Crazy farm week.

                                     Figs growing on a fig tree.

                    Well,  it has been a busy few days at the  farm.  We have been replacing the culverts in the driveways into the farm.  Actually we have one just about done.  We still have the cement apron to do and backfill with crushed limestone.    That should happen today.

                   I put up another 7 pints of pickles, but I think we are at the end of that for this year, ass the plants seem to be dying off   My squash is already dead, and so are two tomato plants.  Of course they are the heirloom ones.   I keep hoping that they might come back as the stem is still green.  ( keeping my fingers crossed)   My grape vines have leaves, but don't seem to be getting any taller.  and I fertalized the citrus trees,  5 minutes before it rained.  And my new Peach trees are dead.  I am not having good luck with the weather. Too Hot and too Wet.  Also my Loofha  sponges are blooming like crazy,  but no gourds hanging yet.  And the birdhouse gourds died.    And the broccoli plants grew but never produced.

                  And of course,  we have had lots of butterflies coming through,  and where is my camera.  In my purse.  not in my pocket.  so do I have any photos to help me identify them.  Nooooo.    Arrrggghhh!

                 I had to run to Tractor Supply to get Chicken crumble and treats ( mealworms and harvest delight) and saw this in the parking lot.  The owner did say she was still  a work in progress

               And yes the tag on the side does say Dodge Brothers.   I would love to have something like this for the farm.

              I start the mowing again on Saturday.  Every nine days is a good time frame.  altho I felt like I was making hay the last time since it had been longer.


           Well,  thats all the news from the south,  
Happy" farming" to all the farm girl sisters out there.
See you next week. down on the farm.


  

 

Moringa, and other musings

                                                     Sunflower from the garden this year.


           Well,  I finished off last week by putting up 4 quarts of spicy pickles and 4 quarts of spicy figs.   They have jalapenos in them.  They canned up nicely, and sealed but the steam from the jalapenos just about did me in.

           I went to the farmers market on Saturday,  and found a new herb,  at least new to me.  It is called Moringa.  and is actually a tree, where you harvest the leaves, bark, flowers , fruit, seed and roots.  All of these can e used to make medicines.  Moringa is native to the sub-Himalayan areas of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.  It will also go in the tropics.     Here in Fla.  it will grow  but will freeze back in winter if planted outside.

       Moringa leaves are the most nutritious part of the plant.  The leaves can be dried and added to food  such as soups,  smoothies, meats and vegetables.  or they can be used fresh and eaten like spinach.    It aids in numerous diseases such as arthritis,  joint pain, asthma, constipation, high blood pressure and bacterial infections,  just to name a few.

       I bought two small trees to grow,  and I am going to try to keep them in large pots so that I can move them into a sheltered area when the temp gets too low.   I hope to be able to harvest every few weeks,  as the tree actually grows quite quickly.

     My chicks have been laying for about a month or so and we are getting about 5 eggs a day,   when the last two get old enough,  which should be this month,  we wil be getting about 7 a day,  which will be good ,  since we  have 3 families that we are supplying.

    I ended up mowing for 3 hours today,  and did not get done, so Friday will be another day on the mower for me.  And of course by Monday,  the grass will be back up to my mid calves.  Another big storm today,  and there is a   tropical storm Danny,  heading this way.   More Rain    !!!!!

   Well,  thats all the news from the south,  
Happy" farming" to all the farm girl sisters out there.
See you next week. down on the farm.

 

The farm house

             Hello again.   Yes this is a photo of the farm house as it looks now.  I recently added the front deck on but it is too hot to sit out right now. Will feel much better in winter.  
   
             The tractor is due back soon.  Seems I was a bit silly, and did not check to see that the gas line was open.  I apparently caught it with my foot.   Silly Me.   I will know next time.  Well,  hopefully there will not be a next time.  But you can see in the photo the grass is growing  tall again.  Time to mow.

