Homestead Happenings

Welcome to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's been going on 

here on our zone 8A Piedmont homestead.

The gazebo frame is being covered in morning glory.

Unfortunately, the loofah that I had planted (twice),

never took off.

We'll try again next year. 

The garden is a bit of a mess at the moment.

The temperatures here have been blistering,

as in much of the country,

and motivation to be outside has waned.

With this weekend being a little cooler,

I am hoping to give some attention to filling the raised beds

with adequate growing material.

There have been several disappointments this season.

This Seminole pumpkin that I had great success with

the last two years, has not produced even one gourd.

I think that it is too late in the season to expect 

any recovery, so another thing to look forward to next year.

I guess it's not surprising,

as even the nasturtiums,

seen here in the bed next to the round strawberry bed,

have withered in the heat, despite hand watering.

The Red Ripper beans never disappoint.

They are starting to take off and dry on the vines.

These red beans have a mild flavor,

and are great for using in chili, sloppy joes,

and anywhere you might use meat.

These store amazingly well, and, in fact,

I recently just finished last year's harvest.

Some things currently growing are green beans,

leeks, okra and turmeric.

Fall seedlings will be started soon.

Although their timing is a bit off,

these volunteer pumpkins did exceptionally well,

despite the scorching heat and humidity.

These three were harvested yesterday and brought inside,

and are absolutely beautiful.

There's no way they will make it until fall

left outdoors.

As I don't know the variety, I was planning to keep them

for decorating the front porch.

We'll see how well they do.

The morning glory is vigorously adorning the compost area.

For some reason, it seems a lot of folks in this state

don't care for it.

The heart-shaped leaves alone are so pretty,

and the purple flowers just add to it.

There are a number of orbital spiders residing here.

It was mesmerizing to watch as this gal

turned this moth into her silk to trap it.

Nature is fascinating.

A few of these yellow fuzzy caterpillars 

were found on the baptisia this week.

It may be an American dagger moth caterpillar.

I'm so grateful that critters can find a home here.

Our neighborhood groundhog (?)

has been visiting the garden as of late.

I wonder if s/he could be the culprit

eating one of the green bean plants?

Something not as welcome are the bag worms,

which infest our persimmon tree every year.

These insects are a true menace,

and can defoliate and destroy many types of plants.

Just look at the inside of one of the sacks.

It is best to remove the entire bag

and dispose of it in the trash, not compost.

These gluten-free almond flour muffins

were made this week.

I tweaked the recipe just a bit,

and they turned out great!

This will definitely be going into

the family recipe file.

You can find it here.

There is some good news to report.

All of our girls are together again,

enjoying ranging time as one unit.

The two chooks who were broody,

despite our efforts to dissuade them,

broke their broodiness all on their own.

