To get caught up on my posts I’ll start with a look around the farm These pictures were actually from last week so I’m still a bit behind. 🙂
Chickens
Our youngest chick hatched on June 29th.
My husband named her or him (it’s still too early to tell if this is a hen or rooster) Strawberry because when he took the flock some strawberry tops that I had trimmed she grabbed one and gobbled it up. Strawberry was probably less than two weeks old at the time. He or she still sticks close to momma, not necessarily because it is still being trained or cared for by momma, but it doesn’t have anyone its own age to hang out with.
These are 2 of the chicks that hatched on May 12. They are beginning to look more like adult chickens and we are certain that one is a rooster. My husband even heard him try to crow one day.
Rex is our roo from last year. He is the daddy of all the chicks that hatched this year. He is a bit of an odd bird. He does the normal crowing sound of a rooster (Ur Ur Ur Ur URRRRR!) but also makes a loud cawing sound (Arrrr!) that I have never heard a rooster (or any chicken) make before.
What’s Blooming
Hibiscus in bloom.
Cosmos.
Wild flowers
The Pond
On some of these hot days I’ve found a dip in the pond quite refreshing and a pleasant way to get in a workout.
Garden News
Keeping the gardens alive has been a huge challenge this year. The weather has not been kind. Both June and July were very wet and all of the plants have been stressed at best. My husband has spent many hours weeding and fertilizing. Doing anything he could think of to keep things alive and growing.
I think he’s done an amazing job. I really thought we would have more crop loss than we have.
Acorn Squash
Another type of winter squash.
Sweet corn and Melons
Tomatoes (they may be small but they taste great!)
Sunflowers
Cucumbers and Eggplant
Green beans and Beets
Fruits
We had an amazing blueberry crop this year. We began picking in June and just finished picking last week. I lost track of how many we harvested as we were eating them fresh, freezing some and having friends and family pick and take what they wanted.
We have some apples that are looking good and if we can keep the birds away, we should have a decent harvest.
We also have a lot of grapes that are looking good.
We have put netting over them to try to save as many as possible for us. Homemade grape juice is one of our favorites!
I feel like I just wrote my review of June and already we are more than a week into August. July 2023 is history but let’s take a look back to some July stuff.
Weather
Our July weather was anything but typical. While we didn’t suffer the extreme heat that much of the country did, we had a very wet month. Typically, we spend a lot of time watering the gardens in July but this year there was no need for that. In fact, we had much more rain than we needed for some of our plants to thrive. My husband saw a report that our area had over eight inches of rain fall in July. Our average rainfall far the month is less than four inches. We were blessed though that we didn’t get any of the large hail or damaging winds/tornadoes or power outages that areas around us had.
Gardens
Blueberries have been our superstar crop this year. I mentioned picking blueberries in a couple of my previous posts and we have continued to pick them into August. I told my husband that since we pray for God to provide for our needs, I assume that God is telling us that we need to eat lots of blueberries.
We have also been picking green beans and cucumbers. Some of the green beans went into the freezer but most we enjoyed with our dinners.
So far we’ve had enough cucumbers for me to make 6 pints of bread-and-butter pickles which makes my husband happy because we only had one jar left in the pantry from last year.
All of the cauliflower died and much of the cabbage either died or is struggling so I was surprised to see that broccoli plants forming crowns.
I would be delighted to pick a few bunches of broccoli this year.
Our squash and pumpkin plants seem to be faring well so far.
We are seeing small squash and pumpkins on many of the plants and even some cantaloupes starting to form fruit.
Colors
The colors this year are beautiful – lush greens and bold colored flowers.
The lavender continued to blossom and was heavily foraged by bumble bees and honeybees throughout July and well into August.
I was surprised to see that this cosmos that came up voluntarily from seeds that were dropped last year is white while all of cosmos last year were all pink. I not sure how to explain that – likely is has something to do with the plant’s genetics. I’m now waiting for others to blossom to see what color they are.
It was the very end of July when the hibiscus began to blossom.
Purple coneflower in a patch of wildflowers.
Early in July I decided to dig up some Black-eyed Susans that were outgrowing their designated spot at the house and plant them at the farm. I wanted them in the front corner of the fence where I can’t get to with the riding mower. My husband planted them for me and for several weeks we’ve been waiting for them to bloom. Now they are. Black-eyed Susans spread through underground rhizomes and by seeds that they drop so my hope is that they will not only fill in this corner but spread some along the fence as well.
Mosquitoes
The wet weather has been ideal for mosquitoes. Did you know there are more than 3000 species of mosquitoes worldwide? Around 60 species in Michigan alone. I found this very interesting article that explains about different types and where and when we might expect them to hatch, grow and live.
The mosquitoes that we are currently plagued with would be categorized as floodwater mosquitoes – these eggs are laid in depressions in the ground that flood or hold water when conditions are right. The eggs may remain viable for up to seven years.
