Dogs and Country

2012 WORD

2012-01-17T16:34:00.000-06:00

My 2012 word is do.

Make and accomplish were in the running.

I ended up with do.

Do make things...like gardens, blogs, pictures, birdhouses, tops, cookies, pie, friends, plans, and hay.

Do accomplish things..like writing and reading everyday. Like training the dog..running a mile, and paying bills.

Do stay healthy, do try to help others stay healthy and happy, and do keep the home fires burning.

Do make your home a happy place that nourishes the soul of those who live there and those who come to visit.

Personally I tend to read about it , think about it, desire it...and end up never

"doing" it.

So the word in front of me this year will be

DO!

A new look for a new year

2012-01-11T09:11:00.001-06:00

Phew! That took awhile. Blogging was a great help in getting my gardening back on track...at least a little bit.

This year I would like to use it to get my housekeeping back on track.

Like...keeping neat and organized and clean.. and not having scenes like this in the house.
This is supposed to be a desk with a clear workspace. Unfortunately it is in the kitchen next to our
main entrance, It is a trash mail collector and a everything of the counter collector. In addition to jackets, gloves, and dog leashes. Sigh. Wish me luck.

The Decisions we make today determine what we do tomorrow..

2012-01-01T07:37:00.000-06:00

What to keep and what to donate and what to throw away! Sigh.
       What to make for lunch and dinner.
            Which gourds to work with and what to make them into.

Should I spend an hour right now walking/running? Should I take the camera? Which footwear should I wear in this blasted boggy year...with water...water..water...everywhere.

Up the hill, across the road, and down...?
   Down around the woods, across the bottom, and then up the Hill?

How should I package my beautiful Light Red Kidney Beans? Should I package them at all? Should we just store them for ourselves? Use them for seed? Buy new seed?

When and what to take to market next week?

   Will there be so much Kale...that everyone will be "Kaled Out".

Should I really bother with washing Kale for sale, or should I just make Creamy Kale Soup several times next week?

Yesterday all my decisions stressed me out...so

What did I do?

I read a book.

and

messed with gourds just a little.

The Book?

WhipLash by Catherine Coulter.

Today:

The one single thing I want to do is try out some of the custom settings on my camera.

AND

Seeking beautiful functionality in 2012

2011-12-31T16:26:00.000-06:00

These are on the deck of the house below

Over the next year I will be making the gourds above into various

things like this.

A New Puppy

2011-12-27T17:13:00.000-06:00

2011 is almost over.

Don't you think it's good to start a new year with a new Puppy?

Garlic planting time

2010-10-13T14:31:00.000-05:00

No... I am not Italian..but I do love to use fresh garlic in the kitchen.

Last year my fellow gardeners told me that garlic was really easy to grow.

So... I looked up some information and talked to friends and decided

to try some Italian soft neck garlic because I wanted the kind that you could use

to braid...you know those pictures of big bunches of braided garlic

hanging in Italian kitchens. Well...I wanted that.

So I ordered some heirloom bulbs last September and planted them in the potato patch..

after I cleared off the mulch and dug my potatoes.

I don't remember how much I ordered, but there were several bulb clusters and I separated them into individual cloves for planting. I ended up with about 24 I think. After planting them in one row about 12 in apart, and several inches deep...kind of like onion sets, I sprinkled some fertilizer around and covered the whole bed up with straw mulch about a foot deep.

And...then didn't do a thing until I dug them up this summer...sometime

in July I think..the tops had started to die back.

Above you can see a close up shot of what I had left..after digging, drying, and using in the kitchen all summer long. Each clove yielded about a dozen more!!

How easy is that?

Now it is time to start a tradition..and plant them again. It is October..you know.

I picked out the largest three..you can see them here

They don't look so impressive in the picture...but they were all nice sized cloves.

I separated them and then decided I should plant some more .

Koko agreed.

After choosing some more bulbs...I ended up with about 112 cloves.

Will we have garlic next year? I certainly hope so...I really do want to try braiding some.

I planted them in the tomato patch..it was time to tear it up...see below.

Don't you agree?

Back Again

2010-10-07T14:44:00.000-05:00

It's finally a beautiful sunny day.

I made it through a few grey.

Ventured out in the garden again today.

Picked some beans..

walked with the dog..

If only outside I could stay today.

I'd like to put in a box and put it away.

Not to be, not the best way..

The best way is to learn to enjoy what comes your way.

Love the clouds, love the rain, love your work, and keep moving...

Blog Goal

2010-08-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

If you were to look at my daily schedule, you probably would not see a time slot for updating my blog.

OOPS

Nevertheless, I do need a new Blog Goal. Like...what it is exactly that I am blogging for. When I started blogging, it was just to get me writing...because even knowing there might be a potential audience helped to motivate me.

As you all know, you need to have something to write about...and it was gardening season...so there it was...write about the garden. So I wrote about the garden, and now I have a great garden. It is so great in fact, that it is taking all my time. Blogging has fallen by the wayside.

LIGHT BULB

If gardenblogging helped me to create a better garden, maybe another kind of blog would help me in the rest of my life. Like...maybe I should start a...

BUSINESS BLOG

COOKING BLOG

WRITING BLOG

DIET BLOG.

Three beans in the garden and a little Dill Seed

2010-07-17T20:17:00.010-05:00

Some people grow heirloom tomatoes.
I am trying heirloom beans. There are tons to choose from.
People have been eating beans for a long time.
Beans are so easy to grow and seeds easy to save...and good to eat!
I started with Pole beans because they are so easy to pick.
Although the picture doesn't show it clearly, my first picture is of a cultivar called
Gold of Bacau. The vines are a beautiful yellow and the beans range from bright yellow to yellow green. Below is a sampling of a mulitcolor packet I bought, so I am not sure what cultivars were included. However this one is very sweet and tasty raw.

These are rattlesnake beans, I think. They are the sweetest tasting.

I have been harvesting my Blue CoCo beans. Yummy and beautiful.
I am also growing White half-runner. because some of my customers requested it last year.
I haven't really had a chance to think about it much.
However the beans are just a boring green.

Volunteer Dill plants in my garden have flowered and the seed is almost ready.
They have been just glorious.
I am so glad I allowed them to stay!

Long Tendergreen Beans and Romanesco Zucchini

2010-07-06T11:10:00.006-05:00

Sigh.
My photography skills suck.
But ...
My gardening skills are still intact.

Check out the fruits of my labor.
Last week I was disappointed with my choice of bean cultivar.
I thought they were hard to pick and seemed not to be producing to my satisfaction.
Not this week.
They are producing well.
And...they are very tasty and very tender.
They could be a touch GREENER.
Green beans are supposed to be green.
The other fruit is a very green striped zucchini.
Those I am definitely NOT disappointed with.
They are the best tasting zucchini I have ever tried.
They also grow on GIANT plants. Very cool.
Two thumbs up.
One for Long Tendergreen beans from Seedway.
One for Romanesco Zucchini from Fedco.

All Work and No play makes Millie ?

2010-06-28T08:08:00.004-05:00

It wasn't all work this weekend.
I was pulling weeds and admiring my beautiful Blue Coco bean vines...
When I saw it!
A dragonfly clinging so perfectly to the vine!
I had to get the camera and try for a picture.
I knew..I knew... I was once again..unprepared and Too Late.
Sigh.
No dragonfly.
They often have a flying routine and return.
I was hoping.
But no...not this dragonfly.

I settled for a picture of this Koko.

