Rest and Relax

blackberries beginning to ripen

I didn't do much this weekend down at the farm which is not to say that John Deare wasn't busy but I enjoyed every guilty moment of not doing much of anything. I did take the opportunity to check out the gardens and cut some flowers for drying. I did go into town and have lunch with a friend. I did take friend on a tour of the farm. But that's about all...and it was worth every minute of it to get rejuvenated. I especially enjoyed the sunset ride on the back of the atv with hubby at the wheel. And our usual pizza at Pino's. We were not too impressed with the farmer's market in town this week but we did get some fresh eggs and a loaf of bread for our breakfast. So there you have it - a relaxing country weekend - hoping to get a few more of these in the very near future.

flowers grown for dried flower arrangements are cooperating

garden continues to thrive - gonna be eating lots of squash

Dahlias do not disappoint

Lavender Blue, Billy Billy

Lavender Blue, Billy, Billy

Lavender Green

When you are King, Billy, Billy

I shall be Queen

I'm not sure that I have that little rhyme from childhood correct but that's how it is playing in my head. I took a trip to the Seven Oaks Lavender Farm in nearby Catlett this past week. I had heard of it and wanted to go but never hit the dates right. This year they put out a "Groupon" and I grabbed one and headed out for the adventure. Our first impression was actually not so positive, sort of a "This is IT!" response. It probably would be more correct to call it a Lavender Garden but that is not nearly as catchy and I understand marketing a name. We ended up thoroughly enjoying our time. We had a little demonstration about the different types of lavender and then were free to cut whatever we wanted to take home. At 9 cents per stem it isn't cheap but we had coupons for 60 free stems so we cut a nice bouquet. There gift shop is darling, once you get past the heady scent when you walk in the door. It spoke to my artistic spirt with all of its many crafty uses of lavender in photos, crafts, lotions, soaps, candles, and cooking. I of course bought a little of every thing and took pictures of ideas and promptly went home to try to convince John Dear that this was a component we needed to add at our farm. My friend Railey convinced me of that on the drive home and it was already on the project list in the wings so how awesome to gather so much information in one spot. I have another coupon soI am off again one day next week to gather lavender. Who wants to come along?

at home and at the farm

AT HOME

AT THE FARM

I'm a little confused as to what season we are really in, and I am not sure if summer has officially begun, but in spite of the crazy weather my gardens are producing full steam ahead. At home I have picked tons of lettuce and the spinach and radishes have already finished. Carrots and beets are coming and I've picked peas, beans and cucumbers. Eggplants have lots of blossoms and tomatoes are waiting for their chance to turn green. I've harvested herbs and lots of lavender and all of this is in the home garden. At the farm we've planted mostly crops that need low maintenance so if we are only down every three weeks or so they can get along without us. Winter squash looks great and potatoes are happy - especially now that they are covered in hay/mulch. That ought to keep them from drying out. Even the flowers are hanging in there in spite of the heat and no regular watering.
John Deare headed down there this past weekend but it was a working weekend for me so I had to be satisfied with a few pictures and his sketchy details on how things looked. I plan to head down this weekend to see it for myself. Hope this cool weather holds on until Friday! And the first haying is done so things look cleaned up and orderly.

And I have been busy with my CSA share and keeping up with the blog.
http://stoneylonesomefarm.blogspot.com

CSA Week 4

Week 4
Fresh herbs (dill, cilantro, basil)
onions, fennel, fresh garlic, bunching onions, swiss chard, lettuce mix


I am especially inspired by the herbs

busy busy busy part II

Took this...

Swiss Chard, Leeks and Garlic Scapes

made this....

zucchini shells stuffed with chard and ricota

Swiss Chard Lasagna

busy busy busy.....

Took this.....

made this...

and froze another 16 cups for later treats.

Week 3 of CSA

Week 3
Bok choi, Radishes, peas, onions, swiss chard, lettuce mix, butterhead lettuce, garlic scapes, basil, cilantro, and dill.
Tonight's dinner will be french toast w/ farm fresh eggs and a frittata with swiss chard, onions, and bok choi. I suppose a salad is in order too but I am getting a little salad-ed out

S'Mores and Heat and Overgrown Gardens

We arrived to rain - hot steamy pouring rain. Ugh! so we cleaned inside our little trailer so the mice would no longer feel welcome and waited for the sun to come out the next morning. Which it did - in full hot steamy force.

But there was work to be done and so we weeded the gardens. First picture is what they looked like when we arrived. (One can not tell the forest for the trees, so to speak) Next is dear daughter and number one son-in-law (who found his inner farmer and went to work) and at the end we have the beautiful garden as we left - ready for others to enjoy. We will have LOTS of squash and potatoes and some flowers and my joy - rhubarb (next year anyway)

Poor Zeke was not a happy camper - too hot for an old black dog so he hung out in front of the fan, sprawled on the kitchen floor - not a bad place to be!
Our boys treated us to s'mores - just a teeny fire to get those marshmallows roasted.
Number One son-in-law is also an excellent marshmallow roaster!



Until next time, little farm and that next time better have A/C units up and running!

GREEN

Seeing lots of green in my second CSA Harvest. Need to get motivated quickly! We've got lettuce and more lettuce, bok choi, tat soi, radishes, swiss chard, leeks, a few peas (hit hardest by all the rain) and garlic scapes. Aside from salad for dinner tonight what else can I come up with?