The KITCHEN GARDEN IS MADE!

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

This has been a total labour of love and there are final touches to be done.. I will talk as I go.. but the last beds are made and planted.. the paths are all in.. and now we are in the live and learn and re-touch up as needed.

This photo does not show a couple plots its the best I can do yet.. all of the plots are now planted out into their bones and some already have their back filled lines of short season plants. some still need extra onions sets and little baby radish rows and little plots here and there of beets and turnip and salad greens in and around the bigger plantings.

Plot 1 was the first plot done and its fully planted out but it needs a weeding this coming week and then mulching around the tomato’s yet. I am also thinking about putting in a log edge just on the down side of this bed and edging it out like I did the round garden..

Plot 2 and Plot 3.. Plot 2 is just rocking it.. needs a tiny bit of weeding but much less then plot 1 does.. Plot three is loaded.. but don’t worry as soon as the broccoli heads up, that layer will come out of the bed and that narrow row will go into beets (just little baby ones for pickling).. The peppers were being whimps so they got the first mulch done so that I could try and get them to hold their water better and to reflect off at least some of the heat from the sun on them.

Everything else in that bed is doing well but I will admit that while the “top soil” looks great, its not really alive yet, it needs biomass added, it needs compost, I have started working with it and hopefully by the end of the garden season it will be much better.

My poor little plot 5..  some of those plants really need a cage Already or to be staked (bad playing cats) and I will for sure add in the wood edges to this one and then it will get a full layer of comfrey leaves and then mulched down over that.. this bed still has room for something else in that 4th spot in each staggered out planting.. but I am not sure what is going to go in there yet.. time will tell

Plot 6 and 8 are mirrow imagines of each other around each of the tree’s huge stumps.. some of their plantings are the same as well. Others are quite different

Ok, Plot 7 however is between them and is sqaure and done with some matching but mostly is its own plot..

The round garden was not holding up on the sides at all.. so it needed a bit of a re-work, top up with soil and mulch.. so much better

The strawberry raised bed is rocking it.. and it had its first big weeding this week and this week I will get it straw covered.. we are in full bloom second week of june, so should have our strawberries only 4 weeks later then normal.. still we are going to get them and that is what I am want and need to have happen.

This is the fresh eating strawberry house bed.. 54 plants total Above today.. below a few weeks ago.

Its sure come along nicely since it was planted last month

The rock garden is filling in as I knew it would.. I need to give those wild violets a trim and dry those greens for medical use at a later point in the year soon before they overwhelm some of the smaller flowering plants.

What a difference a month can make. See when it was planted compared to now..

Posted in Gal in the Garden Series, gardens | 6 Comments

Rain Garden 2019

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Let me introduce you to our lovely rain garden..  which is built in before our pond and its overflow will in fact go into the pond..

Now the pond was dug down and leveled with rounded swaying sides to make it look more natural. Nature was helpful, it rained and showed us where we needed to level more and that it collected the rain nicely and VERY important, it showed that it drained that water in 12  to 14 hours.

At that point we put back a mix of top soil/compost mix..  The whole area was dug down ahead of time. We went with a total of 8 inches deep in the lowest level 1, 6 inches deep at level 2 and 4 inches in Level 3. There were a few spots that I brought that up to a 2 inch dip.. so level 3 has some area’s 4 inches and other 2 inches..

It was still a bit wet when we started work on building the layers.. and yes we put in the overflow first because we wanted that matched to level 2 for the overflow.

The different layers have different plant choices based on how much they can handle wetter feet vs drying out at times.. Then we needed to mulch it down to help present seeds from blowing in an starting.

Now I know that we need another drift wood to add in there and that the plants are little yet.. but trust me.. they will grow, they will fill things in and most of them need to be split every three years so they will pay for themselve in time 🙂

Now we needed to build a dry creek bed overflow into the pond.. The sides of the made stable with the very large rocks and then the river rock fills the bottom..  there is a nice flat on each side that allows you to use them to step on and cross of the wee creek (haha) if you need to do so.

We still need to build the dry creek bed that leads into the rain garden.. but the rain garden itself is finished! I can’t wait include a photo a month as it grows and fills in and hopefully show you it in action 🙂

 

Posted in Gal in the Garden Series, Garden | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Running Dogs that Pack up..