She's waiting patiently.
If she waits patiently her master will come play.
We do play.
Everyday.
Sometimes we just throw the ball.
Sometimes we go down to the ponds.
Lately she has gotten to go..just be with us...
When we unload hay...
Pick berries...both red and blue.
She's learning that all work doesn't have to be No play.
With us, she's learning that our particular work is our play.
We admire the growing plants.
We see the wild things and it touches our hearts.
We love making spaces for beautiful things to grow.
And while we grow our things we do stop and we do play.
Sometimes just for a few moments.
Very special moments that makes our hearts sing.

Sour Cream Berry Pie Recipe

2010-06-24T08:02:00.004-05:00

My creative juices were stifled again!
My rechargeable batteries didn't have enough charge.
I assembled the pie ingredients in a pleasing way.
But alas..when the batteries were taken from the charger
Full of energy?
They failed to juice up the camera.

However...I did some browsing and failed to find this amazing recipe anywhere.

It is so good, it is so easy..I just have to share.

Sour Cream Berry Pie

Filling:
2 1/2 C of berries, or fruit of choice. My favorite is a blueberry and black raspberry combo.
1 C of sugar
1 C of sour cream
3 oz. cream cheese
2-3 TBLSP Flour\

Combine sugar and flour. Add sour cream and cream cheese. Blend well. Put fruit in unbaked pie shell, pour filling over fruit. Top with crumb topping.

Topping
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup softened butter

Mix until crumb texture achieved, put on top of pie. Bake at 425 for 15 min, reduce heat to 350 for an additional 30 minutes, or until topping is browned. Baking time varies depending on type of fruit used.

I have always used fresh fruit in this recipe.

The recipe is in a Holmes-Wayne Electric Co-operative Member Cookbook.
I love those recipes.
They are usually tried and true.

Too Late

2010-06-20T18:16:00.000-05:00

You're too late for Berry Cream Pie.

One Weekend in June with Family Coming and Going

2010-06-20T11:55:00.003-05:00

Sigh.
This wonderful weekend is almost over.

For those of you who don't know I am the mother of three, a mostly empty nester. The oldest son is "The Mechanic" and now lives in the grand old yellow house down the road. The grand old yellow house is the original farmhouse where DH's grandfather was born. Yeah!

The middle one is the computer guy. He just graduated from Univ. of Cinci with a degree in Computer Science, complete with a job. Yeah for him. He's becoming a city guy. He came home Thursday night and stayed through Saturday...then headed back to Cincy. Sigh!

The youngest..Baby Girl is working on a degree at Ohio Northern. She's home for the summer and is working at OARDC. She had her friends here this weekend for a camping canoeing weekend
at Mohican Adventures. She spent her first working summers being a Go Cart attendant there.

You know...I have been lamenting on having to use a nearly antique digital camera for my blogging pics...and wouldn't you know, my first few pics drained it dry. The batteries are charging up... because I wanted to post about all the cooking I did this weekend.

I haven't really baked anything for a while.

I had to celebrate.
Kid's were home.
It is Father's day!
I had to share the season's bounty.

I still have strawberries. Strawberry Pie.

Blueberries and raspberries are in.

Blueberry pie, blueberry bars, and blueberry muffins.

Monster cookies...Baby girl's contribution.

All the peas are coming non-stop. Snow peas, snap peas and English Peas.

The weekend's harvest goes in our freezer. The rest of the week it goes to market.

The garden is a jungle...what with all the house cleaning and baking and haymaking.

We have managed to get all the hay baled before rain so far. Imagine that.

Thanks to the hard work of the master and the mechanic.

The mechanic is having us for a cookout and then I think we are FISHING.

The garden and the farm will be here Monday.

Pictures to follow...when the batteries are charged.

Kohlrabi for Kohlrabi Soup

2010-06-15T10:21:00.004-05:00

Ok. I admit it. I grow Kohlrabi. I eat it rarely. I've tried it raw. It's good. Strawberries are better. It grows well in spring and looks amazing. I can usually sell it at the market in small quantities.

Imagine THE EVENT.

Last Sat afternoon, we were doing the usual..pulling weeds. I had taken my few veggies into the Roots market on Thursday.

Roots is a cool farmers market.

I don't have to be there.

They have STAFF and VOLUNTEERS.

They sell our produce for us and we can go home and grow more produce

Then....THE EVENT...DH yelled out the deck door that I had a message on the phone.

To understand it I would have to come listen.

However he gave me a preview.

"Some lady bought all your KOHLRABI and wants more. Right now."

DH regards vegetables other than potatoes with some suspicion.

I listened to the message. It was from a very nice lady. She had a friend whose specialty was Kohlrabi soup. He grows Kohlrabi for soup making.

This year a groundhog snacked on his Kohlrabi.

No Kohlrabi for Kohlrabi soup.

Alice was delighted to find Kohlrabi at the market and needed more Kohlrabi so her friend could make soup.

This morning I delivered Kohlrabi and upon request was given the following recipe for Kohlrabi soup:

Boil chopped potatoes, carrots. The same amount of each and boil separately so neither gets mushy. Brown good sized onion in butter, add flour to make roux. Boil chopped Kohlrabi roots with small amount of water and combine all ingredients. This recipe was learned from his Romanian parents.

A quick internet search for Romanian Kohlrabi soup yielded several yummy sounding recipes...but this was the closest to the above described recipe.

Kohlrabi Soup

Ingredients:

Butter

2 stalks celery

1 large carrot

1 TBLSP Parsley

3 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 lb Kohlrabi (2 -3 large roots)

1 TBLSP Flour

1 1/2 TBLSP lemon juice

Basically... cook vegetables in chicken broth till tender, brown onion in butter, adding flour to make roux, add roux to pot to thicken soup a bit...adding lemon juice at the very end.

Kohlrabi soup anyone?

By the way...the name Kohlrabi come from the german word Kohl for cabbage, combine with rapa for turnip. This gives you a pretty good description of what a Kohlrabi is...sort of an improvement on both cabbage and turnip.

Again...I like Kohlrabi raw....but I am going to try the soup.

Searching for the perfect look

2010-06-14T07:58:00.004-05:00

I have been searching and searching....

A apologize to my faithful followers. Over the past few months I have changed themes, and colors for my blog far too many times. I even started a new blog on wordpress. I am learning my way around over there too. Again...changing...ever changing.

Like the perfect strawberry... I am looking for the perfect one.

Alas...I guess I will know it when I find it. I envy those who can design there own...effortlesslly. However thanks to those of you who do design our themes. It makes it easier for us to blather on every day and still have time for the garden, the farm, the kids, and the shops. Thank you blogger...Thank you wordpress. Thank you blotanical.

Be patient with us...we do read your advice...just not so good at following it.

Monetizing will help? Not yet. Maybe later when I actually have something worthwhile to say. Maybe later when I find my unique voice. So far... I haven't found anything to say that isn't said by another soul, maybe even a couple hundred. So...I don't like monetizing so much right now.

Now I am looking...looking....searching...searching for my voice and my look.

How do you like your strawberries?

2010-06-12T08:03:00.003-05:00

I've been searching and searching for the perfect strawberry.

But...what if I found the perfect strawberry?

What would I pay for it?

Where would I look?

When would I know?

How do you like your strawberry?

Do you like it sweet?

Do you like it red?

Do you like it fat and juicy and sweet?

Paying for our Growing Hobby

2010-06-03T08:06:00.003-05:00

Summer is here, complete with thunderstorms and mosquitoes. And...let's not forget my new hobby.. local garden markets. My first venture into this was my little last year's debut at the OARDC Midweek Market. I was thrilled to go home with a few greenbacks in my pocket...never mind, that all in all I probably spent more than I made--paying for the space, buying stall decorations, packaging, labeling etc. Definitely...not a get rich quick scheme.

