It's Summer?

We’re already into the second full week of July and the weather is still odd. Last week was hot and dry with temperatures into the 90’s. This week we are back to the cloudy and cool weather we had up until the 4th of July. I thought we were finally going to have temperatures warm enough for our tomatoes and peppers to really get going. It was nice to be able to get out and do some gardening.

The vegetable garden is in, what there is of it. Josh and I wandered out to take a look at the garden on Sunday and I felt a real sense of accomplishment seeing all the growing things. We don’t have a garden on the scale I was hoping we would this year, but we’ll have enough for ourselves. I ended up buying a lot of already started vegetables because I couldn’t stand the thought of an empty garden. We finally have tomatoes, cucumber, peas, green beans, bell peppers, zucchini, and a jalapeño. The heirloom carrots are doing great, as are the onions, potatoes and pumpkins. We have more lettuce and salad greens than we can handle – but not enough to really sell – so I guess it is time to give some away. I don’t mind all the salads, but Josh doesn’t like to eat salad more than a few days a week. I can’t think of anything else to put in at this late date, so I guess that will be it.

We had a nice vacation from the last part of June through the 4th of July. Worked in the yard and garden a little, made a few day trips, and generally took it easy. The weather wasn’t the greatest, but good enough. We took a drive up to Leavenworth to look around and pick up a few things. Josh’s favorite pretzel dipping sauce is sold up there. It can be bought elsewhere, but it was a good excuse to go. I could have spent the entire day wandering around but with a three year old in tow, calling it a day after lunch was really necessary. We ran down to Cashmere before heading home to pick up some factory fresh Turkish delight (Aplets & Cotlets, Fruit Delights, and Chocolate Fruit Delights). It was interesting to see how little gas we used going home compared to the over half a tank we used getting there. The little Prius does not like those huge hills. Even with the little trips and shopping we did the rest of our vacation we didn’t have to fill up again.

It was also nice to have time to just work on the place and discuss some of the things we would like to accomplish. We’re not always on the same page about things or how they should be done, but we do seem to be heading in the same direction. We are looking forward to getting a small wind generator for the well house so we can cut back on our energy use and have water at times when the power goes out.

I’m certain if we really work at it we’ll have this place self supporting within ten years, if not sooner. It was nice to have Josh around all the time instead of the usual two hours we have before he heads to bed most days. Between the produce and all the other things we are able to make and do we’re hoping he’ll be able to work from home at least half of the time by then.

He has a lot of ideas for things including making soaps. We spent part of Sunday on the first step preparing a long bed for fragrant and medicinal herbs that will get planted in the spring. He is very enthusiastic about trying to distill our own essential oils. Add in my experience with herbal remedies and homeopathic medicines and I think we stand a chance to do really well.

I am looking forward to seeing how things unfold, what goes according to our plans and what has to be altered or changed completely. It will be an interesting trip, but isn’t that what the journey is all about?

Spring is making a soggy transition into Summer

Has it really been two months since my last post? Sometimes it seems there is barely enough time to come up for air, especially in the spring when so much is happening and so much needs to be done. Part of the garden is in and already sprouting, chicks and goslings are growing like weeds, and the flower garden has progressed through most of the spring and early summer blooms already. It has been raining off and on for the last two weeks so the lawn looks like a jungle!

Chicks? Yes, we have chicks. We picked up four chicks back in April – two Rhode Island Reds, and two white Leghorns – and, somehow, also brought home a pair of Toulouse goslings. I am happy to report that after several weeks of noise, smell, and dust – plus daily gosling baths followed by bathtub scrubs – they are comfortably housed in the coop. I actually miss them. The goslings bonded quickly and are just so sweet. It was definitely time to get them out though. The morning we planned to move them we found them out of the box and waiting for us by the kitchen door!

There are still two chicks under the lamp in the mudroom. In May we picked up a couple of black Jersey Giants. Another week or so and they’ll be ready to go in the coop too. I expect fresh eggs by fall. Then the race will be on to see who is the best producer. Once we get the outdoor pen ready, they’ll be semi-free range chickens. Fresh eggs! We’ll probably add another half dozen next year and then there will be fresh eggs for sale too!

The garden has been a struggle this year, mostly because of the rain. There just hasn’t been a long enough break in the rain. With our soil being what it is, we can’t work it until it is reasonably dry. When it rains most nights or heavily every other day that makes it impossible. We would just have a hard, compacted plot that grew only weeds. On the bright side we have a whole row of mesclun and a bit of green leaf lettuce coming up. I am looking forward to all that lovely garden fresh lettuce for salads.

The onions all came up, and it looks like the purple carrots are sprouting here and there. They’re a little picky so we’ll see what actually comes up. I managed to get potatoes planted just before the rain started, but haven’t seen anything coming up yet. Hopefully they aren’t sitting there rotting in the ground. We do have about six pumpkin plants, so as long as nothing gets to them we’ll have plenty of pumpkins for Halloween.

I am really enjoying seeing all the flowers outside the kitchen window. The flowering quince was first, in early April. The white Rhododendron came next. The lilacs bloomed just in time for our daughter’s birthday and were overlapped by the Golden Chain trees. The huge canopy of golden blooms catching the early morning sun was just beautiful. The pink Rhody missed Mother’s Day, which is unusual. When the bearded Iris bloomed (early too) some of the stems reached over five feet tall! Then the rain started and beat them down and took off the rest of the Golden Chain blossoms.

The deep pink/fuchsia colored Rhody outside the breakfast nook is now blooming. It is one of my favorites, but still crowds the sidewalk a little. I’ve been judiciously pruning it the last few years, but eventually we’ll have to move it. I’m waiting to see how the roses do, as we pruned them pretty heavily last year. I was hoping they would be in time for father’s day, but I’m not sure that is going to happen. I’m also waiting on the honeysuckle. I see a pair of sparrows have built a nest in the arbor, so I’m looking forward to the flying lessons sure to come this summer.

