Good News

Well, well, well. Almost one year exactly since my last post. It truly is amazing what all can happen in just 12 months.

I am indescribably happy to report that I am sitting on our porch, listening to the birds and the water, the wind and the windchimes, feeling the breeze and the warm sunlight. OUR porch. On the family property. Yes, we finally pulled it off. :) This wonderful place is home.



It took a few more weeks after I wrote my last post, but we did find some renters for our house. We had to accept a reduced rent but at least they have been good tenants so far. Once that was settled, it took a good 3 months to jump through all the mortgage hoops in order to secure financing to pay off Billy's siblings. We moved in the beginning of October 2012. I still have trouble believing we managed it- it definitely would not have been possible without help from all quarters, including our real estate agent, our mortgage broker who was nothing short of amazing, and of course our incredible friends who supported our quest through to completion. We are forever grateful.



Of course moving in, as difficult as it was to achieve, is still only the beginning! A property like this requires a lot of maintenance, and on top of that we have wonderful plans for improving it and truly making it our home.



We've begun remodeling to the interior of the house, and I am hard at work building and maintaining a large vegetable garden in the field.



There are all the usual adjustments to moving a family, plus we are sort of rebuilding our lives after having everything on hold for 2 years. On top of all that we are still piloting our business through some of the toughest financial times we've sailed it through, and while the sky there is clearing we still have a way to go. Sometimes it seems a bit overwhelming, but then I take my coffee out onto the porch in the morning and I remember all over again what a gift and a blessing it is to be here and to be caretaker of this incredible legacy.



(All photos were taken by me with a Motorola Atrix 2 cellphone 8MP camera, except: the family portrait- for that I used the camera phone to snap a picture of the professional print, which is from a chain portrait studio- and the picture of me mixing grout, which was taken by my friend Jeff.)

Little Boy Projects

I'm afraid I have not been very good at making a note of all the various projects and adventures all our boys have got up to in the last couple weeks. I can't remember them all, but here is a small sample:

- The kids turned the mulch pile at the end of the driveway into "Mulch Mountain", a replica of Stone Mountain complete with buildings and a functioning cable car, all fashioned of gardening tools and assorted paraphernalia gleaned from the garage.

- Many insects have been captured, followed each time by impassioned petitions to be allowed to keep said insects as "pets". If they survive long enough, they are released back into the wild backyard.

- The kids have planted a garden, set out avocado pits to sprout, and planted several flower pots' worth of seeds.

- One kid has learned how to ride his bike. He also lost a tooth. The tooth came out when another boy sat on his face.

- Many forts have been built and deconstructed. One of the forts was a radio station. Sample playlist: Queen, That 1 Guy, Evanescence, Rush. . .

- Three boys decided to play "Robbers", and to that end began building a ladder with which to climb into Mama & Papa Bears' bedroom window. They were wearing helmets and life vests, which apparently somehow made this idea OK. THAT project was halted post-haste.

- One boy created a calendar on the dining room wall out of sticky notes. "ESTR" Sunday is clearly labeled. The month started out with 30 days, but now April has 44 days, divided into 13-day weeks. Nice of them to give us the extra time, don't you think? I could sure use it to get this blog back on track. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Green Goodness from Rockstar Farms

I have been feasting on fresh winter greens lately. Fresh as in, harvested that very morning, and I didn't have to do any of the farming to get them. I joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) by my good friends at Rock Star Farms.


I have been in salad bliss. And I'm learning how to prepare bok choy. :) CSAs are a super way to get amazing fresh local veggies and support local small farms. To find a CSA near you, try localharvest.org



That's all I got for now. . . been busy but having fun!

the Life of a Summer Garden

I'm afraid the summer has slipped past me without ever a blog post about my summer garden! I kept putting off writing about it until I had some good pictures to share. I shot a couple nice ones early in the season, but most of the garden's life cycle has gone undocumented, I'm afraid. So here is the mish mash of pictures that I do have.

(sorry for the hasty editing job)
Here you can see the garden in all its scruffy glory, quite early in the summer. The collards, cucumbers, squash and watermelon I planted as seeds. The pumpkins were volunteers left over from last year that sprouted. The arugula I planted as little seedlings. The tomatoes, eggplants and peppers I bought in pots and transplanted.

Already, my collards were starting to look like this:

and the arugula was just about eaten away. Not only have I gone totally organic this year, I've been very slack about pest & disease control. (and weeding!) So the arugula and collards ended up being a total loss. It's OK- I was skeptical of their chances anyway, since summers are too hot here for greens. I might try some in a month or so, to see if I have better luck with a fall garden.


The volunteer pumpkin vine was very vigorous, quickly taking over one half of the garden plot. My plan had been to send the squash varieties through the fence and off into the yard. This monster grew so fast however, that I was caught by surprise.

It was already too big to retrain, and it's huge leaves shaded the fledgling squash and watermelons. This was to prove too much for the seeds I planted, and so far none of them have borne fruit.

The pumpkin monster made one gorgeous big pumpkin for me, which I harvested last week only to find it had bugs eating it from the inside. Oh, well.

The other volunteers made these little cuties:


The eggplants were not what I expected. They flowered early:

and soon made clusters (!) of gorgeous little variegated fruits.

