When you are ready for planting

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

When my aunt came to the farm for the first time (three years ago), she brought with her as a housewarming present a gift card to a local nursery.

It may have taken three years, but we’re finally ready for planting.

Well, we’ve actually been planting, using plants we found around the farm. We’ve been transplanting and splitting and spreading everything around, trying to fill in the gardens. And they’re looking pretty good. (Just ignore the weedy path).

There were a few gaps I was looking to fill in.

I wanted some different colour foliage to break up all of the green we have happening right now.
I wanted a shrub for the well garden.
I wanted some lavender.
I wanted a white hosta.

A visit to the busy nursery gave me what I was looking for.

It also gave me a reminder of why I don’t buy plants. Even with my aunt’s gift card, I shelled out a fair chunk of cash–and I only bought five plants.

Most of the plants will spread, though, so I should be able to get some good mileage out of them.

Here’s how some of them look in the garden.

Purple sandcherry in the well garden. Definitely pops against the green.

This flower wasn’t labelled at the nursery. Is it fox glove?

I heard that lavender is a mosquito repellent–so, so needed this year.

And when it comes to propogating, I’m already rooting a sprig that broke off the sedum. I love this dark purple tone. (And ignore the weedy path again).

Auntie Anne is a loyal reader of the blog, and she’s always enthused about what Matt and I are doing here at the farm. Her gift card has definitely given the gardens a boost. Thanks so much, Auntie Anne. We appreciate your encouragement.

What would you like to add to your garden? How do you find new plants for cheap (or even free)? What plant should I consider adding to our gardens? Do you have an Auntie Anne cheering you on?

Snapshot

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Baby pepper and a pepper blossom growing in the garden.

The pepper plants are not doing so hot so far. Hopefully this baby grows up.

Accidental demo

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

So I started to take apart the sunroom last weekend.

It was a bit unexpected. I mean, we’ve always been planning to demolish the sunroom. However, I wasn’t planning on doing it now.

I opened one of the patio doors and it just fell apart.

The door is just one of the problems with the sunroom. Allow me to share the other reasons the sunroom is not worth saving.

Weeds growing inside the room.

Rain dripping inside the room.

Moss growing in the carpet inside the room.

Glass shattered over top of the room.

The sunroom is pretty disgusting. We haven’t used it, except for the very first week we owned the house. The heat was out, and the sunroom was the warmest place to have lunch–yes, we were that desperate.

Knowing the sunroom is coming down, we’ve not worried about maintenance. (Nor about finding a better spot for the skids leftover from the fireplace stone yet). So this view makes our house look a bit more derelict than it actually is.

The eyesore isn’t going away any time soon though. Matt patched the door back together and stuck it back in place. And hello, driveshed reflection.

So my impromptu demo turned out to be a bit premature. We’ll have a sunroom for a little longer yet.

What’s the biggest eyesore at your house? Have you ever unexpectedly demolished anything? Do you have sunroom? Does anyone else have vegetation growing or rain falling inside your house?

New thrones for the queen

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

It’s been almost two years since we got our new dining room table. I’ve been on the look out for chairs ever since.

I saw six at the Christie Antique show last spring, but by the time I made up my mind to buy them, they were sold. Argh. So frustrating. I mentioned to Matt the other week that I haven’t been able to get those chairs out of my mind. A couple of days after that conversation, I swung into a local antique store, and right by the front door was a group chairs, very similar to the ones I’d lost out on more than a year ago.

They were a style that I’ve always liked, even if they did not meet most of the original criteria I had for dining chairs:

Contrasts with, yet complements, the traditional dark wood table. — These ones pretty much match the table.
Reasonably price, especially as I wanted eight. — They were priced at $50 per chair, and there were eight of them.
Not upholstered. — Umm… not so much. Upholstered on the seat, upholstered on the back, both the inside and the outside.
Slightly country feel. — Not at all. This Chrystiane profile ties into the traditional side of my decorating aesthetic.

