The swallow’s favorite vantage point. Every morning they land here on the shop roof, to warm up and plan their day. The recent rains have caused a flush of insects, so they have been busy. We counted 120+ of barn swallows and violet-green swallows. It’s not unusual to see 50 or so swooping around the [...]
Archive for the ‘vegetables’ Category
I guess it’s summer…
Posted in agriculture, biodynamic farming, cattle, farm as desired, farm life, frugal living, recipes, scratch cooking, sustainability, vegetables, wildlife, zero mile foodshed, tagged farm life, recipes, scratch cooking, wildlife on August 23, 2008 | 8 Comments »
Vegetable tour - progess and notes
Posted in agriculture, farm as desired, farm life, frugal farming, frugal living, greenhouse, seed saving, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged farm life, feed yourself!, frugal farming, greenhouse, seed saving, sustainability, vegetable gardening, winter stores, zero mile foodshed on August 16, 2008 | 12 Comments »
This post contains many pictures - dial-up beware!
Here’s what the gardens look like now in mid-August. The heat has been 102* for the last three days - I guess maybe it’s time for that mean, ol’ dry land gardener to drag out the sprinklers and soaker hoses!
We’re just been busy keeping everybody (except us) in [...]
Making do
Posted in farm life, lost skills, recipes, scratch cooking, vegetables, wildlife, zero mile foodshed, tagged farm and forest, farm life, lost skills, recipes, scratch cooking, vegetables, zero mile foodshed on August 14, 2008 | 8 Comments »
I grew up eating out of our garden and orchard. Store bought didn’t happen very often. So, I don’t have any qualms about eating less than perfect looking food. With food prices on the rise and more people gardening, people will have to get used to blemished food. (Pesticides aren’t good for you, and sometimes it is easier to just [...]
Just shut up and can, can, can
Posted in canning, easily amused, farm as desired, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, lost skills, personal, redneck moments, vegetables, zero mile foodshed, tagged canning, easily amused, farm life, frugal living, lost skills, redneck moments on August 2, 2008 | 16 Comments »
I love that song, Just Shut Up and Drive. I find that one in my head a lot. But, sometimes it has to be the homestead version… .
It’s no secret I like to can. Or put up food. It is comforting to me and I like the process. But, being a claustrophobic farmgirl tomboy, I [...]
Farnsworth, you’ve got weeds
Posted in agriculture, biodynamic farming, easily amused, farm as desired, farm life, greenhouse, seed saving, vegetable gardening, vegetables, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged agriculture, farm life, greenhouse, seed saving, vegetable gardening, zero mile foodshed on July 16, 2008 | 9 Comments »
Poor Farnsworth, I know how he feels - I’ve got a bad case of weeds too! Some are by my own hand, which, when they present themselves, make the light bulb go on (sometimes.)
I won’t take the blame for these weedy garlic rows. Overwintering alliums are hard to keep weed free, since they span two [...]
Some gardening, finally…
Posted in agriculture, early days, farm as desired, farm life, frugal living, lost skills, personal, seed saving, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged early farm life, farm life, personal, seed saving, subsistence agriculture, vegetable gardening, zero mile foodshed on June 20, 2008 | 12 Comments »
Sometimes I forget I why I garden. When someone says to me they garden, I automatically assume that they mean vegetables. Most of the time before this latest feeding frenzy brought on by current issues that I won’t go into in this post, they would mean flowers mostly. My gardening has evolved from 2/3 vegetables, [...]
some gardening, some canning
Posted in canning, farm dogs, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, heirloom fruit, seed saving, vegetable gardening, vegetables, winter stores, woodstove cookery, zero mile foodshed, tagged canning, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, vegetable gardening, zero mile foodshed on June 11, 2008 | 10 Comments »
In spite of the weather, which is uncomfortable and aggravating but by no means as serious as the weather in the Midwest and East, the garden is slowly emerging.
Harris Model OP parsnips, roots for the dairy cow and for seed saving.
It’s hard to believe these little guys will be here feeding us, and the milk [...]
Biting off more than I can …
Posted in farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, wildlife, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged agriculture, farm life, greenhouse, grow your own food, self-sufficiency, vegetable gardening, zero mile foodshed on June 5, 2008 | 11 Comments »
chew, weed, can, freeze - fill in the blank.
About this time of year, I get impatient. When I’m on the tractor tilling the garden, it looks too small. When I’m planting seeds, or weeding it looks way TOO big. I change my mind about things about 10 times a day at least. It always gets [...]
Trying not to be wasteful
Posted in agriculture, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, greenhouse, lost skills, pastured poultry, seed saving, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, wildlife, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged Australian Shepherds, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, locavore, pastured poultry, seed saving, self-sufficiency, vegetable gardening, zero mile foodshed on June 3, 2008 | 10 Comments »
I always feel guilty if I waste food. Whether from over planting, or being over zealous in my harvesting. I try to ask myself, “Is this better on the vine, in the ground, … , OR in the refrigerator?” The refrigerator is usually the most wasteful place for me, it costs money to run, and [...]
