Category Archives: The Farm

Farm News and Views

Bees, Birds, Blueberries, Deer, Flowers, garden, Nature, Pollinators, Prayer Garrden, Rain,, Reflections, Summer, The Farm, Wild Flowers, Wildlife

Healthy Harvest

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!

Blooms and a Bluebird

Birds, Flowers, Reflections, The Farm

Evening Primrose

Dianthus

Roses

Creeping Thyme

Salvia

Iris

Peony

Roses

Chives

Our Prayer Garden

Wild Roses

This spring I have been seeing a bluebird around the farm a lot. I really don’t know if I am always seeing the same one or there are more than one, because I have only seen one at a time. This afternoon I was able to capture a picture of it in the oak tree at our picnic area. Not the clearest picture but I think you can tell it’s a bluebird.

Thanks for joining me and have a great weekend.

From Eggs to Tadpoles

Reflections, Tadpoles, The Farm, Toad Eggs, Toads

In April, when I published this post about toad mating day, one of my readers asked what a nest of toad eggs looks like. I was able to describe them and send a link of a website that had pictures, but I never saw any nests of toad eggs to get pictures of.

Two weekends ago, May 6th and 7th, what I thought were frogs were loudly and proudly singing their mating song.

I wandered the edge of the pond until I found the “party”.

It was a two-day event.

I took some pictures on Saturday and more on Sunday.

On Monday the frogs were quiet. I went to the area of the pond where the “party” had taken place and discovered eggs. It wasn’t until I did a little research on the internet that I realized that these are toad eggs. The difference being that frog eggs are laid in a large cluster while toad eggs are in strings like beads. What I thought were frogs were really toads.

They may be a bit difficult to see in the photos but the eggs look like black strings under the water.

Closer up they look like tiny black beads enclosed in a clear gel-like tube.

I couldn’t even begin to guess how many toads laid all these eggs or how many tadpoles would emerge from them. It’s my understanding that these eggs could take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks to hatch. It largely depends on the temperature of the water.

It was Friday, May 12, when they hatched.

These are probably the tiniest tadpoles I have ever seen. (Can you make out some of the tadpoles in the picture?) They were making their way to the beach area where the water is shallow and thus warmer.

It will now be two to three months before these little wigglers grow legs and lose their tales. That is when they will leave the pond and spend most of their lives on land.

Thanks for visiting.

The Fence is Finished and Other Things

Bees, Chickens, Chicks, Fencing, Reflections, The Farm

Last week we had, what my husband referred to as, the soft opening. He had completed fencing the perimeter of our property. The only thing left to do was put up the gate across the driveway. Until he could get that done, he made a makeshift gate by using a piece of the fencing to extend across the driveway and clamping it closed.

Difficult to see but there is fence across the driveway.
Front of the property looking east
Front fence looking to the west from driveway.

Putting up the grate took a few days. First my husband rented a post hole digger to make the holes for the wooden posts. Then he had to measure the depth of the holes while putting the posts in and filling in around them with quickcrete (cement). On top of the quickcrete he put stone then topped it with soil. He used a level to assure that the posts were straight. Once they were in place he left them for a few days to let the cement set up. On May 2 he attached the gate to the posts and the project was complete.

From the inside looking out.
From the outside looking in.
The fence in this photo surrounds the front garden. It is not part of the perimeter fence.

All of the rain that we have had in the past week has the ground saturated. We now have pooling water everywhere.

We have a bumper crop of dandelions this year.

Even though we have been wishing for the temperature to hurry and warm up there are some good things about the cooler temperatures.

The apple trees have not blossomed yet thus reducing the likelihood that they will suffer damage from heavy frost or freeze when in bloom.

The forsythias have enjoyed a long bloom time because of the cooler temperatures,

as have the daffodils.

For years my primrose plants have struggled just to survive. Last fall, after learning that primrose like wet soil, I decided to move my plants to a lower area in the prayer garden.

Already this spring they are thriving.

Our old chicken coop is still standing. Tearing it down is on our to-do list but has not yet become a priority. My husband had leaned the old gate from the chicken yard up againt the front of the old coop.

Earlier this week he noticed that a bird, most likely a robin, has built a nest on top of the gate.

I couldn’t see inside the nest while standing on the ground, but I was able to get a look inside by holding my camera up above the nest and taking a picture. This was two days ago, maybe I’ll take another picture today.

On April 23 our bees arrived. We had lost all three of our hives over the winter. We decided to start just one new hive this year.

They have been very busy this week – enjoying the dandelions.

