Wordless Wednesday

The Maple Hill Hop 59

Welcome to 

The Maple Hill Hop.

This is a hop for folks who love the outdoors.

Feel free to post about anything that's going on

OUTSIDE

in your neck of the woods,
no matter the season.

(Please share only outdoor posts.)

Thanks for linking back to Maple Hill 101.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week we thought we'd share an update on Faye & Lynn's garden.
If you're unfamiliar with these fine folks,
you can read all about them in our Farm School series
located just under the header.
Their 4,000+ square-foot container garden is nothing short of amazing.
They have been gracious enough to share what they know with this farmer-wannabe.

Every weekend for almost two years,
we've spent time together nurturing this ever-expanding garden. 
Of course, it's a full-time endeavor for them,
but I get to partake in the magic once a week.
Let's take a look at what they've got growin' 
this week before Christmas.

Fall is the perfect time to grow so many scrumptious things to eat.
Case in point, broccoli.
It thrives in our mild climate.
The heads are starting to fill out now and will soon be ready for harvest.
The bonus is that once the main head is picked,
side shoots provide us with tender morsels of deliciousness for months to come.

Sugar snap peas don't mind the cooler temperatures one bit.

The rows of peas in G2 (garden two)
are loaded with blooms.
We know it's just a matter of a week or so until we are bursting with these juicy lil' gems.

The goodness starts right here.

This gorgeous specimen is tatsoi.
It's an Asian green used in salads or stir-fry dishes.
This is a new crop for the farm.

Dinosaur kale is one of the best sellers at the farmer's market.
Loaded with vitamins, folks can't seem to get enough.
Faye and Lynn also grow Red Russian kale.

A multitude of herbs do quite well this time of the year,
including rosemary (l) and cilantro (r).
Also cultivated here are basil, dill, oregano, parsley, and thyme.
We recently transplanted lavender, another new crop this season.

Believe it or not,
late fall is one of the best times to grow tomatoes.
As long as the frost stays away,
they savor scads of sunshine and bugs are not as prevelant.

 I'm ready for a tomato-mayo sandwich.
Slurp!

How 'bout a bit of lettuce with that tomato?
Several kinds of lettuces are grown,
including Red Sails, Amaze, Simpson Elite and Buttercrunch.
Each week I'm able to get a delectable mixture of greens for my daily salad.

 We checked on the pineapple plantation,
and there were a couple of beauties almost ready for picking.

I hope you enjoyed this update on Faye & Lynn's garden.
It's such a blessing to be able to spend time there.
Looks like this holiday season,
we'll be eating well.


What's happening where you are?
HOP on!

An InLinkz Link-up

Frigid Friday (or "Fridged" Friday)

We've been enjoying temps in the 40's each morning,
with highs during the day in the 60's and 70's.
Perfect weather this time of year, if you ask me.
We wanted to bring a little of the chill inside.

This should probably be a "Thrifty Thursday" post,

but I'm a day behind.

I spotted some of these cute refrigerator makeovers while internet cruising

and we just had to participate.

So easy, yet it adds so much punch to our holiday decorations.

We'll be doing this every year!

 We have a white fridge, but since it's a side-by-side, 

decorating the front didn't work so well.

We simply moved our artwork to the side facing the rest of the kitchen.

 I made up a bow using some holiday ribbon,

cut out a few stars with a paper punch

and free-handed a few coals for eyes, the mouth, the hat,

and the all-important organic paper carrot for the nose!

The fun thing is to mix and match what you have to customize your snowperson!

A simple, cheery addition to the kitchen this holiday season.
Mix up a scratch batch of cocoa mix and have a toast!

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

The Maple Hill Hop 58

Welcome to 

The Maple Hill Hop.

This is a hop for folks who love the outdoors.

Feel free to post about anything that's going on

OUTSIDE

in your neck of the woods,
no matter the season.

(Please share only outdoor posts.)
Thanks for linking back to Maple Hill 101.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a couple of weekends off,
I headed back to The Hill to get my farming fix.
My spirits are always lifted when I get to spend time
with Faye and Lynn.

Lynn fashioned a new way for me to plant peas (and other crops).
He strung up some twine down the center of the pots
so that I could plant in straighter alignment.
Great trick for those who enjoy a tidier aesthetic.

We'll soon have peas comin' out of our ears!

They have started using turkey manure in their garden
and are monitoring the results.
These green beans will hopefully become rejuvenated.

 Lynn has his own way of doing just about everything.
Here he uses pots and a slab of plywood to create an outdoor work station.
Use whatcha got. 
Works for me!

 Rosemary starts were transplanted using the 
super spatula seedling system.
The roots on some of these were not quite solid,
so the spatulas help to support the plant before insertion into new pots.

We wandered next door through a neighbor's property
and found several tortoise, fox and gopher holes.

Hello in there!

We gathered pine cones for an upcoming project of mine.
It was a wonderful day spent outdoors,
enjoying the company of some very dear souls.
 Healing one day at a time...

What have you been up to lately?
HOP to it!

An InLinkz Link-up