            This week I also built a mulch container, for building a mulch pile.  It is nothing fancy.   Just about 4 pallets screwed together,  but it will work well for the time being.  Mixing can be done with the loader on the front of the tractor,  unless I really feel the need to work out the arms and then a pitchfork will do.

           Twice this week I have seen turkeys up next to the house.  Two toms and two hens,  They have been looking for good insects to eat.  they certainly get the chickens up and looking at them  wanting to know what is going on.   The chickens have been out in their tractor several times this week,  usually up under the shade of a few big oak trees,  but I know that there are lots of good grubs under there and some good earthworms.  So they have been quite happy.
   
           I have some more pickles to put up and I think I am also going to try pickling some figs.  I have had them,  but never tried to pickle them,  and I want to try.   Hopefully that is on tomarrows to do list.  I have been house cleaning the farm house,  getting rid of the ever present cobwebs and dust,  along with all the dirt we track in to get water and gator aid to drink all day.  I need to stock up on that as well.

         Hope everyone is having a great week  .  Happy" farming" to all the farm girl sisters out there.
See you next week. down on the farm.

   

the Week in review.

                  Well.  as you can see from the photo,  I finally got to put up some bread and butter pickles this week.  Not a lot,  but better that nothing.  With all the rain that we have had  I have not had too much coming from the garden.  Most is rotting on the vine.
                 
                 Another problem this week,  was while I am out cutting the grass  ( yes, in the rain)  the mower just quits on me.  When I try to restart it,  it makes a dreadful noise and cuts off again.  So  I get down and open the hood,  and then try to start it again.  Well,  the whole engine and the radiator start to shake like nobodies business.  and the engine cuts off.   I am thinking a motor mount has broken,  and this tractor is only two years old!!!!   I am not amused.   You really cannot weld a motor mount back on  with this type of engine,  I better get a new tractor.    It has gone to the shop.

         And then if that were not bad enough,  I go into sew these really cute baby bibs  that I found on line,  and half way thru the sewing machine decides that it is not going to play anymore.   It is not picking up the bobbin thread. So it is in the shop, and won't be done for about two weeks.   I finished the baby bibs by hand.  (not amused)

        Oh my,  I just looked out the window and the SUN is shinning,  for the first time in a week.   I think I almost forgot what is was like to see sunshine.

       The only good thing  this week is that we finally got the boat back from being repaired.  and it did not cost an arm or a leg and maybe if it quits raining for any length of time,,we can go fishing.  That would be fun.

     I am going to be a good farm girl and go clean and organize my recyclables as today is garbage day and I need to get them out.
   
      Have a wonderful farm girl week and I will see you later.

 

Air Conditioning AT Last

                  Well,  We got the air conditioning in the house on Monday.  It already feels so much better in there.  Now I can actually get in there and work.  So I am happy.   
                I am working right now on one of my art projects because I have a show coming up next month.  and I need to get alot of stuff done.  Work continues on the farm,  but still as a snails pace because of the weather.   It is still raining every day, and wet grass is not good for cutting,  and really not good for getting other stuff done.  Like using chain saws.
               We are getting ready to replace the culverts into the farm from the main road.   This involves getting the county to give us the correct elevation and correct drainage length before we can start.   That in itself  will be a big project.    After we get them in,  we are going back and adding cement to the ends to keep them from collapsing. 
              Then hopefully we will be working on the big group of trees,  there is lots to burn in there an lots to either cut down or pull out by the roots  (sweet gum trees) .  They are very opportunistic. and love to take over.

  All of those have just sprung up in the lat year.   Ugg.  You can also see the beginning of another compost pile,  which I hope to have in better shape in the next week.
          I hope you  have a good week  and I will see you next week,  down on the farm.

too hot to even think.

            It has been so hot and humid, that I have done nothing at the farm this week.  I have been working on some of my art projects as I do have a show coming up in September.  We did get the chicken tractor done,  and the girls were quite happy to be out and about  looking for new worms and the like.  The photo is of two of my girls,  Lacey,  a silver lace Wyandotte, and  Hawkeye, my beautiful Americana.  They were enjoying their free time as I cleaned the chicken coop and spruced up the cage.

