Whitetail deer are beautiful, graceful creatures. Our farm provides a great home for them, with green pastures for grazing and dense woods for bedding down. Throughout all my years here, though, I have never found an antler shed – one of the buried treasures of the woods. Every year, a whitetail buck will shed his…
Usually by this time of year, we are done with first cut hay and the haymow is filled to the ceiling. However, Mother Nature, in all her fickleness, has seen to it that we’ve only had seven days of sunshine in the last five weeks. Rain has been the norm. Now, if you don’t know…
A tractor in the field. The sweet smell of freshly mowed hay blowing through the air. The steady drum beat of the hay baler. Harbingers of haying season and hard work. Weekly Photo Challenge
Caught this little guy outside my window, taking a break during a rainstorm.
They came like thieves in the night and bushwhacked my tomatoes. {cue dramatic music} FLEA BEETLES… And so begins another chapter of the bitter beetle battle. Last summer, I successfully fought off an onslaught of Japanese beetles, only to be dealt a devastating defeat by the cucumber beetle. Now, flea beetles have laid siege to…
Strawberries are a new addition to my garden. They’re something I’ve always wanted to plant, but never had the room until this year. I was also a little intimidated about growing them. It seemed complicated. A little research proved they were as easy to grow as my other garden plants. You just need ROOM. There…
Spotted this beautiful little vixen sitting on my compost pile the other evening. She saw me, sniffed the air, barked a few times and was immediately bored with me. She was even kind enough to show me her beautiful tail. Then, out from the dead brush and rocks, popped a curious pup. And then, another……
After the Great Beetle Battle of 2014, I have decided to take a different approach to planting cucumbers this year. Cucumber beetles have always been a nuisance in my garden, but last summer they outflanked me and left a path of cucumber devastation. I normally start my cucumbers indoors, in small growing pots, and transplant them…
It’s time to plant potatoes in my area. So when my organic seed potatoes arrived in late April, I let them sit out in a warm area to induce sprouting – or chit. Because I live in an area that has a shorter growing season, chitting (honestly, you think they could have come up with…
I moved my seedlings out to my little greenhouse last week, in order to start hardening them off to get them ready for planting in the garden in a few weeks. Normally, this time of year, the greenhouse keeps everything nice and toasty warm until early June, when everything goes into the garden. However, Mother…
The Farmers in the Dell 