Despite not matching up with what was originally in my mind, I liked them, Matt was okay with them, and the price was right (especially after I talked the dealer down a bit more).

They came home with us.

While they were airing out on the driveway, our quality control manager, Ralph, performed her inspection.

“The seats seem adequately cushy, although you may want to reupholster someday.”

“The legs have a nice profile. The joints seem to be secure. Some of the casters are missing or broken. The finish could use a little work.”

“Some of the trim is coming loose in spots.”

“Overall, I think they’ll do. They have a nice style, and they cast good shade.”

For someone who lives in a barn, our girl has some definite opinions on furniture.

After vacuuming the upholstery and wiping down the wood, the chairs made their way into the dining room. (Ralph returned to the barn).

And here’s how they look around the table.

Don’t the legs play nicely together?

The chairs (and goodness knows the table) will all need to be refinished someday. I think I might try some Restor-A-Finish on the chairs first to tide us over. My Mom’s used it a few times and I’ve been super impressed.

The upholstery is another issue. Matt is not a fan of the blue. The fabric is mostly in decent shape, but it’s scratchy and faded. Reupholstering looks like it would be fairly basic, aside from the diamond tufts, but eight chairs, seats and backs (both inside and out) would be a lot of work–and I don’t think Ralph would help. It would be fun to try out different fabrics though. I’m pretty sure I remember Sarah Richardson using three different fabrics on chairs like this.

Overall, I’m pleased with the purchase, and very happy to finally have chairs that work with our table.

What type of chairs do you have at your table? Do you go antique shopping? Who else has a story of the antique that got away? What fabrics would you choose if these chairs were yours? Have you ever used Restor-A-Finish? Who handles quality control inspections at your house?

#plant15

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Over the winter, I connected with a few writers who specialize in the agricultural sector. Most of them have a background in farming. From them, I learned that when people ask me what kind of farm we have, the correct answer (so that I don’t sound like a complete city slicker) is “cash crop.”

This year’s cash crop is soybeans.

However, I should be clear that this is not our cash, nor our crop. We’re still too citified to farm our own fields. I’d have no idea where to even start. And we definitely don’t have the equipment.

Everything that’s gone into the fields and all of the plants that are currently in the fields belong to our farmer.

The soybeans are now knee high to a puppy dog.

There are still a few tiny blossoms here and there. We should be seeing bean pods soon.

I’m too much of a city slicker to know whether things are looking good. From afar, they’re looking very green.

Farmers with much more knowledge than me are sharing their crops at #plant15. I encourage you to check it out to see the ups (and downs) of the growing season so far.

Gotcha Day 2

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of when Baxter came to live with us. Since he joined our family, I’ve become a complete dog person–as demonstrated by the number of dog blogs in my reader.

One of the blogs I enjoy in particular is Oh Melvin and Yo Jake (what Tracey and Jake went through with Melvin–and are still going through–is amazing and heartbreaking, and I can’t even think of it when I think about Baxter). But anyways, Tracey has a tradition of writing a letter to her dogs on the anniversary of their gotcha days. I love that idea, so I’ve copied it for Baxter.

Dear Baxter,

It’s been two years since you came to live with us, and the novelty still hasn’t worn off. Sure I don’t love it when the alarm goes off at 5:45am (and I know you don’t either), but I do love our morning walks together. We see so many corners of the farm when everything is still quiet. We sometimes see the deer eating their breakfast in the back field. I get to see you finding all the new sniffs and enjoying the morning. Starting the day with you is pretty special.

You’ve done so well this year as you’ve learned about off-leash hiking. I am very proud of you, to see you walk without the long line dragging behind you. I admit, I still get a little nervous, but I know you’re working hard at remembering to stay with me.

Getting to know our hiking group has given you a chance to spread your unique brand of love and wiggles around. It makes me happy to see how much everyone loves you. And I’m happy too to see how much you love hiking. Watching you dart to the car and hearing you urge me to go faster as we’re driving to meet the group are part of the fun.

