• It might be a tad late, but I finally got our squash and pumpkins planted.

• I love cedar waxwings and they’re here. Woop, woop! Farmer John has a different opinion of them, though. They are eating our raspberries and when he went to shoo them away one pooped on him – and pooped raspberry goo on him.

• This mess in the upper right photo is the mat of roots that get caught in the aquaponics pipes.

• We spotted a baby bird on the ground the other day. Mama bird was busy chirping away.

• The Little’s enjoying feed, oyster shell, and grit

• A colony of ants decided to stake out in the game cam.

• Mexican sour gherkins are going crazy in the greenhouse.

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• Last week I posted a photo of a bird’s nest. Here is a pic of the bird bringing goodies back to the nest. Are there eggs in there? Will there be eggs?

• The weather has been lovely, so the bees and bugs have been out enjoying it.

•  I saw my first American Goldfinches of the year at our house this week

• A couple weeks ago Farmer John brought home a few chicks. The middle photo is an updated pic of one of the Delaware chicks.

• We often have a mama (or two, or three) that hatches chicks this time of year. Our first one hatched the other day.

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Spring is here and I’m loving it. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and I’ve been busy checking items off my outside to-do list.

• Farmer John brought home 4 chicks – 2 Welsummers & 2 Delaware. We have one Welsummer, but the Delaware chicks are new to us. They are a breed John has been wanting, so when he saw them he had to bring them home.

• A few herbs got transplanted into the garden, but many are still in the greenhouse and garage.

• I planted flower seed in the meadow and around the front pond, as well as around the pond in the bird village.

• I love the deer, but dang it I’d wish they’d eat only the weeds and leave my flowerbeds alone. I am thankful, though, that they quit nibbling on my lilac. It’s taken it a few years, but it’s finally looking fabulous.

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• I’m fighting with Canadian thistles in all my flowerbeds. They are definitely my least favorite weed and unfortunately are quite prolific around here.

• Meanwhile the garden is battling with a broadleaf weed. They are just as difficult to get rid of as the Canadian thistle. They just aren’t pokey, so they don’t tick me off quite as much.

• Farmer John tilled a section in the garden, so we moved a few of the seedlings I started to that plot. Also planted were onion starts and a few seeds.

• I gave the rye grass fodder to the chickens. They devoured it.

• The ajuga is blooming in my favorite color.

• Bugs are coming out like crazy. The kids & I spotted a bug we haven’t noticed before. I thought it looked similar to a dragonfly, except it looks mean like a wasp.

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Over the next month or two I’m really hoping to get a lot done outside. This weekend is supposed to be nice. Hopefully, I can get a good start on a number of projects.

• We have rabbits around, but we rarely see them and I have never been able to get a photo of one. The other morning I finally got a photo. It’s a horrible photo, but it is my first one of a wild rabbit in our backyard.

• A couple swallows have returned. I love seeing them dart around.

• There are a ton of insects flying around, so there should be plenty of food for the swallows.

• Daffodils are blooming, the heather is in bloom, the flowering cherry tree is just starting to show off its beautiful pink flowers. This is why we all enjoy spring. The colors are marvelous.

• Seedlings are still spread about our house, garage, and greenhouse.

• The fodder, though, is still not my friend.

• I cleaned out the flower bed disguised as a meadow and sprinkled in a few seeds. I should get a wildflower mix and sprinkle those in, too.

• I have 2 cement paths I’m hoping to work on over the next few days since it’s supposed to be nice outside. One is finishing up the path through the bird village and connecting it to our newly poured patio. Woop, woop! I’ve been waiting nearly 7 years to finish that path. The other is using cement bricks and chunks to create a landing area in front of our chicken huts and chicken tractors.

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Our aquaponics system appears to be in good shape. The plants are growing well and look good. The fish are growing and we haven’t had any floaters. The nitrite and ammonia levels are at 0, so the biological filter is working well. Since installing a larger pump last month the water clarity has improved. All is well, at the moment.

CHANGES & UPDATES

Farmer John is constantly improving our aquaponics system. His newest addition is making floating beds for growing lettuce in its own separate, smaller system. He cut a barrel in half for the floating beds and will use an old aquarium tank for the fish.

IN THE GROW BEDS

The Mexican Sour Gherkins have taken Okra’s spot as our top producer this month. There are hundreds of the little guys growing in those vines.

Left: However, the okra is still producing well.
Right: We’re still getting red tomatoes from the scraggly, old tomato plant.

Ripe for the picking this month are eggplant & peppers. I love these guys. As far as produce goes, I think they’re gorgeous.

