In a true blend of the rustic and the fine, a big hedge of bright red roses has grown up at the front of the barn.
The big bushes edge the whole side of the bank, spilling over the old timbers stacked on the ramp.
Anyone have any tips on caring for roses? These seem to be doing just fine on their own, but I’d like to make sure their gorgeousness continues.
Up until this past weekend, we hadn’t really cut the grass at the farm yet this year.
Yes, we are those neighbours.
A few weeks ago, Matt ran around the house a few times with our push mower until it ran out of gas, but that was it.
Things were starting to look a bit unkempt.
And then last week, Wiley arrived.
Sunday, we fired him up and got busy.
First up, Matt and Wiley moved a pile of lumber up to the barn.
Matt and I have done a couple of walk-abouts recently picking up wood and sticks and rocks so that Wiley doesn’t hit anything and damage his blades. We still kept his mower really high, and I did all of the edging with our old push mower so that Wiley didn’t have to get too close to anything that might hurt him.
Yes, the grass was a little long–so long that we can probably bale the clippings on the driveway and Matt had to raise the bucket to see where he was cutting.
I’ve learned that the term “lawn” doesn’t really apply on such a large property. Grass cutting is more of a question of “Where do I stop?”
Matt and Wiley mowing the meadow down by the road.
Wiley is a good little worker. He cut grass, moved stumps and logs and even gave me a ride in the bucket.
Of course, his driver pretended he was going to tip me out of the bucket, but that wasn’t Wiley’s fault.
Once Wiley was done his work, Matt and his Dad went to work with their matching weed whackers and continued the battle to beat back the invading horde. There’s a manifest destiny thing going on in the fields, and the hay is definitely looking to expand its territory.
The property looks a little more groomed, and I feel like we’re making headway in tidying up the outdoors. Well done, Wiley and Matt.
This weekend it’s my turn to drive. Wiley better get ready.
What’s your mode of mowing? Anyone out there muscling along with a reel mower? Or are you a weed-whacking wizard?
It turns out that one thing that can cause a traffic jam on a country road faster than a slow-moving tractor or a run-away cow is the start of strawberry season.
Ruby red strawberries just waiting to be picked.
Friday afternoon, a farm near us opened for business.
A lot of people had the same reaction that I did. “That sign said strawberries!” Hard brake, sharp turn, park the car immediately. “I have to pick my own? No problem. No, don’t worry about my pretty office shoes. Shall I just pick them into my purse, or can you sell me a basket?”
Mmmm… strawberries for dinner.
Yesterday morning, I decided to stop in before work. This time I was a little more prepared. I wore my rubber boots and brought my own baskets.
What a nice way to start the morning
The scent in the air is amazing–pure strawberry sweetness.
In no time at all I had a full basket to share with people at the office. Yum!
Have you ever gone strawberry picking? What’s your favourite way to enjoy strawberries? Any good recipes to share?
Hay is getting high in the fields
Matt and I walked out the other night across the fields checking the hay. We have six fields on the property: the corner field, the front field, the back field, the far front field, the field behind the driveshed and the big field. Really original names, eh?
These shots are from the big field. To my untrained eye, it’s also our best field. The soil seems to be good quality, the terrain itself is nicely graded, the hay grows with minimal weeds.
For scale, I’m not yet halfway across the field. It’s huge!
This field represents about 12 of our 129 acres. It’s a bit of an unreal experience to walk across this much land and know that we own it. Or to stand in the middle of the hay and see how productive our land can be.
We don’t farm the property ourselves. We’ve rented the fields to a local farmer who is responsible for caring for them, tending the crops and harvesting the hay.
In case you want a shot without me spoiling the view
From the height of the grass, I’m thinking the first harvest will likely be soon. The sight of hay bales in our fields will be another fun first for us.
I’ve been having fun watching all of the flowers coming up around the farm this spring. It’s been a process of discovery as I figure out what that green shoot is and what’s planted over there.
I believe this is Solomon’s Seal
Orange lilies behind the house
Snow on the mountain. This plant grows like crazy at my in-laws’ place, but I couldn’t get it to take at our old house. It turns out that the farm is home to a very robust crop.