You’ve learned so much about staying close when we’re working outside, being calm when you say hi to Ralph, hitting Grandma and Grandpa up for treats. We’re going to keep working on coming when you’re called and that little people are okay–they’re weird because they’re as tall as you and they’re very grabby, but you’re a very gentle boy and you can teach them how to be polite to doggies.

Matt and I both love coming home to you every night. You give us such good wiggles and tell us all about your day. Watching your tail go around in circles never gets old.

Happy second gotcha day, bud. We’re so happy that you’re part of our family.

Love,
Julia

Odds and sods

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I took advantage of the mid-week Canada Day holiday to turn this week into a bit of a vacation. I’ve been trying to embrace the “summer time and the living is easy” mantra, so I don’t have a DIY or farm update to share today.

Here’s some of what we’ve been up to instead:

We spent Canada Day with Matt’s brother and sister-in-law, as is our tradition. I cannot say that Baxter the Canadog embraced his adopted country. He tolerated his patriotic kerchief, the parade, the crowds and the fireworks. He wanted to meet all the dogs and smell all the smells, and was a bit disgruntled that he didn’t get to spend every second socializing. He got lots of compliments on his kerchief though.
I planted some more peppers–4 more red and 12 jalapeno plants. Matt and I both keep adding lots of plants to the garden. Good thing we have a big property.
I’ve visited a few antique stores–not my usual haunt–during this vacation. I think I might have found a set of dining room chairs. They’re on hold until Matt can check them out later this morning. Fingers crossed he likes them.
Chiot’s Run is a new blog for me. I don’t have a lot of gardening blogs in my reader, and I’m really enjoying this one. After spending a fair amount of time yesterday thinning my beets and rutabagas, I’ve decided that next year I’m going to follow Susy’s lead and make myself a square foot gardening template for root vegetables.

What have you been up to this week? What’s your definition of easy summer living?

I wish you all a wonderful weekend. And to my American readers, happy Independence Day.

Happy Canada Day

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Maple leaves, green and red, presiding over the farm. Happy Canada Day.

Six-month performance review

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I like setting goals. It helps me stay focused and actually accomplish some things. When it comes to projects around the house, my annual home goals are what I use to stay on track. I’ve learned over time that it’s helpful to check in during the year to see what progress we’ve made.

We’re halfway through the year, so it’s a good time to see how we’re doing on Home Goals 2015.

In keeping with my goal to be a little more flexible this year, I haven’t been super ambitious when it comes to projects and schedules. I have to say that as a result this year has been a bit more enjoyable, project-wise.

I also feel like we’ve been decently productive though. Here’s how we’ve done so far this year.

Master bedroom

With a little extra motivation thanks to the One Room Challenge, the master bedroom is done. I love it.

Basement art

I haven’t tackled this light-weight project yet, beyond buying a few frames and formulating some plans. This seems like a good indoor project once the weather changes.

Furniture

I haven’t made a lot of progress in this area either. I did buy a ladder/step-stool/chair that reminded me of my grandmother–and a lot of you of yours. Furniture shopping and building is another good fall project.

Vegetable garden

The vegetable garden has been front and centre for the past few months, and I’m thrilled with all of the progress we’ve made. It’s been on my wishlist since we moved to the farm, and it’s totally happening. The garden has been a tonne of work, but things are growing and we couldn’t be happier.

Beyond the vegetable garden, I feel like we’re a bit ahead when it comes to outside tasks for the first time since moving to the farm. Part of it is because I’m choosing to not worry about the rock piles and old flowerbeds that I want to get rid of. A bigger part of it is that we’re three years in, so the gardens that we’ve worked on since moving to the farm are actually starting to look like gardens.

So two out of four. We’re midway through the year, and we’re midway through my Home Goals 2015. Appropriate.

How are you doing on projects this year? Do you set annual goals? What do you want to accomplish in the second half of 2015?