But... I am doing it again this year...and yesterday was the first market. I was just happy to have produce from my garden this early. I had beets, spinach, strawberries, lettuce, green onions, swiss chard, kohlrabi, and snow peas. This afternoon I will be taking the same thing to the Local Roots market.

This year I've expanded to include a Local Roots market. What a fun group of people to meet and talk with each week.

My garden is expanding and hopefully my growing expertise. I admit it...in years past my efforts at gardening pretty much went to waste in a hit or miss kind of way. The worst waste..actually was not harvesting on a timely schedule. Can you believe it?

The few dollars that we smaller market gardeners get for a bag of spinach, or a quart of strawberries isn't nearly enough to pay for all the labor and time that goes into it. Most of us do it because we are in love with growing things. One of my garden club friends actually admitted that she loves weeding. I think I do too. There is something special about nurturing and making space for special plants to grow and mature. The bizarre thing about producing beautiful vegetables..is that we help them along and then ..EAT them.

But...the point to this is that with market gardening I am getting a little return and the actual cost of my growing hobby is being repaid. I get back the cost of my seeds. am producing better quality food for my own family, and really getting a few cents for my time.

Our growing hobby is also growing slowly. I would never consider borrowing money to do this thing...and we don't have pocket money to spend on gadgets and growing tools that would make the label less and increase production..so we are doing it the old fashioned way... a little at a time, learning as we go.

Another thought to share...commercial vegetable production has come a long way and we are lucky to have it. It probably isn't as nasty for us as some folks would like to have it. The alternative might be NO vegetables and fruits for many people. That would be a sad thing.

Collecting Herbs

2010-05-30T09:01:00.003-05:00

When I was mowing our walking path yesterday I noticed that our strip of red clover hay was brimming with beautiful lavendar/pink red clover blossoms. Since this is my summer for experimenting with the art of herbal tea making this bounty was too good to pass up. This morning with the help of my trusty canine companions I waded into the field and collected a colander full to dry.

They are such cute fluffy things. Can't wait to get them dried and try some tea.

Clover has been used medicinally for centuries and is full of estrogenic substances. My herbal encyclopedia recommends that it be taken for skin complaints and as a cancer preventative. How can I go wrong?

It's Haymaking on the Casey Farm

2010-05-23T09:39:00.003-05:00

It's been a grass growing spring. Gosh just look at it!

So... it hay cutting time.

It's raining and I am blogging

2010-05-21T12:19:00.001-05:00

There's the bathroom to clean
and of course dishes to do.
But I am blogging today.
Of course that's because it is raining today.

June Project

2010-05-17T14:34:00.004-05:00

I have a collection of old magazines and found this delightful crochet project in one of them this morning. June is almost here and these strawberries would be fun to make. I especially love the little box. Instructions are included in the article for each article pictured, but I really just like the strawberries.
The materials needed are crochet cotton in Forest Green and Red plus a No. 8 crochet hook and small white beads.

Also in the same magazine was a great little poem written by "Anonymous" and submitted by a long ago reader.

A LIVING FAITH

I've dreamed many dreams that never came true,
I've seem them vanish at dawn,
But I have realized enough of my dreams, thank God
To make me want to dream on.

I have prayed many prayers when no answer came
Though I waited patient and long,
But answers have come to enough of my prayers,
To make me keep praying on.

I've trusted many a friend that failed
And left me to weep alone;
But I've found enough of my friends true- blue
To keep me trusting on.

I've sown many a seed that fell by the way,
For birds to feed upon
But I've held enough golden sheaves in my hands
To make me keep sowing on.

I've drained the cup of disappointment and pain
And gone many days without song,
But I've sipped enough nectar from the roses of life
To make me want to live on.

This is for all the gardeners out there who still save and sow seeds.

Hopefully I will have enough time to try the strawberries and patience to share the pattern in another post.

I was just weeding in the strawberry patch yesterday--and yes there are lots of green strawberries and sunny days coming to make them ripen.

Allium and Rew Twig Dogwood Deja Vu

2010-05-12T11:49:00.007-05:00

I loved taking pictures of this garden last spring. This morning when I saw the purple allium swaying in the breeze with the beautiful variegated leaves of the red-twigged dogwood along with the blue green of the Hostas...I had to think "job well done." They provided motivation to get the cell phone out and take a picture and make a post despite the fact I've been wishing for a camera and a new computer for more than a year. It is what it is and these are too beautiful not to share.

The Sun is setting on January 2010

2010-01-30T17:19:00.000-06:00

Yeah. January is over. I think tonight will be the Wolf moon. DH thinks this moon should be called the starvation moon. The sunset was beautiful over the ice in the ponds tonight. I should have walked closer to the water. The clouds were nice and the sun turned the ice to gold.

I'm taking a break on knitting my last winter sock and am trying to do a little quilting.

I am getting impatient with winter and am longing to get back in the garden.

The dogs don't understand my reluctance to go outside. They don't seem to care what kind of weather it is. There is always things for them to play with and interesting scents to explore.

Did anyone else feel a bit annoyed with all the disaster movies playing today?

Time for Reckoning

2009-12-21T09:32:00.003-06:00

It's a time to review the last year's events and make plans to start anew. Amazing how time flies. The dogs have grown , the summer garden has come and gone, and it is time to plan the next.

Join me in the next few weeks as I make plans for the coming year and complete some chores left over form last.

Most importantly it is time to say Thanks for all the good fortunes that have come our way in 2009. Happy holidays all.

Let's Go

2009-07-01T19:12:00.001-05:00

Koko has her ball, and she's waiting on me to get it together and get going already.

The dogs are finally learning that they get play rewards if they settle under the pine trees or at the edge of the garden and wait for me.

Yesterday their reward was a Kobota ride to the compost pile.

I did get all the first planting Green Arrow pea vines pulled. They were productive little things. I sold 6 three lbs bags(pods ready for shelling) at market($3.00/bag), and froze 18 pints(shelled peas). We ate a couple of pints. I think it was 1/4 lb seed purchased bulk at Shreve hardware for $2.40. I still have a 24 ft section of a later planting from that seed.

Now I need a miracle plant to sell at the market. No more fruit...all my blueberries are early ones and they are over. Tomatoes are not ready...nor cucumbers or squash. Sigh....

The dogcam

2009-06-16T07:36:00.000-05:00

It's the dogcam. The dogs have had their morning potty break but they are watching and waiting again. They are waiting on me to get the morning inside chores done and get to the outside chores.
They follow me around and lay somewhere close by with heads down and eyes watching up.

I wonder if they have a chore list? What would it be?

They are quiet, until I get my boots or outside shoes, or my sunhat. Those subtle things that dogs recognize as...we're going outside!, maybe.

I can only remember a few times that they have indicated the same desire to come inside. Driving rain and sub sub zero temperatures are about the only weather conditions that faze their fun outside.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

2009-06-13T07:04:00.003-05:00

My supervisors say this is a good spot to work today. It's past time to get to the herb bed maintenance. There are plants waiting to go into it. The mint needs cut and corralled. The bramble needs killed.

And where is the Rosemary and Thyme? Here is the sage and parsley, I think, if you can see past the mint and the grass...but where is the Rosemary and Thyme?

It is barbecue Thyme and sage and rosemary rubs are so good. Better get to it.

June orphans

2009-06-12T09:19:00.008-05:00

I had a plan. They were going to a good home. Last year, I said..."all plants will get a home as soon as possible. "

But again this year... there are.... poor hapless orphans...