BUGS

A variety of bugs enjoy the greenhouse, too.

TILAPIA

Most of the tilapia are in the main fish tank now and are continuing to grow. They also continue to be difficult to photograph.

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The middle of July is already upon us, which means it’s Bloom Day. We had an unusually hot, dry June, which put the flowerbeds ahead of their usual schedule. We’ve been watering enough to keep the plants alive, but maybe not enough to keep them happy and producing their best. We’re already at the point where the majority of blooms are past their prime, which generally doesn’t happen until August. However, we have had some blooms over the last couple weeks to show off.

FRONT YARD

The pond in the front yard is in full bloom.
Top: Pickerel weed, creeping jenny & 5 cutie patootie ducklings.
Bottom Left: Cardinal Meadowhawk on a mint blossom
Bottom Right: Itty bitty marigold. I planted marigolds in front of the pond like I did last year. This time, though, they are scrawny.

More blooms around the pond. I love this section. The butterfly bush, lavender, daisies, day lily, yarrow and an unknown plant or two all bloom at the same time creating a beautiful little scene.

BACK YARD

The back yard is still in need of an update. I haven’t put the time into this area like it deserves. I’m thinking this fall and spring may be its time.
Top: I can always count on these three: marrow, day lilies, and shasta daisies.
Bottom Right: Wild red elderberry

BIRD VILLAGE

The bird village is always my favorite. However, it goes a little crazy this time of year.

The pond has a few plants along its edges in bloom, like pickerel weed & geraniums I over wintered in our aquaponics system.

The meadow strip. Every year I plant new seed hoping for a little variety. And, every year the daisies and blanket flowers take over.

While they are not officially blooms, they are new flowers in our garden. They are hand blown glass flowers created by me, Farm Kid1 & Farm Kid2. We took a workshop at Live Laugh Love Glass in Tigard. The flowers are beautiful, but I don’t love their place in the landscape.

OTHER

A few other blooms around.
Left: A hardy gladiola in a side bed that I really don’t spend any time on. I don’t think it’s been watered once this summer.
Right: Nasturtiums. They’re flowering, but aren’t trailing like I’d hoped.

Left: Calendula in the garden, reseeded itself from last year.
Right: Okra in the greenhouse. I surely didn’t know okra had such a splendid flower.

I’m sharing this post at May Dreams Gardens.

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Weather

October’s weather started out nice enough, but has now turned to crap. Rain. Fog. Wind. Typical for this time of year.

Spider Webs

The spiders have been busy lately. Lots of web making going on. And, in the right light they look super cool.
  

Power Outage

This weekend was stormy.

I had to take the long way home due to a tree being across the road. Then we came home to the power being out. Our phone was out for awhile, as well. When it was working, though, I frequently called the power company to report our outage and the line was busy every single time I called. I wonder if there phone wasn’t working either? I never did get through, but thankfully around 4:00 the next day the crew came to fix the line.

I can handle not having tv, or computer, or microwave. But, I hate being without light. And, at this time of year it’s getting dark fairly early. Darn it! However, it did give us a nice excuse to go to bed early. I snuggled with my 2 kids that were home, read them Halloween stories & they were asleep easily by 8:00, maybe earlier. I stayed up a little later and read Wildwood. It is a middle-grade fantasy based in the urban forest area outside of Portland.

I think I have mentioned it before, but it’s worth mentioning again.
Most of the year, I am not a fan of our propane stove. It is very hard to adjust the temperature. There are even special burners that are supposed to help with this problem. One is meant to boil water quickly, which is a larger burner. There is also a small burner & 2 medium sized burners. There is virtually no difference between any of them. We’ve had the stove since we moved in 6 years ago. The stove & I still fight.

On days the power is out, though, I love, love, love that we have a stove that runs on propane. It means on the cold evenings we still get warm food.

Ducks

The ducks, of course, don’t seem to mind the crummy weather. It can be pouring outside and they’ll be splashing away in the pond.

Chicken Keeping

In the Spring we hatched lots of chicks. We sold some at the Spring Swap and later sold nearly laying pullets at the Fall Swap. We didn’t purchase birds for meat purposes this year. Instead, from the chicks we hatched, the majority of the cockerels will fill our freezer next month.

Jack-o-Lantern and Chick

Our chickens are happy to eat the pumpkin guts.

I was a little nervous bringing home hatching eggs from the swap. But, we put them in the incubator and all 4 of them started developing. I was pleased! However, they did not survive the power outage.

