Garden Treasures

   After over a month of not blogging it feels good to sit down for a few moments and write down all the farm happenings. Our sad news is that we had to put our beloved 14 1/2 year old black lab, Millie, to sleep. It was time, but that didn't make it any easier for us. She was a great dog and a loving, faithful companion and we miss her more than words can say.
   On a happier note, it seems Charlotte our two year old ewe is indeed pregnant. If you read a previous post you know we were told by the vet she probably wasn't. A sonogram was done  and the vet saw nothing. She said her wool was so dense that the Doppler was not picking up any signs, and if she was pregnant she wasn't that far along. So April 20th, her expected due date, came and went. When the sheep shearer came to shear our flock, it became apparent that Charlotte is expecting. We have anytime up until June 5th to expect the little lamb or lambs. So exciting!
   The gardens have taken over every waking hour of my time the past few weeks. I have hand turned all the soil with a pitch fork in the existing gardens, raked, hoed and planted some seeds and plants. On Mother's Day my son, as part of my Mother's Day gift, rototilled the new lavender and cut flower garden. Now comes the planting! The garlic, onions, beets and carrots are all up and growing in the vegetable garden. I seem to be weeding all the time.
   While digging in my gardens in past years I often unearth a treasure or two. Usually in the form of an antique glass bottle, a marble or two, and plenty of shards from broken dishes. This year my hard work was rewarded with an antique child's size iron and a commemorative coin celebrating the return of Admiral Dewey and his ship the Olympia to New York on September 28-30, 1899. They don't have very much monetary value, but it really is a thrill to find old artifacts on one's property. So keep digging all you gardeners and I hope you find a treasure as well.

   

Front of Commemorative Coin

 

Back of Commemorative Coin

 

Antique Child's Iron

Preparing Gardens for Winter

   Another busy week on the farm getting ready for the winter to come. This morning, since the weather is so nice out, I finished pulling out all the remnants of our four-square colonial kitchen garden. This year one square was devoted to green beans, another beets and carrots, the third onions, and finally the last square is where we grew our tomatoes. All have been harvested, eaten, frozen, canned, or stored in the root cellar. The ground has been hoed and raked and ready for next spring's plantings. I will be planting one quadrant with garlic in the next couple of weeks, but the rest of the spaces will sit barren until next spring. I only wish all the gardens were all cleaned out and ready for winter,  there is still a lot of work to do before winter sets in. I haven't even cut back any of the perennials in the border in front of the house yet. A long border! This is my least favorite job in the fall. It always seems like such a good idea to fill your property with beds of flowers until you have to maintain them, but that is the price to pay for beautiful flowers.
   Yesterday, while the ground was still wet from the rain we received, I pulled out all the stalks from the spent sunflowers and put some of the flower heads in the bird feeders for the wild birds and gave some to the chickens. What a treat they thought that was. I was amazed at how massive the clump of roots had become and how deep they went, a very hard job to pull out especially when you have seventy sunflower stalks to pull.
   The weather is supposed to hold out for the next few days, so I hope to finish all the outdoor gardening chores for this year. I do plan to make and can applesauce over the weekend as well, so it's back to gardening today. Have a great week and enjoy these beautiful sunny days.

Ready for next Spring

Sunflower Treats