Things are staring to move and groove. Or should I say grow in the back yard.
Lets play another round of photo catch up 🙂
Okra
California Wonder Green Peppers
Peppers and Eggs
Boston Pickling & Dragon Egg Cucumbers
Sitting in the Garden
Here come the Girls
Yay! Rainbow
Can’t go wrong with Zinnias
Lets Ask Gary…Bug #4
Found this guy (already dead) outside tonight. Very cool to look at…
And on the second day…I was tired.
I assumed we were done picking berries, but the boys said they were up for more. So, back out we went, for one hour of picking.
Yay! The first (and only) stop was the mother load. One one side were very ripe red raspberries.
One the other side, blackberries.
I froze all the berries to transport home. One tray at a time.
And you would think after picking the hot sun the boys would be done…nope, they were ready to move hay and clean the loose hay from the barn (and pick up bugs they found).
Lets Ask Gary…Bug #3
The boys found a bunch (yuk) of caterpillars crawling around the yard and up the side of garage and silo. We finally figured out they were dropping out of the hickory nut tree (more yuk).
What are they?
About two weeks after our last farm visit, we managed to get back there and check on all those unripe berries we saw.
Yay! Most were ready to be picked.
Boo! I think there were as many thorns, wild rose, and poison ivy as berries…all mixed together…and it was 90 degrees out.
But between myself, my two boys, and my dad, we were getting berries.
On the way to pick berries.
There were red raspberries and blackberries. Mostly raspberries.
Everyone was very hot, sweaty and scratched up. So glad the watermelon had been refrigerated all day.
After we all cooled down, the boys help pick broccoli. Unlike the broccoli they were picking from their garden, these broccoli heads were ginormous. (But I guess if you don’t have chicken pecking at them constantly your broccoli plants would grow a little better.)
My main man…Mr. Kosh
Pita and Potato
Green zucchini and yellow summer squash.
I used them, plus some garlic I picked a few weeks ago.
And this is what I made with them.
The Flowers
Not really flowers, but it looks cool.
Just a few things we picked…
And then there was 5… I keep forgetting to mention that Flo the chicken, did not survive her injures.
She died one night in the nesting box.
I guess that concludes the Copper Maran experiment. All three of them have met their demise. One a hawk, one bad genes and a fox, and the last one a raccoon.
I’m done feeding the wildlife. We have been setting out a trap a night, and have since caught 2 raccoons.
RIP
(from left to right)
Little Girl aka Alice, Vera and Flo
I guess one animal or another have literally ‘kissed their grits’.
Here’s a few pictures from our farm visit last week.  We were a few weeks early to pick the raspberries, black raspberries, and  blackberries.  (bummer)
The Farm
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Let’s Ask Gary…Bug #2
This little bug looks like it has cotton hanging off the back of him and when you try to catch them, they jump very fast. Â What it is?
Â
Â
Â
One Pie
Finally made a rhubarb pie using the red rhubarb I picked from the farm. Â I’m not sure if I have ever even had rhubarb pie before, but we’ll be cutting into it this evening, so here goes…
Â
So tired of the rain…and the humidity…and the rain. Â But things are a growing. Â Everything currently seems to be green, but at least it’s growing and we can eat it. Â Here’s another round of photo catch up.
Rat Tail Radish
Leeks Going to Seeds
Here Come The Cukes
The Peppa’
The Boys Grew Their Own Broccoli
First Front Yard Zucchini (and if you look real close on the lower leaf you’ll see a ‘spotted lady beetle’ Gary identified for us 🙂
Trying a new trellis system for pole beans this year
Out of town for a few days…down to the farm. Nothing like leaving your gardens for a bit to really notice the growth when you get back ( I hope).
While walking around the farm I found myself at ‘the old rhubarb’ patch. A little smaller than I remember it, but 1) still there and 2) still in good shape.
I’ve only had green rhubarb for so long, that it was cool to see the red variety.
I think I can safely and confidently say that this rhubarb is an heirloom variety, not to mention an heirloom, period.
(I’ll bring what I need next visit to bring home plants).
And we’ll call this next section…
Let’s Ask Gary 🙂
I found this bug on the leaf of the rhubarb plant. It’s not a Ladybug/Beetle. Or at least I don’t think so. It looks like a spotted cucumber beetle, but red. So, Gary, what is it?
almostfarming 