Two geraniums, two Dusty Millers, two white impatiens, one Rosemary, one german Chamomile, one french thyme, two cherry tomato plants, one bushel gourd plant, one eggplant plant, two native trumpet vines, three Forsythia, and a couple of dill plants and some white Daisies are becoming less than they could be with every passing day.

They are sitting in the shade and some are hoping for sun.

Every day I walk by these plants and think...today they will get a home. The day goes by, and I think...I'm not going to get to them today. I better water them.

They cry...I'm hungry...but all they get is water. Not even bread today.

The dogs are wondering about these poor things.

Where will they go? Will they have the will to survive neglect? They are thinking that plants should not be survivors. They should be displayed in all their glory and planted and fed at the right time. What is the master thinking?

The master always forgets "The Trouble with Tribbles" lesson. Tribbles grow, and grow, and grow.

Even the dogs are wondering where they will go.

Goats and/or strawberries..it's a blogclog

2009-05-27T07:31:00.005-05:00

The milk is made, the goats are fed, the eggs are collected. The eggs need washed, the strawberries need picking, and weeds are growing. The first farmers market is this afternoon. I had given up on the farmer's market because my daughter was supposed to have an ACL revision at basically the same time. My day had been planned around that. Just now the surgery center called to say they were rescheduling her surgery for Friday. Now I have to change my schedule. I think I have a tour. Blah...so many things to blog about, so little time. What to do? What to say?

First..the goats. I have a love/hate relationship with goats. I have long loved their little faces, their bright little eyes, and their perkiness/querkiness. I have long hated that they get sick, they have babies at the most inopportune time, and they have no respect for anything but a pristinely well kept electric fence. Oh yeah... I forgot their feet. They need trimming...seemingly all the time.

Yes, we have goats. First we had no name goats, that helped us get control of our multiflora rose infested landscape. Goats are the animal version of round-up. Then, we had dairy goats..specifically ...OMG, I can't remember...the all white ones. They were 4-H projects, and provided us milk for cheese. Yummy cheese. Milking became a burden, and now we have Boer meat goats. We don't eat them..but we grow them so other people can. They were also 4-H projects.

This year, the goats were annoying. Two of the first-time mothers refused to be mothers. We had to pen them, and help their babies eat and/or bottle feed. Annoying. This last one is the most annoying. She is a querky little goat, gets out all the time, and on top of that refuses adamantly to let her babies eat. Blah!! Blah!! HE SAYS.."I wish you would get rid of those D__ goats."

Next..the eggs. I forgot the egg basket. We have 6 young hens, 1 fancy old hen and a fancy old rooster. That means we get six eggs most days. Our chickens and goats are a 5 min walk from the house. You need a container to carry to the eggs. We have been using an old kids Easter basket. I keep forgetting it. Now we are slowly collecting barn containers in the house, because I rob something to carry the eggs in..and sigh..I don't take them back. Barn containers around the house are not cool. And...the chickens did not keep their eggs clean..they need straw in the pen. The hen guarding the nest, pecked me. If she was going to do that, at least she should have kept them clean.

The strawberry patch is ripe for picking. I was seeing some color, and then after a long stretch of no rain, it rained last night. I was worrying that we wouldn't get rain, and I am not set up for irrigating the large patch. That I guess, is next on the Agenda.

Farmers Market..not sure what I am going to do about that. Since I didn't think I was going, I am not prepared, but I do have lettuce..and strawberries. Hmm.

ACL revision... that's the other thing. My daughter has like a 5 year history of ACL problems. Soccer...love..hate.

The good thing...At least the house is semi-clean. College daughter...expecting sympathy company during ACL revision demanded it.

A Few of My Favorite Things

2009-05-26T08:14:00.004-05:00

I am posting a favorite photo of my children. They are all young adults now, but they are still a few of my favorite things. I am a mother, and when presented with a choice--I will always choose them. In the past I have chosen to set aside some of my many interests so that our family could be involved with their activities and I have never been sorry. They are my favorites.

I love my daughter's happy engaged smile and now that she is older, I seek to make it happen, and am so satisfied when I see it. I love to see it when she is in the company of others..because I know then that she is happy with her choice of company. I am forever in awe of her artistic talent.

I love my middle son..because he can always make me smile. He is the real deal, always genuine, always kind, and with a unique talent for seeing life from a little different perspective. He makes me laugh, and for that I will always be grateful.

I love my oldest son for the intensity with which he lives life. He is a survivor, a go for the gusto, and forever surprising me in some strange way. He carves out his life as he goes, and has little patience with other's mistakes, or his own. I am proud of the things he has acheived with little help from others...and he is not one that returns little favors in a significant way.

That my friends is my post for today. The qualities that I admire in my children also quide my choices in other ways...the blogs I choose to follow, the plants I choose to cultivate, books I like to read, and friendships I maintain. I like the ones that are artistic, that are humorous, and those that indicate their creators are the genuine real deal.

Blogging Blotanical

2009-05-22T06:09:00.003-05:00

Notice that little green box on the left? "Blotanical" with "Find Garden Posts"? It doesn't take up much space but it is really worth the space it takes up. Why? Not just increased traffic, but skip to the best part...where I talk about motivation and journal keeping.

Most of you visiting this post, know what Blotanical is, because you are members of Blotanical and found this post through that site. My blogging history is pretty much divided into "Before Blotanical" and " After Blotanical". Before blotanical, I had my doubts whether any souls knew my blog existed. After blotanical--no doubt at least 15 people a day stop by. For amateur bloggers--that's probably pretty good traffic. If I had been looking to advertise...before blotanical..would have been nada audience.

However, there is another positive about belonging to blotanical, besides increasing visibility. I have been a gardener my entire life, albeit not a very good one. There is no doubt that Blotanical membership has made me a better gardener. It helps motivate me to get out there and improve my landscape, and grow a better garden.

Blotanical and blogging has helped me to keep a journal for the first time in my life. I've always kind of wanted to write, and knew that journaling sharpens your writing skills...so...I wanted to keep a journal. I can't count how many journals I've started....

I have been pretty good about a gardening journal over the years: writing down what I plant, when, and where..but blotanical has also provided a reason for doing a little better with that. I can't tell you how nice it is to actually know the name, age, and origination of plants you love. Kudos to anything that helps you hone the recording skill.

How does it make you a better gardener? I've planted vegetable gardens nearly every year of my adult life. This is the first year I've tried succession planting. I had read about succession planting, and knew it was reccommended..but did I actually do it? No...

This year I tried succession planting by the book. Now I am reaping the rewards. Thank you Blotanical. First with radishes..not a big thing...but it is very very cool. One little row is done, and I can replant to something else. But another little row is ready..and they are at peak harvest. The same is happening with lettuce, and is going to happen with Kohlrabi and peas.

Join blotanical if you want to be a better blogger and a better gardener. Just click the green box and follow instructions.

Are there negatives? Lots. Blotanical tempts you to blog. Blotanical tempts you to see what other gardeners are doing..even in Malaysia. Now what does that have to do with anything practical? That's just fun. Blotanical causes a garden or blog syndrome. Do I browse through blogs or do I get out there and garden? Garden...blog...garden...blog...garden...blog..

I guess I had better get to the garden before the sun. I need to thin and transplant that next to last Bibb lettuce plot!! I think I might have lettuce for next week's Farmers Market from the planting before that one. Hopefully..I can have lettuce for a few weeks in a row. Very cool.

Old Ladies and Garden Clubs

2009-05-19T06:40:00.004-05:00

My friend has been inviting me to join her little garden club for over ten years now.

