A July "Picture This"

Every once in a while, we have a batch of pictures we can share.  Sadly, Rob is not feeling as creative as he did when the "Oh Well" series was created.  So, we'll just have to show a few pictures and explain a bit about what you're seeing.  Just don't be too upset if a photo gets reused on a day when the creative juices are flowing again!

We have young apple trees that are just old enough to start bearing fruit.  Looks like we'll have a few this year.  Tammy and I tend to eat a decent number of apples through the Fall and Winter, so this is a welcome sight for us.

The marjoram and oregano are blooming.  If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you might see the bee towards the bottom left.  These plants were "a-buzz" with bee activity this evening. Also a very welcome sight.

We do still have broilers available for sale.  This is what they looked like before we took them to the 'Park'.  The average weight is somewhere in the 4.6lb area.  We feel that's a decent size.  The fact that these birds are no longer on the farm is a.... um.. .welcome ... unsight?

But, wait, we can't do just one batch of broilers.  So, this is the 'brooder' for the next batch.   Yes, there are chicks in that small shelter.  A working brooder is welcome.  Even if it is unsightly.

Anyone who grows carrots will tell you that they are one of the most difficult to weed.  And here is what two rows of carrots look like when weeded.  This is a sight for sore eyes.  And that is welcome.

The ducks are out in the North area of the farm.  We have been steadily losing ducks to mysterious causes and are down from 45 birds to roughly 20.  The culprit are those little blackflies.  Apparently, they carry a parasite that is deadly for ducks (and turkeys).  We're investigating whether we have any solution for the problem.  Every year there is something.  This is just one of the things for this year.

A high tunnel with healthy looking produce is quite the sight to behold and we hope it is welcome to all.  In the center are green beans with small peppers immediately to the right.  We had to put up a divider fence to keep the beans from running over the peppers.  Tomatoes on the right, cucumbers further right and rosemary furthest right.  Left are more peppers and more beans. 

Portable poultry pagodas still have to be heavy enough so they don't blow away in a breeze.  So, having access to a tractor and a hayrack is welcomed when a building has to move a bit.  This building moved from the northeast corner of the farm and became our brooder unit.  Moving it was a bit of a sight, I guess.  It slowed a couple of cars on the road down at least.

We've been mulching and now caging the tomatoes.  This picture is a bit surprising since it isn't all that old and it does NOT represent what these plants look like now.  Rob and Rachel did all of the pruning on these plants.  If you have pruned tomatoes, you know your hands are quite a sight afterwards (which is not welcomed - but the results gained with the tomatoes is).  Hands get stained a very deep green black.  It takes a good bit of scrubbing to remove it.

Finally, that pile of dirt has been moved to fill various holes in the ground and then spread out to allow us to move perennial flowers from the 'wild zone' in the Southwest corner of the farm.  The weedy pile of dirt that was there was an eyesore.  So, changing the situation was....yes...you are now getting the idea.....   Welcome.

Tammy was wondering about these peas.  They just weren't producing what they were supposed to produce.  We were trying to figure out what happened.  Happily, the seed company just sent a note explaining that there were some issues with the seed and that the genetics were wrong.  This explained the issue.  The bad news - not likely to harvest any of this.  That's 200 feet of snow peas that aren't.  The good news?  We now know that it wasn't US that messed up.

We'll pick the last of the lettuce form the raised beds this week.  Now we have to figure out what to put in there next.

Stargazer lilies are one of our favorite Oriental types.  And, of course, we have lots of day lilies on the farm.  If our eyes are getting sore.....we look at these.

The Southwest field was the one that was planted (in part) during the Iris Fest/Tom Sawyer Day.  The bigger plants in this picture be them!  And we have been harvesting them over the past few weeks.  Three cheers!

Then, there is this field.  That's the pepper field.  Most of the peppers are gone (due to rabbit and deer).  That's a lot of work down the drain.  Ah well.

Oh look!  A pile of wood.  What a sight!

Oh look!  A new window.  Now we can see the pile of wood better!

We hoped you enjoyed the picture fest.  It was brought to you by the letters
G
and F x 2