The Farm Report

It's been a while since I did a post entirely devoted to the progress and activities of our farm, so today's post is entirely devoted to the homestead.  This summer has brought us so much, a bounty of everything from activity to new life.  And as tired as I am, I am also grateful for it.

For the past few years I have sprinkled sunflower seeds around the yard and this year, after having given up on ever seeing these light-craving creatures succeed in my shady yard, two bloomed right next to each other and I basked in their glow while they lasted, then let them drop their seeds in this sufficiently sunny spot hoping there will be more next year.

Mr. Bleu and I made great strides on building our greenhouse/conservatory through June and mid July, but as the days got hotter earlier, and all these blasted rocks never got any lighter, we decided to put it on hold until things cool off a bit.  It's a solid start to the foundation, and yes, we did haul each of these rocks up here from around the property, so I am excited to see how this goes and hopeful that the final project will match my vision.

We moved our garden spot this year to allow the previous place to rest and replenish and we experienced quite a bounty harvest in butternut squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

Funny thing is, I don't really like butternut squash, so I am hopeful that many of the people in my life will either like them or be interested in trying them so that I may share this abundance I have rather than trying to find a place to cold store them for the winter.

As much as I have enjoyed the summer, I don't think I could ever match the exuberance of my flock of chickens.  They have to winter in their coop to keep them safe from the various crafty predators that roam these woods, so when summer comes, they run and stretch their wings with vigor each morning, glad to have plenty of space and fresh scratching ground.

For me it is more of a chore to try to find their eggs around the yard.  This year their favorite spot has been underneath the cilantro.

Our attempts at hatching chicks were less successful than we had hoped.  Although we did manage to hatch eight from the first batch and then a second batch that only yielded two chicks,  those silly first eight birds including this adorable little satin hen, were all gobbled up by something or other forcing us to return them to their coop before summer ended this year.

The piglets all found good homes and it was quite an adventure to capture them all, but they were eating more than we could afford and it was to the point of either feed them or feed us.  I think we made the right call.  The two chicks that survived the predators did so because they took up residence with the pigs, even sleeping between the adults at night and scratching for their daily grain while hiding under the female like she was an enormous mama hen.  I was surprised that the pigs seemed right at home with the chicks, but they all got along quite well and even now, spend most of their time together.  If only I'd known we had guard-pigs, I would have put all the chicks in there with them.

One last small triumph to report is that the chicory that I dug up from the roadside two years ago has finally taken root and produced lovely blooms in my herb garden all summer long.  

I love watching them bloom in the mornings because they change so quickly.  These photos were taken just minutes apart, but you can see how they go from buds to blossoms almost instantly.

That's all to report on the farm, I suppose.  It doesn't take up much room here on the blog, but oh my it certainly has filled our lives this summer to watch it all unfold.