Gardens, Bugs, Kids

10 days ago the vegetable garden spot looked like this:

In the upper right corner of the photo, you can see the garden as it normally looks each spring. There are some mules in the photo and they were still moving between pastures #2 and #3. #2 is a winter lot, #3 is a wooded lot.

This is just after I spread the dirt in front of the porch and put grass seed down along with some hay chaff. The pots are my version of weird and funky.

Next? This is yesterday afternoon.

The mules have moved to the meadow out back [pasture #5], the cattle that remain are in the woods doing some brush cleaning.

Rich took nearly a week to complete the tilling but I am happy.  He struggled with it and could only do a little at a time. But I am over the moon happy. This is the first time I haven't had to do it by hand in a few years.

Doesn't it look nice?

On May 20th, my neighbor kids came down to visit and chat. This was when I was getting ready to seed the dirt in front of the porch. They loved my bucket of collected seeds from last year. I invited them to plant them and tromp them into the dirt.

Yesterday the seeded area looked like this:

I have Zinnias, marigolds, green beans and probably a few other flowers mixed in. I thought of transplanting the green beans, but I may let them stay just for fun.
I will thin and transplant some of the other flowers.
The odd looking bucket has oregano in it. The spool table holds a collection of strange roots and some painted deer skulls that the kids added bling to.

I'll get photos of those later.

Things are starting to shape up and look pretty!
The garden is going to be a delight to work in this year.

I'll have lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, sweet corn, turnips, carrots, and peas. There will be some red sweet peppers too, just for the added colors.

Of course against Rich's wishes, there will be sunflowers, zinnias, four o'clocks, and anything else I care to plop in the dirt. I see the malva has self seeded in the garden next to the rain gauge. One plant is by the house also.

Rich isn't quite sure as to why I insist on having flowers in the vegetable garden. But why not?

I have to find a spot to plant some squash. I think I'll put them up in the holding pen that isn't being used right now.

Back in 2014 I shared the garden space with some other neighbors. We had a very crowded garden. Their methods for growing were very different than mine, however we did have a great harvest.

Last but not least.
Bugs.
Allie loves bugs and she always finds the most interesting ones.
She brings me May Beetles to see, and then she came down with a stick bug.

It looks like today is going to be mostly dedicated to planting the garden.

Guess who is coming to town!

Miss Lily!!!

With a bit of hard work and some juggling of schedules, I will be able to pick Lily up tomorrow in the Dells. 

I'm sort of really kind of...well yes...

excited.

I love all my Grands and wish I could visit with each of them for a week. At the end of Lily's visit, I get to spend some time in Wausau with Elena and Sterling. I can't wait for that either.

Later this month, Dennis will be coming to spend some time at the farm.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to retire and just spend my summers with the kids. Hmm, kids, farm, and seeing state parks. I have that on my list!

Well, in reality, that isn't going to happen, so ....I will muddle through the best way I know how.

I had a bountiful harvest yesterday from the garden! I've never grown sweet corn before as I always figured the wild critters would get it before I could.

But as luck would have it, we have a huge harvest of corn!

And it is delicious! So I grabbed my pails and went to work yesterday in the forenoon to harvest goodies from the garden.

I had some beans, grape tomatoes, some Roma tomatoes, and some Beefeater type tomatoes. I filled a 5 gallon bucket twice with sweet corn.

Of course it was hot and humid. I froze 5 bags of corn on the cob for having this winter. I still had a 5 gallon bag of sweet corn.

So I sent an email to my neighbor telling her that I was having a crisis of too much sweet corn, and the bucket was looking for a home in some tummies.

Her crop hasn't come in yet but I like to share.

She answered that she had a family of expert corn eaters and would be grateful for a bucket of corn.

Here is my harvest which includes onions, zinnias, and peaches from the market in town. I couldn't resist trying to create a 'still life' out of the produce I picked and cleaned.

It looks like another warm humid day in SW Wisconsin. Lots of work to get done!

We had another two inches of rainfall last night. I don't think we are facing any sort of drought this year.

It is pickin' and putting up time!

I'm not going to preach growing your own food at anyone, but after not having a garden for a few summers and then...having a fantastic garden this year, well I'm going to say this:

It is a delight to sit down to a home cooked meal that is all grown on your own place. This includes the wild berries picked from the woods for dessert.

Not everyone can have a large garden.  And many people tell me how they are too busy to have even a small garden.  Or they don't like to garden, they are too old to garden.

Look at the health benefits.
The food is fresher than anywhere else.
Yes.
Fresher than the Farmer's Market.
Straight from the dirt to the sink, to the table, how much more fresh can that be?

Organic?  Well if you grow it, you'll know it!

It can't help but taste better!

to this:

...and of course this.

The vegetable garden can also provide things of beauty...

Carrots tops:

Of course there is always the exercise too.  Bending over, pulling weeds, and harvesting.  

And there is processing what you harvest.  Right now I am freezing many of my vegetables in perfect sized packages for two people.  Green beans, carrots, and tomatoes get frozen in the same container or vaccumed sealed bag in perfect portions for those cold winter nights when we crave a nice good stew or soup.

Add some homegrown Dexter to it, and you have a fine meal. 

Again, all grown on our own place.

Last night I picked crab apples from a real crab apple tree, not those that nurseries sell as decorative trees...but good old fashioned hearty red crabs.
And they make lovely juice for jellies!