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I haven't written here in some time because I encountered such frustration the last time, trying to put up some photos. Spring has sprung with a passion on my urban farm. Everywhere I look there is greenery and flowers. The former owner of this property was a woman after my own heart - she has landscaped just as I would have. I did add a few perennials and annuals to the beds, just to "make them my own", but other than that it has taken care of itself. Here are several of the wonderful plants that make themselves at home here. I won't be able to include them all because I haven't figured out yet what they are! purple lilac White lilac
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pincherry
clematis
forsythia
pinks
creeping thyme|
Life has been so full! Winter left and I was too busy to notice! All of a sudden I took a look around the yard and most of the snow was gone. The grass is looking all brown and flattened. Where the kids had made a snowman earlier this year there's just a small pile of items that used to be snowman parts. The creek is running and the kids had a great time cracking the remaining ice that still covers certain areas. Now I'm missing our farm. Spring was always such a special time for me there. Each day as the warmer weather arrived I'd look outside and it was as if God had painted another thin layer of pale green wash over all the earth. Layer by layer the green would get more intense as the new grass would start pushing out of the earth. I'm looking forward to seeing what spring has in store for us here in town. But I must take the time to look - clear the schedule and make a point to enjoy the "small moments". Tomorrow being Sunday I plan to take a day of rest and wander my city homestead in search of "signs of spring". One thing that I will really miss most about the farm is watching the baby geese start appearing. Where they nested we never did find out, but suddenly one day - there the parents would be with 3 or more goslings trotting along behind them.
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I added the second story to my worm bin...a little late it turns out. Those worms just manage so well on their own that I can tend to forget that they DO need a little attending to once in a while. It turns out that I should have put the next layer on sooner - the bedding was too high and I had to remove some to get the container to sit properly. But that's OK - I think. I just put what I took out of the bottom, into the top. While I was at it I took a look at the very bottom layer which usually is the drainage area, but in my case my supplier recommended filling it with bedding to sop up the moisture. There was only one worm in that layer - but was he a huge guy! I scooped him up and added him to the others. He was getting fat and lazy down there with no competition. There didn't seem to be a lot of worms crawling around, so I'm wondering if my decision to feed them all over the container was a wise one. I'm going to go back to feeding in the center and see what happens.
Worms are amazing!
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I subscribe to a magazine called Backyard Poultry . It's by the same publishers as Countryside and Small Stock Journal Magazine (which I have gotten for many, many years). This one focuses on poultry of all kinds. It's a very down-home publication - great chicken photos on every cover.
The February/March issue has a lot of information/instructions on movable chicken coops and pastured poultry. We don't have the same kind of acreage that we used to, so I don't know if that's the way to go for us or not. And I don't have a handyman husband, so it wouldn't get built anytime soon. The stay-in-place coop from the old farm will have to do. Apparently it's a doable thing to put it on a truck and cart it the 30 miles to our new yard. We'll tuck it under the willow tree, put a fence around for a run and move the chickens over. All this will have to take place in the spring, of course.
So, anyways, if you have chickens (or poultry of any kind) and want to learn more, or are just an armchair chicken lover - Backyard Poultry is the magazine for you. |
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I created my own version of "Melting Snow" by photographing a vase of tulips on our lawn. My health guru Andrew Weil recommends always keeping fresh flowers in your home to keep your spiritual health high. It certainly has provided a boost in our home to combat the winter blues. My daughter picked these out. I think I will try and get back into the habit of buying fresh flowers when I grocery shop. |
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Melting Snow ~ Tom Thomson
Well, the weather is becoming very mild, but that brings new challenges. Our driveway for one. I guess there's a layer of ice underneath several inches of melting snow (read - slush). Trying to back up the gentle slope of the driveway presented a little challenge to my new vehicle which is just outfitted with summer tires in the rear (go figure!). I will feel a lot more confident when we have 4 new winter tires on there. Even though winter is almost over (hope, hope!) The stress level goes WAY DOWN when I know that I'm driving with good tires.
On the homestead front - mild weather means that I don't have to continually change the cat's water bowl so that's one less thing to do. My worms are working away - they are a pet that is easy to forget about. I feed them once a week. I've started keeping the food scraps in the freezer and defrost just before I add to the container. It was advice from somewhere. My MIL brought over 2 dozen eggs from the chickens on the farm. It's great - I get all the benefits of farm-fresh eggs without having to do any of the work. But I do miss the chickens and look forward to the day they come over here (sometime in the spring) |
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The fellow who sold me my worm setup recommended that I always feed the worms in the middle of the bed. However, reading literature and online information suggests doing it all over. I tried his way the first few months and am now trying it all over. It just seemed that I was adding fresh food on top of partially decomposed food and that didn't make sense to me. Tonight I added the cores and peels of 10 apples (apple crisp ~ hummm). Watching pumpkin chunks disappear in the fall was fascinating, so we'll see what happens with these peels. The worm bin was supposed to be a science project for my children, but I think I am the one getting the most out of it. They think the whole thing is kind of gross. 
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When I look outside and the yard is a blanket of crusty white snow, and I KNOW it's cold 'cause the cats water container is frozen, it's comforting to think of the worm closet. In the worm closet (really a storage closet) sits a container of worms snuggled into warm bedding, silently going about their job of breaking down our food waste and paper scraps. Maybe it's weird, but somehow just knowing they are there helps push back the winter blues that hit about this time of year. They just do their thing, oblivious to what's going on around them. OK, maybe it's cabin fever setting in.
Today I brave that cold that I dislike so much as a friend and I attempt our first outside walk to get fit. In-home walking is more my style (I LOVE Leslie Sansone!), but she has convinced me to venture outdoors. Today will be the trial. Barring slipping, neighborhood dogs and frostbite we plan to do this once a week. |
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Welcome to our mini farm in the city. We recently moved from a 15 acre ginseng farm in the country to just under one acre inside city limits. There are trade-offs, of course, but so far we (all 8 of us!) are adapting quite nicely. I look forward to the spring when I can see what's under all the snow. And the chickens can move in. Right now we have two barn cats, who made the transition to city life smoothly and a container of worms who can't quite keep up with our scraps. I miss the chickens for that!
On this blog I will document our plant and animal experiences as we adjust to living in much closer quarters with our fellow man. |