Join in with Sara for a wonderful Thursday event, "Around the Farm". If you would like others to tour your farm or garden, leave a link in the comment section!
Welcome to Hansen's Milk and Honey Farm! It is HOT here!!! But there is still a lot to do in the wee hours of the morning and the last hours of light in the day. The hottest hours are spent indoors reading, playing music, crafting and relaxing or having some friends over to play!
The herb beds are very very full! This yarrow, in the foreground, I hope to have time for some natural fabric dyeing. Wool is easy but right now, silk and cotton are on my mind for summer.
This evening primrose was a cultivated variety from a local co-op but I had to have it. In a 4" pot it came and I decided to baby it in the raised herb beds until it took off. Uhh, it took off and has "eaten" several surrounding herbs! I gotta get this out of here!
Sheet mulching is a hard job without a tractor BUT very worth every shovel of rotten hay from the winter. Feed bags that our oats and barley come in are used, therefore repurposed and composted to keep weeds at bay. I have a long way to go. This sweet corn from rareseeds.com is an heirloom variety along with the shoepeg (not shown). I will save the seeds for next year if we like these.
Wil says he is trying to catch the pear as it is right over my head so I can have "pear head". Thanks buddy! I would rather have a hand at the shoveling and spreading!
I have a very, very long way to go!
Tomatillas!! They are wonderful and easy plants to grow here. Started from seed in March, I transplanted them in April. Not much longer til we use them!
Not knowing that ground/husk cherries were edible, I mowed a "wild" plant in the garden which was full of fruit at the end of last season. This year, I ordered seeds (rareseeds.com again) and started indoors. As these were transplanted, I looked in the garden to find at least 100 baby husk cherries that came back from the one I mowed. I have left a couple of plants of the wild one to compare.
Oldest farmkid says that he read cows will give more milk if played some music during the milking time. So, being the best farmers we can be, we had Wil come out and play. I don't know about that trivial fact of more milk but I know I liked the soothing sounds of live music while doing the milking! Andrew is the grain giver. Little bits at a time so she doesn't eat too much too fast.
One of 4 gorgeous hops vines that will grow up around our front porch. Super-excited about these. Dried hops flowers are expensive (that I want to use in herbal infusions)... We are always up for a GIY (grow it yourself) challenge here.
Speaking of oldest farm kids.... I love that he is not too old to love the tree fort my dad built. He is already dreaming of a "house" out there on the fort.
This morning, I snuck up the steps for a picture and next to his bed throne was the shrine to all things sound and screen! Music, movies and games are always around with this kid! He had 2 friends "camping out" with him but I dare not post a pic. They would just die. I am so glad that these kids love to come around, at 18 and 20, and just have a good time!
Speaking of having a good time, we and the local music festival, Bonnaroo, are gearing up for next week. This is just across from the corner of our property and is one of the main entrances. We are hosting TJ's sister, Kath and a New Yorker friend of hers for the week plus a slew of friends, family and whoever the kids can sell there lemonade and water too. This is a great time for us. The sights, sounds (yes, we can sit on our front porch and listen to the headliners very clearly...Kings of Leon and Dave Matthews and Stevie Wonder were so close to my house last year *swoon*... I love the music!), this is a highlight of our year. Just a bonus and a small distraction from the farming.
Out in the distant field, camping areas are being set up. We ride through just to check out the progress. Amazing how it can go from abandoned fields to so much stuff and so many people for a weekend and then it is over and cleaned up (they do a great job of that ) and then we get back to our quiet business of farming! Great memories!
We have a lot more going on Around the Farm (honey extraction last weekend) and more gardens that I didn't show. More to come in the days ahead~
Show me your place! I love a good farm tour and to see what everyone is growing!
Blessings, Tracey
7 comments:
You have a beautiful farm Tracey. I have tomatillas on my list for next spring as I don't think I would have a long enough growing season in the fall. I have never thought of growing hops....may have to try that soon.
All the kid's love hanging out at our place too. Makes me feel good and it gives them some good, safe fun. I think it helps keep us young too.
I looked up Bonnaroo and wow! what a treat to have that right at your door!
What a lovely post. I feel warm and sunburned just reading it. I had to look up husk cherries after seeing them here and on Farmama's blog - we call them cape gooseberries, but I think we are in too cold and region to grow them. They are lovely though. xxx
Where have you been??? I was getting worried that something was wrong. Love the new blog design. I love the tree house bedroom. My kids would do the same thing. Must be a homeschool thing.
Your place sounds lovely. The picture of your son playing the guitar for the cow is a hoot!
I would love to show you whats growing here, except that not a whole lot is except grass, and our milk cows belly! But when things do grow I'll show you!! Sound fair??! I love the pics around your farm. So nice! Jelouse of the 100 degree weather. Haven't come close to that!!
Loved the tour. You have a very nice place!
Wow, that is a lot to mulch. I'll quit complainin' now. ;) Spent hay is my favorite mulch too. That and newspapers, because they're FREE! Always so satisfying once it's done and boy does it save you a lot of work later.
The boys playing for the cow was cute. Hope it works!
What a lovely blog you have and gorgeous photos of your farm.Like Barefoot crofter I wondered what husk cherries were and thought they looked like what we call cape gooseberries and yes they are!
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