Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome to Homestead Happenings!

We're here to share what's been going on

here on our Piedmont property

over the last couple of weeks.

Here is a well crafted nest found recently,

which had been meticulously created inside an azalea bush.

It wasn't removed until the eggs inside were long gone.

What a work of art!

After some much needed rain,

(over 4 inches in a week!),

the pumpkins sprouted right up.

These were planted in a straw bale

that I had left over from the winter.

The seeds were collected from volunteers

last fall, so we don't really know what we'll get!

The okra also germinated in the other bale,

and two plants is all I need.

I'm the only one in the household who eats okra,

and if I get more than I want,

I'm sure I can find someone who will use it.

If you're not familiar with straw bale gardening,

there is a long process of prepping the bales

before planting, involving heavy watering and 

adding fertilizer periodically.

I skipped all of that because I knew we were

going to be getting a lot of rain.

I simply made a hole in the bale,

added some soil and compost and waited 

for Mother Nature to do the watering.

Voila!

These "new" potatoes were harvested last week.

They had been planted in February,

according to my plant marker in the bed,

but never developed beyond this size.

A bit disappointing, but they sure tasted good!

There is another potato bed growing for a future harvest.

The loofah is coming along.

The past couple of years have been discouraging,

having had germination problems.

This year, I stayed on top of it,

and have several plants growing at the base of

the gazebo frame.

I'm hoping to harvest some young for eating,

and allowing the rest to mature

so that I can give away some to be used as exfoliators.

There are green beans growing inside the chook run.

So far, they seem to love this spot,

getting ample sun and being protected from

the chooks scratching.

I love green beans, and hope for enough to put away in the freezer.

A new bed of lettuce was planted last week,

and because of the generous addition of rain,

it's looking very encouraging.

The other beds where lettuce is growing,

is starting to dwindle, as the plants are beginning

to bolt.

They have given me so many fresh salads this spring!

This border of spider wort has been a bee haven!

Every morning when i come out to free the chooks,

the sound of their buzzing is almost deafening.

Grateful for all the magic they do!

Another pollinator-friendly plant is this milkweed.

We are growing a ton of it in the outside run

for the monarch caterpillars.

We are a Monarch Way Station,

and have been supporting this species for a while now.

This particular variety volunteers every year.

We look forward to watching the transformation

from caterpillar to butterfly that we witness each summer.

Although we've had hydrangea plants on the property

for a couple of years,

this is the first time I remember seeing a blue bloom.

What a stunning display.

I look forward to bringing some of these inside 

and also sharing with neighbors.

The babies have graduated to living outside!

They have their own coop and run,

and will stay put until they reach a similar size

to the older girls.

Then we will begin the process of 

combining the two flocks.

So far, these girls seem to get along fairly well,

as you can tell by the way they all sun bathe together.

I hope it stays that way.

Goodness knows, there can be some drama with chooks!

Homestead Happenings

 Welcome to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's going on here

on our Piedmont, NC homestead.

It's been creeping toward summer

with rising temperatures and the sightings of more bugs.

Maintenance chores are keeping us busy,

but we will slow down as summer draws near.

The heat is just too difficult to deal with.

I may resort to pulling out my jigsaw puzzles

in order to stay inside during the hottest part of the day.

I felt the need to share these gorgeous photos of 

the Piedmont Farmstead,

one of the farms where I get some of my produce.

It's important to me to be able to source nutritious, clean

food from local farms.

Piedmont's produce is superb.

I just couldn't resist taking some shots

of their tidy rows.

Straight lines and I don't really get along,

so my garden will never look like this.

But I sure do admire other folks who create 

such a beautiful vista.

Back on our homestead,

the lettuce and kale just keep on comin'!

It's been wonderful to be able to share

some of this produce with neighbors.

Another full bed of lettuce was sown this week,

as we are expecting several days of rain.

There is our usual planting of red ripper beans,

which store so well and taste delicious.

Our first crop of potatoes is ready for harvest,

with a second crop about halfway through the growing cycle.

Thank goodness the squirrels are leaving something alone!

For the life of me,

I can't figure out what this crop is.

The tag says broccoli, but it doesn't look anything like it.

And it appears to be bolting.

I tasted the tiniest bit of the tips

and it was very spicy.

I may just save this for sister,

as she enjoys a little spice in her diet.

Any ideas about what it could be?

Our babies are about 6 weeks old now,

and have been going out on grass for a 

couple of weeks.

Their color is really starting to come in now,

and they are almost fully feathered.

It won't be long before they are outside full time,

enjoying their own cozy coop.

Once they are similar in size to our 2-year old hens,

we will attempt to integrate them.

Focaccia was made this week,

using fresh-milled flour.

Oh.  My.  Stars.

It was like eating a cloud,

so light and airy.

This is definitely a keeper.

Basil was picked fresh from the garden

to make pesto as a topping.

Real food tastes SO good!

If we are blessed with a good amount of rain,

(which we desparately need),

it should cool things off a bit

before the scorching bite of summer begins.

Spring has barreled past us,

but there can be no spring, fall or winter

without summer.

And so, although it is my least favorite season,

I embrace all the good things that it brings.

Things like:

blueberries

cool, refreshing showers

fireflies

ice cream runs to Kilwin's

lemonade

longer days

watermelon.

What are you most grateful for in summer?

Homestead Happenings

 

Hey there, and welcome back to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's going on here in the Piedmont area

of North Carolina.

The first daisy was spied this week, always able to cheer me.

The beds of lettuce continue to produce,

keeping the fridge full of crisp, flavorful greens.

It feels good to be able to share the bounty with others as well.

Several areas have been planted with garlic,

including this grow bag.

In the next 6 weeks or so, it will be harvested and cured

before storing it for the rest of the year.