I was interested, and it sounded like fun..but there always seemed to be conflicts with my schedule or my kids schedule. My kids used to laugh when I would discuss joining the garden club. "You--in a garden club?" Last summer, my daughter actually suggested it. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when out of the blue, she said "Mom..you should join one of those garden clubs that Terry goes to."

Terry actually belongs to to two garden clubs. The one, she says, she likes because they just have fun and are not finicky. The other one, she likes because the members are more serious, and she learns from both. She like to try her hand at flower arranging. Me...I like to look at her arrangements.

She knows me well. She suggested the "fun one". The fun one is called Ripley Gardeners. Even though they meet once a month--there was always a serious conflict. There was last night too. My choice..an AAPC meeting about ICD-10... For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a professional society for medical coders. I'm trying to become one of those, but..with each passing month it seems less likely. I will soon have to decide whether it is worth being a member. Choice two..the garden club. Hmm..which sounds more fun to you? Hmm..which sounds like it might lead to employment? OOOPS.

When my husband and young adult son..who is still resides at our house...because the room is free?... arrived home from work , I had decided on the garden club, but was trying to rationalize it out loud.

Young son..said "Garden club? Now that is something I have no desire whatsoever to participate in! That's like you and Aunt Hazel talking about couch covers and carpet last Christmas when everybody else was ready to go home." Now...I don't even remember that conversation!!"

I was trying to motivate this same son, earlier this month, by asking him what essential thing he would do to the yard and garden first. "Put the piggyback sprayer on my 4-wheeler, fill it up with Round-UP and drive around" Now really. Who listens to that kid? Sometimes, I do. His suggestions sometimes have merit...even that one.

The garden club.....I went. I had fun. I bought $9.50 worth of plants in their white elephant auction. Three Forsythia, a yucca, two native honeysuckle vines, and three pots of started Kentucky pole bean plants. Now that is a bargain anyway. And...next month they are planning a trip to Wade and Gatton. They are awesome Ohio Hosta growers. There are visions of beautiful Hostas in my brain. That will keep me going today.

Who said garden clubs were for old ladies? If that is true, then garden clubs are for the best old ladies...don't you think?

Now...the cows are probably out, and the goats need fed, chicken eggs need collected.. and the clock just goes faster and faster. I'm not just saying that..it is my reality and the little clock down in the corner says it is after eight. I've come to understand that blogging time is different that normal time.

. I hope that cow is still in. She got out yesterday and I had to spend an hour messing around with that!! And...I don't even know if I have to go to work this afternoon!!

Grand ma said..

2009-05-18T15:08:00.005-05:00

Grandma used to say it wasn't safe to put anything tender out until after Memorial Day. I guess that is good advice for our part of Ohio. We had a hard frost last night, and one is predicted tonight. I didn't have anything to worry about...I thought. But check out the before and after. OMG. I'm sure it hasn't helped them to be all they can be. I had added extra straw last week, but the poor babies stuck their heads out again. Since they had been growing through all this weather I thought they would be fine. Wrong.

Upper left-potatoes yesterday

Lower left- frost layer

Upper right: potatoes this morning

Lower right: potatoes this afternoon

Bush Hog Sunday

2009-05-17T21:27:00.003-05:00

Check out some photos by clicking on the links above. By clicking, hopefully you can select a slideshow. I'm still trying to sort this stuff out. Oh my gosh--it sounds so simple, yet..... I also enabled google ads. I thought I would try it for a while. I really don't like advertising. If I think they are obnoxious, I'll take them out..but I do really appreciate all the free stuff I'm getting and I know Google has to pay for it somehow. Sigh.

Anyway, what a beautiful weekend we had. I got loads done. Still, there is lots to do. I haven't gotten the garden mulched yet..so there is still weeding to do. I bought some bean seeds, a couple of Sweet million tomato plants, and a lily. The lily is planted, the beans are not yet, and the tomato plants will probably go in containers.

I also bought some annual flower seeds. I'm thinking of using a raised bed I have as a sort of nursery plot for some of those.

Oh well..it's late and my brain and body is tired.

The definition of "country" in Dogsandcountry

2009-05-17T11:57:00.000-05:00

What is Dogs and Country? The dog part is easy. It is a blog that has lots of photos of dogs. Country? No..not country music, but country music embodies the spirit of the the thing.
When I started this blog..rural beauty and rural "realness" is what I wanted to capture. I wanted to capture the essence of "country living" through words and photos.

So...today's photo is of country dogs playing in stream with wholehearted abandon, for the sheer joy of running. No thought of the consequences..they are just wholeheartedly loving being outside and in the woods running in the water..just loving the sensation of it. You might have to click on the picture so you can see them better..but they are clearly enjoying life.

Gollee--this must be Sunday sentiment.

A little country story

2009-05-16T07:37:00.005-05:00

We went a little south to our woodland and field property last night. Just a little bit different thing to do on a Friday night. That's right we put a few hot dogs, macaroni salad, chips, and beer in an ice chest-climbed into the 4X4 ranger and went to burn a brushpile and cook hotdogs. We had cut and stacked some thorn apples at the side of a field last fall, my husband thought they were ready to burn and we needed to get equipment into the field.

I accepted this invitation from my husband -a little wary, but willing-(-always to go look for wildflowers and stuff); wary because sometimes these brush piles are not ready to burn, and sometimes these trips turn into all work and no play. Who wants to work on Friday night?

Well-the brush pile burned spectacularly, pretty much that is, and I wandered around the area taking pictures, looking for birds, and locating the poor little pines we planted on one of the slopes a couple of years ago. Eight of ten survived deer, drought, and weeds. Amazing.

I was back to sitting around the less exciting fire, smelling dairy farm from over the hill, whenI hear the familiar sound of a 4-wheeler coming up the road, turning into the lane, navigating the ruts, and coming around the corner. Now it is dark, and I didn't see it, I heard it.

Who has a 4-wheeler that has no lights, and goes riding on it after dark? Somebody who has to. That's right, it was my brother-in-law looking for his cattle. So...off he went, to ride a wooded fenceline in the dark, looking for longhorn rodeo bulls. Doesn't happen in the city.

Pretty soon, back down the other hill he comes, this time with my nephew riding on the back,and he talking on the cell-phone to my sister, who comes down the first hill in their jeep with their two dogs.

Just typical middle of the night in the country.

Doggone and dogged

2009-05-14T06:46:00.004-05:00

SL: Since Labradors(no quite as smooth as BK: before kids) but I know it has become a timeframe of my life.

I have SL vocabulary now. I will share two words with you today.

Doggone: retains its dictionary definition of being a substitute for the GD exclamation we all know so well, but at the same time means the Dog is Gone!. He was right there by your side, watching you weed, or carry water, or get wood. He was being good doing dog things in your presence but in this second ..he is gone. He went to visit the neighbors in a flash, probably across the road. You fear for his safety, you fear that he will be gone forever. You immediately have to go get looking for him, you immediately have to get him, and most of all you fear for him. Doggone!!

The opposite of doggone is dogged.

I am being dogged at this very moment.

The dictionary definition of dogged, the adjective, means determined. However the term dog besides being the word for the canine animal we know and love is also a verb meaning to follow in a determined manner. In this case my labradors follow me around the house in a determined expectant manner until I give up and we go for a dog walk. They dog me when I blog in the morning. They dog me in the kitchen after supper. Sometimes it seems that I am just constantly dogged. I think that is a good thing.