Goats

Our oldest son wanted to build the goats a play place. So, Farmer John helped him build this. Unfortunately, the goats don’t like it. They won’t climb it. When I set them up on the top, they just jump off. I think with a few changes, though, the goats will enjoy it.

Pigs

Pig raising seems to be going well. Thankfully, Farm Kid1 is pretty good about taking care of them and they are growing. I don’t know if I can call them super cute, but I do love their personalities.

Aquaponics & Greenhouse

In the aquaponics system set up in the greenhouse, the tomatoes, tomatillos & tilapia are all doing fine.

Wildlife

Neighborhood Deer

Happy Halloween

The post Around the Farm and Garden – October 2014 appeared first on .

Over the summer, the kids created fun butterfly paintings. I gave them the same step by step instructions, yet all 3 of their paintings are original. I absolutely love that!

Supplies

• Canvas, we used 11″ x 14″ canvas panels
• Paint, acrylic or tempera – red, yellow, green, blue, white, and black
• Paintbrushes and/or sponge
• Pipe cleaner
• Sequins & Glitter Paint
• Misc pieces of cardboard
• Glue Gun

Step 1: Paint Background Blue

Step 2: Add Details to Sky

Farm Girl chose to paint the more typical clouds & sun.
Farm Kid2 went with an abstract look.

To make the rays of the sun, Farm Girl dipped the edge of a cardboard piece in a mix of yellow, orange & red paint then pressed the edge on her painting.

Step 3: Creating Grass

The kids created grass using the same method Farm Girl used for her sun’s rays.

I like mixing a variety of colors together – but, not blending them completely together. The base color was green right from the bottle. But, we also mixed in varying amounts of yellow, blue, red & white.

Step 4: Adding Flowers

Farm Girl glued flower sequins in her grass.

Farm Kid1 & Farm Kid2 painted their flowers.

Step 5: Painting the Butterfly

I cut butterfly shapes from cardboard and the kids painted them. They painted the entire butterfly. But instead, you could paint only one side of the wings, then squish it over onto the other side to make a perfect reverse copy of it.

The kids formed the body & antennae from a pipe cleaner. I used a glue gun to attach the pipe cleaner to the butterfly, then to attach the butterfly to the painted canvas.

Finished Masterpieces

I love that this project was simple, yet had great results.

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Weather

Most of August was warm, dry & uneventful. However, one night there was a fantastic lightning show that I really could have enjoyed had I not been so nervous about the trees around our house catching on fire. Here in the PNW we get thunder & lightning. But no real great show. It lasts a few minutes and moves on. This time it went on strike after strike for a couple hours straight. I spent those couple hours in awe of nature’s wonders, but also running through my mind the course of events that needed to happen when/if I notice something catch fire. Thankfully, there wasn’t a fire.

Flower Beds

My two favorite plants throughout August had to be lavender & zinnia. To see what else we have blooming check out August’s Bloom Day post.

Goats

Between a garden bed & one side of the goat fence I planted sunflowers & zinnias. They don’t have near the wowing effect I was going for. But, those plants that did grow are pretty – although, kinda on the short side. Truthfully, though, even the weeds don’t grow great in this spot.

The goats favorite item to munch on throughout the day is anything outside their fence. They squeeze their heads through the fence and gobble away. Knowing this, I planted the sunflowers & zinnias just out of their reach. Bahaha! I also purposely left weeds growing between the seeds I planted & the fence. I was hoping they would eat the weeds as opposed to my flowers. I do believe these tactics worked. Yes!

Chicken Keeping

All those chicks we hatched earlier this year are keeping us mighty busy. 70ish growing chickens eat, drink & poop… a lot. I plan to bring the majority of them to the Oregon Poultry Swap in October.

Such a handsome fella.

I bred Easter Eggers with our Splash Marans hoping to get some lighter feathered Olive Eggers.

Black Copper Marans chick

BCM trying to get a nibble of watermelon.

Apparently it wasn’t the goats I had to worry about eating my zinnias.

The chickens also enjoy picking their own tomatoes.

Our middle kid, Farm Kid2 & our daughter, Farm Girl, entered eggs in the county fair. Both won a blue ribbon. Way to go kids!

Wildlife

Lots of stinging type flying critters around these days.

Northern Alligator Lizard

Rufous Hummingbird
Unfortunately, Farmer John found this one dead with its wings & tail feathers spread out. I took the opportunity to examine just how pretty its feathers really are.

Pond

Except for a few decorative aspects and a bridge connecting the pathway the pond is complete.

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