While dragonflies, frogs, toads and many of the bird species that live on, or visit, the farm are known to dine on mosquitoes, apparently there are more than enough to go around because more often than not a trip to the farm means dousing ourselves with that horrible bug spray in order to prevent being eaten alive by these vicious blood suckers. Sadly, I’ve not spent as much time outside as I normally would because I try to avoid the use of chemicals as much as possible.
Birds
Sometime during the last week of July our green herons returned.
Each year the pair shows up in late summer and spends several weeks with us. Since we have never seen their nests or their young, I assume that by this time they have raised their young and then stop at our pond for some fine dining before they migrate south for the winter.
They seem to be pretty comfortable with us, flying up from the edge of the pond to the windmill and waiting there until we passed by.
You might remember this post from July where I showed you the life ring that had become a bluebird house. Well, we have since learned that there are baby bluebirds being raised there. (I tried to get a picture of them but it just looked like a black hole.) We are enjoying seeing the bluebirds coming and going as they care for the young. When doing some reading, I learned that bluebirds commonly raise three broods per season. I also found interesting that sometimes the babies from the earlier brood will stay around and help feed the next group of chicks.
We do plan on getting some new life rings next spring. I think we will also be buying or building bluebird houses.
Thanks for visiting and I you enjoy the rest of August.
Our blueberry harvest is well underway and an abundant harvest it is. My husband and I picked about 5 quarts last Thursday, then on Sunday my sister brought her grandkids out and they picked another 5 or so quarts. The berries are still ripening so I hope to have my grandkids over this weekend to pick some as well. Blueberries are Addies favorite.
We have also been picking and enjoying Swiss chard and green beans.
Too Much of a Good Thing
In the last several weeks we have had more than enough rain. The ground is saturated, and our brassica vegetables are suffering because of it. You might remember as we wrapped up June our gardens were looking great, especially the cabbage.
Cauliflower after too much rain.
They are no longer looking good.
Cabbage after too much rain.
Some of the other plants are showing signs of stress as well like yellowing leaves (squash), slow growth (beets) and split fruit (tomatoes).
On the Wrong Side of the Fence
This fawn was on the inside of our fence.
and was not sure how to get out.
While its mother was on the outside of our fence apparently wanting to get her baby out. I’m not certain how the young one got inside our fence. I don’t think it was born on our property because it looked to be at least several weeks old and I think we would have encountered it before now. I don’t think it jumped over the fence because it didn’t seem to know how to jump back over. In the evenings, when the dogs are not at the farm, we sometimes leave the gate open, so a likely case scenario would be that momma brought the baby in when the gate was open and we unknowingly locked the baby in.
That evening we again left the gate open hoping the little one would find its way out and back to momma. We haven’t seen it around since that day so we are assuming it found its way out.
Pollinator Paradise
The prayer garden is abuzz with bees. Honeybees and bumble bees among other pollinators are heavily foraging the lavender, thyme, oregano and tickseed.
But our back field also has lots to offer pollinators. Perhaps we should call it a”Field of Pollinator Dreams”.
The field is blanketed with white clover as is most of our farm. It is a favorite of the honeybees.
Clover is a very common flavor/ingredient in honey.
Over the years this birdsfoot trefoil has spread throughout the field. We have witnessed a lot of honeybees collecting nectar/pollen from its blossoms.
Canadian thistle also attracts bees and other pollinators for its nectar. As it goes to seed I expect we will see goldfinches in the field as thistle seed is a favorite food of theirs.
Milkweed is another plant that is prevalent in our back field this year.
Milkweed is sometimes known as the monarch butterfly plant because these butterflies lay their eggs only on milkweed plants and their hatchling caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed.
If you grow it, they will come.
We often see the monarchs fluttering above and around the patch of milkweed. There are many.
Monarchs are not the only ones with an appreciation for the milkweed as I also witnessed a honeybee on a milkweed flower and caught a quick glimpse of a hummingbird darting around the patch.
The most northern part of the field is filled with sweet clover this year. This biennial is another blossom that is loved by honeybees.
This monarch is not on a milkweed plant but perched on another plant near the milkweed patch.
I think of this field as ‘nature at its best’. It has had very little human intervention. It just grows wild. We keep some paths mowed around and through it during the summer for walking and riding the 4-wheeler and each fall after the vegetation dies we mow the field. This mowing helps to spread the seeds of plants like the trefoil, clover, thistle and milkweed so over the course of a few years what started out as just a couple of plants has become large patches of that plant.
Fun Pictures
Cattails swaying in the breeze.
Balloon flowers in bloom.
Daylilies and a hidden damselfly.
A closeup of the damselfly.