Garden like you can’t go to the store…
Posted in early days, family cow, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, lost skills, milk cow, vegetable gardening, vegetables, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged family cow, farm dogs, farm life, locavore, victory garden, zero mile foodshed on June 2, 2008 | 14 Comments »
I know I can still go to the store, but I can’t buy heirloom seeds that were handed down to me, or even high quality seeds, for that matter. I try to conduct my gardening like the store may not always be there, that way I won’t be in for such a shock. Plant a [...]
Jetta is going into therapy
Posted in agriculture, cattle, easily amused, family cow, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, milk cow, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, wildlife, zero mile foodshed, tagged Australian Shepherds, family cow, farm dogs, farm life, greenhouse, pastured poultry, vegetable gardening, wildlife, zero mile foodshed on May 23, 2008 | 6 Comments »
She has to - she can’t deal with her owner anymore! I broke down and called the vet yesterday, and he gave me several reasons that I shouldn’t worry about the calf.
• The first baby can come at anytime.
• The bull, (whom we only know as Willy) may throw late calves.
• The owner can’t [...]
It’s not the planting
Posted in compost, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, greenhouse, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged Australian Shepherds, compost, composted animal manure, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, self-sufficiency, sustainability, vegetable gardening, winter stores, zero mile foodshed on May 19, 2008 | 5 Comments »
It’s not the actual planting, it’s all the work beforehand and after, that takes so much time. Making compost, seeding, tending, irrigation planning, and soil preparation. This list could go on in more detail, but, it’s a long time and a lot of work from the idea of growing your own food, to get that food to the table. [...]
New stuff, but no baby Jetta
Posted in cattle, farm as desired, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, pastured poultry, sustainability, vegetable gardening, vegetables, zero mile foodshed, tagged beef cattle, farm life, greenhouse, pastured poultry, self-sufficiency, vegetable gardening, wildlife, zero mile foodshed on May 15, 2008 | 7 Comments »
We moved the cows from the Coyote (here we pronounce it Ki-yo-tee) field and through Cougar Heaven with no mishaps. One calf was born in the woods, but his mom bedded (told) him in the field we were moving them to. Smart Cow - she’s Jetta’s aunt, one of my mutts!
The road to Cougar Heaven.
I [...]
Cool to warm- the greenhouse
Posted in cattle, easily amused, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, seed saving, sustainability, vegetables, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged Australian Shepherds, farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, greenhouse, seed saving, sustainability, vegetables, zero mile foodshed on May 12, 2008 | 4 Comments »
It’s that time of year when the greenhouse morphs from a safe haven for cool colors and foods to the hot vibrant colors and flavors of heat loving crops. The biggest challenge to planting for the summer, is getting the soil saturated beforehand. In my lottery dreams - I would rebuild my greenhouses and make them [...]
garden stuff
Posted in compost, farm as desired, farm dogs, farm life, food preservation, frugal living, sustainability, vegetables, winter stores, zero mile foodshed, tagged farm dogs, farm life, frugal living, sustainability, vegetable gardening, zero mile foodshed on May 11, 2008 | 7 Comments »
Jetta: I’m still thinking Tuesday - but she is in Solitary (close to the barn in her own paddock).
I used to stick to all my self-imposed garden rules. This led me to many disappointments. Sometimes the weather just isn’t on the same page as the calendar!
I wanted to get my peas in this week, if [...]
-
Cinnabar moth larvae eating Tansy Ragwort Categories
- agriculture
- Belly Acres (rant)
- biodynamic farming
- canning
- cattle
- compost
- early days
- easily amused
- electric fencing
- family cow
- farm as desired
- farm dogs
- farm life
- food preservation
- frugal farming
- frugal living
- greenhouse
- haying
- heirloom fruit
- hydraulic ram
- lost skills
- milk cow
- next year…
- pastured poultry
- personal
- quilting
- recipes
- redneck moments
- rotational grazing
- scratch cooking
- seed saving
- sustainability
- Uncategorized
- vegetable gardening
- vegetables
- wildlife
- winter stores
- woodstove cookery
- zero mile foodshed
Tags
agriculture Australian Shepherds beef cattle Belly Acres (rant) canning cattle chickens compost composted animal manure early farm life easily amused family cow farm dogs farm history farm life firewood food preservation frugal farming frugality frugal living grazing greenhouse haying heirloom fruit homeopathy homesteading lost skills milk cow training over-winter vegetables pastured poultry personal raw milk recipes redneck moments rotational grazing Salatin-style farming scratch cooking seed saving self-sufficiency sustainability vegetable gardening vegetables wildlife winter stores zero mile foodshed-
Recent Posts
Archives
site meter
-
Spam Blocked
-
Top Posts
