A Spring Walk at the Farm

Hello and welcome! It’s a beautiful morning and I thought you might like to join me for a walk at the farm.

We are seeing new blossoms every day.

The white phlox that we added to the prayer garden last year are flowering.

The primrose are beginning to bloom.

and the roses are blooming.

Our peony has only a single flower this year, but it sure is a beautiful one.

We will be picking strawberries later.

But we won’t be cutting garlic scapes for about a week. The scape is the light colored, curved shoot in the middle. They are just beginning to form.

The wild roses are in full bloom. They are very fragrant – in fact you might have smelled their lovely scent before you saw the blossoms.

Daisies scattered here and there.

A flowering shrub that I have not identified. It does have a light pleasant fragrance.

A short stroll through the woods is shady and lush.

Beyond the woods the sun shines on the neighbor’s yard.

Mixed among the grasses you might notice wild plants such as selfheal (the purple flowers) and black medic (the yellow flowers). Both are edible and medicinal.

Fleabane is a common daisy-like wildflower in our area.

Our gardens are doing well so far. Some of the tomatoes have blossoms already.

Potatoes are also doing well.

Cabbage is coming along nicely. There are also green beans, eggplant and a few other things in this patch.

Our apple trees are loaded with apples this year. It’s looking like a we may have a bumper crop this fall.

Ripe cherries on one of our new trees. I harvest three wonderful, sweet cherries from this tree. Hoping for a bigger harvest next year.

The killdeer quadruplets are still running around. They are nearly as big as the parents so I expect they will be flying off soon.

But in about a week this killdeer and its mate, who decided to nest in the middle of our driveway (forcing us to detour around the area) should have four more babies running around.

And about a week after that these four killdeer eggs, that are being incubated in an unused area of the garden, should be hatching.

In the back field we see clover,

and these yellow flowers birdsfoot trefoil.

Butter cups under the spruce tree.

And look at those pinecones.

We have a large patch of milkweed in the back field. I have seen a couple of monarch butterflies in the area, so they likely have laid eggs as their caterpillars feed on milkweed leaves once they hatch.

Milkweed.

I believe this yellow flower is called common cat’s ear. It is scattered throughout the field.

More wild roses in the wood line. Enjoy their lovely fragrance.

When we arrive back by the prayer garden my husband points out the nest that some birds (sparrows I think) have built in the top of the windmill. That was not there two days ago. Fortunately, it does not interfere with the operations of the windmill.

Thanks for joining me for a spring walk at the farm. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

As a special treat for spending this time with me I am sharing this rare glimpse of the mourning dove who is nesting in the maple tree above our deck. It has been there about two weeks now and I have tried taking pictures many times but mostly I can’t see it through the leaves. I finally got a good photo. I have not seen its mate around, but I read that mourning doves take turns sitting on the nest with males usually there during the daytime and females on the nest at night.

The Pump is in the Pond – Our Off Grid Irrigation System

Hello and welcome.

In a previous post I mentioned that we would soon be putting the pump in the pond so we could water our gardens when necessary. I also told you that my husband had said it was my turn this year to put the pump in. Let me start by explaining how this works.

Each spring when it’s getting close to time to put the pump in the pond we have a conversation like this:

My Husband: It’s your turn to put the pump in the pond.

Me: Okay as soon as we have 3 consecutive days of 80-degree F (26.6C) temperatures so the water warms up.

My Husband: Puts the pump in the pond even though the water is still colder than is comfortable.

OR

My Husband: It’s your turn to put the pump in the pond.

Me: No. It was my turn last year.

My Husband: I did it last year.

Me: I know, but it was still my turn last year, so it is your turn this year.

My Husband: Puts the pump in the pond.

THIS YEAR

My Husband: Are you ready to put the pump in the pond tomorrow?

Me: I told my readers I would take pictures and blog about it. I can’t take pictures while I’m in the pond.

My Husband: Puts the pump in the pond.

The truth is while I know how to put the pump in the pond and could probably do it if I had to, it’s one of those jobs that my husband is willing to undertake. (He’s a great guy!)

Dual Purpose Windmill

If you’ve been following my blog for a while you have likely seen pictures of our windmill. Some readers might also remember that our windmill is used both to aerate the pond and pump water out of the pond for irrigating our crops.

Aeration

The windmill works to aerate the pond year-round.

In the above photo the bubbles in the water are cause by the windmill.

In the above photo the hoses attached to the windmill run down into the pond where they are attached to porous devices called stones. We have two stones located in different areas of the pond. When the wind makes the windmill turn, air is pumped through the hoses and comes out the stones and into the water, thus providing much needed oxygen.

Irrigation

We only pump water for irrigation during spring and summer (the growing season). This year we put the pump in the pond on Wednesday, June 4. Below is a picture of the pump that we use in the pond.

Notice there are two valves. The one to the left is marked “To Windmill” (the words are upside down in the picture). A hose attaches to that valve and the other end of it attaches to one of the valves on the windmill. We unhook one of the aeration hoses since we do not aerate and pump water out at the same time.

The valve on the end is marked “out”. That is where the water is pumped out. A different hose is attached to that valve.

That metal piece on the right end has many small holes in it and is where water flows into the pump. The tube attached to the cap-like piece on the top is a vent.

When the pump is in the pond, bricks are placed on top of that long bar attached to the bottom to hold the pump in place.

Both hoses are attached before the pump is put in the pond.

This year the water wasn’t too cold. The pump will be fully submersed in several feet of water

expect for the vent tube.

I regret that I can’t show you, or tell you, how the magic works inside the pump. I just know that when the windmill pumps air in, water comes out. If the windmill is not turning, water does not come out. Also, when the windmill starts turning again a small amount of water squirts out the vent tube in the pond.

The hose that the water comes out of is run to one of our holding tanks. We have three tanks strategically located.

The hose is about 120 feet long, which is more than enough to reach any of the tanks.

The tank is filled through an opening in the top.

My husband installed spigots near the bottom of the tanks so we can attach a garden hose. We can use the garden hose to fill watering cans or sometimes we water plants directly from the hose.

Within a few minutes of having the pump installed water was running through the hose.

How fast we can fill a tank depends on how much wind we get and the wind direction. When we do not get enough rain to keep things watered, wind is the next best thing.

Thanks for visiting.

P.S. My husband just informed me that next year is my turn to put the pump in the pond. Uh, no. This year was my turn. 😉

Yesterday’s Harvest

Hello and Welcome.

Other than a few handfuls of asparagus and a lot of green onions, this is our first harvest of the year. These strawberries will be eaten fresh, and some were added to our strawberry pancakes for breakfast. They are so sweet!

The green leafy stems are oregano. I will be drying them for future use. I usually just air dry my herbs either by laying them out on a newspaper or paper towel (since newspaper is hard to come by nowadays) or by tying them in a bundle and hanging them. Depending on the herb it may take a few days to a few weeks to completely dry. Then I store them in an airtight container for future use.

I expect that we will be harvesting strawberries throughout the month of June and maybe even throughout the summer as we have some plants that are the everbearing variety. The next herb I plan on harvesting, probably this week, is thyme.

Thanks for visiting.

Monthly Inspiration

Hello and Welcome!

This month let’s find some inspiration in the weather.

“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.” ~ Morris West

“If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.” ~ Frank Lane

“There is nothing more beautiful than a rainbow, but it takes both rain and sunshine to make a rainbow.” ~ Unknown

Thanks for visiting.