The variety is called "Fairy Tale Eggplant", and I had to look them up to learn that they are harvested at 2" - 4" long. Cute! Very tasty, too- more tender than other eggplants I've grown. I would grow these again.

I planted three kinds of tomato- a cherry (or is it grape?) tomato, some romas and a slicing tomato. Predictably, the cherry tomato has done wonderfully. It started fruiting early:

and soon I had lots of red tomatoey goodness!

While the plant continues to produce extremely well (WHAT am I going to do with ALL these tomatoes?!??) I am not overly thrilled with the flavor. They're OK, but not the juicy heaven that home-grown tomatoes should be. Next year, I'm looking at heirloom varieties. The roma is producing, though it's been prone to blossom end rot. And the slicing tomatoes tend to feed the bugs. My tomatoes would be much happier if I actually took care of them. :)

Not pictured are the very happy cucumber plants, which have climbed right out of the garden and are making tasty cucumbers like crazy. (WHAT am I going to do with ALL these cucumbers?!??) The red bell peppers are only just now making fruit. We'll see how they do.

I hope you've enjoyed this visit to my summer garden. Over all, I'd dub it a success, despite my neglect. In the past I've gotten a remarkable harvest out of this little patch, with a bit more care and attention. Maybe next year I will be more involved. :)

Planting Blueberries!

Last summer we went with a friend to pick blueberries in North GA. It was such a delightful trip, and we couldn't believe how many delicious berries we gathered! The berry bushes were absolutely laden with plump blue goodness. This got us thinking. . . we should plant blueberries, too! We thought about planting them at our house, but decided a better location was at my in-laws' property instead. I did a little research, and decided on some Rabbiteye blueberry varieties.

From Planting Blueberries 4/27/09

Time got away from me, and lo it was April before we got around to purchasing our blueberry plants and going to Grandma & Grandpa's for planting. That's OK, though- we were still within acceptable time for planting blueberries here in GA. It was a perfect setup: I did the research, purchasing and direction while Billy and his brother did all the digging and planting!

After I selected a nice sunny, well-drained spot on a gentle slope, we marked where we wanted the plants to go. Then, Billy and his brother set to work digging out the dense Georgia red clay.

From Planting Blueberries 4/27/09

The clay we found there wasn't quite as hard as some I've seen, but it still needed some good topsoil and compost mixed in.

From Planting Blueberries 4/27/09

The great Gimli McGuinness, our cairn terrier, was happily on hand to supervise. It was a perfect day for him, running free outside to get filthy. (And yes, he needs grooming- he's scraggly!)

From Planting Blueberries 4/27/09

After a hard day's work there were 7 blueberry bushes comfortably ensconced in their new home. Billy put stakes and string around them so Grandpa wouldn't accidentally mow them down.

From Planting Blueberries 4/27/09

Finally I contributed a little manual labor, to spread the mulch: lots of nice, acidic pinestraw to protect the plants, help discourage weeds, and hold moisture. (Blueberry plants like an acidic pH in their soil.) There is no shortage of pinestraw on that property!

From Planting Blueberries 4/27/09

Just as I was spreading the last wheelbarrow-full of pinestraw, big fat raindrops began splashing down. A short cloudburst of a thunderstorm gave the new bushes a nice drink of water and then moved on, leaving a breathtaking sherbet ice cream sunset to polish off the day.

From Planting Blueberries 4/27/09

Compare the two small sunset photos carefully, and you might notice a flash of lightning caught in the first one- it's the whitish blob behind the trees in the lower left part of the picture.


Now we look forward to many summers of blueberry harvests ahead!

garden

Friday, July 06, 2007

garden Current mood: tired The air is heavy, thick with summer humidity and redolent of tomato plants. I marvel at the recent explosion of fruit- fat green tomatoes hang everywhere, hidden amongst the leaves until you lean down to peer through the thicket. Standing out like rubies are the sweet little cherry tomatoes, a few here and there brilliantly ripe. I twist one off and pop it into my mouth; sun-warmed tomato sweetness explodes over my tongue. Mmmm, this is why a vegetable garden is so wonderful! I swear, there is simply nothing like eating a sun-warmed tomato straight out of the garden. Moving over I inspect the bean plants, gently parting leaves to reveal perfect little green beans that snap off easily in my hands. So delicious, fresh and green! I don't think any will make it into the house this time. The okra are not yet yielding, nor the squash and watermelons. The squash leaves prickle my skin. Very soon I should cut the glossy, dark eggplants from their stems- I lean down to admire the regal perfection, running my fingers over their smooth skin. Don't let them get too big, or they get too tough and the seeds are too hard. These are almost perfect, I bet. Hmm- eggplant parmesagn? Or maybe breaded, fried eggplant sllices? The basil is taking over the corner of the garden. I pinch some off and inhale deeply before enjoying the flavor. With a pocketful of cherry tomatoes for Sweetcheeks (the tomato king) and a couple green beans for Littleman, I leave the rich living confines of the garden for the cool air conditioned comfort inside. Soon I will begin to itch wherever the mosquitoes have gotten me- but the discomfort is well worth this soul-replenishing evening visit.