The field across the road has been in grain this year for the first time since we moved to the farm. Saturday, a combine was hard at work harvesting the crop.
Tag Archives: summer
Transplanting season
In case you missed it, fall is here. (The autumn tablescapes, fall home tours and Hallowe’en decorations proliferating the blogosphere are a big clue. We bloggers appear to have trouble living in the moment). Anyways, we’re officially into fall. And it’s official transplant season.
Now I have to confess that I got a bit of a head start this year. I transplanted peonies back in August, and a couple of weeks ago Matt and I moved a few trees around.
I generally pay little attention to gardening timelines. With our gardens in the state they’re in, if I wait until the “right” time to move my plants it will take me decades to get things where I want them.
You’ve seen that we have lots of peonies spread all over the property. My mission this year was to move a few of them into the gardens I’ve established.
I don’t profess to being any type of transplanting expert.
My usual technique is to try to keep as much of the soil around the plant intact as possible. Of course, the first peony I dug up was surrounded by weeds, and I had to hack at the roots to get rid of everything non-peony. If you’re curious, here’s what peony roots look like.
The other thing I’ve learned over the years is to not replant the plants too deep. Transplanting makes it easy because I just keep them at the same level they were.
The other component of my not-at-all-scientific transplant process is to water the heck out of them. I remember when I first started gardening I read an article that recommended aiming for “quagmire”-like wetness. So far, September has been pretty rainy, so we have had plenty of help keeping up the quagmire factor, although we have supplemented with hoses and buckets as needed.
We have a few more trees and bushes yet to move before fall gets too far along. Oh and bulbs to plant. Don’t forget to do those too. The transplanting PSA just never stops.
Are you doing any transplanting this fall? Do you have any transplanting tips?
Behind the scenes on vacation
This past week has been my second holiday of the summer. It’s been a wonderful time with Matt, Baxter, Ralph and the farm. I’ve spent some time with family and had a few projects, of course.
Here’s a few highlights what’s been happening this week.
- Cheering on my sister as she runs her first race since having a baby this spring. She did 5K in 22:30–a great time that was fast enough to come second in her age group!
- Checking out a new dog park with Baxter. He had a chance to play with not one but two of his most favourite dogs ever–Great Danes.
- Taking a mini getaway to Orillia to visit Matt’s brother and sister-in-law.
- Uncovering a family of baby mice in my closet (no picture, you’re welcome). Not how I wanted to start my Sunday morning. It wasn’t a fun experience for Matt either, who was in charge of removal.
- Revisiting some classic (for me) ’90s TV and signing two new books out of the library.
- Playing in the annual office softball game… until we got rained out… and rained on. My favourite wings for dinner made up for being a bit soggy.
- Helping my father-in-law cover his pool for the season. The water was 64 degrees (about 17 celsius). Brrr.
- Working on my bookshelf makeover with my Dad, clearing a big pile of firewood and weeds from around the old firepit and finally getting my cold cellar work room organized.
I tried not to be too ambitious with my to-do list for this vacation. So I’m also trying to be okay with not spending as much time on “projects” as I could have this week. I figure I could take a good six months off work and keep myself busy every day.
I think I’d make a really good retired person.
What were the highlights of your week?
July clouds
At the beginning of July Matt proclaimed, “July has the best clouds.”
Throughout the month, I was treated to sightings of muscle men flexing, food stuffs, animals, body parts and other cloud sculptures that he spotted.
Then, August 1, driving home, Matt said, “See, August’s clouds just aren’t as interesting.” True enough, the sky was hazy, there were no fluffy white beings to be seen.
My own most interesting clouds came near the end of July early one morning, although I’m not sure my picture does it justice.
Sometimes there’s perks to being up at dawn.
Do you look for pictures in the clouds? What sights do you usually see? Do you have a favourite cloud month?
The fruits of our labour
For the first time ever, Matt and I have grown food for our own consumption. Sure we’ve eaten food from the farm before, but we’ve never actually grown something ourselves.
