current affairs

bee in heal all

current state of the corn field

dirt eater?
let's see, some overwintered kale, a seed bed, some onions, and a couple compost piles

chicken laying an egg

without words

almost


I've thought a lot of words but none have made it into computer blips. So it is just this image, which I laughed at that hen so much when I saw this.

But that isn't how it looks today. This is today:


Today is also comfort food (can you say, blueberry cobbler? So glad for the berries in the freezer!). Tomorrow is definitely insulated coveralls.

Which, one thing I notice, one thing that stands out like a sore thumb to me, is the expectation that people have that they should be able to go anywhere they want to anytime they want to. It is painfully cold? Snow? Dangerous road conditions, BE DAMNED! That's what I see as the prevalent attitude.

There was someplace I wanted to go yesterday, just for pleasure, and it had some elements of a commitment to it and I am loathe to break any commitment, but as the snow continued to come down, as we struggled to get the chores done (that all had to be done whether or not we were going to be gone for the afternoon), as we thought about coming home on questionable roads to a cold house, the decision to not go was not a difficult one. It is good at home. It is good with us.

Certainly, there is more than one way to live, but something is lacking when there is an overwhelming need to vacate one's life, or to involve others all the time, to have the psychological need to leave the house when all external factors would say to stay home.

in no particular order

Things that made me smile today

blue and black bunnies

this is Snowflake in her summer plummage -- and doesn't she have great "Chicken Run" legs going on?

my boy and his summer dapples

this image took my breath away

girls on the side of the hill

because I'm contrary -- and I loved such a tight shot including at least three types of flies and a drop of blood

the state of her dehorn repair -- and ain't she just the cutest thing!
and this image likewise continues to take my breath away

Homesteading

Well, first these little guys came in.

Then we finally worked out a day to do the plowing. Above is where we began and below is the handiwork about 2/3 finished. Of course it is also the handiwork of years adding to that soil and working it and growing in it.

And then this was a supper -- pan blackened chicken. Not our own chicken but delicious nonetheless. Must do it outside to do it right.

Soon the rectangle garden will be harrowed and then planted. Perhaps this will be the year we'll actually harrow it in the fall and plant a cover crop and all? I never actually feel badly about it as the weeds make the cover crop but it might be nice to deal with fewer weeds?

All this took place in the past week and here it is Mother's Day before I get it posted and I just have to say that I am so glad to be in this place, with these people, to grow these roots and these wings.

Noon Today

Canoeing through the pine understory and snow?

Not much foraging happening today but lots of huddling in corners. They'll appreciate the hot water they'll get to drink.

Old cow, who has detected that I took hay to the horse, on the moove.

New cow in her temporary pen.

In the land of not make believe

the strawberry forest

falling down the gooseberry hole

and potatoes, hilled once then mulched

And in the land of what productive gardens really look like:

onions and spring cabbages amongst the weeds

and a favorite photo because so very much in growing in this -- an old lettuce bed about to be cut back for probably the last time, some bush summer squashes of various and sundry varieties, some young brassica plants of some sort, some cucumber seedlings, some volunteer potatoes (soon to be harvested), and probably other things too.

And in the land of good and plenty:

big onion forest

peas, peas and more peas (three beds of them going all the way back to the fence row)

carrots!

blueberries in prayerful abundance

and a new perennial bed with . . . raspberries and yes, those are figs in those pots!

In the interest of updating from a month ago:

the chicks have grown a good bit.
We haven't lost any (knock wood) but a cat did claim a couple of wings. The cat is in lock-up and the chicks in the infirmary recovering.

this spinach bed has been completely cut over two or three times and is trying to bolt and still it tastes good.

And just because I like them:

the pillars of mercy and justice

a favorite hen named Snowflake

and because it really is important that a boy eat his spinach, and because this does it for him

May Means

chicks

and locust blossoms (fried)

and spinach (and salad from the garden)

on a recent sunny morning

hen laying in nest box

hens dusting and preening

grass growing
(my favorite)
(and see the cow way back there?)

coltsfoot

fiddleheads and jewel weed seedlets

spinach bed
(this will soon be harvest-able)

onions backed by heal all blooming

wise old sage plant

turnips backed by music garlic
(thanks to my friend who gave us that bulb those years ago)

seedling bed

blueberries mulched & peach trees blooming

Appalachian Blue and Green