{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Amanda Soule

Around the Farmette

Inspired by Farmama...

There have been some successes, some failures, and some question marks in the garden so far this year:

: what I thought was going to be a small green bean harvest is turning into a huge one.  We could feed our family of five heapfuls every other night.  Yum.

: unbelievably (to me), we have at least one cantaloupe.  Yum.  Yum.

: not sure what is going on with the broccoli again this year.  Last year it didn't come in until September.  It looks like that is when we will be harvesting it again this year (or not at all)

: pickling cucumbers are coming in all over the place and when these plants are done, we have a second and third round at the ready.

: our edamame plants have beans all over them but I am still unclear about when to harvest.  Have you grown edamame before?

: of our nine (albeit young) blueberry bushes, I think we might have harvested ten berries.    I love those catbirds but next year I am not going to share all of my berries with them.

: our lovely lettuce has only just now bolted so we have been eating a fresh salad nearly every night this summer.

: our raspberry bushes did not flower this year.  They are only a year old.  I am hoping this will be different next year.

: carrots are growing strong and coming out about 8-10 inches long tasting of the earth, their green, brown and orangeness is awe-inspiring.

: our cauliflower hasn't come to a head yet.  Hmmmm.


How does your garden grow this summer?

Yarn Along: 27 July

Joining Ginny again this week for another Yarn Along...

Slow and steady goes the knitting and the reading this week.  At the end of the day, I am left with very little time for each and every last second of it is wonderful.  The cowl knits up so simply and takes very little concentration, which is exactly what I like (too much detail interferes with the close attention I must pay to all of those Project Runway episodes).  When the weather cools, I plan to get back to the sweater at hand but for now, this is just fine.

This Life is in Your Hands is due back to the library soon so my pace has got to pick up a bit. I love the book and would read it until it was done if it weren't for all of the life that has to happen in between those chapters.  I appreciate the different perspective it offers on homesteading, and in particular, on the Nearings--what information they chose to share and, perhaps more importantly, not to share.  By next week, this one should be off the nightstand...

Making for Baby

We have a dear friend who recently had a baby girl and I have been itching to make her something since she was welcomed into the world.  Sewing is still something I am learning to do despite a couple of years of practice.  

In looking for patterns to sew for this new and dear one, I came across the baby kimono in Weekend Sewing.  I was a little concerned as sewing for a newborn seems so, well, tiny.  And I feel like a bull in a china closet around all of that sewing tininess.  

But I took the plunge and cut into that Liberty of London fabric and out came this tiny top.  I had some bias tape issues (as usual) and I still haven't really figured out tension on my machine, but all in all, I am pretty happy with it.

Nature Study Monday: Angelica

I think I might dub 2011 as The Summer of Garden Herbs.  We have so many growing this year and I have so much to learn about them.  Some are very familiar to me, the sites, smells, and feel of them, like chamomile and lavender, for instance.  Others like Jerusalem Artichoke or Angelica are totally new.

Each time I visit a nursery, I go straight to the section on herbs.  It seems that they all have the basics--sage, thyme, basil, etc...  but there might be one or two obscure ones that I happen upon.  This is how I came upon our new Angelica plant.  I had heard of it before, but had no idea why I might want it in my garden.  I did notice that it likes some shade and I had that to offer so we were in business.

Angelica is a biennial.  If the plant is left to flower, it will die in its second year.  I am hoping that mine will drop seeds and then reseed itself.  We will see.  It likes moist soil and "speckled" shade and is native to northeastern North America (another great reason for me to plant it).

For medicinal purposes, the roots, leaves, and seeds (I believe) are used to lower fevers, quell coughs, and soothe colicky babies.  The stalks of the plants are candied and sold as sweets. 

Hmmm... I think I will save that last bit of information from my little ones!

Have you had any experience with Angelica?  Please share!

