Garlic planting day 2009

We took advantage of the one nice day this week to get our garlic in the ground. In the PNW, mid-Oct to mid-Nov is the time to plant.
The ground is still soft and lush, and we added quite a lot of nearly finished compost to it. Garlic likes to set down roots before the weather really turns, and it's ready to start growing as soon as the days get longer in the spring.

By next July, the 329 cloves we planted will be ready for harvest. This year we're planting Chesnok Red, German Porcelain, and some generic white variety from California.

Stewart must have learned from Gemini! He's got the drive-thru window figured out.

These Sweet Dumpling delicata squash are cute AND tasty! What's not to like?

Even better with teriyaki-grilled London broil and nettle-wild mushroom brown rice. The shroom is our own Prince that we dried last year. He didn't show up this year, but hopefully he'll return soon.

This kettle of cow parts doesn't look too tasty as is, but chopped, sauteed, mixed with carrots, kale and some odds & ends from the freezer.....

.....it makes dog food! And look at our spiffy new pressure canner! An All American #921 cast aluminum and ready for battle....

Blogger troubles....

For some reason Blogger & Vista aren't getting along on my home computer, so this week's post will be slightly delayed. In the meantime, check out the smartest dog in the world - Stew!

Don't worry, Bees happy!

Here's part of the garden so far. This is the cooler side, that gets a little less sun than the other, so we planted onions, beets, carrots, chard, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi & potatoes here. For some reason, the carrots got off to a slow start, but they are kicking into gear now. There is also a very fragrant rugosa rose in the background, and a clump of rhubarb, both of which need to be moved someday.
We're growing less beans this year (and canning all of them) so decided to try the old-fashioned teepee method. We used bamboo, which is relatively smooth, so the bean tendrils take a little longer to start climbing.

Reddale potatoes in flower. When all 3 kinds are blooming, it looks more like a flower bed than a potato patch. It's just about time to start sneaking new potatoes, but hopefully we'll manage to save a few to get bigger.

Some of the mixed greens we harvested this weekend. I think we ended up with 5 or so pounds of red & green oak leaf lettuce, romaine, and baby-leaf spinach.

See if you can spot the honeybee working over this mound of thyme flowers.

Here's another bee checking out valerian flowers. Valerian is NW native plant that usually grows in mountain meadows. One variety is domestically grown for its roots, which are used in a calming tea. The flowers have a lovely fragrance too, and the plant self-seeds into a bit of a privacy screen. Our front border bed is about 2ft wide and over 70ft long. We're constantly adding plants that we think the bees will like. Luckily they like herbs, so the thyme, valerian, sage, lemon balm, mint, oregano, etc. are very popular.

The blackberries are just starting to flower, and the bees are taking full advantage. This is their main nectar supply, and they're no longer using the sugar syrup we've been supplementing them with. Our blackberry patch is about 40 x 50ft, and buzzing with all kinds of pollinators on a sunny day.

See if you can spot the bumble bee visiting a sage flower. We planted the sage for cooking use, but they are very striking when they bloom. And also very popular with the bee crowd....

If you have lots of clover in your lawn, you have a great excuse not to mow too often. Mowing the clovery parts of our yard takes longer because we try to go slow enough that the bees have time to move away from the mower's path.

On our hive check this weekend, we were lucky enough to see some baby bees hatch. With all the activity in this picture, it's hard to spot the newborns, so I circled a few. there are more hatching, but kind of obscured by the nursery attendants. It was also time to put the honey super on, so as it fills, the bees are making honey for us to harvest. A very exciting milestone!

And here's Stew, showing off his incredible talent!

Springing into February

Check out this before & after picture of Hidatsa Shield Figure beans! They really plump when you cook them, and taste great. Hidatsa is the name of the tribe that originally grew these beans, and the dark part of the bean is supposed to resemble they way they painted their shields. I haven't seen any Hidatsa shields, so I can't verify that ;)

These beans were recently boarded on Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste. (Be sure to check their site out for all kinds of amazing foods in danger of disappearing.) We've grown Hidatsa beans for 2 years, and will keep them in rotation as a house favorite. Dry beans take up a fair bit of garden space, and take a long time to mature, but it's worth the trouble to find out for yourself just how tasty heirloom beans can be. You can buy your own Hidatsa bean seed here, or check out Local Harvest to see who's growing them near you.

Finally! Paychecks, days off, and end of road restrictions all aligned so we could have a load of gravel delivered. It was a fun day of being local. The gravel came from the pit nearly next door, then we drove 3.5 miles to our local Breckenridge Dairy for milk (check out this picture of the dairy drive-thru during our recent floods), ran into a neighbor who had just seen a friend/coworker/neighbor coming down the Pole Rd. on his tractor to spread the gravel for us. He brought his cute little dog, Roxie, with him, and took some of our homemade goodies back with him. We had to leave for grocery shopping and traded our hard earned cash for more local delights - fresh oysters from Taylor Shellfish farms. We grilled the oysters on the BBQ and ate them with lime wedges, hot sauce & melted butter.

Stewart, doing his lapdog impression. He's going on 3, but still a puppy at heart.

And as usual, Magnus, demonstrating how stressful his life is.

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We also attended a day of classes in assorted farm & livestock management called the Cattlemen's Winterschool. Here's this year's class schedule, so you can get an idea of what is offered. It is a program of the Washington State University extension, and they have an incredible amount of useful information on their website alone, not to mention all the classes and publications available through them. More about our day of agricultural fun later this week!

Dog's Life

What a goof...

Frantically harvesting!