Ladies and gentlemen, gaze upon these beautiful tomatoes.
We worked for these tomatoes. There was watering and weeding, suckering and staking. Sweat and dirt was involved. Alright, not all that much sweat and dirt, but, still, we worked!
And the results are oh so tasty. In the words of Matt, “I’m not the biggest fan of tomatoes, but we grew these ourselves. I’m going to eat them forever.”
I think he meant that figuratively, but given the number of green tomatoes we have yet to ripen, we may literally be eating tomatoes forever.
Some other words of wisdom from Matt, “Bring on the canker sores.”
You won’t hear me complaining. Matt may not be the biggest fan, but I love tomatoes. Caprese salads, homemade soup, burgers, sandwiches… I see lots of tomato goodness in my future.
What about you? Are you a yay or nay for tomatoes? Any tips for avoiding canker sores? Anyone have any favourite recipes to share? Have you grown anything to eat this year? Do you feel pride in eating the fruits of your labour?
Opinions on farming from Baxter
Hello everyone. Hope you enjoyed last week’s guest posts as Matt and I enjoyed a little vacation. We’re back to our regular routine, but apparently there’s one most guest post yet to go. It turns out that Baxter has something to share with you all (or, as he says, y’all), so I’m turning the blog over to him today.
Now, I know I’m new to Canada, but I do have some experience with farms (remember Kentucky and the chickens?), and there’s been something bugging me ever since I came to live with Julia and Matt.
There’s no other way to say it. Our fields were a sorry site.
Sure a couple of them had seen the mower this year, but three of them hadn’t. And two of them were at the very front of the property for everybody to see. The grass was so tall it had started to fall over. And after a rain, well golly, then we had these huge matted down areas in the fields.
Our farm was looking downright derelict.
The grass was so high that we would walk to the edge of the field, but we couldn’t go through it.
And never mind sniffing. Do you know how hard it is to sniff over grass, rather than follow a trail right along the root?
It wasn’t fit for man, woman or dog.
But, finally someone decided to do something about it, and I have to tell y’all it is marvelous.
Not only does the farm look better, but it smells better too. Whole new worlds have opened up.
Seriously.
I’ve walked on ground that I never walked on before. I’ve sniffed smells I never smelled before. I’ve watered grasses I never watered before.
So far, I’ve attended to the perimeter and inspected the hay on two new fields.
I saw some signs of the other doggies that I hear at night–the yippy howly ones named Coyote. As much as I’m curious to meet these doggies, they have to know that this is Baxterland, so I sprinkled some of their markings.
Sometimes, I’m near overcome by the twitching in my nose, and I have to just sit down and sniff. Don’t worry though, I always get up and finish my patrol.
After all, this is my farm now. It’s my job to look after it.
Cottage living
Living at the farm is a bit like living full time at a cottage. There’s lots of fresh air. I can see the stars at night. There’s lots of opportunity for fun activities.
However, there is one particular activity that I cannot do at the farm.
That’s waterskiing.
Waterskiing is pretty much my favourite sport, and I only get to do it a few times a year.
So, I’m playing hooky today and spending another day at the lake.
Thanks to Danica and Diane for guest blogging this week. And thank you for stopping by while I’m savouring my last few days of vacation. I’ll be back next week with a return to our regularly scheduled, waterski-free programming.
Savouring summer
Fresh-picked corn symbolizes summer for me. Sure you can get any food any time of year now, but corn on the cob is something that I eat only in the summer time.
Pair it with zucchini from the garden and burgers from the barbecue, and you have summer on a plate.
Although my eyes are perhaps bigger than my stomach in this case. I ate my vegetables, but Matt and Baxter had to help with the burger.
What food do you wait for every summer? Anyone else a fan of corn on the cob? What’s on your barbecue these days? Any special meals on the menu the weekend ahead? Wishing everyone a wonderful summer weekend.
Home on 129 Acres 