Nature Study Monday: Angelica

I think I might dub 2011 as The Summer of Garden Herbs.  We have so many growing this year and I have so much to learn about them.  Some are very familiar to me, the sites, smells, and feel of them, like chamomile and lavender, for instance.  Others like Jerusalem Artichoke or Angelica are totally new.

Each time I visit a nursery, I go straight to the section on herbs.  It seems that they all have the basics--sage, thyme, basil, etc...  but there might be one or two obscure ones that I happen upon.  This is how I came upon our new Angelica plant.  I had heard of it before, but had no idea why I might want it in my garden.  I did notice that it likes some shade and I had that to offer so we were in business.

Angelica is a biennial.  If the plant is left to flower, it will die in its second year.  I am hoping that mine will drop seeds and then reseed itself.  We will see.  It likes moist soil and "speckled" shade and is native to northeastern North America (another great reason for me to plant it).

For medicinal purposes, the roots, leaves, and seeds (I believe) are used to lower fevers, quell coughs, and soothe colicky babies.  The stalks of the plants are candied and sold as sweets. 

Hmmm... I think I will save that last bit of information from my little ones!

Have you had any experience with Angelica?  Please share!

Yarn Along: 20 July

Joining Ginny again this week for her yarn along...

The knitting and the reading (and the living) have gotten so much better since we conceded and turned on the AC.  How much I was hoping to spare our energy bill (and the world) of it but, alas, we were baking in this house of ours.  No amount of cold showers helped.  

My mom's cowl has already been ripped once. Luxe Alpaca is a cushy, squishy soft and dreamy yarn to knit with, but it really shows mistakes (as does the cowl pattern).  I am in no hurry though, just enjoying the knitting.

Besides lots and lots of books about trains for our littlest, I have started reading This Life is in Your Hands based on a Amazon recommendation and I fear it is another one of those books that I can not put down.  Drat!  They make me so tired!  Pining to go upstairs and read it right now as a matter of fact.  Just one more of Netflix's Project Runway episodes before I can get to it...

Garden Herbs

Our garden this year is filled with herbs of all kinds: some that love sun, some that like shade, some that creep, and one that can get over six feet high!  I am still learning of the culinary and medicinal benefits of each of them.  Here is a sampling of what is growing and how we are using it:

Lemon Balm: makes a lovely addition to chamomile in a tea; I have been adding it to 

salads with a lemon vinaigrette

Oregano: used it tonight to make this

Lemon Verbana:  going to make an oil using this one

Lavender:  drying the flowers for tea and sachets at the moment

Dill:  feeding it to our caterpillars and holding onto it until our cucumbers come in

What herbs are growing in your garden this year and how are you using them?

Nature Study Monday: Roman Chamomile

My most favorite tea in the whole wide world is chamomile.  While it is much too hot right now to enjoy the relaxing effects of it, I am still loving all of the flowers.  

I have never grown chamomile before.  This year I grew most of my plants from seed and bought one for insurance.  It is growing splendidly underneath and next to our blueberry bushes. 

Chamomile is native to Europe and likes full sun.  Ours started flowering a couple of weeks ago and I am looking forward to many more flowers this season!  

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Amanda Soule

On the Farm(ette)

Farmama has gone offline for a while, but I think I will continue the Thursday postings for a while.  It is so much fun...

We have hit a momentary lull in the vegetable harvesting this week.  Our green beans are not producing quite as fast or as much as they did a couple of weeks ago, neither is our lettuce, our strawberries are decidedly done, and the birds are getting to our blueberries faster than we can.

Each year I am learning more about growing our food.  Last year was my first real year in the garden.  I learned spacing, and hilling, and staking, and so much more.  This year I am dabbling with companion planting--I just underplanted carrots by our tomatoes.  Our strawberries, too, are going to have to get friendly with another round of beans due up soon.

Last year I planted all seedlings and this year most of what we are growing was started from seed.  This season I have also done second (and third) plantings of some veggies. Next year? Oh the list of what I want to learn/know/practice goes on and on and on.  Think I'll start with extending the season with a cold frame.