Weather Woes

The weather has been playing games lately. Most of March was nice, and we were able to spend some time outside getting things done. Then came the rain and wind. We even had lightning and thunder Tuesday night – not typical around here. Wednesday was beautiful and we spent the entire afternoon removing blackberry vines that were attempting to take over the orchard. It now looks fantastic and it will be much easier to keep the upper hand now. Also planted a couple of little blueberry bushes. Of course, true to the season, the following morning brought pouring rain and wind. We were still able to enjoy a kids’ Easter egg hunt at our friend Ginny’s house though. High winds and colder temperatures predicted for the weekend.

With the tractor up and running, we started plowing the garden patch about two weeks ago. Not even a whole furrow into it and steam started rising. Broken fan belt. It was too late in the day to fix and still have time to finish the job. Again, the following day brought rain, rain and rain. That is the hardest part of farming - waiting on the weather.

Can’t complain too much, as that rain is an important part of all this, but if it would just give us enough time to get things ready… Once the garden is planted it can rain whenever it wants. Trying to fit the farm work in around a skewed job schedule takes some cooperation from old Mother Nature. Yeah, sure. It just needs to dry out enough to prep the garden.

In the mean time, I guess I can peruse the seed catalogs and see if there is anything else we might add or keep in mind for next year. Oh, and day dream about all those garden fresh vegetables we’ll have this year.

1946 Ford Ferguson 2N

The parts for the tractor arrived yesterday. Josh went out after to breakfast to put them on and just came in to say he was done. I’m listening for the sound of the engine now. We are very impressed with how quickly the parts arrived and how easy the company was to deal with. We placed two orders in as many weeks, and everything came quickly – the last in a matter of days – all the way from Indiana.

The company is called N-Complete and they carry pretty much everything you could need or want for repairing or restoring any Ford N Series tractor (or any old Ford tractor made up to the mid 1960's), and their prices are competitive too. The customer service is outstanding as well.

It will be good to have the old tractor running again. Josh wants to restore it to original so we can take it to tractor shows, but we’ll have a working set up too. The original horizontal muffler turned out to be impractical - I’m sure that is why my dad removed it - so we’ve put on the vertical muffler for use around the farm. I’m used to using the tractor without a muffler, but Josh just couldn’t stand how loud it was. He is right of course. It does need a muffler.

We’ve replaced a lot of things, from the engine wiring harness to the exhaust manifold. A few more small repairs to do, but not a lot left to fix outside of a couple major things. We definitely need a new radiator, and a new paint job would be good too.

The old tractor has certainly been a reliable workhorse. My dad bought it new in 1946, along with several implements, some of which we still have and use. It was the primary tractor around the farm until the late 80’s or early 90’s, and was still used for working the garden spot in the spring and other small jobs. I’ll have to find and post some old pictures of my dad using it. I can remember riding on it with him when I was a child, sitting on the seat in front of him while he pretended to let me drive. I don’t know how I never noticed that he lightly held the steering wheel as it jerked my arms this way and that with every bump in the field. He must have, otherwise we would have been off on a wild ride!

These days I can control the steering wheel much better, and it doesn’t seem to be the one in control like it did when I was a kid. It will be good to get back up on that familiar seat and grab the steering wheel, hear the familiar purr of the engine, and turn the rich soil in preparation for planting. That is, if I can get Josh to give it up.

I hear the familiar rumble, and there it sits in the driveway. Lots of smiles!

Spring has Sprung!

It is only the first week of March and we’re already several weeks in to spring in the Pacific Northwest. I feel a little guilty when most of the country has been slammed hard with winter. I’m envious too. We didn’t have a winter to speak of here. A light dusting of snow around Thanksgiving and that has been it. The brief cold snap did nothing to the bug population. We were outside in the evening last week with mosquitoes already attacking. This probably doesn’t bode well for controlling the garden pests either.

I do know it was enough cold for the spring flower bulbs. The Snow Drops are already spent, the Daffodils in full bloom, and my Hydrangea is already leafing out, as it the climbing rose. The Irises look well on their way to producing a bouquet of beautiful blooms. I see the pink Peony is already sending up shoots and everywhere I go the ornamental fruit trees are blooming. One of the Rhododendrons is starting to bloom too. The lawn out by the orchard needs mowing but the ground is still too wet. We’ll have a hay field by the time it is dry enough.

Depending on what follows the “el Niño” the lawn will then be dried out by the end of July. I’m hoping this will not be the case. I don’t want to have to water the garden half the summer. The lawn can dry out, but the vegetables need adequate water. I’ve seen my dad grow tomatoes and other vegetables when the soil was so dry it felt like flour. I’m just not as confident in my skills as that. We’ll see.

Also hoping the extremely early spring doesn’t mean the growing season is going to be off kilter too. The weather has been beautiful lately, so perhaps the ground will be workable earlier than usual too. We’ll either have an early fall or an exceptionally long growing season for this area. I’m hoping on the latter and am going to try some things that don’t usually do well around here – cantaloupe, eggplant, peppers, and maybe even a watermelon plant or two.

We’re growing a nice variety this year. The usual suspects of tomato, lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, carrot, squash, pumpkin, corn, potato, pea, and bean are planned, as well as some heirloom varieties of tomato and an unusual squash that is supposed to good grilled – the Musque de Provence. It is similar in size and shape to what is known as a Cinderella pumpkin, but doesn’t turn the bright orange and I understand have a slightly different taste. Also putting in blueberries, strawberries and asparagus this year, but probably not have more than we can use ourselves this first season.

Looking forward to working outside this afternoon – so much to do!