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Sunday was a crazy day that had so many things going on, that I swear I could if I had time to do so, I could write at least five posts just on different things that went down..

However lets start at the beginning of the day that was when we let our dogs out to go bathroom, all kinds of insane barking started happening in the yard and when I went out to the deck to see what was going on.. I realized that there was a strange dog in the yard..

Nope, I was wrong.. there was two strange dogs in my yard and they were sure happy to see us.. all happy dogs with long tongues and wagging tails.  We got our dogs into the house and they both rolled up the stairs to come on in as well.. we got them locked onto the deck and went for leads.

I was pretty sure I know where both of these dogs lived, two different families and two different farms but just down the road, one to the left and one to the right.. Both dogs are in great health and were wearing their tags and names with phone numbers.. They have both lived on their farms for a number of years with no issues.

However, I could tell that the male was “REALLY” interested in the pretty girl, who was not nearly ready but appeared to be flirty.. I don’t know if they are intact but they sure acted like it.

Then Hubby called out.. o no..  and I saw big grow out 16 square foot rabbit hutch, the bottom ripped out in one big section, the wood broken, and two dead rabbits and three missing rabbits (two of which have been spotted but not caught, however one more still missing)

I was sad but sighed because I know that dogs when they pack up and run can have that prey/hunt kick in, I knew that both these dogs do not have livestock never mind small stock on their farms and have never been trained in this regard.

We took the dogs home and I was at farm 1 delivering one dog to the owner when the other owner pulled in as they were driving around looking for their missing dog..  I truly feel that both of them will be proactive in taking measures to adjust their practise’s in regards to the dogs.

I know I will be asked this.. NO I did not ask for any kind of money for the rabbits.. these are good people and I respect them as positive part of my local area.  I have lived on the farm for 15 years and I had one person’s new dog (not either of these farms) come and run my sheep on the outside of the fence line and once I talked them about it.. never again..

This is only the second time that something has happened and just like I would WANT my dogs brought home to me and give me the time to fix what happened that allowed them to run in the first place.

So home we came and we started looking for the farm cats to make sure all are ok.. and then came the rest of the dead small stock..  One of my laying hens dead and chewed on.. two more chickens missing and yet to be found at this time.. (hopefully they come back home) and then my big black Drake..

This was truly a loss, this big guy was bought as a year old at the spring farm sale and this would have been his 5th year on the farm, so he has certainly lived a good life for duck as most never make 6 years when you are a meat duck but he was one of my favorites.. he was protective of his hens but so friendly with us.. always wagging his tail and saying hello.

It bothers me that he had a painful death that I am sure he felt fear over.. I can only hope it went faster in real life then it looked like..  What a waste.. I do have his offspring here on the farm but that does not take my feeling of wrongness at his death.

We tracked down 5 out of the 6 farm cats quite quickly and all were good.. but we spent hours calling for our 6th kitty and when he came, he seemed good until he moved.. he is a touch limping and favoring one front paw..  thankfully he did let me check it, and it appears to have a swelling and a small injury.. I will watch it carefully and see if I can with hubbies help soak it..

Otherwise, I might need a trip to the vet if it gets infected..  lets hope that between the kitty and myself we can clear it up here on the farm.. but if needed Vet it will be..

It was not the sunday morning we were planning or expected.. but it was what we got.. we finished it with burying dead stock and searching for a missing farm cat..

I am very much hoping that this will be the first and last time these dogs visit the farm..  I will not be as forgiving in regards to animal loss if it happens again.

Ok, I know this is going to come up, yes I do have the right to call bylaw, yes in a direct attack on livestock you are legally allowed to put down the attacking dogs and yes, you have legal rights in regards to getting standardized (pre-set) pay outs for dead stock or vet bills if damages done etc.

However once you do any of that.. you are really ruining your relationships.. think long and hard before being “that” person..

 

Posted in At the kitchen table | 15 Comments

Gal in the Garden Series – Last week of May update.

Posted on May 31, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

We got a few more things done but there has been a lot of rain days and so things have been soaked enough that some things had to be put on hold.. Still things are getting done.