Garlic is one of the easiest crops to grow in the home garden.

The bed of leeks seems to be sailing along just fine.

We finally got a good dowsing yesterday,

but before that, rain was very scarce.

No doubt all of the beds will be happy to keep growing now.

This is the most success I've ever had with growing onions.

The bed was filled with Walla Walla onion starts from

Sow True Seed in Asheville,

one of my favorite seed companies.

I'm looking forward to a bumper crop!

I purchased some starts from Piedmont Farmstead,

a local farm which supplies me with greens and other goodies

when my garden is less productive.

Just look at this mouth-watering head of lettuce.

There are still seeds going into the ground,

or container, as the case may be.

These are pigeon peas, a staple of the Carribean diet,

and I told sister I'd try to grow her some this year.

The first step was sprouting in a damp paper towel,

then planted into a pot to grow on.

I'd love to be able to give her a little taste of home.

Here are the soil block trays 2 weeks after sowing.

They did well and had to be watered regularly,

as our precipitation has been absent.

We have a combination of flowers and veg that will be

ready to be planted into the Birdie beds this weekend.

The beans and loofah can't wait for more space!

The continuing temperate weather has allowed

all sorts of perennials to pop back up

and fill our flower beds with lovely blooms.

The mailbox bed hosts thyme, yarrow, sedum,

guara, irises and baptisia.

The pink yarrow is such a treat.

Most of our beds house the white variety,

so it's always so fun to see this beautiful color

displayed among the greenery.

I recently read that yarrow is a medicinal plant,

and makes a wonderful tea.

The pollinator bed is awash in color.

The rue has certainly been a showstopper,

with a bright yellow addition to the bed.

Rue is one of the host plants for the

black swallowtail butterfly,

so we'll be looking for caterpillars soon.

The babies are gone!

The tufted titmouse babies have fledged.

It took only a few weeks before they were ready

to leave the nest.

The parents did an amazing job feeding

six hungry mouths.

The fresh milled flour voyage continues,

and I could never imagine going back to gluten-free eating.

What a wonderful discovery this was,

and I am encouraging everyone I know who has health issues related to digestion

to give it a go.

It's a great gift to me to be able to share this healing bread with others.

For all the mommas out there,

enjoy your special day this Sunday!

"Motherhood:  All love begins and ends there."

~Robert Browning

Homestead Happenings

Well, hello there!

Welcome back to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's going on here on our Piedmont property.

New life abounds, with the latest family of bluebirds

taking shelter in one of our birdhouses.

These parents are no doubt getting very little sleep,

having six mouths to feed!
 

The lettuce beds are feeding me well these days,

with more being sown this week for a continued harvest.

Watering has been a ritual every few days,

as we are in an extreme drought situation.

This weekend we should see some much needed precipitation.

The kale and lettuce make up my daily

(sometimes twice daily) salads.

There is nothing quite as satisfying

as creating a meal using food you've grown.

The fresh flavor is like nothing else.

The outer leaves are picked so that the

heart of the leaves continue to grow,

creating a cut-and-come again salad bar.

Of course, some of the bounty is shared with our chooks.

They love greens of any kind!

I noticed flowers on the elderberry this week.

This year will be the first time I attempt to

make syrup, which many folks swear

has medicinal properties.

The chooks can also be found hopping up

to reach the berries for a midday snack.

There are blueberries forming on our plants!

I had all but given up on these bushes,

and had planned to replace them,

but lo and behold, they came back to life!

Another treat I hope to enjoy before the 

chooks and squirrels help themselves!

With one bed of potatoes growing quite vigorously,

a second bed was started.

(The netting is to deter critters from digging in the bed.)

This variety is Kennebec,

which I've never grown before.

You can find out more about them here.

All crops were fertilized yesterday.

Fish emulsion is applied by hand

using 2 Tablespoons per gallon of water.

A five-gallon bucket allows me to mix up

all that is needed.

New seeds were sown using the soil block method.

If you ever played with mud pies when you were young,

you'd love this technique!

Conventionally, soilless potting mix is used to start seeds,

but I only had standard potting mix.

Perlite and vermiculite were added for better drainage.

Sufficient moisture is key here,

in order for the blocks to stay together once discharged from the mold.

It was surprising to find how easy it was to get the balance right!

Both crops and flowers were sown, labeled,

and watered in before placing in a safe space

away from curious critters.

It was so much fun that more blocks will be created later today.

After all, how can one pass up the opportunity to feel like a kid again?

So much of the garden is filling in,

and it does my heart good to see that the effort

I've put forth in the past few years 

is paying off.

It's so centering to sit out here with the chooks roaming,

reading a good book or simply enjoying

the wonder of the nature around me.

What a blessing.

This baptisia is one of my favorite sights in the front flower bed.

It's taken 3 years to bloom, but so worth the wait.

The magic of perennials never ceases to amaze me.

This clematis, which resides on the north side of the garden,

was also slow in getting established.

I look forward to seeing it bloom every year,

and am grateful when it surprises me

by being one of the first pops of color in the garden.

Along with winter sowing and soil blocks,

I thought I would try my hand at sprouting some seeds indoors.

Simply using a damp paper towel,

these fresh seeds from Sow True in Asheville,

didn't disappoint after just a few days.

I never tire of the magic of seeds.

Our new babies are two weeks old,

and growing like nobody's business!

They have already figured out how to hop up on 

the warming tray.

They are so much fun, and as you may be able to tell,

they are non-stop!

They all look lively and well,

and we are handling them every day.

Our older gals are enjoying their foraging time,

with plenty of grass, clover and bugs to savor.

I'm so grateful to have these souls in my life.

Life is just better with chickens.

I'd love to hear how spring is treating you!