Red Japanese maple and bright green ferns at the corner of the house
Beautiful lily of the valley. Another plant that I couldn’t get to grow at the old house.
Forget me nots (and maybe a some strawberry blossoms at the top)
Purple iris at the south side of the house
Our most common flower at the farm: the dandelion
What’s your favourite spring flower? Anyone else have a successful dandelion plantation?
Reeds at the pond
New green shoots are starting to stretch up around the shore of the pond, but last year’s reeds still tower high above, their feathery tops fluttering in the wind.
Bring your boots (and your balance)
Buds on a pink wild honeysuckle bush at the edge of the back field
A turtle covered in moss
A grassy grove at the entrance to the trail
The only frog that would hold still for a picture
An old stone wall back in the woods
A pinecone stuck to its branch
Deer tracks in the mud
A deep spot in the marsh where the stream flows through
It’s pretty cool to go for an hour and a half walk, all on my own property. There were a few moments where I wasn’t entirely sure how to get back to the house.
What did you do with your weekend? Any wildlife sightings in your neighbourhood?
This beautiful big old apple tree sits in the middle of the west meadow, just between the house and the pond.
I’ve been watching and waiting all spring for it to blossom. And it finally has.
As I was taking the pictures, I realized that the air was full of the sound of bees as they buzzed from blossom to blossom, pollinating the blooms.
One was kind enough to oblige me by pausing long enough for a photo, although I could not convince him to pose nicely.
My grandparents owned an apple orchard and farmed it for many years. My grandmother would often talk about driving the loads of apples to the market, and Dad still tells stories of working in the orchard with my grandfather.
Someday, I’d like to have a small orchard, just for ourselves. I’d grow apples, of course, and also peaches, pears, cherries, plums and maybe even some grapes.
For now, this tree will do just fine.
We’ve not seen our furry pond paddler since the last sighting, but we now have more evidence as to what species he might be.
Felled trees by the pond
The consensus from the comments on the last post was ‘beaver,’ and the signs seem to say commenters are right.
Bite mark analysis, anyone?
Given the size of some of these trees, he’s ambitious. So far, there’s no sign of a dam or a lodge, but about half the property is wetland, so it could be anywhere really.
The farmer who’s rented our fields has started to clear out some of the horse paddocks, as we’re not going to be using them. Perhaps we should put this busy beaver (sorry) to work on our fence posts.
We inherited many, many things from previous owners when we took possession of the farm (I haven’t shown you pictures of our personal Hoarders episode yet, but I may some day).
A number of those things were plants. Sometime last year, the people we bought the farm from went out and got many, many plants, but they never planted them! Bushes, flowers, trees, shrubs, all of them were still in their plastic pots sitting on the ground in and around the areas where the front flower gardens would be if they weren’t completely overgrown with weeds.
The stockpile included 5 trees.
Our inherited trees
I have no idea how long they’d been there, but when we saw the property for the first time at the beginning of January, they were all laying on their sides, frozen into a kiddie pool (I guess an attempt to keep them alive?), and they were still there, just like that, when we took possession in March.
When the ice in the pool melted enough, Matt and I stood them upright, but they were so curvy and bent from laying down that they easily tipped over again. We propped them up with concrete blocks and checked them frequently searching for any signs of life.
A few weeks ago, we noticed buds. Finally on Sunday (fittingly, Earth Day), we made some time to plant them.
I love a tree-lined driveway, and we’re already in pretty good shape, but there are a few blank spots, so that’s where we focused our plantings.
One of our new trees. He's a little spindly right now, but the inspiration of what he can become is right behind him.
According to the tags that were tied to the trees, we have an Autumn Radiance Maple, two Unique Littleleaf Lindens, and an Autumn Blaze Maple. The fifth tree wasn’t labelled, but it looks like some kind of maple.
It's alive!
The trees make a nice addition to the farm, and planting was a very nice way to acknowledge Earth Day.
What about you? Did you do anything for Earth Day?