This is part of the next section that we need to be working on, on the far right side you can just see the tail end of Plot 3 from the front kitchen garden.. I have a few plants now across the bottom of that bed and the first front row of the annuals in, I will ideally get the rest of that plot planted out this weekend and will have new photos of it early next week or heck maybe if it really is going to rain as much as they say on sunday.. maybe i will have time to write and post them. There is just shy of a hundred plants in that pile.. which has grown alot and now we have over 200 plants waiting to be planted out.. plus one more order still to come in yet.

this gives you another short view of that area form a different angle.

So the rain garden is going in before the pond, with the overflow moving into the pond itself which them has its own overflow into the marsh area.. Its going to be a amazing when its all done.

The rain garden is going to be dug for 8 inches but will come out at 6, 4 and 2 inches.. and we have had lots of rain, so I know that I can have collection in the deepest area and I am having drainage within my 24 hours which is excellent.

In total currently, we have over 200 plus plants to be put out, plus assorted rocks, plus one ton of river rock ranging from 3/4th inch to 4 inches in size that will be used to make the dry creak beds as well as a ton of pine based mulch.

I have one more delivery of plants ordered and coming by mail with just over another 100 plants to be planted out yet.

Another 10 tons of top soil will be arriving this week.. I truly hope that will finish up.. as that will be a total of 20 tons of top soil, 10 tons of mulch,  a ton of river rock..  Its all being moved by shovel, dump load and manual work.. It will be worth it but its a ton of work.

I yielded this week and called in extra help, some just by friends and one day by paid help..  The paid help day is a focus on getting the rest of the food gardens in in regards to doing the kneeling planting that I can not do myself.

I also called for help on a fencing day or possible fencing weekend depending on how long it takes to fence off that section and re-seed that front pasture area. This will be a wonderful thing to get done and finished up on.

Finally the weather is breaking enough that we can put out our warm season plants this weekend..

Here comes the tomato’s, cherry,  eating and of course sauce tomato’s. Eating peppers, sauce peppers and hot peppers!

Somewhere in there we also need to get all the squash planted and the potato’s in the ground as well..  It will all come together..

Posted in gardens | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Cherry Pie.. A little sweet, A little Sass..

Posted on May 30, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Meet Cherry Pie “the car” lol.. do you name your vehicles? I have never had such a tiny car size wise and the crazy thing is in the car and driving it does not feel small.  My Black Beauty of a SVU was taken off the road per its last big check up.. It would have cost a lot to fix the issue, it would have been temp and so I was home on the farm without wheels and we were a one car household.

I have been there for many years and normally it does not bother me much but for some reason this time it was chaffing me, I had things to do, I had places to be, I had things to mail out, I had things to get for classes and I had speaking and teaching events planned.

Now I will admit that Cherry is not that big, so some things will have be changed up and I will get on a planned out delivery system for some of the bigger things that need to come into the farm.

Still Cherry is going to the trip car, I adore CB, our bigger car but she is SO low to the ground.. and she makes my back hurt like you would not believe.. This slipped disk is really giving me a run for my money in terms of getting things done, having to make different choices on some things and the farm for the next year as it heals up.

I had been given the go ahead from the physio for the trip but only if I am willing to stop every 30 to 45 min and walk-do movements for 5 to 10..  stopping every hour to move might mean that I can function when we stop and get where we are going for the day but lets be fair here.. how do you get where you are going on your driving trip if you need to stop that often..   It means everything will take longer and then some to get anywhere.

Still I can’t wait for our holiday..

Cherry is outstanding on Gas, she has a crazy low km for her age and lots and lots of years left in her that’s for sure.  You have to be careful, she’s got some pep to her lol..

For me though the biggest perk is that I can get in and out of her without being in so much pain and I can drive for a certain length of time without it starting to really hurt. I am doing a test drive over this next while an we will see how I hold up.

I do love her color..

 

 

Posted in Life moves on daily | 2 Comments

Spring Rhubarb

Posted on May 29, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

I love rhubarb and its finally here for 2019.. We had a very slow start to our spring and now we are having a cool wet start to the garden season.  While I know others might not agree with me, I will take a cooler slower wetter spring then I will take summer heat and spring drought.

Having said that, my own big patch of rhubarb are coming on slower to produce their bigger stalks but are already starting to flower. The flowers will be coming off and being used for creating a new recipe in their use.