It's such a blessing to see them all 

hanging out together again.

~~~~~

For those of you who were thinking about our son C,

his surgery was a bust and he is scheduled to see

another oral surgeon next week.

Fingers crossed that these folks will be 

 able to help him.

He's been so patient through it all.

We are looking forward to having it behind us.

Homestead Happenings

 

Welcome to Homestead Happenings,

where we share what's been going on 

here in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

Yes, folks, we have pumpkins.

Don't ask me why.

This volunteer just popped up

and is apparently enjoying the summer weather.

Doesn't it know it's supposed to be a fall crop?

Although the weather has been scorching,

(mid to high 90's),

a few maintenance tasks were completed

in the early morning hours.

The border in the front beds was redefined,

as grass had started to encroach the beds.

The summer blooms are relishing every ray of sunshine.

The combination of the purple and yellow

in the pollinator bed is a favorite.

This bed has admittedly gone a bit rogue,

because it's just been too dang hot 

to get out there and get it under control.

There are so many coneflowers that have multiplied

here in this side of the bed.

It's such a treat having fresh flowers to bring inside.

This ajuga is a new favorite.

Once the heat subsides a bit

and we will be expecting rain,

I plan to transplant some of this plant

to use as a front border.

Its undemanding demeanor makes it a breeze to grow.

Something I noticed about the yarrow

that I have heard happens is that

the pink variety seems to be reverting back to white.

I'm not sure if it is simply white yarrow

mixed in with the pink,

or if it is indeed changing.

Have you ever had this happen with a plant?

The elderberries are beginning to show some color.

The white blossoms fall off and

the berries start off green,

and then turn a rich, magenta.

Shortly after, they can be harvested

to make syrup.

There are a few scattered okra plants

that are finally starting to grow.

As I'm the only one who eats it,

just a few plants are needed.

Any surplus that I can't consume,

will be offered to neighbors.

Red ripper beans surround a tomato cage

repurposed for this crop.

These are my favorite drying beans,

as they are prolific and keep well.

The garlic is finished curing,

has been trimmed and is ready to use.

There is more than enough for sister and I,

so we will find a home for the rest of it.

The largest bulbs were put aside

for planting in the fall.

Yet another symbol of the abundance

in our lives.

This click beetle was found this week.

Though these creatures look a bit menacing,

they are perfectly harmless.

You can learn more about them here.

Matilda is having a tough time.

She has been broody for almost 3 weeks.

I've tried all the tricks I know to break her

of her broodiness, to no avail.

She is sequestered in this wire cage,

so that she doesn't overheat in the coop.

(Broody hens stay in the nesting box

because they want to hatch eggs.)

With the temps we've been having,

I didn't feel comfortable letting her stay

inside the coop all day.

I've also tried giving her a cool bath,

without success.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Saffron and Buttercup

These two have the right idea.

We have woods on three sides of our property,

so there are ample expanses of shade 

for the girls to rest in during these dog days of summer.

Things seem to be cooling down a bit

here toward the weekend,

and we'll do our best to keep everyone safe.

*I'm asking for prayers, good thoughts

and positive energy for our young man, C,

who will be having surgery next week.

It's a very challenging experience for us,

as his autism makes it difficult to deal with

anything out of the ordinary.

Thank you from this momma's heart.

~daisy

Homestead Happenings

 

Greetings from the Piedmont of North Carolina!

Thank you for visiting our Homestead Happenings post.

We've had summer-like weather with warmer days

and a few afternoon thunderstorms.

We get out when we can and attend our garden chores.

Last weekend the garlic was harvested.

We ran out of room for the 2-week curing process,

so we are using the front porch as a secondary drying station.

Any visitors to our front porch get the aroma of a pizzeria!

A few red onions were pulled up too,

although I don't remember planting any!

Any success with growing onions is welcome,

as I have not had much luck in the past.

Chamomile was also picked,

with the help of Buttercup.

This is being dried for future use as a tea.

This plant for us has been prolific!

It is a wonderful splash of white

that breaks up the mostly blue/purple garden.

There are a few pumpkins starting to grow

on our mostly volunteer plants.

It's always exciting to see the gourds form,

and not being sure what you'll end up with.

This trellis is lined with pumpkins that were all

volunteers last year, and used for our fall decorating.

It's so easy to save seeds from these crops.

I may never need to buy pumpkins again!

The front porch bed is filling up with color!

Here we have calla lilies, salvia, sedum,

coneflowers, rudebekia, a sunflower,

and lamb's ear all living harmoniously.

The bees absolutely adore it!

The canna lily forest is sharing space with

the milkweed.

We have so many pollinators enjoying the blossoms,

and there is a constant hum of activity there.

The turmeric is rejuvenating itself

near the chook runs.

This plant lives in the garage during winter,

and then comes back to life 

when the heat of spring and summer hits.

lily

Some time was spent this week

examining the blooms on the elderberry.

These delicate white snowflake-type petals

are absolutely magical.

Another bee magnet, the comfrey

gets plenty of visitors daily.

What a blessing to have these amazing critters to watch.

Looks like something has been having its way 

with the red cabbage.

Most likely moths got underneath the netting

and laid eggs on the leaves.

Ah well, the leaves will be just fine for the girls.

With the ample rain we've enjoyed,

it was a great time to replant this border.

The lamb's ear was taking over the front porch bed,

spilling onto the sidewalk,

and so I transplanted it here along our woodland bed.

The last time I did this, it wasn't watered enough,

and most of the plants didn't make it.

With abundant rain expected over the next 10 days,

it should get just what it needs.

The garden is exploding in color right now,

and I have to say,

it makes the thought of the upcoming heat of summer

almost worthwhile.

Maybe I'll complain less about the temperature

if I have some lovely flowers to look at,

and bring into the house.

How's your spring garden coming along?

Homestead Happenings

 

The weeks have flown by and June

is right around the corner.

A pup sitting job took me away from home

for a long stretch, and I've been playing catch up in the garden.

There really is no place like home...

Believe it or not, we've gotten over 10 inches of rain

in May alone.  Temperatures have been cooler than average,

which makes for great working conditions outside.

With more typical temps on the horizon,

I managed to fit a few tasks into my gardening schedule.

The pollinator beds are bursting at the seams

from all of the precipitation.

The pink yarrow has really taken off,

and shares space with purple coneflower,

daisies, rue and a huge parsley plant!

The other half of the bed hosts salvia, dianthus,

balloon flowers and baptisia.

I have an affinity for flowers in the blue family.

The nasturtiums are getting huge and spilling

out of the raised beds.  They are planted 

alongside the veg to attract pollinators.

These are a standard every spring in the garden.

They are edible too, if you like a peppery addition to your meals.

Aren't these sea oats a riot?

A friend shared these with me and I absolutely 

adore them!

They require very little and come back each year.

I would love to find a spot where

they can just go wild!

There is a ton of milkweed coming up

in the chook run.  This is the host plant

for the monarch butterfly.

Everything in this area is a volunteer.

Last year we had not one monarch caterpillar,

despite having two different varieties of milkweed growing.

It's the first time in more than 10 years

that we didn't host these critters.

I'll be on the lookout this year for them.

This monster is an elderberry bush.

When I first planted it,

I wasn't sure it was in the right spot,

because this is the northeast side of our property,

and it was underneath a canopy of trees.

It seems to be doing just fine, thank you very much.

It's started to flower,

so the hope is for berries to make a healing syrup.

These red cabbages were bought as starts

from our local organic farmers.

They are absolutely exploding out of the raised bed!

I make coleslaw out of red cabbage and carrots often,

so this will be one less thing to buy at the grocery store.

When I came home from my dog sitting job,

I couldn't believe how much the potatoes had grown!

We have Yukon Gold and Yukon Red planted

this year. 

The fun part begins with uncovering the buried treasure

in a few weeks' time!

Lettuce, anyone?

This bed of lettuce has been feeding me for weeks,

and let me tell ya, this stuff is scrumptious!

This netted bag is hung around my neck,

and a harvesting-I-go!

On occasion, I share it with the chooks,

and they aren't complaining one bit!

I am blessed beyond measure.

Once a month I work as a volunteer at the Community Garden.

The garden has been overhauled this year,

being managed by one very dedicated and hard working

Master Gardener.

The harvests will go to feed others in our community.

It's such a worthwhile and rewarding project.

Thankful for the rain,

and especially for being home to enjoy it.

Gardening is a wonderful way to feed one's soul.

May you be thoroughly filled up.