    There is a small house on the farm.  I did live there when I was single,  but not enough room now for two humans and 4 pets.  We are going to get an air conditioner ( window unit)  installed this week.  It has become way too hot in the house, to even be comfortable there.  and since I love to do my crochet there, I have not done any in a while.

  I am trying to get a farm management system going,  whereby things that need to be done,  are listed and taken care of in a more  organized manner.  This includes the harvesting of the trees, when they are ready,  the cleaning of the property, and the management of new growth in the hammock area.  I have several species of trees, that are not found in the area very often because they made good lumber and were often harvested for that reason.  They include the Shumard Oak, White Oak, and Turkey Oak  They grow up to 60 feet and have about a 40 foot span.   Very straight and the canopy does not grow large in a forest.  (These are all good for landscape trees).

I also have abundent wildlife.  There is a good flock or two of wild turkeys, and lots of deer.  Also racoons, armidillos, and possums, Coyote, and a Bobcat that frequents the area.  So I am always kept intertained with what I see out there. 

  I mentioned the house there.  My Dad built the house around an old one room house that was there when he purchased the farm.  He enclosed the back porch and made that the kitchen. ( it may have been an outdoor kitchen to start with.) and added plumbing and another bedroom to the house.  I was but a wee thing and altho I did try to help.  I think I hid more nails then handed them to dad.

  Yep that's me and Dad  Working on the farm house and that would be in the late 50's .  Yes the fireplace still works.  Just no air conditioning.

   So come join me for more reminiscensing  and fun down on the farm.

Rain and lots of it.

   

It has been raining everyday for over 2 weeks.  I am not complaining, because we can use the rain,  and I know that it won't always rain,  but these rain showers bring lighting and thunder and move in rather quickly.
     Of course with all the rain, the garden is doing good,  Squash the size of footballs.  Tomatoes,  some with some good size splits in them, and the sweet potatoes  and beans are just running like crazy.  Several watermelon and cantalope are on the vine,  and they should be ready soon.
      So the rain is good.   Except for mowing.  The tractor busted a part on the midline PTO and  went in for service .  They had it for about 2 weeks while they waited for the part to come in.  Well,  the grass in the fields got sooo high,  that when we finally got it back,  It took several hours to cut and of course I did not get finished because a storm rolled in, and it has been raining ever since.   That means that when I get out there again,  I will be mowing what did not get done,  and what I did already all over again.  At least I like to mow.
   I also got started with the help of my farm boys as I affectionately call them, building a tractor for the chickens.   It should be done soon and then I can take my girls for a walk.   So my girls are not completely free range, but that has a lot to do with the other critters that we have in the area.   Dogs that are dumped by collage students and become somewhat feral,  coyote ( at least 2) and a bobcat.  Not to mention, a bald eagle and several pairs of hawks that would also like to eat.  Since the eggs are being divided between 3 families.  I want to keep them alive.  So this nice big tractor will serve that purpose.  I will be able to move it anywhere I want and the girls can eat all the bugs and goodies to their hearts desire.  and then back into the cage at night for protection.
    I have been taking photos of the changes at the farm,  and some of the plants and flowers that we have.   I did find some mushrooms the other day.  but I have no clue as to weather they are eatible or not.  So I guess I will go on a quest to determine what we have and if they could be eaten.  I do know of a weed here that is eatible.  It is called rattlesnake weed and grows very  fast and quick.  If you take a spade or pitchfork to get it up , you will find tubers on the roots.    I have cleaned the tubers and pickled them for a nice sweet pickled radish tasting root.  Not bad.   I know that I can also use Chinese vinegar and soysauce to pickle them and that is good also.
   So there is a bit of farm life in the south right now.  hope you enjoy the day  in the life of a tree farmer.