Pollinators

I'm amazed at the diversity our little habitat creates for insects of all kinds. Here are a few shots of some of my favorites that we've seen this summer. We easily have more than a dozen butterfly and moth species in our prairies, had a huge hatching of fireflies in June, and have all kinds of beautiful bees and moths, like the ones below.

Giant Swallotail feeding on our beebalm

Hummingbird clearwing moth (my favorite!) feeding on bee balm 

Bumblebee on our purple coneflower

Spring at the farm

It has been wonderful to observe life awaken out at our farm. All of these surprises are new for us: various spring prairie plants, flowering trees like prairie crab apples, flocks of baltimore orioles who have come to raise their young, and so on. It is lush and alive and we all take wonder at everything from a small beetle crossing the driveway to a heron flying overhead.

silo foundation = sunken firepit

We literally stumbled upon this circular silo foundation last fall after our field was mowed for the first time. It is down near all of our old buildings where it was the hub of farming activities of decades past. Following the big blizzard, we encircled this mysterious area about 10 feet around. Before the big blizzard we managed to cut back the grass and clear an area for a fire pit which was flush with ground level.

After our barn fell from the blizzard, we had large machinery on site to deconstruct the barn. We asked the excavator to scoop some of the earth out so we could transform this into a fire pit. Now the silo foundation is a circular bench that can comfortably sit many friends around a large fire. Coupled with our chain saw that's getting a workout a few times a month, this area will definitely be put to good use for many years to come!

the farm + the blizzard of '10

I am going to put up several sets of photos, starting with the recent blizzard and work my way back to August's garden bliss. We love it out there. Peaceful and tranquil. We find so much harmony.

The big snowstorm this weekend collapsed a dilapidated outbuilding, our pole barn. Historically it probably housed horses and elk as our land has a history of raising both. We had started preparing to either jack the sagging trusses up or taking some of it down next spring. I guess we will prioritize this work now that it is really a hazard on the property. Enjoy.

Locavore pizza

This was two weeks ago now, but it was DELICIOUS: pesto pizza with locally grown/raised roasted beets, asparagus, potatoes, caramelized onions and local pork sausage. Heaven.

Flowers and birds and bunnies oh my

So we've had our share of garden pests this year. Squirrels, bunnies, chipmunks and other little critters also enjoy the fruits of our labor. So we've decided to fence off the lowest beds first - the tomato beds.

Secondly, I've attracted a lovely mix of birds just by changing our food source. We now have northern cardinals, purple finches, goldfinches, nuthatches, chickadees and hummingbirds regularly feeding in our yard. They are much more beautiful and have the sweetest songs. The sparrows continue to feed but I beam every time I see a goldfinch - or two or three - feeding on our thistle. I had no idea it was that simple around here to attract birds.

Midsummer Garden

We are suffering from a midsummer garden. So many crops so close to harvest (carrots, onions, more broccoli, squash, loads of tomatoes); so many main season crops just sprouting/transplanted  (green beans, edamame, corn, more storage onions; cucumbers); a few spots laying low for a few weeks before fall crops are sowed. Hard to think about cold-weather crops on a week like this.

The heat and humidity have been a boom for the garden. The watermelon tunnel is the best we've ever grown. Three varieties growing in an 8-foot long remesh hoop house. It should be a bumper crop this year, thanks to our hoop house we placed over it - and still have in place. After this cold high pressure moves through this week and it looks like the heat is with us for good we'll take off the plastic.

We have been eating well from the garden but still feel there's more we could be doing:

• savoy cabbage
• broccoli goodness
• greens, more than we can eat 
• basil (need to do another double batch of pesto, seems to be a monthly routine)
• carrots, baby carrots to think out the main crop
• strawberries continue
• raspberries, just starting to be gobbled up
• tomatoes, a few more this month!

Grow beans, grow!

I spy red, orange and yellow in the garden beds!

Mmmm, sweet bells. This is our early variety. The later one is just opening flowers. Perfection.