A Little Like Eden

I awakened this morning to a dull, dreary sky and the sound of gently falling rain. Not that I mind this at all. The inclement weather is a nice change after the week of Syracusan type heat and humidity.

The house is still quiet - the kids are still asleep. Soon Ed will come down with his characteristic 9 year old swagger to give me a morning kiss. Joey will be next, sitting in Papa's chair with his morning cup of coffee. Will is always the last to arise. And so the days go like clockwork.

The garden is lush and green and producing vegetables that delight the palate.We have been harvesting beet greens, broccoli, cauliflower,lettuce,and peas. The summer squashes are beginning to ripen, and yesterday I spied a costata romanesca that was near perfection. Cherry tomatoes are turning orange, and the first planting of green beans are 2 inches long.


Strawberry picking has become blueberry picking, and now the raspberries are ripening. Our efforts are "bearing fruit" in a very literal way.

I think I am truly becoming a "woman of the soil." (In reality, are we not all?) I find an intense pleasure in the sensual aspects of gardening - the feel and smell of good earth, the scent of impending rain on the air, the delightful aromas of dill and mint, the colors and textures of leaves, flowers, and fruit. It is an Eden-like experience. The parables of the seeds, the weeds, and the harvest all make sense when one is close to the earth.

It takes humility to have a small farm. It is not a coincidence that the 'root' of humility is the Latin "humus" for ground. Humility and earth go hand in hand. Not much is in our control - weather, weeds, insects, poor seed, and destructive birds (the geese are the worst!). We labor, and the garden bears fruit. It is an act of faith, emboldened by hope, and ultimately moved by and toward Love - love of the good earth, love of this beautiful life, and love of our Dear Father Who made it all possible.

Strawberry Fields. Forever. Please.

Doubtless God could have made
a better berry (than the strawberry), but
doubtless God never did.
-William Allen Butler

My William and I were discussing strawberries early in June as we weeded our expanded strawberry patch. Both of us agreed that there was nothing quite like the taste of a sun ripened strawberry picked and then immediately popped into the mouth. That is one of the many advantages we've discovered in growing our own berries. Our feeble effort with 50 barely surviving berry plants and a cold, wet spring 3 years ago has yielded hundreds of young plants that take up about 1/4 of the upper garden.

Not that strawberries are easy. We found that they need a lot of work - lots of manure, constant weeding, thorough picking, and slug control. (I say this with a wink, since we have never had success in the slug area. Except in feeding them, that is. We have tried everything - ducks, sharp sand, lime, the salt shaker, yes, even Papa's good homemade beer. They just keep on coming.) In the fall, they must be covered with a good layer of straw (thus their name), not hay or leaves. But the benefits are worth all the labor.

I am very grateful for the good year. We have heard that many growers were hurt by the late frost in May. Papa made a heroic effort and carefully watered all of the plants before the sun rose too high, thus saving our little patch. He had remembered the chapter in Laura Ingalls Wilder's book, Farmer Boy, when Father, Almanzo, and his siblings hurried out to the cornfield before sunrise to water the corn seedlings after a frost. One can learn a lot from good books.

Besides eating them fresh, we have had strawberry shortcake, strawberry-rhubarb sauce, and strawberry smoothies. (These have become a favorite with the boys.) I sliced up strawberries and put them over Edmund's pouf pancake yesterday, and he ate the entire pie plate full except for the slice he reluctantly "shared" with Tess. Over and over he kept exclaiming, "Yum!" I guess he liked it.

Tess and Mary have been wonderful helps with cleaning and cutting the berries. For years this was my job sometimes extending into the wee hours of the morning so as not to lose too many berries to spoilage. Yesterday we froze 8 quarts, added to the other 4 we had previously frozen.

Strawberry jam, of course, is a must, and I've tried four different types this year. William begged me to make freezer jam again, and so I made two kinds, one regular, and one lower sugar. These are softer in set, but have a fresh flavor and are simple to prepare.I did the same with the two cooked varieties, using one lower sugar recipe. I prefer the tarter jams myself. I've made strawberry-rhubarb jam in the past, but for some reason it is not as popular with the kids - unless I put it over freshly baked biscuits with a spoon of vanilla ice cream. And then there is my favorite...strawberry-rhubarb pie. Need I say anything else?

Spring on the Farm

Beauty is all around us if we just take the time to look. God's hand is everywhere, and I am awestruck, again, at how much He loves His little children, and hopes to delight us with His gifts. Well, I am delighted!

An Early Summer

"A swarm of bees in May
Is worth a load of hay;
A swarm of bees in June
Is worth a silver spoon;
A swarm of bees in July
Is not worth a fly."
- Rhyme from England

The month of May has been busy with baseball, soccer, graduations, and homecomings. Joey is playing soccer for Central Maine United, Will playing for CMU as well, and the Sidney Rec League, and Ed playing Sidney Minors. The girls both arrived home for the summer on Sunday. For a time our family is together again, and dinners are a jolly affair.

The extremely warm days of May have allowed us to plant earlier than usual. Papa gets up early to plow and dig new garden space. We need new areas to avoid spreading last year's blight. We have also enlarged the kitchen garden where I am experimenting with raised beds, old French methods, and newer methods of planting such as square-foot gardening. I found a site that also talked about companion gardening - putting certain vegetables together in a bed that actually have a synergistic effect on each other. Slowly, our knowledge base grows as we "stand on the shoulders of giants."