There is a long season yet for rhubarb and its harvest but I do know that I will be having a smaller harvest then the past couple years because we are digging up plants and splitting and moving a few of them into the new front kitchen garden.  One of my smaller (but still much bigger then anythign you would get in the garden store) has been moved the spot in front of the strawberry raised bed. Its at the end of the single row plot 2.  I have plans to move three more up into the front yard..

This means I will be done four plants in the main harvest plot, because I will not harvest off the split plant that is replanted this year or depending even next year.   Given this, I expect I will most likely only harvesting 100 to 150 pounds of rhubarb this year, I will weight it out and keep track of it.

The local rhubarb price in stores is 8 dollars a pound, the local farmers market ranges from in the five to six dollar per pound, the local farmers are selling it at 4 dollars a pound at their farm gates and there is a local bakery that is buying it at 2 dollars a pound in bakery credits (I thought that both clever and very low all in one)

For someone with a couple plants from grandma that always have a ton left over and no idea what to do with it, I think they would love to take in a couple pounds and get the bakery credit..

However given the regular price of rhubarb, 2 dollars a pound is just being cheap as its even half of the really good priced farm gate rhubarb. Still creative and certainly trying to do a work around paying that much higher dollars per pound rate if she is ordering it in from “her suppliers”

Little 8 inch strawberry and rhubarb pies are running 10 dollars.. wow!

How is your rhubarb doing this year? you buying or selling, what is the local prices in your neck of the woods?

 

 

Posted in Gal in the Garden Series, Garden harvest | Tagged | 7 Comments

Finally Mason Bee Coon Hatching..

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Everything has been so late this year, I have been holding my mason bee coons in the fridge waiting.. WAITING!

Two weeks ago, this lovely native bee was the first one that I saw..  after my ill timed for hatching three Mason that came way to early right before freezing temps and a snow storm.

What a little pretty it is

.. but while the paper wasps where out and about.. the bees were having a slower start.. still the tree’s had tons of pollen for those brave enough to be out and about..

Then a started seeing the Queen Bumbles, in the past two weeks, I have counted 7 native bees and four different kinds of bumbles! Still it was only on Thursday that finally the plums went into full bloom.

On Saturday Morning, I watch a native Mason bee female use one of the early set up Mason bee houses by the bean teepee..  This was the nod I needed.

I got the biggest Mason bee house installed and the first batch of the early spring where taken from the fridge an as you can see.. lots are hatched out and in this photo you can see the sweet little black face of a female that is in the process of hatching out 🙂

The temps are just getting high enough overnight that I should be able to hatch out the later spring mason bees as well..  They will take their time and doing their thing as the timing is right.

I am so excited to see them coming and going very soon.. Fingers cross for lots of lovely photos for you 🙂  On one plant alone yesterday, I counted five bumbles and three different kinds of native bees..  I have watched them crawling all over the honeyberries 🙂

This is a good thing for the plants that are harvestable, and this makes me sigh on the new plants that are in full bloom that I will need to pick off the fruit for this year so that the plants put that energy into the roots.. not the fruits 🙂

I am so pleased that many of the new changes that I did last year to increase my populations here on the farm are showing amazing returns this spring..  This bodes very well indeed for all the yard rebuild which is being designed to include many aspects to feed the native pollinators though all seasons.

 

Posted in Native Bee's, native bees | 4 Comments

Farmgal’s Photography – May 23rd 2019

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

sorry folks I tried to upload these yesterday but the net was wonky and refused to work with me.. its a new day.. nope they will not load.. so be it.. its a flash back photo day! Lets go back.. back to may 2011..

Posted in Life moves on daily | 6 Comments

Chick, Turkey Pullet and Ducking Updates.

Posted on May 23, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Chick update 3 weeks in.

Meat Chicks..  HUGE!, feathering out.. going though a crazy amount of food and water and I am starting to see the difference in regards to the choice to sit down more.. I also have had my first chick this week that is having a leg issue.  Its not broken but its clear limping.

I also find they bunch harder together then my own chicks tend to do so.. However I am asking finding they are interested in greens when its added to their area to give them something to nibble on.. I am going to introduce a dust bath area..  They are doing well.. but they are different.

