Tag Archives: Nature

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. 😉

Keeping Busy

Hello and welcome! Spring has been very gradual in getting here this year. It seems like we go two steps forward then one step back. No quick warm up this year. I suppose the slow warm up is good in some ways – it means that trees and plants are slow to bud thus reducing the chances of fruit trees being hit by late season frost/freeze. We have had some rain as well but so far nothing extreme. There have been a few outdoors chores that I have been able to get done, but while I’m waiting for gardening and grass cutting season to arrive, I have had spring cleaning (indoors) and some other projects to keep me busy.

Making Soap

A few weeks ago, my sister told me that her husband wanted to go back to using natural soap. She asked if I would make them a batch. Of course I was happy to do it. When I asked what kind of soap she wanted, she asked for “the shaving soap” or aloe soap which makes a really nice soap for shaving. So, on April 1st I made a double batch of aloe soap. I want some to keep for us.

The above picture is the soap in the molds after several hours. The outer edges are hardening but the center is still a thick liquid. It was in the mold for about 30 hours before it was hard enough to remove. It will be a couple more weeks before this soap is ready to use but I am looking forward to it. I haven’t made this soap in a few years.

Below is my recipe for any soap makers who might be reading.

Aloe Soap Recipe

This recipe is a large batch – 32 bars of soap. It could be halved or quartered to make smaller a batch.

40 oz. Coconut Oil

70 oz. Sunflower Oil

8 oz. Olive Oil

16.95 oz. Lye (NaOH)

45 oz. Water

about 1/4 cup – Aloe Juice (Scrape out inside of aloe leaves and blend in small blender) added at trace.

For soap making instructions see my Soap Making Page.

Making Jam

When I realized we only had one jar of strawberry jar left in the pantry I decided it was time make some more since strawberry is both my favorite and my husband’s favorite. Fortunately, I still had three packages of strawberries in the freezer.

We should now have more than enough jam to last until this year’s strawberries are ready. My husband has worked hard on the strawberry patch, so we are hoping and praying for a great crop this year.

Crocheting

In a previous post I mentioned that I was making an afghan to donate to the humane society for a raffle.

I completed that project. It’s difficult to see in the photo but the puppy paws print run through the burgundy stripes as well.

I then began a new project.

This is a cat pattern that I have not made before. Can you see the cats? I began making this using some partial skeins of yarn that I have. I really just wanted to learn the pattern. I’m not sure yet if it will be a small blanket or a pillow.

A Few Spring Pics

At last, the daffodils are blooming.

Forsythia just beginning to bloom.

I finally got a picture of a killdeer. Rarely have I seen one stand still long enough to get a photo. This one was unusual because it was all alone. Usually there are a pair in the area. I did a little research and learned that migratory killdeer will generally mate for a season and males usually return to the same area each year. They may mate with the same female as the previous year. Non-migratory killdeer may mate for life. So, I wonder, since I didn’t see it’s mate in the area, if it is yet to find a mate for this season.

Our hens like to roost in the lower branches of the spruce trees. I thought it was a picture worth sharing. 🙂

Looking Ahead

The weather is supposed to be warmer this week, and my husband plans to get potatoes planted. As for me I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself cutting grass for the first time this year.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you have a wonderful week.

Rescue Roses and Mystery Roses

This post was originally published in July of 2017. Since our wild rose bushes are now blooming I thought I would share this.

Rescue Roses

When we bought our farm it was 7.6 acres of vacant land. It had been sitting untouched for many years and was overgrown with countless types of vegetation. It was so much fun exploring the property and discovering various trees, bushes, and wild flowers.

One of my great disappointments was when I realized that I was going to lose a beautiful wild rose bush when we dug our pond. “We will move it,” my husband said. We decided to plant it next to theses large rocks. Rocks that we had decided we would never move again.

We cut down the bushy part of the rose and dug up as much as the root as we could and replanted it next to the rocks.

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We have since found 4 or 5 more rose bushes which would need to be moved so we didn’t destroy them as we developed areas of the farm. All of theses rose bushes were replanted near the rocks in what has now become our rescue rose garden.

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These rose bushes thrive in their new home.

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I am always excited to see these rose bushes blossom in the spring and they have a lovely fragrance.

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It is gratifying to know that we were able to preserve this beautiful part of nature.

Mystery Roses

Another rose story I want to share is what my husband and I are calling the mystery rose. The yellow rose bush was a given to me as a Mother’s Day gift from my children several years ago. My oldest daughter had picked it out, and she selected yellow because I had told her that bees tend to like yellow and pink flowers but not red flowers. That was something I read when I was researching honey bees. We planted the rose in the center of our prayer garden.

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Yellow Rose 2015

Despite giving it lots of TLC, watering when needed, fertilizer, and protecting it from the deer, the rose bush struggled. Last year I pruned it way down because the top had died off and dried up. I was sad because whenever someone gives me a plant it is a reminder of that person. In this case it represented my 4 daughters.