Peduncles and Pedicels

2009-05-10T17:02:00.005-05:00

On peduncles and pedicels:

Now that Mother's day is over,
I'm back to my obsession with the

Ornamental Onion, Allium species

that is coming into it's own in my front garden. I've been
calling it

Allium Giganteum,

because I thought that was the one I bought. Now that I've been
looking around on the web

for information on this plant, I'm not entirely sure what species I
have. I do know that it is an

Allium, belonging to the family Alliaceae. For great information
on ornamental onions in general

visit http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/growingflowers/growingflowers/allium.

The thing that I am finding most fascinating is the flower.

It is an umbel on top of stalk.

My old botany book tells me that an

umbel is a type of racemose inflorescences.

An inflorescence is a group of flowers at the end

of a flower stalk or peduncle.

Racemose means that flowers continue to develop continuously.

In alliums the axis is short and the little short flower stalks in

the inflorescences is nearly of equal length.

Poppies pop and are done, but alliums develop continuously

over a longer period of time, allowing my amateur skills

as a photographer to show that this flower will be

in the garden for a long period of time.

Above are pictures taken today.

My mom was a gardener..

2009-05-10T10:08:00.004-05:00

My mother was a gardener through and through. She was a "plant whisperer" in her very heart of hearts. She not only gardened for necessity but because she loved flowers. A few of her favorites were Gloxinia, African Violets, Peach trees, rhubarb, asparagus, and mint. She also had a big collection of Amarylis.

I wanted to use this picture because it is as I remember her happiest --going and coming from the garden or working in the yard. I didn't remember that she was holding radishes. But...just look at that!!

Allium watchdog

2009-05-08T11:24:00.000-05:00

Grizzly wanted to get in the act. Sorry!

Sam

2009-05-08T09:49:00.000-05:00

Koko's friend, Sam is asking "What's happening in your garden today?"

Allium progression

2009-05-07T09:42:00.000-05:00

Oh my gosh. It's going to be a progression I hope. I don't know if I can do this.
The difference between today and yesterday is that there is a few more "spikelets", petals? pushing out on the left.
Oh my gosh! Wish me luck. The dogs will probably knock it over and somebody will run a truck over it...or phew.. I don't want to think about all the disasters possible.

radishes for supper

2009-05-06T18:15:00.001-05:00

This is my first selective harvest from an April 4 seeding of radishes. I've learned to scatter them scarcely so that I didn't have too much thinning to do. These are small but very tasty and were a fine addition to the relish plate. Radishes need an abundant supply of moisture and nutrition in order to make crisp juicy sweet flesh. Many of you are doing raised beds with nice loose organic media and radishes probably do well.

Radishes almost always quickly germinate, but they do not always make sweet/pungent fat roots that we are accustomed to eating. Beginners need to thin seedlings so they stand at least 2 inches apart, and soil should be amended before planting so that nutrition is immediately available.

Radishes are one of the vegetables that are influenced by day length and if you plant the spring types too late in the season they make all tops and no roots. There are spring, summer, and winter types. We are mostly accustomed to the spring types like Cherry Belle, or Sparkler. Some people are starting to plant some of the bigger winter types late in the garden season. I am going to try some this year just for fun.

They are a very good companion crop for carrots, lettuce, and cucumbers.

The scientific name for radishes is Raphanus sativus and historian Pliny notes that they were cultivated in Egypt at the time of the pharoahs and chinese literature first mentions them in medical literature of the 14th century. By 1806 there were 11 types known to be cultivated in America.

They contain an antibiotic called raphinin. As an herb they have been used medicinally to improve digestion, act as an expectorant and are known to be effective against bacterial and fungal infections.

..more than you ever wanted or needed to know about radishes.

I usually plant too many of them and I did that again this year. Sigh. They are cute and add color to salads and are tasty as long as the weather stays cool and we get plenty of rain.

waiting for allium giganteum

2009-05-06T08:54:00.002-05:00

Not yet.

It's an Allium Giganteum?

2009-05-05T11:01:00.005-05:00

Koko is pointing out that this might be a picture opportunity next week. I can't wait for the Allium giganteum to open. They are so spectacular.

I purchased these a few years ago when my daughter and her friends were selling bulbs as a soccer fundraiser.

Now I would like to find a spot for some called Globemaster, that I think have even bigger blossoms. They are a wonderful addition to my corner plot-they just get enough sun--a sunnier location would probably be better. They need sun to make strong stems to hold up those big seed clusters.

Early May Garden Plant Inventory

2009-05-04T10:10:00.004-05:00

It's a good time to take stock--what's growing and what is not.

In the foreground you can see the Big D, with plastic on the unplanted part. The plastic is part of my reuse recycle plan. We sometimes cover our round bales with plastic bale covers. They add significantly to the expense of hay baling and I thought I would make them do double duty. It has seemed to work--but it was annoying and time consuming to put them out and keep them from blowing away. There are now rows of green things in the brown area.

So--here's my boring plant inventory:

I. Fruit

Old strawberry patch-with tons of new plants and of course some of the original 4 year old plants. The old patch is weedy/grassy and I will have to resort to a chemical fix.

60 new strawberry plants

5 20 year old blueberry plants, plus 6 new ones that I am propagating from the old

1 Yellow Delicious apple tree

1 Winesap apple tree

1 Montmorency Sour Cherry tree

6 Logan Black Raspberry canes--only two I'm sure is alive

3 neglected grape vines

2.Herbs

Sage

Mint

Oregano

Italian Parsley ?(new seeding, not sure they are growing)

3.First planting vegetables

9 Iceberg Lettuce plants

6 Red Sails Lettuce plants of original 9(we've eaten two, one died)

9 Broccoli plants

8 cabbage plants(Flat Dutch)

120 (apx) hills potatoes-21 Red Pontiacs, 10 Kennebec, 8 Norgold visibly growing,

20 white onions

Asparagus--old and new patches

4. Second Planting Vegetables

40 Oregon Sugar Pod Peas-hope to trellis them today

45 Green Arrow Bush Peas

116 Early Vienna Kohlrabi-got carried away planting them!

23 white onions

78 Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce plants(gave some away)

68 Cherry Belle Radishes

? carrot seedlings--should get them thinned today

? Detroit Dark Red Beets --also need thinned

5. Third Planting-most of these are up--but some still germinating

a double row green arrow peas

bed planting of Early Sugar Snap

Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach

Wando peas

Swiss Chard

Kale

Bibb Lettuce

Kohlrabi

Sigh.. I think that is mostly it. There are some volunteer sunflowers growing, and I have all the warm season stuff like beans, cukes, squash, maybe okra. Sweet corn will also go in the field later.

We'll see how it goes. I am not realy a gardener--I am a planter. It is more fun to paint the easel than it is to frame and hang it. Weeding, spraying, thinning, watering and timely harvesting is a struggle for me.

Happy gardening and blogging to all.

Woodland Treasure

2009-05-03T13:44:00.001-05:00

Did Koko know we would find supper? What a fun time we had.

Gardening gone to the dogs

2009-05-01T11:35:00.000-05:00

Koko's asking "let's go for a walk?" . She's saying "Gardenings all well and good, but it's been raining, the soil is muddy and it is more fun in the woods". And please, please don't go back in the house. and sit in front of that machine. Just bring the camera and we can go to the woods, and see neat things that other people will never get to see.

The wind is warm and balmy. The water is running in the streams. There are birds to hear, birds to see, and birds to chase. You can look at wildflowers, maybe find some morels, and walk across ravines with me.

We're going to the woods. Gardening will wait for another day. Have a beautiful weekend.