The strawberry patch on the hill has nearly doubled, if not tripled in size, due to the hundreds of runners that set last autumn. The plants are covered in beautiful white flowers, and if the weather cooperates we should have a large crop with some surplus to sell to summer visitors.

Our egg sales are steady. Customers want mostly chicken eggs - the duck and goose eggs are a little intimidating to those who have never tried them. The duck eggs are in abundance, since our little Khaki Campbells are bred for laying, and have been regular like clockwork laying four eggs a day. These I use in baking - the extra richness lends wonderful texture to baked goods and quiche. The boys have been delighted by Pouf Pancake for breakfast and piping hot popovers for dinner thanks to our ever generous "English ladies."

Our Rhode Island Red chickens have a streak of American democracy in their genes, and thus lay only when they feel so inclined, usually averaging eight to nine eggs a day. I have wanted to hatch a clutch of chicks, but the hens prefer the open field to the nest, and so I may have to wait to order some chicks online to increase the flock.

Our geese however have decided that motherhood is a vocation to pursue. I watched one morning as two of them carefully rolled abandoned duck eggs into their nests of grass and feathers. These eggs the ladies have been sitting on for well nigh a month. Checking any progress on hatching ducklings (the goose eggs are not fertilized) is a daunting task since the geese are very aggressive in defending their nests. Nips, bites, and chases by angry geese soon teach us to let nature take it course. I do hope, though, that at least one or two ducklings hatch. These I will let the geese raise if they are willing. I'm ready for the experiment!

Playing Catch-up

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since I last posted. So much for the daily musings. Our maple syrup season ended two weeks early, but we were able to put up 3-1/4 gallons of syrup - not a gain from last year, but neither a loss. Papa bought a dozen fancy maple leaf bottles to use for gifts. They look very nice filled.

The boys finished the greenhouse, and it has been getting as hot as 120 degrees on a sunny day. Not bad for the tomatoes. I worked out there today for about an hour transplanting tomato seedlings into individual pots. I left the door open as I worked, only closing it when Angus Khan came near. (I wouldn't want to be caught in the greenhouse with him.)The lady chickens are very curious about the goings on in the greenhouse, but have yet to venture in for a tour. I did see a big, fat mouse scurry out under the wall. Perhaps he was after the corn seeds.

We now have over 100 tomato seedlings - a little over 60 Roma, and about 25 each of Big Boy and cherry tomatoes. The leeks and onions are going strong. These we placed on the ground where it is cool, but still light. The broccoli and cauliflower seedlings didn't last a very cold night. These we have replanted. A few peppers have finally sprouted. I also transplanted Edmund's cantaloupe.

Papa dug two small gardens near the greenhouse. He planted spinach and lettuce in one, and a row of carrots in the other. He has had to put up fencing around these to protect them from the ever scratching chickens and overly curious geese and ducks.

The upper garden is still very wet with areas of standing water. The water table is very high still due to the heavy rainfalls last week. The strawberry plants look healthy, however, but will require a lot of weeding, clipping of runners, and mulching.

I am full of hope this year that we will have a bountiful harvest. One thing I have learned, though, is to not count your chickens before they hatch. So we will work hard, and hope for the best.

Maple Syruping

"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold."

Robert Frost Nothing Gold Can Stay

An Early Springtime

It seems that spring has arrived early this year. We have had a beautiful week of warm 40-50 degree days, brilliant blue skies, and sun - glorious sun.

Yesterday, after a hurried morning of lessons, we all went out to enjoy the day. Papa had the day off to work on the greenhouse he is building out back near the hen house. I have always longed for a greenhouse, and this year it will be a reality. He and the boys are constructing it out of old windows, doors, and sheet plastic. All of the activity has been closely monitored by Angus, our rooster, and the hens. I have been watching, too, full of anticipation, like a small child at Christmas. I can't wait to put my seedlings in and watch them grow.







So far, I've planted Roma, Big Boy, and cherry tomatoes by the dozen. Last year's disastrous season has not dampened my enthusiasm where "hope springs eternal." I've also planted leeks and onions which have already sprouted in the light hut. Pots of cauliflower, broccoli, and cantaloupe seeds keep warm by the woodstove, and I watch them carefully for signs of life.

Outside, green shoots of daffodils and tulips peep out from the layers of mulch and compost. The garlic shoots are almost six inches high, and soon I will have to plant the shallots saved from last year's harvest.

Even the animals sense the change of season. Angus has been very busy "wooing" his ladies, and one of the hens has been very broody for about a week now. I would like to try to hatch a clutch of chicks this spring. Exactly how, I haven't yet decided. Should I leave it up to Mother Nature? Or, should I look for an incubator?

The boys also noticed some unusual behavior on the part of our geese. Two of them have begun nest building! It is rather humorous to see them sitting still in a carefully chosen spot looking around them for bits of grass and hay. These the ladies pick up very daintily, and place beside themselves on the ground. Edmund is having the time of his life watching them. Who knows - perhaps we shall see a goose egg yet!