by Susan | Aug 31, 2014 | Garden, On the Farm
This last weekend in August found me in the garden wishing I could restart the month. I’m not ready for the growing season to wind down, especially when I’m having such great success with my hugelkulturs. I’d love another month of warm weather to...
by Susan | Aug 20, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
A moment of cuteness to make you smile on a Wednesday morning. We are smitten with these little babies!...
by Susan | Aug 16, 2014 | On the Farm
Today was a most productive Saturday. We managed to outsmart the mink these past few weeks and the last of the meat chickens are now in the freezer. More babies are hatching and I dried the first two loads of laundry on the new clothes line Paul built for me. Paul...
by Susan | Aug 15, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
What’s a farm with out farm babies? Shadow, our little bantam hen who we lost this last winter, was our resident farm mama – the only hen, chicken or duck, who managed to hatch babies. This summer, we’ve had four broody girls. Salty, one of our...
by Susan | Aug 9, 2014 | Garden
I love days like today – sunny summer days when the only thought on my mind is working in the garden. It’s satisfying to see the garden producing. Although, harvesting from my garden is a bit like playing Twister. It’s so wildly overgrown that...
by Susan | Aug 3, 2014 | Ducks, On the Farm
Did you know that ducks are great complainers? Dilly is broody and unfortunately she’s made her nest by the pond and not in the duck house. She religiously sits on her eggs during the day. Come evening she’s not happy about being coaxed indoors. We were...
by Susan | Aug 2, 2014 | Garden
It appears that I’ve finally hit on a gardening strategy that works in my inhospitable clay soil. After a few years of playing with raised beds, my hugulkulture experiment is yielding fabulous results. My pumpkins and cucumbers are waist deep. I wasn’t...
by Susan | Jul 24, 2014 | On the Farm
I’m not a country girl by upbringing, so it’s no surprise that I’m excited over a patch of wild blueberries that are thriving around the pond. Last year about this time when I checked the progress of the berries, there was nary a one – the...
by Susan | Jul 20, 2014 | Garden
Snapshots from the garden this weekend… My hugulkultures are doing great. You’re looking at pumpkins, zucchini and cucumbers. In hindsight, I may have placed them a little close together and set the fence? in a little too tight. I can’t move in...
by Susan | Jul 14, 2014 | Ducks, On the Farm
We have another broody duck. Peep is sitting on a cluck of eggs in the duck house. Now Dilly has joined the hopeful building a nest near the pond. She’s become very serious about her efforts, sticking to her nest rain or shine. The problem is, it’s not...
by Susan | Jul 13, 2014 | Chickens, On the Farm
This is round one of meat chicken harvesting. Yesterday we processed 19 cornish rock chickens for the freezer. Today’s agenda was to finish the remaining sixteen birds. The next round of 50 meat chicks just moved from the brooder into the outdoor pen last week. This...
by Susan | Jul 8, 2014 | Chickens, Ducks, On the Farm
Meet Peep. She’s a one-year-old Pekin duck, born in our incubator last spring. She is broody and seems to be doing a good job at sticking to her nest. The only problem is, we don’t need any more ducks! We have eight – three of them boys. That fact...
by Susan | Jul 4, 2014 | On the Farm
It seems that I have a bit of extra company when I sit on the porch these days. As I was enjoying the view of the ducks on the pond from my Adirondack chair, it became clear that I was not alone. This little bunny has taken up residence under the lilac bushes. The...
by Susan | Jul 1, 2014 | Backyard Birds
The big spruce tree by the pond has been alive with the song of purple finches. Their song, so pretty and loud that they were impossible to miss. A repetitive “cheeping” sound convinced me there was a nest of of babies, but a search with the zoom lens...
by Susan | Jun 28, 2014 | Garden, On the Farm
While tending the garden today, I was struck by how sweet the pea blossoms are. Fuchsia and delicate pink. Demure white. White, that upon closer look gives way to the palest of green. And then, I got carried away. The peonies have popped. Pretty in pink. Wild daisies...
by Susan | Jun 23, 2014 | On the Farm
How can this guy not make you smile on a Monday morning? Look at those ears!
by Susan | Jun 19, 2014 | Backyard Birds
It’s been three days since I noticed this year’s round of Phoebes nesting under the lean-to. This morning I took another peek to see how the babies were fairing. There are at least four tucked into that little nest. Aren’t they adorable?...
by Susan | Jun 17, 2014 | Backyard Birds, On the Farm
Increased activity by the Eastern Phoebes out back told me they were likely nesting under the tractor lean-to again. Each time I went out to take a peak, the adult flew off. Since I was in camera mode yesterday I took another look and found a nest full of baby...
by Susan | Jun 11, 2014 | Garden, On the Farm
Sometimes you don’t really know what you have in a photo until you load it onto the computer and have a closer look. I love this picture where you can actually see the bumblebee’s tongue dipping inside the flower sipping at the nectar.
by Susan | Jun 9, 2014 | Garden, On the Farm
Gardening in a climate where you run the furnace 6.5 months out of the year can be challenging. Not only are we fairly far north – the 44th parallel – we’re near the coast. That means practically no spring and short, cool summers. Add to that the...