OARDC Crabapple time

2009-04-30T09:25:00.005-05:00

This is our cherry tree, but the apple trees are telling me that it is time to visit the crabapples at work(OARDC). I was there yesterday and they are not a peak yet, but they are coming along. If you live in Ohio, or even if you don't you won't be sorry if you stop in at Secrest Arboretum to see the spectacular crabapple show. We have one of the largest crabapple plantings in the US. They are not only in experimental plots but are planted along many of the drives. The campus is a wonderful place to walk, run, or bicycle or just drive through, if time is a issue. For more on Secrest Arboretum and also their Plant Discovery day this weekend visit http://secrest.osu.edu/.

For more on OARDC in general visit http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu.

I guarantee that you will enjoy your visit whether it is in person to the actual campus, or whether you just able to check out their website.

Japanese Red Maple

2009-04-29T20:14:00.000-05:00

Since I picked this as one of my favorite landscape plants, I thought I would share a photo of the little one in our yard. It's leaves are just unfolding. They are such beautiful little well behaved trees.

I didn't get to run around with the camera or the dogs today--probably a good thing.

Bleeding Heart

2009-04-28T11:13:00.001-05:00

I couldn't resist another picture of this perennial plant. I love it. It is planted at the NE corner of my house, right beside the driveway. It is doing very well there and provides beautiful early flowers.

I keep thinking that I will provide more gardening knowledge in my blogs. I do know a very little. I have a special article on this plant somewhere in my gardening tomes. Seems easier to Google it!!

This plant is the one most people recognize as Bleeding heart. It's scientific name is Dicentra Spectabilis. It's origin is China. It flowers in early May, (late April at my house this year). It seems easy to care for and I have not had any problems with it. I've had it a few years, and it doesn't seem to be taking over, but it is probably time to think about propagating it. I'm not sure, but I suspect that one would divide it? in late summer?

Spring green

2009-04-27T08:33:00.000-05:00

The walk was all green this morning. Beautiful green with the exception of the Bleeding Heart, the red maple, and the cherry tree. Wahoo. I couldn't resist using them all. I need to use restraint.

Alfalfa and dog

2009-04-27T08:15:00.000-05:00

This lovely field of alfalfa is the dogs playground, part of our livelihood, and was a very green, bushy and beautiful field this morning.

Asparagus

2009-04-26T16:45:00.000-05:00

My first asparagus of the season!! There are big bundles of it in the store, but this is part of my first harvest.

I've been thinking that I should have a recipe box for all the good things I harvest. I love asparagus just plain steamed, either in a pot or in the microwave. It doesn't even need butter and salt. Yum!!

A word of warning: if you want to know how to grow asparagus, this is not the site to read. Please browse on. There must be an asparagus.com or asparagus council or something online somewhere.

I will share a gardening story about asparagus. I spent the first years of my life on a hillside farm that had a "potager" garden to die for. There were big plots of asparagus and rhubarb, sour cherry trees, and all kinds of herb beds. The garden even had a picket fence around it with a real garden gate. How cool is that? I know this, because my parents moved to a bigger farm, and kept the old farm. We owned it for another 10-15 years, renting the house, and growing crops there. We visited the "other farm" often, but did not keep up the garden, and the renters didn't either. Alas.

The garden at home, though productive, was not nearly as neat. It was just a big dirt garden between a creek and spring run. Alas..no asparagus at the house, but it was growing wild along the roadside, and in one patch on an abandoned farmsite that was actually a part of our property. My mother would "look" for asparagus in grass and weeds near the telltale stalks of the prior year.

When my husband and I settled on our little plot of land I bought rhubarb starts, 8 blueberry plants, a peach tree, a cherry tree, and two apple trees. One of the blueberry plants died and the following year..in all my wisdom, I planted asparagus crowns in the space left by the dead blueberry plant. My husband was busy with spring planting and didn't know until we saw the little feathery fronds. Oh..my gosh.

Blueberries and asparagus are about as different as you can get in the sprectrum of soil needs.

But they were forgiving and both blueberries and asparagus are still growing and producing well enough. After getting another asparagus bed started, I thought this was the year...to move the existing asparagus. If you've never tried to dig up asparagus... DON'T. It has an unbelievable root system. I couldn't find anything in ANY of my books about "dividing" asparagus. Now I know why!!

A garden to create

2009-04-24T10:13:00.000-05:00

This is a gardeners easel. I envision some rhododendrons and azaleas. There is a small rhododendron in the distance. It is a work in progress. Rich dark soil, but wet and we are looking west. There is not enough time in the day or energy in my soul for this time of year.

Sometimes I get very frustrated with gardening and homemaking media. It is all about photography and advertising One of the articles in a recent issue of THIS OLD HOUSE, (which I do love by the way--because I do like photography) features Twiggy or brushy trellising. A wonderful woven twig trellis is pictured with instructions. I have the twigs, and I need a trellis--but it would probably take me most of the day just to cut the twigs. Even if I had the twigs cut, I really would have had to figure it out on my own, because the instructions were a bit lacking. Me--doing that, I would have ended up with an ugly mess I think.

Dogs and dogwoods

2009-04-24T10:01:00.000-05:00

This area is one of the latest alterations to my landscape. I love looking at the colored twigs in the winter and watching them come to life. The dogs are liking the fact that it hasn't been cleaned yet. Lots of critter smells to investigate. I have yet to weed and mulch it this year--maybe this weekend. I used minimal mulch last year and I am paying for it. My shoestring budget does not allow much for the landscape--actually I think landscaping falls under the health category of my life. It keeps me healthy and happy.

Rhubarb three weeks later

2009-04-22T15:16:00.000-05:00

Check out the rhubarb today(or a couple of days ago). Three weeks ago it was just one little sprout. Now there are 4 leaves and more.(This is just a little corner of the patch) I'm not sure that I will harvest any this year, since I just divided it this spring. We'll see how robust it is. I'll probably straw mulch it soon. I don't like the looks of straw mulch but I have a lot available for free...and it works---it's just not as professional looking.

Earth Day Musings

2009-04-22T14:30:00.000-05:00

Seems like it was a very long time ago when saving the earth was about exposing some manufacturing conglomerate's irresponsible habits. Now the dinner table discussion is about global warming or EXCUSE ME-- global climate change, with our family as a whole wondering whether humans as a group can actually influence such a thing. I am still horrified when I read about piles of toxic electronic trash in other parts of the world. Can I do anything about that? Probably not.

But I can make my little place in the country more beautiful and habital and clean. Some of the old concerns are still vital--somebody still throws things out car windows. I have to go pick it up all the time. Most of us are probably guilty of owning something that drips oil and gas. Fix it or get rid of it if you can!!

We gardeners support a huge horticultural industry. We should be green in our buying habits and encourage our industry to do the same.

All that aside, if we just take care of own little plot, and our own little neighborhood community, and help our neighbors do the same, the world will indeed be a more beautiful place.

Happy Earth Day

Fried Potatoes

2009-04-21T14:36:00.000-05:00

Now they call them homefries, and sometimes you can order them instead of baked, mashed or fries in an actual restaurant. Even GOOD restaurants.

I grew up literally dirt poor in the hills of Ohio, and garden produce was basically what we lived on year round. I wonder what poor kids eat today? At least 1/3 of our big square dirt garden was devoted to potatoes. We even owned a potato planter. I think it was originally designed to be pulled by horses, but we used one of two small farm tractors, probably using whichever one was working at the time. I remember a big pile of potatoes in wooden crates in our dirt covered basement. Gosh...there must have been rats and mice. One side of the basement was lined with shelves. On those shelves were jars and jars of tomatoes and green beans. As a teen coming home from school looking for something to eat--I usually settled for stewed tomatoes. Imagine that.