Another pretty sunset. We can't quite see the water from here, but the San Juan islands aren't far from us, to the west.
Does anyone grow purple-podded green beans? These were grown from seeds from Bosnia that a coworker gave me. They are beautiful, and the vines are very robust with dark magenta flowers. I would love to identify the variety, but there are so many kinds of beans I'm sure it's impossible.

Check out Gemini & Stewart getting scritchies. If you look closely, you can see pony's upper lip flapping as he drools. Stewart isn't much more dignified.

It's busy season here at Seven Trees, and one of us is recovering from surgery. Luckily we've had lots of help, but any of the veggies that survived the cold spring are growing like gangbusters. We've put up plenty of dill pickles, pickled beets, chard & beet greens, and next up are green beans and applesauce. We have a few tiny melons in the greenhouse, and hopefully they will keep growing before the frost hits. More potatoes to dig, blackberries and cukes to pick, but what I really look forward to is the Painted Hills sweet corn. Not quite yet though. Sad to say, I'm already looking at the current garden's successes and failures, and planning for next year.

Free to good home

Crichton and Newt are inspecting our new roadside score. We already had a spare plywood shelf from a shelving unit in the shed, and needed a base to make a workbench. On our way to the feed store, we saw it waiting for it's forever home.A few screws and it's now a storage space for our bigger tools boxes and a dandy work bench too. That grey metal shelving unit to the right was a freebie from a former job. As you can see, storage and work space have barely made a dent in the shop bay of our new garage.
The western-most bay has 45 bales of hay stacked in one corner, with room behind for kitties to patrol. Turns out they've been using it as a dining room too. Here's Crichton munching on a baby cottontail. Not the nicest sight, but nature sorts out checks & balances whenever possible. The mama bunny is always in our pasture or front yard or barn yard, and does her thing without being hassled. But her babies don't always learn the ropes fast enough, and the cats get them. Enough survive to carry on, and we've gotten to enjoy our rabbit inhabitants, as long as they stay out of the garden.
Stewart, making sure he really really really can't come in the shop. "Really? Are you sure? You might want a big dumb dork to help out.... "
And here's Maggie, peeking out from under the back deck. He & Mercia are learning about the big outdoors, but they hide under the deck quite a bit. And wouldn't you know it, they still come inside to use the litter box!

Hope springs eternal...

We've taken part in that annual leap of faith known as a garden, yet again. In the left foreground are tomatoes, 3 rows of potatoes near center, and onions, mangel beets & cukes to the left. In the left background are mixed rows of shallots, carrots, radishes, beets, kohlrabi, 3 kinds of lettuce, broccoli, and cabbage. There's corn near the fenceline and to the right are green beans (including 2 kinds right out of a Bosnian garden, thanks to a coworker) and onions.

Here's the squash pit. It was a giant heap of manure & straw that we cleaned out of Stella's stall last summer. After a good going over with a tiller, it was perfect for planting our butternut, buttercup & delicata squash. I had planned to grow Uncle David's Dakota Dessert squash this year, but somehow left it out of my seed order. We'll try it next year. We're already planning for next year's squash pit, and planning to dump this year's stall clean-out in paddock 2 to mature into another squash pit.

It's been so green and lush lately that even 3 cows can't keep up. So we need to scythe down the weeds and seedheads once in a while. Look at Doug peeking out from behind mom.

Fergus got a new swim jacket. He always gets tired while swimming at Birch Bay, and this helps him stay above water. He got the hang of it very quickly, but the water was still so cold he didn't swim long. Stew tore off a toenail in his rush to bolt out the back door the other night, and we though a saltwater swim might help. It didn't, but he looks to be healing up anyway.

Here's Maggie, demonstrating just how tense his life is. Or is he catatonic?

And Fergus, either doing his impression of Magnus, or maybe a roadkill possum.

Three-day weekend at Seven Trees

Before heading out for a day of chores, some of us enjoy a hearty breakfast. Magnus prefers to lounge.

Aha! Upon returning to the house for a break, we found the little miscreant shirking his chorelist for some recreational activities!
Unable to rise, Magnus does his impression of a hearth rug. (Disclaimer: No kitties were harmed or even intoxicated during this photoshoot.)
Stella's milking stall, mostly done. The wire panel in the foreground removes for milking access, and the cement pavers will help wear her hooves down while allowing decent clean up.
Crichton getting escorted to and from the barn, past the cat-chasing cow.Stewart, who has neither shame nor dignity, sunbathes in the front yard. Temps got into the 50's and all the critters had a great time outside.
Stella the skeptic, suspiciously inspecting her stall. She goes in and eats now, but it will take another couple days before she stops bolting out of it when we are close.

Stews last stand

Chickens are moving in for the kill. Stew's looking scared or guilty... maybe both.

Maybe they'll be gentle.

Mercia's soft fluffy tummy, begging for a rub.

Gotta love the smile... she must be dreaming about saucers of cream.

Honestly, open the fridge for milk and the buggers'll mow you down trying to get some!

The rocking chair has become a favorite kitten hang-out. That is when they are not ripping around the house like rocket cats!

Gratuitous critter pics!

These two found a warm sunbeam to nap in.

Professional sleeper, Crichton, again, demonstrating the nose-down napping technique.

Newt showing her disdain for papparazzi.

Look at that gigantic, earnest mug. What a dork! A four-legged demolition derby with a non-stop tail.

And the (hopefully) pregnant princess herself. We'll be having the vet out soon to confirm. She should be just over halfway to her due date. Stella doesn't miss a meal, or a treat, or a nice scritchy either.