Figs!

One benefit of our extremely hot (and extremely early) summer season has been the fig harvest.  This year was a bumper crop for figs, and we've been enjoying the evening ritual of eating fresh figs off of the tree during farm chores.  Now, at the end of July, we are almost done with the first fig harvest.  Each year, the fig trees produce a second crop of tiny green fruit, which never have a chance to ripen before October's frosts.  This year, with the season being roughly 10-14 days early, we might be able to squeeze in a second fig crop!  Fingers are crossed...

Hello, Sunshine!

Summer is here, officially by date and by temperature! Yesterday's evening high was a horrific 103 degrees! ICK! The good news is that the tomatoes, peppers, corn, grapes, and beans have been rather happy with the warmer temps (though nobody loves anything past 90 degrees), and have shown their gratitude with massive growth spurts! I'm planning to hack back the grape vines tomorrow just so that they don't completely take over, and I have been trying to figure out creative ways to cage my remaining tomatoes. I was previously using old 6"x6" grid cattle fencing, rolling it into ~1.5 foot cylinders, and placing each one over a tomato plant. It was working WONDERFULLY! Until I ran out of fencing, that is. When I wandered over to my local Grange to see about purchasing more, they told me that it was only available in 330 foot rolls, and would cost a whopping $173! OUCH!! Looking on craigslist and other classified ads revealed that most other folks had similar ideas, and there was no suitable spare fencing to be found. Sad day in Tomato Land. So, I'm just going to be staking them up with very tall and sturdily-anchored stakes. When you have 150 tomato plants, you do whatever you have to. *grin*

And now, I leave you with some early morning pictures...

As you have probably been able to tell, I am endlessly fascinated by Borage flowers!

A rare Dinkelbuhne pole bean seedling rises up to greet the morning sun!

(Nearly) Summer in the Garden...

Summer is (officially) nearly here, and we are busy-busy-busy on the farm! Soap-making has begun full force, and we just finished up our latest batch of "Creamsicle" soap on Tuesday.

It has to sit in its TOP SECRET SOAP BOX for two days before it can be removed from its mold (yes, we use a 5 quart ice cream tub as a mold...and you know what? It works GREAT!) and allowed to open-air cure for two weeks. At that point it is no longer caustic and can be used. This latest batch is scented with Sweet Dark Orange, Peppermint, Vanilla, and Balsam Peru essential oils, and also contained Vitamin E, powdered marshmallow root, and cocoa butter for extra moisturizing.

We have been harvesting buckets (literally!) of artichokes, and using them as pizza toppings (the chickens also greatly enjoy the leftover parts).

The warm weather has meant that the tomatoes and peppers are finally beginning to take off - about time too! Here is my seed crop area for Congo peppers, Ping Tung Eggplant, Litchi "Tomatoes," and Orange-Fleshed Purple Smudge & Joya de Oaxaca Tomatoes.

We have begun our first seed harvest by bringing about half of the chive pods in to finish drying. The easiest way to harvest (dry) chive seeds are to put the seed heads in a paper bag and shake thoroughly.

Everything has begun blooming, including the mullein! Soon it will be time to get my spoon out and start scooping flowers for use in wintertime cough syrups! *grin*

The honeysuckle is in full fragrant bloom across the property, but nowhere more so than outside of the Duchesse de Portland guest room window!

The figs are growing very large on our tree, and I can almost taste those succulent fruits...waiting for them to ripen is torturous!

WANTED: SUMMER

Last seen in August 2009. If you have any information as to Summer's whereabouts, please contact us immediately!!

After about a week of "normal" summer weather, it has turned unseasonably cool here the past two nights. Yesterday was 38 degrees when I awoke, and this morning it was 36 degrees! Where has summer gone?! My garden plants do not know what to make of this crazy up-down weather pattern, and my tomatoes and melons are most definitely NOT happy. I am terrified that, after all of my hard work, the harvest this year is going to be awful. Sigh. Fingers are crossed for good luck.

My sneaking suspicion was confirmed last night after a quick jaunt into the wood lot: I have a patch of mullein growing wild on my property. This past winter, while gathering firewood, I noticed a patch of plants that I thought looked an awful lot like mullein, but did not feel 100% confident in my identification skills at that point in time. However, one of these fuzzy-leaved beauties was in full bloom yesterday, and it's rather difficult to mistake a flowering mullein plant for much else. I was elated (and also slightly annoyed with myself for PURCHASING mullein seeds this past spring to grow in my herb garden)! Now I have access to a lovely source of mullein this year! Mullein is a biennial, so the my plant babies (grown from seed this year) will not flower and produce seed until next year. Ergo, with the discovery of the wild flowering mullein patch, I will have access to a ready seed source this year (not to mention a plethora of leaves for medicinal uses!). Yippee! Plus, there is something so majestic about a (5 foot tall!) mullein in full bloom. I have to admit that I stood in front of the plant for a good minute or two, just drinking in its beauty. After the hectic quality of the day, there was something so peaceful about this collection of plants in the late afternoon dappled forest light. I felt...at peace...in probably the first time in a while.

It makes me happy to know that my knowledge of wild plants has been expanding this year. I am trying to learn to identify "useful" weeds (such as yellow dock). I love that I can now look over my pastures and, instead of seeing a jumble of unnamed/unknown weeds, actually identify certain plants out of the bunch! Mentors are found in the oddest assortments, and my knowledge has been learned from both books and hands-on teaching. Thank you to all who have imparted their knowledge to me, even if it was a fleeting sentence of wisdom.