaHa!!!

Here is planting #3 just before they got slimed.  #4 didn’t get this far, and I have #5 surrounded by “slugbarbwire” ie. bare copper wire.  Better than any slug bait out there.  Wish me luck.  I have several jars of pickles riding on a cuke crop this year….

The First Produce!!

We have a great garden in this year. And on the advice of my dad, I planted a bunch of radishes… They come up super quick and with an antsy preschooler that’s a good thing. We went out a few weeks ago and snagged the first couple of radishes for a dinner salad. Crisp and yummy! She said I had to put one up on the blog. So everyone could see it. And yes. It’s just a little bigger than a blue berry.