Today I’m joining Sara of Farmama, for Around The Farm.
What’s been happening around the farm this past week?
Roses are blooming and they smell so sweet.
We were feeling rather behind in the garden and lots of starts in the greenhouse needed to get planted in the ground pronto. One step at a time we’ve been making progress.
Here’s a few glimpses:
Laundry hanging on the line.
Lots of garden harvesting. Collards, kale, lettuce, arugula, cilantro and spinach. We harvested all the collards and most kale, then pulled them up, which opened up areas to plant other things. Collards are done in our garden for now, but we have small kale starts in some shady beds so we will keep enjoying kale this season.
We harvested early in the morning, the best time to harvest. We wondered how much kale and collards two people could possibly eat? Then Jeff had an inspiration. He used some sauerkraut juice from our raw, fermented, probiotic-rich sauerkraut and cut up the collards and put them in the crock, just as if it was sauerkraut. We are excited to try his new experiment when it’s done fermenting.
I was just about to get a picture of the ducks, when our dog Sweetie startled them. So here are the runner ducks mid-run.
The lavender is starting to bloom.
So is the St.John’s Wort. It grows wild here and we have a giant patch of it that we need to dig up so we can plant blueberries there. (Any locals want any starts?)
A view of the goats, peering through the back fence. They’re on the slope, keeping invasive species (english ivy and blackberries) under control around the perimeter so they don’t take over the garden.
When the goats are not free-ranging around, they can be found helping me with various farm chores (such as jumping into the wheelbarrow full of weeds we pulled up in the garden, that I was in the process of unloading in the duck yard for the ducks to dine on.)
Watering the blueberries and waiting in anticipation for them to ripen.
The fuschias tower above our heads and the hummingbirds buzz around them all day.
Here is a shady bed planted with kale, lettuce, and arugula.
Our new squash bed we built this last week for winter squash. The squash was starting to turn a little yellow and get root bound in the pots in the greenhouse. It will be so happy to sink it’s roots in and soak up the nitrogen-rich compost.
Jeff used some recycled fencing for a trellis in this bed. He planted several types of gourds to grow up it. There’s also celery, lettuce, and onions in this bed. Oh yeah, and calendula and horseradish that both came up on their own from last year.
Here’s the horseradish. We found an inspiring recipe for fermenting it that we want to try.
Here are the runner beans before they got mulched. (Also with some recycled fencing to grow up.)
We’ve been doing lots of harvesting, planting, digging and spreading compost for mulch/fertilizer. I have felt like quite the multi-tasker when I’ve been nursing Bracken in the pack while pitchforking loads of compost into the wheelbarrow. Mamas learn the fine art of multi-tasking in no time.
I look around the garden and it feels like it’s coming together. I like that.
Loved getting a tour of what’s happening lately at your place!! π I’m off to go gardening today…I think it’ll be a good weed-pulling day after 5 inches of rain the past two afternoons!!
And I fermented kale last year…it wasn’t that good actually, haahaa!, so I hope your collards w/ sauerkraut juice turn out better! π
Much, much love,
Lindsey
Beautiful post, the top on the line is such a rich colour! Love x
great photos! I love the laundry on the line one π and the lavender too…my lavender never does well through the winters here.
Thanks all!
Carys- here is the recipe:
http://nourishedkitchen.com/homemade-horseradish/
I’ll post it on my blog once we try it out and see if we like it.
Shannon- Yes, orange deserves to be appreciated more!
Heike- Well,the snails do get some lettuce. We are constantly finding slugs and snails and throwing them in the duck yard. The ducks help. When we had chickens, they ate the snail and slug eggs and that cut down on the population. The goats keeping the perimeter of the garden weeded is helping too.
you have a wonderful little farm.
may I ask what you do that no snails eat your salad?
Heike
I love the rich yet soft and natural orange colour of your laundry on the line there. Orange is a rather unappreciated colour isn’t it? π
i love seeing your green blueberries, and hearing about turning compost with nursing wee one in the carrier. that’s mamahood in a nutshell, isn’t it?
love the pictures.
That’s lovely. Such beautiful glimpses of your garden. Thank you.xxx
That’s the same feeling I’ve been having lately, that the garden’s coming together.
Recycled fencing is wonderufl for climbers — my hands just fit thru for harvesting *g*
Are you willing to share the fermented horseradish recipe? I’m growing it for the first time this year.
Carys
You’re farm looks amazing – good job, multi-tasker! π Ps: Brad was just asking me about your blueberries!
I love the ducks!!! They are so adorable. Your posts are always so great π I love to read them!