But...back to home fries--my mother cooked them in a big cast iron skillet with a big dollop of lard. Yep...LARD!! They were sometimes all we had to eat, when we came in from milking cows and feeding the calves. They were liberally sprinkled with salt and pepper and we could sometimes eat them with cold tomato relish.

And....I loved them...grease and all. I still do, and I still cook them in a cast iron skillet ...on the lowest heat setting of a gas cooktop...15 minutes covered, stir them around, and 15 minutes with the cover off. My kids eat them with ketchup...but they also have hamburgers, or pork chops, or sausage sandwiches to go with them..and at least a green or orange vegetable. And I don't cook them in lard!! I haven't grown potatoes in the garden for a while. I'm trying the method described by Rodale in an old Organic Vegetable Gardening book I have.

I don't remember using the easy method of deep straw mulch..we probably didn't have the straw to spare. Neither do I remember watching for them to come up in the big dirt garden...but I have watched for them this year and I can only hope for the same kind of harvest my parents used to enjoy...because I also remember having to digg them with a potato fork...and digging...and digging.

Cherry Belle Radishes

2009-04-20T14:59:00.000-05:00

You can't keep a good radish down. Two warmer days have made a difference outside. However I do not think these Cherry Belle radishes will be ready next week. The 22 day maturity time must be for warmer temperatures! My unmulched potatoes are up. I left some unmulched at one end so I could see when they came out of the soil. I will need to add more straw to the whole shebang. You can see rows of things in the garden. Peas, radishes, lettuce, beets, carrots, kohlrabi are popping up in the garden. I added a few more rows of peas this weekend. In a few days, I think I will start moving things around in the rows and adding into rows. I want to try some companion planting. My puzzle is how to make the whole thing more attractive and inviting. It is now just a big old-fashioned square farm garden. Hmm. I don't want to do anything very permanent, as we need to get the tractor in, and maybe we'll want to put the whole thing back to crops...but this is the third year and it is starting to shape up.

If any gardeners looking at this have suggestions on how to make a big square garden in a big farm field look like something that suggests something more than untilitarian gardening..please share!!

Country collage

2009-04-20T14:55:00.000-05:00

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

2009-04-18T06:59:00.000-05:00

The weekend farmer and his son are out and about already. There's work to be done inside and out. Even the dogs are telling me to get on with the chores, and get outside.

Dogs and Woods

2009-04-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's fun.

WARM and Sunny. Yeah.

2009-04-16T10:12:00.000-05:00

I haven't even walked around yet. But this is what I want to do today.
1. Muck the weeds from the old blueberry patch, fertilize, add some more peat mulch and straw.
(I think I think I think my blueberry starts(cuttings from the old bush) have rooted. Yeah!!!!)
2. Move strawberry starts from the old patch to the new one, and mulch. Weed and mulch in the old patch
3. Finish manuring and mulching the potato patch.
4. If the big dirt isn't too wet by this afternoon, it's time to make the 2nd planting of all the good stuff..lettuce, radish, onions, kohlrabi, peas. Sigh.
5. Walk and run with the dogs.
6. Maybe run the lawn mower around a little bit.
7. Pick up trash.
8. Continue cutting brambles and rosebushes.
9.....and there is still the house stuff...clean off the deck, mulch the flower beds, wash windows.
10. It's a good day in the country.

Very nice Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T07:52:00.000-05:00

We had fun in the country yesterday afternoon. We played with the dogs, anchored the black plastic on the unplanted part of the big dirt gardern, and burned off some of the tall grass, bramble, and alder infested edges. That's been our method of slowly enlarging the controlled part of out real estate over the years. Burn it, keep it mowed for a year or so, then replant to something desirable. We've finally taken the plunge and planted some tame black raspberries. Doing that has added to the importance of getting rid of the wild potentially virus infested brambles--at least those close by.

Biggest news...the leaf lettuce I seeded earlier is growing. I saw the first little leaves yesterday. They were too little too take a picture of, but I'm excited. It thought maybe the soil temperature was too cold too germinate anything. All my cabbage, broccoli, and lettuce plants are still alive and growing slowily--except for the one Grizzly stepped on. He has elephant feet.

It will be a while before we can plant tomatoes. Our little part of the world is located right on the border of two growing zones. Every map I've ever looked at puts our little X right on the border of April 15 and April 30 for the frost free date. However all the ancestral big dirt garderners in my family suggest strongly waiting for June 1. Maybe we can get by with a little earlier due to all the much talked about "climate change".

Koko's STAR PUPPY medallion and certificate arrived in the mail today. Yeah!!

Sorry no pics today.

Working dog

2009-04-07T16:19:00.000-05:00

Grizzly hauling rocks out of the garden. Little did he know what it would like like today.

Monday Mojo. We all need that today.

2009-04-06T08:26:00.000-05:00

Just do it. Put on the coat, put on the boots, and get on with it--whatever it is you need to do.
The dogs need exercise.
Humans need exercise.
Grass is growing.
Dust is accumulating indoors.
Turn down the thinking, and turn up the doing. I can do it. You can too.

What great satisfaction at the end of the day--you've done a good job.

Koko playing on our walk

2009-04-05T13:51:00.000-05:00

This is one of my best pictures so far. I couldn't resist using it. We are in the bottoms in a little boggy area below are house. Koko and the big guy went swimming in the swamp, then went for a dip in the pond to wash off. They took a detour to visit the guys sawing firewood in the woods. Now they're pooped, but the big guy is going to have to put on his backpack and truck rocks out of my garden.

My quote for the day

2009-03-29T09:04:00.000-05:00

"When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it."

by A.A. Milne(1882-1956) from the The House at Pooh Corner(1928)

I am not a perfect dog owner.

2009-03-27T19:33:00.000-05:00

You would think that dogs are wonderful.. Every single one of us, unless we're born into a normal family want one at least once in a lifetime. Do you know anyone who can resist a puppy?

Yep, and once we get a dog, most of us think it is the most beautiful loving thing in the world. So..today I'm going to blog about some of the bad things about dogs.

1. They have hair and it comes out.

2. Puppies chew and chew and chew. Despite owners giving puppies chew toys, entertaining and educating them--most..sometime before their juvenile stage is over.. DESTROY something. My beautiful wild crazy chocolate lab did just that. She did it between 4:00 AM and 6:00 AM. She left our warm snuggly bed and wreaked havoc on my MY hiking shoes. I do not have another pair. I walk her in them. I play with her outside wearing them.

I have to earn a living which means I have to leave home. This week, because our college educated son was home, I did not cage her the entire time. I left instructions for him to watch her. The house as a result looks like a war zone. There is pieces of torn fluff all over the house and instead of gardening, I will have to spend some time CLEANING.

I am not a perfect dog owner. But...at least she is not in an outside little square kennel with plastic on top and she is not on a chain. I am trying to educate her and myself.

Still I am not a perfect dog owner. She is not the best dog. We just do our best to be happy.

I am not a good blogger. I am only learning this. I hope I get better.

Dogs and Country

2009-03-20T09:07:00.000-05:00

It is the first day of spring and a good time to start a gardening journal.

But first, coming with me on this adventure will be two Labrador retreivers.

Both are learning new tasks. The younger, a 6 mo old chocolate female is working on the new Super Puppy program credential recently started by AKC. Cudos to them, and all the trainers who are taking time to incorporate SUPER PUPPY into their schedules.

KoKo is small and active, already an accomplished Frisbe catcher and retriever. This week she has to work on SETTLE, downstay and sitstay and preparation for her final weeks. Ohmigosh she hates being still for long, unless she is sleeping or looking out the window