Brown Egg Layer Hatchery Female Chicks -3 Weeks in

All growing well, feathering out nicely and they are good size chicks, happy, active friendly, all over their pen and into everything.. very smart girls..  I am just pleased over all with them.. the group of them is very steady.. no runt, all so even in their growth and habits.

Mixed Flock Chicks- 5 Weeks

No longer needing extra heat and while they are more feathered out, they are smaller, taller but leaner then the Brown Egg Layers.. Mix of colors and types.. its so clear looking between the two that they are mixed vs a breed 🙂

Turkey Pullets – 3 weeks

Growing well, getting taller and feathers starting to come in nicely.. they are healthy and bright.. they are chirpy as turkeys tend to be.. when they are a bit bigger, I hope to safely introduce them to Whistle the Turkey hen and combine them together. I am pleased with their health, growth and temperment

Ducklings-1 week

11 healthy black and white ducklings. Hatched here on the farm and more coming, I am aiming for 60 ducklings ideally.. These are a lovely group of ducklings and they are being raised by a hen.. Growing well, all even in size at this time.. I should start to see a difference in the next couple weeks with the males growing faster and bigger compared to females.

I have three more hens sitting on nests and ideally they will hatch out approx. another 30 ducklings this spring.

Overall, I am very happy with how the chicken, turkey and duck plan is coming along..

Posted in Chickens | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Gal in the Garden Series – Kitchen Garden Update

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

The long weekend has come and gone and we had amazing weather,  our first hot/muggy day, black flies have arrived and a crazy amount of rain overnight.. to this we were able to get a lot of work done..

My hubby moved a couple tons of sub-soil and then another ton or more of top soil and then mulch lol.. I am cut down bad plants, directed and did garden things waist high.. so grateful for higher longer tools that allow me to still stay busy in the gardens.

The front section of the kitchen garden is backfilled, created and top soil leveled and the bones of the gardens for plot 1 and plot 3 are done and plot 2 if fully planted and the small circle garden is made and planted! Here is a full series of photos to show you different stages 🙂

Plot 1 being built.. below, plot on first row of the coming agains and the fruiting bushes, there are honeyberries and blueberries bushes. and the first of the walkways in. and the front area is seeded into flowering lawn mix.

Plot 2 is a single 3 foot plot, where as plot one is a 6 foot by 22 foot bed.

Ok so second level of annuals for kitchen plot one is in, plus the start of the end plantings on both end of plot one.. Single plot two is now built and fully planted..  there is lovage, rhubarb, two clove current bushes, assorted herbs and edible flowers as well as chives and garlic chives and it connects to the raised brick strawberry bed at the end.

Next we put in the circle small round garden with the walk around it, it might not look like much now but when its fully filled in and in bloom its going to be very pretty indeed. The photo below shows it in regards to the new built and extended rock garden at the corner of the deck.

Then came the biggest challange to date.. Plot 3.. you see it had so many trees and stumps pulled out of it, the drop off was crazy.. at its highest point, we had to do the sub-soil refill between 12 to 16 inches just to bring it level to the down slope of the yard, without even looking at blocking at the back of the plot or top soil fill..

This plot is 22 feet long by 7 feet wide.. It looks so easy in the photo.. but hubby put in hours on sunday and then as I was helping at a local 4h club most of Monday, he worked on this all day to have this ready for planting with me when I got home late Monday afternoon.

So then we got the back/tallest planting in.. there are honeyberries, blueberries, red currents, assorted shrubs (they are in for the next year or two and then will be transplanted out into the next layer behind this one but they needed in the ground NOW and this works for this year) and then assorted herbs on both ends.

So there is still lots of planting to do in that bed. I have started some seeds early and will transplant out, but a lot of the rows will be seed planted out directly in the next week 🙂 and then the rest infilled once the heat loving plants can finally go out!

And there she is! I will get better photos but its what I got last night.. the front half of the new kitchen garden is built.. some planting left to be done yes, and some minor touch ups here and there but overall, the main bones are all in.. and that puts us around the 60% mark for the new kitchen garden..

I like it! I can’t wait to see if grow and mature over the season and the next years.. Thanks for coming on the tour 🙂

Posted in Gal in the Garden Series, Garden | Tagged , , | 3 Comments