Gardening Gone Gonzo

All of my spring planting was finally finished, and the spot where I removed the big stump (well, most of it) has been a great spot to plant things:

 And what did I plant there? Oriental Poppies, Bachelor's Buttons, Yarrow, Chives, New York Asters, Globe Thistle and Gaillardia:

 The big stretch of garden I prepared along the dog fence has also been planted:

 I broke it up into sections to help me keep track of what's there. From left to right are last year's day lilies, this year's day lilies, Begonias/lilies/Peonies, Sunflowers (four varieties) and Armenian Basket Flowers:

The two new Bleeding Heart plants are blooming extravagantly:

 And because they did so well, I also planted Morning Glories there also:

 I had no trellis to use for the Morning Glories, so I put tomato cages there. If they grow more than that - well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it:

 And while planting the Morning Glories, I found a mutant Bedstraw plant with variegated leaves. I find such sports to be fun and interesting:

The two Flowering Crab trees and Golden Delicious apple trees put on a spectacular display, then faded away:

I put branches from the pink Prairie Rose flowering crab and Lilac blossoms in a vase to bring to church. In another vase, I put the common weed, Yellow Rocket. It is also called Winter Cress and is a species of wild Mustard:

 The Lilacs were great this year, but now I'll have to wait another year to see and smell them again:

Around The Farm In Winter

Midwinter isn't so bleak with sunrise skies like this on so many mornings:

 The little hens are safe and relatively warm in their own room:

 The pigeons' room is right next to the chickens' room. Last year I allowed them to mingle, at least until I figured out that the hens were eating the pigeons' eggs as fast as they were laid. Now I keep them separated, in their own rooms:

 A couple of birds act like they might want to nest, but there have been no eggs. It's a good thing, as no egg or baby would survive in the frigid temperatures we've had:

 We continued to get snow. It used to melt soon after falling, but now I think it's here to stay:

 I regularly now have to take the bale spear off of the tractor and replace it with the 6' bucket so I can plow the snow:

 Most days now, all the cows except Jasmine come into the barn for a bit of breakfast grain (not too much, though - they're all fat):

 Right across the aisle from the cows, Blue and Remy have separate stalls in which to eat their breakfasts. The gates are to keep them from fighting and to keep out the cows:


 Both poultry waterers sit on heaters to keep them thawed, but one of the heaters died and I had to thaw the icy waterer atop my kitchen stove. I also had to buy a new heater:

 Jasmine never comes to the barn for her grain - and she's the one who really needs it, so I carry her out a bowl each morning:

 Wild Bedstraw plants are still green and sometimes show on the surface of the snow around the barn:

 Now that the geese have gone south, corn fields are often visited by flocks of wild turkeys:

Scenes From The Farm In The Summer

It's been an interesting summer so far and I've spent it veering from very busy to shamefully idle. The apple crop does not look good, though I did find one branch on one tree in the orchard which is growing fruit. Also, a wild seeded tree by the road has developing apples on it:

With only nine hens left, they are more cautious than they were with the rooster to lead them far afield. They still, however, love to cross the road and search for grain which the cattle have dropped:

These are not Queen Anne's Lace, but Elderberry blossoms. Our past winter was hard on them but they seem to have rebounded nicely:

The north field is filled with Bedstraw and Cow Vetch, both blooming abundantly:

We had a dry spell so bad that the Rugosa Rose buds dried up on the plant. They looked sad, bringing to mind Miss Havisham from "Great Expectations:"

My barn has steel siding but I hired a local teen to scrape and paint the wooden trim:

He scraped the western side of the barn, but before he could do the eastern side, we had to move both the cattle and horses across the road into the north field. The cattle knew the routine and went easily, but the horses balked and fought us. Luckily, the boy's father arrived just then and gave us a hand (which is why he's holding the lead ropes). The horses immediately forgot their angst and began running, playing and gobbling grass as soon as they arrived in the north field and we set them free:

My gravel driveway is once again filled with Pineapple Weed, a form of wild Chamomile. It smells wonderful when I drive across it with the riding mower:

The ditches along the town road are full of developing cattails. I remember reading that Purple Loosestrife was pushing our wild Cattails from their native habitat, but that doesn't seem to have happened, at least not here:

Burdock is a noxious plant and real pest, shorting out electric fences and covering animals with prickly burrs . I sprayed much of it with weed killer:

In the south field, Black-Eyed Susans, Bedstraw, Red Clover and Oxeye Daisy bloomed:

This hen has taken a liking to hanging out with the pigeons. She sometimes perches here, then hops through the window to join them. It does no harm and is easy for me to get her from there to the chicken coop:

Wildflowers Around The Farm

The yard around the house is big, but far from manicured. There are weedy sections everywhere and I delight in them, for they display amazing wildflowers all summer long. So one day I took my camera and recorded a few of the wildflowers which beautify the wild patches. The first is Deptford Pink:

And Sundrops, a day blooming relative of Evening Primrose:

Common St. Johnswort:

Cow Vetch:

A white Aster, species unknown. Feel free to add a comment if you can identify it:

Orange Hawkweed:

Queen Anne's Lace, or Wild Carrot:

Rough-Fruited Cinquefoil:

Yellow Goats-Beard:

White Clover:

Bouncing Bet:

Red Clover:

Bladder Campion. This bloomed profusely all over the property earlier in the season, but there were only a few, sad looking specimens left this late in the summer:

A Bedstraw, species unknown. Do you see those amazing brown seed pods near it? I don't know what they are, but they are fascinating:

Early Goldenrod:

Common Milkweed:

Butter-and-Eggs:

This plant is extremely common and looks to be in the mint family, but I can't identify it. You'd think it would be easy because of its square stems and distinctive leaves, but I've been unable to find it online or in my field guide. If you know what it is, please leave me a comment: