change

I said before that I've been running in four different directions, but to be perfectly honest, it's only three - graphic designer, mixed media sculptor, and wannabe farmer. Which brings us to the subject of change... the designation of wannabe farmer is changing to just farmer. Okay, so in some folks minds, with just under 4 acres that's stretching the term quite a bit, but that's okay. It will be a micro-mini farm, or as I'm calling it, "the tiny little farm at Tulip Tree Hill". The core of the farm will be a greenhouse for growing heirloom vegetables and flower seedlings. Additionally, there will be a market garden for produce and cut flowers both of which will be sold at growers markets. I'll still be a graphic designer (my primary source of income) and a mixed media sculptor. And so this blog's somewhat split personality will birth a new blog about the farm. The only changes you'll see here will be a lack of gardening/farming posts and hopefully more emphasis on art. That way the folks interested in the tiny little farm won't have to wade through art posts and those who like art won't have to read my ramblings about farming. Unless of course, you want to.

Speaking of art, my new show at Diddywopps is opening September 12, but I need to have everything completed and delivered by the 6th. I. am. not. ready. Oh, I'll get everything done, and it will all be wonderful of course, but things will be hopping out in the studio!

a pastoral scene

This is the view from my back pasture, looking out into the neighbor's field. This scene is so much better in person - the quiet and gentle peacefulness of sheep grazing in a lush pasture, the single tree providing soft shade, and the bounty of the newly harvested field - it fills my heart up.

remembering

"To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves."

Gandhi

garden blossoms-part 2

one of the many sunflowers that are blooming

a garden weekend

The garden has grown so much in the past couple of weeks and so I wanted to share an updated photo. The "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash are doing well after getting off to a sluggish start, literally. The slugs chewed them up pretty heavily until I left some weeds for them to go after. Now that the sisters are bigger, I've gotten rid of the weeds once again. Salad greens are nearly over, getting ready to bolt and become bitter. The spinach is already a goner. The red beets did particularly well this spring, producing much more than expected. They've been going in salads, roasted as a side dish, and now pickled. Good stuff.

pickled red beets

The sunflowers are turning their faces to catch the rays, the mustard is in full bloom and covered with honey bees, potatoes are just going crazy, growing and blooming on and on. The tomatoes have also begun to bloom, so hopefully soon I'll see some little ones growing.

Some of the herbs were big enough to begin cutting. The mint planted earlier this year has just taken off - doing its job and filling in a hard-to-mow area which has been turned into a mint bed. I think it likes it there. I was also able to cut some parsley and basil, and as you can see at left, all three have been hung up to dry in my kitchen. And by the way, the kitchen smells great! Best of all, this is just the beginning of a harvest that should last until the end of summer.

so, how many lambs can YOU fit in a VW Bug?

Only two in my bug, but then two was all I was in the market for. Ever since visiting Shelley at River Bend Farm late last summer, and then again early this spring, I've been looking forward to getting a couple of Shetland ewe lambs. Today they finally came home with me. Their names are Aster and Apricot. Aren't they beautiful?

my salad days

Garden salad of green leaf, red leaf, and buttercrunch lettuces, parsley, spinach, diced radishes, sauteed baby beets, hard boiled eggs, and pumpkin seeds. Topped with the Tulip Tree Hill house dressing.

Right now the garden is providing an abundance of mixed greens and spring roots, so salad is on the menu more often than not. With the exception of the pumpkin seeds, everything in the salad above was raised right here. Pretty cool, huh? Hopefully with this year's pumpkin crop, even the seeds will be homegrown next spring.

My favorite dressing right now is a creamy sweet and sour herb mixture. Here's the recipe:

Tulip Tree Hill House Dressing

In a one pint jar, add the following:

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup salad dressing

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon dill weed

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/4 teaspoon thyme

Put the lid on the jar and give it a good shake until well blended.

Open the jar, stick your finger in and give it a try.

Adjust sugar and/or vinegar to taste.

That's it, all done!

Please keep refrigerated.

it won't go down without a fight

See, this is what I meant about bamboo getting sneaky when threatened. These tiny, little, seemingly innocuous, grass-like clumps are actually bamboo. This is an area well away from the main stand where I cut some down last year in an effort to stop its spread. The rhizome didn't die, it just waited for the opportunity to come back in disguise. Later today the weed killer will be put to good use. Unfortunately, some other plants may get hit in the crossfire, but that's what I meant about collateral damage. I have also begun cutting mature stalks, but there are probably a couple hundred of them and they're woody and tough. It will be a long fight - but one that I mean to win.

my how they've grown!

Yesterday was the first day that the broilers were allowed to go outside. At 4 weeks old, they finally seemed like they were ready. It was a bit damp and rainy, but a few of the braver souls ventured out between showers. They enjoyed pecking around and looking for nasties goodies in the grass, such as worms, grubs, slugs, etc. I've kept bantams for four years, but this is my first foray into raising meat birds - specifically Cornish Rock crosses. Compared to egg-layers, these broilers are awkward and somewhat fragile, growing faster than they can feather out (a bit pathetic, really), hence being kept inside for so long. Next year, my choice of meat birds will likely be a standard heavy breed such as Barred Rocks. They'll probably take twelve weeks to reach a good size rather than the eight for broilers, but since I'm not pushing for quick turn-around, that's okay. I'll be a lot more comfortable with the "normal" growth rate and increased vigor.

garden blossoms-part 1

potato,

mustard,

mesclun (salad mix),

cucumber

Aren't the potato blossoms just gorgeous? They'd look nice even in a flower border. So would the mustard. And the mesclun isn't too shabby either. The bonus is that you can also make dinner from them.

know your enemies

I moved here four years ago and have been battling a stand of bamboo ever since. Believing we could live in harmony, it started out with me just breaking off the new shoots that were growing where I didn't want them. Apparently that made it mad. Showing its true colors, it made a dash towards the house, coming up through the deck, disrupting the stone patio surrounding the water garden, and invading the hosta bed. Amazed by the audacity, I countered with more severe pruning as well as judicious applications of weed killer. Hostilities escalated. Last summer, it ran twenty feet into the woods. That was the final straw - I envisioned a future where nothing remained in my woods except a few older trees and bamboo. No wildflowers or saplings, no place left for the native flora and fauna to survive, let alone thrive. So bamboo and I were now locked in a battle to the death. Clearly there was no way to live in harmony with this monster. Accepting that there might be some collateral damage, I vowed to do whatever it would take to completely eradicate it.

So when I found a book on bamboo at the library last week, it came home with me. I thought perhaps at the very least, there would be something about containing the beast, if not killing it outright. The book is well written and speaks so glowingly of the beauty and benefits of bamboo, that if I didn't know better, I might be tempted to plant some. Reading through the book, I finally got to the part about keeping it contained. I learned it can go under sidewalks, driveways, and even roads in some cases. The root system is usually significantly larger than what you see above ground and it can run for fifty feet underground before popping up in another location. FIFTY FEET! What are people thinking when they plant this stuff? Let me just say here that in my opinion, it is irresponsible, short sighted, and selfish to plant bamboo without adequately containing it with a permanent barrier that is up to the task. Seriously.

Reading further, it was as though the heavens opened and angels sang when I saw the following: "Killing bamboo is not easy, but it can be done." For the benefit of anyone else engaged in a similar war, I offer the following:

"Bamboo can be eliminated without the addition of any herbicides or chemical fertilizers, but these can be employed to accelerate the process. There are variations on the theme, but an effective regimen for eradication is as follows: cut the aboveground growth to the ground with a lawnmower (who are they kidding?), pruning shears, hand saw, chain saw, or other implement, as fits the situation. Water and fertilize to encourage the rhizomes (roots) to generate new growth. If necessary, limit the height of new shoots by pruning. As soon as the new shoots have leafed out, stop all watering, fertilize very heavily with a high-nitrogen fertilizer, and spray with a strong herbicide. Remove the culms (shoots) and foliage once the herbicide has been fully absorbed. Remove all subsequent shoots before they leaf out. Damaged by the herbicide and stressed and weakened by over-fertilization and lack of water, the bamboo's demise is accelerated."

Aha! A plan of attack! It will be a big job and not one I will likely get done this year, but at least there's hope. There is just one fly in that ointment, however. I have seen this bamboo, when stressed, send up tiny little shoots that look nearly identical to grasses. In the woods this will be hard to spot, but I'll stay on top of it.

Wish me luck.

honored guests

Yesterday was spent with my sister and her husband at the New Holland horse auction. They were going to look for a pony for their youngest daughter's birthday and I was going, well, because I like those sorts of things. When the smoke cleared, they had bought two ponies instead of just one. Their older daughter already has a small horse, but it's too big for her and they're hoping a smaller one will help build her confidence. These two are very sweet, calm, easy going, and small. Perfect for young girls just starting out. Oh, and they also bought a pony cart - which should be a lot of fun!

Since my niece's birthday isn't until Friday, and the pony is a surprise, they'll be staying in one of my paddocks until then. 

the garden

Here is an overview of most of my garden. From left to right you can see the "three sisters" planting of field corn, beans, and melons. You can also see salad greens, sunflowers, potatoes, mustard, tomatoes and peppers (in the red plastic). 

The three sisters is something I've read about but never tried before. You plant the corn first, four to a hill, and when it is 4" tall plant pole beans in between the corn plants. Then in between the corn/bean hills, you plant melons, squash, pumpkins, etc., two to a hill. The idea is that the corn will support the beans as they grow, the beans will add nitrogen to the soil, and the squash will shade the ground to minimize weeds. It's an interesting concept and one which will be fun to watch play out. I've mulched the three sisters heavily in between the hills with cardboard covered up with horse manure/bedding and then topped it off with wood chips from last year. The weeds don't stand a chance (hopefully).

The field corn is from seed saved from last year's planting. It worked out great last year - the animals got some for treats and I got some for corn meal - which was very good, by the way. I encourage you to try your hand at growing it for yourself - but get an heirloom variety so you can save your own seed. 

The beans for three sisters were: Emerite pole bean, your typical french green bean; Chinese Red Noodle bean, an oddball that is supposed to get 18" pods that are bright red; and Vermont Cranberry bean, a nice red spotted bean that's good for drying and using for soups and chili. The melon/squash component consists of Banana melons, Thai Golden melons, a Pepino melon, french "Cinderella" pumpkins (Rouge Vif D'Etampes), lemon cucumbers, a plain old slicing cucumber, and a couple zucchini.

Salad greens, red beets, onions and sunflowers are next to the three sisters. The plan is that the greens will be done by the time the squash becomes rampant, and the sunflowers will be well above it all. I've been eating a LOT of salad lately.

Potatoes: two white varieties and a blue variety. Supposedly the blue one stays that color even through cooking. Should be interesting. This picture was taken last week before mulching was started. At this point, I have about half the potatoes mulched, first laying down a thin layer of newspaper and topping it off with the manure and wood chips.

Mustard: Brown, black, and white. They're looking good, so hopes are high for home made grainy mustard.

Tomatoes: Limony, John Baer, Wapsipinicom, Black Sea Man, Orange Strawberry, Green Zebra, and Mexican Midget - all heirloom varieties.

Peppers: Early Sunsation, Satsuma, Mandarin, Hungarian, Jalapeno, Cayenne, and Lemon Drop.

There is also a row of zinnias and cosmos for cutting, a couple of cotton plants, a few carrots, Danish Ballhead cabbage, peanuts, and a few roselle, a relative of hibiscus from asia. Roselle is what gave the zing to red zinger tea. I wonder if it will be good in a blend with mint.

In what was supposed to be the oats bed, I put in indian corn, broom corn, popcorn, and sweet corn. Just a little of each. The oats were a failure, hardly any germinated, so I 'tilled them under for the sake of the corn contingent.

Next to the corn, the wheat is actually making a comeback! Not a nice, full, dense stand, but hopefully enough to harvest. It is making seed heads now and so really does look like wheat.

So now all the planting is done. More mulching is next on the list and then it will "just" be keeping ahead of the weeds and of course, enjoying the harvest!

peep show

Two weeks ago 25 cornish rock crosses arrived via the postal service. Right now they are in the barn until they can safely be put in an outdoor pen during the day. Compared to the bantams, these babies sure can eat and drink! I can see why they are known for their fast growth. According to the hatchery, they could be ready to butcher as early as eight weeks old! To slow down their growth a bit, it's recommended to put their food away at night so they're not eating 24/7. In the video above you can see what it looks like when I give them their food back in the morning. Hungry little buggers!

international year of natural fiber

2009 has been designated as the year of natural fibers by the United Nations. The objective is to improve the food income of poor farmers by increasing the demand for natural fibers. Natural fibers run the gamut from wool and cotton to jute, sisal, silk, flax, cashmere, alpaca, mohair and yak. 

Also, as a part of this year-long celebration, natural fiber lovers from all over the world are invited to help create the world's longest scarf. Sponsored by Keep the Fleece in partnership with Heifer International, the goal is to raise $250,000 which will be used to donate fleece-bearing animals to needy families all over the world. To participate, visit Keep the Fleece for all the information.

Personally, I think this is all very exciting! I love natural fibers - the look and feel as well as being a renewable resource rather than a petroleum-based product! And in honor of this being the year of natural fibers, in addition to the wool my sheep grow for me, I'll also be attempting to raise a tiny little patch of organic cotton. We'll see how that goes since Pennsylvania isn't exactly the right environment for heat-loving cotton. But it will sure be fun to try.

Oh, and by the way, a wonderful way to celebrate the year of natural fibers is coming up this weekend! The Maryland Sheep and Wool festival is being held at the Howard County Fairgrounds. I'm planning to go with some friends on Sunday - they will all want to look at yarn and I'll want to look at sheep - good times!

they survived!

NEVER in a million years would I have believed that the goslings would have survived their night in the cold. Today, I happened to look out in the pasture and saw these three little beauties being carefully watched over by their parents. Amazing. There is still a fourth egg in there and Griselda went back in and spent the rest of the day sitting on it while Teague took care of the newborns. I have a hard time believing that the fourth egg is still viable, but then I had also given up on these three, so who knows?

it's a mystery

Well, things are not looking good for the about-to-be-hatched goslings. Last night at bedtime, I heard the geese calling. That was unusual, so went out to check. Griselda was not on her nest in the barn, so I checked the eggs and could actually hear them peeping through their shells. I looked out in the pasture and saw both geese, but without a flashlight couldn't see much more than that. When I went out this morning to check on everyone, I realized that Griselda was on the OTHER side of the pasture fence and apparently had been all night. Checking the eggs again, they were cold and silent. I went out and herded Gris back into the pasture and she immediately went back on her nest, but it is most likely too late. Probably the goslings died in their shells and it's doubtful Griselda will start a new batch again this year.

So what happened? In nearly four years, the geese have never gotten out, and the only way I can imagine she did was by going over the fence. But it's a four foot fence and I've never seen her achieve a lift of more than 2 feet. These are not flighty birds - they prefer to walk. Griselda is a good mother and has barely left her nest in a month. What caused her to leave her nest and go over the fence? The only thing I can think of is that she was going after a predator, a fox perhaps. But why wouldn't Teague, the gander, have been the one to do that? He's been standing guard since Griselda started sitting. Also, none of the other animals were bothered.