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Yellow Rose Is Red In 2017

Several weeks ago my husband asked me if I’d seen my rose bush. “It has one blossom and lots of buds.” he said. A couple days later I was baffled as I checked on my rose bush. “That was a yellow rose.” I told my husband. “Now it has red blossoms.” He didn’t really remember it being yellow, but he didn’t accuse me of being crazy. To make sure I wasn’t crazy I looked back through my pictures and found the picture above.

I decided that there were one of two explanations for this change. The first one would be that someone had replaced the dead rose bush with a live one and had put in red rather than yellow. If this had happened I’m am certain I would have seen evidence of the digging and replanting.

The other thing I thought may have happened was that the yellow rose was a grafted bush and the root stock that was used was a red rose. I wasn’t sure if roses were grafted or if this scenario was possibly so I did an internet search.

This link from the MSU Extension explains that indeed my second explanation is plausible. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/why_are_my_roses_changing_color   Apparently I had pruned the rose bush down below the point where it was grafted. The root stock that was from a red rose was strong enough to survive and seems to be thriving in our garden. I do love this beautiful red rose and it will continue to remind me of my daughters.

 

 

 

 

A Walk In The Park And Gathering Vitamin C

 

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Rose Hips

While walking at Columbus County Park last Friday with my sisters I couldn’t help but notice the thousands of bright red rose hips still clinging tightly to the wild rose bushes. “I’m coming back to pick rose hips.” I announced. I just couldn’t stand to see all that vitamin C going to waste – especially during flu season.

So when my sister J.B. called me on Sunday and wanted to come visit I asked if she wanted to go pick rose hips. The weather was great and she agreed to go.

Columbus County Park is an old farm/homestead that was granted by the previous owners to the county for use as a public park. What a grand gift it was. It is over 400 acres some wooded – some meadow, with a deep valley that the Belle River runs through. The main walking path is a 2.5 mile loop that tracks through the woods, down into the valley, along the river, back up the hill, along the neighboring farm field and back up through the woods. There are other paths throughout the park – some designated for horseback riding and others for mountain biking. There are areas for fishing and canoe launces along the river. There are areas designated for hunting. There is a sledding hill, a play scape, and a lodge with a pavilion that can be rented for events.

On Sunday we took the main path down into the valley and along the river where the rose bushes were waiting. We stopped and picked rose hips for at least 1/2 hour before finishing the loop. Sadly I forgot to take picture while we were picking (the photo above is of our rose bush at the farm and was taken around the time of our first frost last fall). I did, however, remember to get out my camera as we ascended the hill. The first three pictures (below) are taken from the same vantage point. The first photo is the path that lay ahead. The second photo was the view as I turned to my left, and the third photo is looking back where we had come from.

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This last photo was take once we were at the top of the hill. The fence and pine trees on the left separate the park from the neighboring farm filed.

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As we picked rose hips we drew the attention of other walkers. Some inquired as to what we were picking and why. Perhaps you too are wondering why I wanted to pick rose hips.

Before I answer let me make this clear: I am not a Doctor. Nothing that you read here should be taken as medical advice. If you are sick you should seek help from a medical professional. You should check with your medical professional before using any type of medication or herbal supplement.

Rose hips are known to contain high amounts of vitamin C. You can check out this article from web md for more information. Vitamin C is said to be a great aid in the prevention of colds and flu, however if you read the web md article you will realize that vitamin C  is destroyed when heated and quickly diminishes during storage. While rose hips have other beneficial properties that can withstand heating, processing and storage, it is the vitamin C that I want to capture. My solution is to make rose hip tincture. Simply put tinctures are made by soaking herbs in alcohol to extract the beneficial properties of the herb.

Here is how I made the tincture. After cleaning the rose hips I crushed them and put them in a pint-size jar. I then fill the jar with Everclear. Vodka or brandy can also be used for making tinctures but Everclear has a higher alcohol content and is said to  extract more of the beneficial properties. I covered the jar with a tight fitting lid and gave it a good shake before storing it in a dark space where it will sit for at least two weeks. The instructions say I should shake it every day, but I do it as often as I remember when walking past. After at least two weeks (probably longer) I will strain the rose hips out and we will use the remaining liquid (tincture) as needed this winter to help ward off the bad guys (cold and flu bugs).

Rose hip tincture is not the only weapons in my flu fighting arsenal. It stands along side of elder flower tincture, that I like to make into syrup by mixing it with our raw honey, and hot pepper juice – a recipe I found here.

I have been grateful for the mild winter we have been having thus far, but it seems that change is in the air as the snow storm that arrived today brought along much colder temperatures. Brrrr!

How about you? Has your winter been good thus far? Do you have any special recipes you use to prevent or treat colds or the flu? I would love to hear from you.

Thank you for reading and be well. 🙂