Believe it or not this is a bluebird house. Over the years we have seen different birds make their homes in the life preservers near our pond. A few days ago my husband mentioned seeing a bluebird fly out of this life preserver. Since then I too have witnessed the bluebird flying out of there. It doesn’t seem to have eggs inside so perhaps just using it for shelter or a playhouse. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are having a great July!
I let Ruby outside a Thursday afternoon and as I stood looking out the window waiting for her to return a small but colorful hummingbird made a quick stop just a few feet away from where I was standing. It’s pause in flight was just enough to say “Hello” before it hurried on its way. My thoughts immediately turned to my mom. It’s been 12 years (Friday, June 30th) since Mom passed away and there are still times when something will happen, and my first thought is “I should call Mom”.
For many years of my adult life mom and I would talk almost every day. She wanted to hear every little thing that was going on in my life and the lives of her grandkids. She would have loved hearing about that little encounter with a hummingbird.
Then on Friday evening when we turned to calendar to July it was as if Mom was speaking to me. More hummingbirds.
What I really meant to share in this post was some of the things that have been going on over the last couple weeks.
Berries
We have been picking both strawberries and cherries. Our strawberry crop is small this year and we have been eating some fresh so I only have about a quart in the freezer. Well I should say had because Monday I decided that if I am going to make strawberry jam I would have to buy berries. When I called the strawberry farm where I have bought my berries in the past I found out that it was their last day picking and I was able to snag the last two trays they had. I kept one tray (8 quarts) and got them in the freezer that day. My sister picked up the other tray so she can make jam as well.
Our cherry crop, on the other hand, was fabulous. I think I have 10 quarts in the freezer now and have made 4 pints of cherry juice. My husband finished picking all that we wanted then my sister came and picked about 4 more quarts. We left the ones we couldn’t reach for the robin family that is nesting in the maple tree nearby.
Organizing Freezers
I needed to organize my freezers because the 1/4 cow that we had ordered from our local farmer would be coming soon. I still had a large piece of suet in the freezer from last year so I cut it up and put it in the crock pot to melt. When it was mostly melted I strained it through a fine mesh strainer lined with two layers of paper towel. As it cooled it hardened back up and I now have several pounds of tallow to use in soap making. (This tallow could also be used as cooking oil or in candle making.)
I also had blueberries in the freezer from last year’s crop, so I made a double batch (6 pints) of blueberry jam and some very tasty blueberry popsicles.
Sewing Projects
My sister K.C. and her husband were in Michigan for a couple of weeks so on one of our days together K.C. and I made a trip to the fabric store. The main project I was shopping for was fabric for my dining room curtains. I knew I wanted, in some way, to match the kitchen curtains that I made last year but I didn’t want them to be exactly the same.
The picture above is the new dining room curtains I made. You may remember the kitchen curtains I made last year are full panels of the blue with the lemon pattern that I used as trim for this set. I am very happy with the way these turned out. They are very cheery and, in the afternoon, when the sun shines through the yellow, the room glows.
While at the fabric store I also found same really good deals on clearance fabrics. One fabric was a Christmas themed fleece for $2.98 a yard. It wasn’t anything I thought I would use for making garments, but I realized it would be perfect for making dog blankets to donate to our local humane society. For less than $15 I bought the last five yards and have cut it up into 7 pieces to make dog sized blankets. I have finished the edges on two of the blankets and when I finish the others will make a trip to the humane society to deliver them along with some scarves and chicken potholders that I am making for their “Pawzzar” fundraiser they will hold in December. Animal adoption is not the only way to support our local shelters.
Gardens
As summer arrived our weather pattern changed. The dry weather that we had from late May and early June has been replaced by pretty regular rain showers and storms.
We were able to stop watering the gardens and the plants have really taken off.
We will be picking green beans before long.
The blossoms on the tomato plants are turning into small tomatoes and my husband spotted our first cucumber yesterday.
I don’t know if we have ever grown healthier looking cabbage.
Chickens
When we arrive at the farm nowadays the welcoming committee looks something like this. The chicks have really grown up. The rooster on the far right in this picture, who we are now calling Rex, began crowing a couple of weeks ago. Out of the three roosters he seems to be the dominant one. A second rooster just began trying to crow this week.
Deer
The deer population on the farm has been greatly reduced since my husband put up the fence this spring. There are still a couple of does that regularly stop for breakfast (and lunch, and dinner). We did have to put fencing around the strawberries after we discovered the tops nibbled down and my husband replanted and fenced the mammoth sunflower patch after the deer ate the tops off, but they haven’t done nearly as much damage as they have in previous years.
Among things that they have (so far) left alone are the Asiatic lilies that have been in my prayer garden for at least 6 years. Each year they come up but before they ever get a chance to blossom the deer eat the tops off. This is the first year I have ever seen them blossom. That fence has been a blessing in so many ways.