Our old hens are enjoying springtime. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that at least six of the nine are laying eggs. I really only expected that four were still of laying age, but somedays we find six eggs. 🙂

Here’s a cute story: last week while working in the barn my husband found, in a dark corner, a nest with seven eggs in it. One of our black hens has been sneaking in there and laying her eggs. Apparently, she was getting ready to brood some chicks. Sadly, he had to get rid of the eggs because we haven’t had a rooster since last November, so none would be fertile. Perhaps next year, when our new roosters are mature, she will try again.

Our young chicks are enjoying life at the farm as well.

We are experiencing a lovely day today as it seems like are warmer temperatures have finally arrived, so I’m heading outdoors to get some things done. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for visiting.

Sunshine On My Shoulders 😀

Birds, Chickens, Chicks, Daffodils, Dogs, Fencing, Flowers, garlic, Killdeer, Nature, Pond, Reflections, The Farm, Weather

Over Easter weekend we had beautiful spring weather and throughout the week, that has followed, it seems that the weather has just gotten nicer each day.

On Easter Sunday, when we went out to the farm, I wore jeans and a jacket over my long-sleeved shirt, each day I have found it necessary to wear lighter clothing until yesterday, and again today, I have broken out my summer wardrobe and am wearing shorts with a tank top and enjoying soaking up that long-awaited sunshine.

Let’s take a look at what’s been happening at the farm this week.

Sunday

For about the past three weeks my husband has been working on fencing in the entire farm. It’s a huge undertaking as the 7.6-acre farm measures 1000 ft (304.8 m) by 330 ft (100.5 m). When it is all done he will have pounded in more than 260 fence posts and strung more than 2600 feet (792.48 m) of fence.

The small fence posts in the above picture line the east side of our back field. He has the entire back field fenced at this point and is working diligently on completing the front of the property.

In the above picture the fence lines the front of our property on the west side. When this project is complete we will no longer have to worry about Ranger and Ruby and even the chickens wandering onto neighboring property or into the road. It will take a large load off our minds.

There seems to be an abundance of robins this spring. Some of them have even sat still for pictures.

The fence in the above picture which had enclosed the main garden area is also being removed.

The pond level is up from last fall but it has yet to overflow like it does most years in the spring.

Ruby did not hesitate to get her feet wet as she enjoyed a cool drink from the pond.

Things are beginning to green up. I’m sure the thunderstorms we had last week helped.

Tuesday

Tuesday the weather really warmed up so we were able to move the chicks to the farm.

My husband set up their chicken wire enclosure. He designed it so they have access to the coop through the small door with hopes that they will learn to go in the coop at night.

He also put up a divider inside to coop so they do not have access to the big door.

I bet you’re not surprised to see Ranger watching the babies.

Like robins, we have an abundance of red winged blackbirds.

Some of them posed for pictures as well.

I also got a rare picture of a kildeer that was hanging around near the beach before Ruby chased it off.

The garlic that we planted last fall is coming up nicely.

As I looked up to see if the maple trees were getting leaves yet I noticed what appears to be a Baltimore oriole nest. It seems too early to be a nest build this year, so I am assuming it was from last year or maybe even the year before.

I only say “the year before” because I noticed a second one in the same tree. I don’t know how likely it is that two pair of orioles would nest in the same tree.

Some of the chickens had wandered into the field next door. This won’t be a problem once the fence is complete and it really isn’t a problem now because that neighbor doesn’t mind.

But Ruby thought it was a problem

and took it upon herself to bring them all back home.

She really does have amazing herding instincts and skills. If you have ever tried herding chickens you understand how difficult it can be. It took her less than two minutes to round up eight hens and bring them back over to our farm.

Thursday

The chicks are doing well at the farm, feathering out nicely, learning to forage

and maybe even learning to get back into the coop.

It was a great day to be in the pond, at least the dogs thought so.

Ruby discovered the (bullfrog) tadpoles and has now become obsessed with watching for them and trying to catch them. I suspect she will spend a lot of time there this summer.

Ranger just wanted to go for a swim to cool off.

When deciding to put up the fence my husband and I discussed the likelihood that the wildlife presence on our farm would be altered. Not necessarily a bad thing. While deer, fox, racoons and other animals can get over the fence it’s hard to say whether they will or not. I suppose it depends on what there is to motivate them to do so.

However, I never considered that the fence might be a problem for a pheasant. Pheasants can fly and could easily sail right over the fence.

This male ringed-neck pheasant was very confused and spent several hours trying to find an opening in the fence.

Eventually Ruby spotted him. I’m not sure if he flew or ran when she chased him but I think she did him a favor as he did clear out of the area. Hopefully he found a different route home.

I’ll leave you with a slide show of flowers that are blossoming at the farm. Among them are daffodils, forsythia (beginning to open), and primrose.

Thanks for visiting.