Around Home

It's turned into a busy summer here.  Through circumstances that I'll elaborate on later, we've decided to put our Old Farmhouse on the market, and free ourselves to consider other options, possibly even in other places.  That decision prompted us to finish many projects that had loose ends hanging on, and that has made for a busy summer so far!  Between projects and graduations, birthdays and holidays, competitions and camps, I have a lot to catch up on here.

  We quite often miss the peonies bloom time because of traveling in the spring, but we did manage to catch a little bit of them this year.  

I'll spare you the details of the many necessary but mundane tasks that we've filled many hours in doing this summer, and try to remember the more rewarding ones:

This is an area that had sadly deteriorated from an extra garden spot (that I didn't have time to tend) to an overgrown mess of weeds.  So we cleaned it all up, threw in lots of chicken coop cleanings, tilled it all in, and covered it up to cook into compost this summer.  Perhaps someone, maybe even me, will plant some blueberries here next spring.

 Rick, ever resourceful, built this kayak rack to keep things tidy behind the barn.  Also, it keeps the trailer ready to use for other things...

And finally, my poor neglected garden.  I spent more time pulling weeds out than anything else, but then again, that's what it's mostly about.  I can never spend much time out here without reflecting on the curse...weeds were an integral part of it, and I am reminded of that every time I walk into the garden. Of course, there is also grace, which is evidenced by the fact that anything good grows there this year at all considering how little time I've had for it.  Is there a lesson in the fact that more time must be spent in pulling weeds than in harvesting the produce?  I know that if I were to manage to keep the weeds pulled out altogether for a couple of years, they would become fewer and fewer as the seeds of them died away, however, that is much easier said (and even planned) than done.  Lessons?

Just Maybe.

 I picked beans and cucumbers today...the first measurable amount anyway.  I was in such a rush to get anything planted this spring, that I just used up any seeds I had hanging around in my garden stash.  I was a bit surprised that the beans were yellow this year.

 Being what I would describe as a haphazard gardener at best of times, I have taken it to a new level this year.  A few onions hung out all winter, and started growing again this spring.  I never realized they formed such beautiful globes of flowers.

 And bell peppers never cease to amaze me.  The largest fruits grow on the puniest plants...

The asparagus has been left to fern out for the most part since it is just on its third year.  We did get to eat some, but the real harvest is yet to come.

My herb garden turned into a (mostly) parsley garden this year, again through sheer neglect and the fact that parsley is very adept at seeding itself.

 
 These painted lady butterflies are enjoying the Oregano more than we are this year.

 I planted some sort of heirloom tomatoes this year.  With any luck,
I left myself the plant stakes so I can find out exactly what kind.

Enough about projects for now,

     I'll leave you with pink phlox.

 Until next time.