I’m going to wrap up this post that I started writing a week ago, even though I could keep adding things (like we started picking blueberries) because if I keep adding to it July will be over before I hit the publish button. 🙂
Tuesday evening as we headed to the farm I didn’t really have a plan as to what I was going to accomplish. I knew there were things that need to be done, like cutting some grass, weeding in the prayer garden and cleaning garlic, but I didn’t feel an urgent need to get any of those things done.
So, I took the evening off and just enjoyed being at the farm on a beautiful summer evening. It was a great time for picture taking so grab your favorite beverage and join me.
*For anyone who is burned out on nature pictures you can play a game as you read ” Count the tennis Balls” let me know in the comments how many tennis balls you saw in the pictures. *
As we arrived at the farm shortly after 6:00 P.M. the first order of business was to feed the chickens the kitchen scraps we had collected throughout the day. As usual Ruby had to sniff though the goodies to see what she might like. Since it was mostly watermelon rinds and peach peels (I canned peaches that morning), I’m not sure if she actually found anything good to eat.
The weather is still very summerlike but there is a feel that fall is fast approaching. Late summer/fall flowers, like these black-eyed-Susans and purple loosestrife, are in bloom.
The hibiscus are beautiful this year.
I’ve been waiting all summer for these volunteer cosmos to blossom. I am reminded of my maternal grandma, who loved these flowers.
I’ve also been waiting for the opportunity to photograph a dragonfly. As I wandered through the prayer garden, this one posed on a lily leaf to oblige me.
The balloon flowers continue to blossom, but I think I need to add deadheading them to my to-do list to keep them flowering longer.
After photographing the balloon flower, I looked toward the beach and was pleasantly surprised to see our green heron. Long time followers might remember that each year in late summer we begin seeing a green heron dining along the edges of our pond. In past year I have speculated that there were a pair perhaps living in our woods since on some occasions I had seen two of them.
A couple weeks ago my husband first mentioned seeing “that bird” and he has talked about it, and how good it is at catching fish, a few times since then. Until Tuesday night I had yet to see it this year.
My husband and I agree in thinking that this is not the same bird we’ve seen in past years as it looks younger.
It also did not seem as skittish as in past years.
I was probably within 15 feet when I took this photo,
and as I stood on the edge of the prayer garden it continued to comb the shoreline making its way right past me,
on the hunt for a minnow or a frog.
Check out that hair do. Looks like a rock star. LOL!
After my rock star friend flew to the other side of the pond, I began making my way to the main garden, AKA puppy playground, to take some photos. I passed this patch of wildflowers near the beehives. I’m not sure what they are but the patch has spread each year and they make a grand showing.
When I got to the main garden and was approaching these sunflowers, I noticed two hummingbirds that seemed to be playing near the flowers. Unfortunately, they flew off before I could get my camera.
A few weeks ago my husband noticed that birds had begun eating our unripe apples. He at first was blaming it on crows but we have since witnessed sparrows flying out of the trees as we approach. He chose the tree with the most apples on it and put netting over and around it. While none of the apples are visible in this picture rest assured, we can now leave them on the tree to fully ripen.
We did leave the rest of the apple trees un-netted, so the sparrows have plenty to eat (unless the crows get there first.)
Before I continued my garden tour, I had to play a game of fetch with Ruby.
I threw the ball several times and each time she brought it back to me to throw again.
When she decided to take a break, I continued on my way.
The sunflowers, a beautiful variety that we had not planted before, were buzzing with bees.
Melons (not tennis balls)
Cantaloups were planted late and are not yet ripe, but we should get a few nice melons from these plants.
Green Hubbard
The squash are still growing as well. I expect it will be at least another month before we harvest any.
Some pumpkins are beginning to turn orange.
After leaving the garden my husband and I sat at the picnic area for a while. Ruby decided it was time for another game of fetch.
The chickens don’t play fetch, but I have seen a curious hen walk up and peck a tennis ball.
I have seen Peanut play with a tennis ball, but fetch is not his game either.
When the flies started biting my ankles we decided to relocate. We sat on the beach to enjoy the scenery. Thankfully there were no flies there.
The wind was calm, and the water looked like glass.
Until my husband threw some fish food in. The minnows began feeding almost immediately leaving rings on the surface of the pond.
The sun was setting in the west. The green heron was still fishing along the edge of the pond but was beyond the cameras reach. It was peaceful feel just relaxing and soaking up this environment.
Then the entertainment began.
Ruby and Ranger began ruff-housing.
Running and chasing each other, barking and kicking up sand.
It’s funny to watch them play like this knowing they are BFF”s.
My camera battery went dead after this photo, but you really didn’t miss any of the good stuff. I hope you enjoyed our evening at the farm. Thanks for spending time with us.
One last photo for those who are counting.
Are you making the most of the last days of summer?
Don't Eat It! Soap and Skin Care 