What are you doing differently in your garden this year?

Yarn Along: 13 July

Yarning (and sweating) along with Ginny again this week...

This year my determination to keep the air conditioner off as long as possible is getting in the way of sweater progress. I have turned to this cowl, a present for my own mama (who refuses to read this blog).  This project will accompany us to the beach for the rest of the season, as it is nice and light and just what I need.

Reading has been sporadic at best, but I am determined to overcome that lack of focus.  I am loving The Egg and I.  Have you read it?  It is quirky and funny and light--again just what I need.

Butterfly Dreaming

Last year we found an Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar munching on our potted dill plant.  After witnessing the metamorphosis, I knew that we had to plant plenty more of its host plant around the garden so that these little black beauties would grace us with their presence again this year.  So plant we did-loads of dill, some parsley, some fennel, and some carrots.  So it is strange to me that I am surprised that these sleek specimens are flittering everywhere about the garden.  Nature always surprises me with its unpredictable predictability.

I mean, do butterflies have a sense of smell?  How on earth do they know they difference between parsley and cilantro, for example?  But they do.  The fuzzy little precursors to our Black Swallowtails are munching their way through our dill just as we speak.  Three of them (in varying stages), in fact, are atop our kitchen counter right now.

For those of you who are interested in learning more, I have found The Life Cycles of Butterflies and The Family Butterfly Book really informative and fun to read.

What butterflies are flitting about your garden this summer?

Nature Study Monday: Gray Catbird Nest

We have a pair of catbirds living in and around our backyard that have stolen my heart.  I remember earlier this summer when I first discovered the catbird and hoped that I would see another before they left for warmer weather. Now I see (or hear) one or the other of the pair in the early morning, late evening, and many moments in between.

Hidden deep within a shrub about 8 feet off of the ground, we found their lovely nest, filled with three turquoise eggs.  Catbird nests are subject to being "stolen" by the cowbird and their best defense is their hiding of the nest.  Hidden it was.  

The outer layer of the nest is composed of larger twigs and branches, and what looks to be a cigarette wrapper, and the inner part is delicately woven and soft, a perfect place for her babies.

Catbirds nest two to three times in a year.

I started early,

Took my dog,
And visited the sea;
The mermaids in the basement
Came out to look at me...

But no man moved me 'til the tide
Went past my simple shoe,
And past my apron and my belt,
And past my bodice too

Until we met the solid town,
No man he seemed to know;
And bowing with a mighty look
At me, the sea withdrew.

Emily Dickinson

Yarn Along: 6 July

Joining Ginny again today for her Yarn Along...

Summer is here!  How have you been spending your sunshiney days?

Progress has slowed a bit on the sweater, not because of the extreme heat, but because I have misplaced the pattern.  Instead of looking for it, I have simply picked up my brother's Christmas socks.  Those are great beach knitting anyways and we have been doing some beach going these days.

I just finished Mitten Strings for God a few nights ago.  Much of it really resinated with me.  The author is a bit further along on her mothering journey than me; her warnings about over-scheduling, rushing from play dates to dance classes and home again were timed perfectly.  School being out has left us with huge windows of time during our summer days that, although daunting at times, free us up to go to the beach or the woods on a whim.  Oh these summer days...

I can't wait to read about your summer knitting and reading!

Expanding Our Flock

We have not had great luck in the chickie department this summer.  There was a misstep, a raccoon, and a sickness--so we have gone from seven to four babies.  

Pictured above: a Rhose Island Red and a Buff Orpington

There has been some heart break in our house over the lost little ones (mostly on my part), and we are loving the babies that we do have.  I never thought that owning chickens would come with tears, but here we are, fuddling our way through our first year of owning chickens.  Let's hope it is mostly drama-free from here on out.

Happy 4th of July!

 Happiest of thoughts and warmest of wishes for a sun-and-water-filled holiday.