It's a mystery, and a shame. 

another farm and studio update

FARM:

Last week I started the tender annuals such as tomatoes, melons, peppers, herbs and flower seeds indoors. Outdoors, beets, lettuce, and spinach went into the garden. So did the sheep muck from the barn - good times, folks. 

Spearmint went into its own bed in the garden paddock, hopefully to be followed by peppermint. I'd like to start drinking more tea rather than soft drinks.

The local conservancy was selling trees and so I bought 20 douglass fir which have now been planted out in the woods.

Sad to say that my winter wheat "field" that was planted last fall didn't make it. Most likely the sheep and geese grazed it down too hard - my fault for keeping them in the garden paddock for too long. And so I tilled it under and planted spring wheat in its place. Next to the wheat, a new bed has been tilled and oats have gone in - another new thing here on the hill. Hopefully these two crops will do better than the winter wheat. But hope springs eternal - I sure would like to try making baked oatmeal or whole wheat toast for breakfast from grains that were grown right here.  

Goslings are due to hatch on Saturday and Mayapple should have her lamb(s) by the end of the month. 

STUDIO:

I have six mixed media pieces underway in the studio, most of them very close to being completed. There are also several in my sketchbook just waiting to have life breathed into them. Winter is a tough time for me, and I'm still coming out from under the proverbial rock, or hibernation, or whatever it is. But the good news is that creativity and productivity are on the upswing as temperatures rise and days gradually become longer!

SCORE!

A local building is being torn down and I was able to do a bit of salvaging. In addition to some miscellaneous scrap wood, I got several old windows that I plan to use to make a coldframe for starting plants in the spring, extending the salad season in the fall and keeping tender perennial herbs in the winter. 

There was also an old piano that no one wanted because it couldn't be kept in tune, so I disassembled it as much as possible for the parts. Quite a lot of bits and pieces come out of a piano that are very interesting. I took all the piano wire, the keys, and the entire striker/hammer(?) assembly as well as some of the wood. I could perhaps have gotten more, but the building was literally being torn down around me and so I felt some pressure to hurry a bit. I use quite a bit of wire in my sculptures, so that's a no-brainer, but the rest of the piano guts may sit in my studio for awhile before they are put to good use. It felt a bit odd to take apart a piano - kind of fun, but also like I was doing something wrong, somehow - like maybe the piano police were going to come and haul me away for disrespecting a musical instrument. Anyway, with all of the front of the piano off and the soundboard and wires exposed, it looked a lot like a harp. If I ever get another chance at an old tuneless piano again*, I'd love to try to mount that whole wire assembly on a wall. It was quite beautiful.

*So if anyone out there lives anywhere near Lancaster, PA or Northern MD, and wants to get rid of an old, tuneless piano, let me know and I'll come get it!

spring flowers

The bluebells are blooming.

the start of an orchard

A package arrived from the nursery last week and since it was so nice out yesterday, I decided to take a break from the computer and get outside and plant. Although there's not much to see, in the photo above there is a Concord grape vine (my all-time favorite grape), a Himrod white seedless table grape (new to me), and three black raspberries. Also in the package were two black currant bushes (photo below). All planted in the garden paddock.

Still on order are two filbert bushes. Partly because of space constraints in the garden area, the filberts, along with most of the fruit trees that are planned will be planted along the fences that divide the pasture into paddocks. There are several benefits to doing this: The trees will be able to be spread over a larger area, hopefully cutting down on pests; any fruit that drops can be eaten by the chickens, geese and sheep; aforementioned livestock will have additional shade; and it will be aesthetically pleasing. Please note that the real emphasis is on the aesthetically pleasing part of the equation. I envision these fence lines growing up in a mix of fruit and nut trees, roses, herbs, and native plants such as honeysuckle, allowing the wire fence itself to all but disappear. At least that's the plan. 

I can't wait.