Around The Farm In September

The days and nights are getting cooler. Autumn is in the air. I stopped by my neighbors' sheep farm to chat, and we were joined by two sheep, a ewe and a lamb, who have become pets and have no need to fear becoming mutton:

I only have five or six pears this year, but they look mighty good:

I walked far out into the field and then turned back and snapped this picture of the farmstead. From left to right: The hay supply, the house, the stock tank, the barn and my neighbor passing by on the gravel road with a wagonload of hay bales:

Autumn brings with it an abundance of crickets, but I haven't seen a closeup of a grasshopper in a long time. I was happy that this one held still long enough for me to get a photo:

The Rose Mallows began to bloom more so I went out to snap a picture of them:

Alas, I didn't see the hornet's nest which had been built just outside my front door (which I seldom use). I only got stung once but then began spraying it until they were all dead:

Wild Hyssop has sprung up in the pasture, just as it did last year:

I brought a sprig of Hyssop indoors for a closer look and got this photo of its tiny flowers:

And Boneset is blooming in the south field. It was once believed to heal broken bones because its leaves (on each side of the stem) were connected, kind of like a broken bone which had healed:

Pennsylvania Smartweed is also abundant in the south field and is just beginning to bloom:

 Lady's-Thumb Smartweed is much prettier than its relative, and it grows all around my back door:

 I knew it was autumn when the first New England Asters bloomed. This was all there was at the time, but more are now beginning to flower:

Lady's-Thumb Smartweed is much prettier than its relative, and it grows all around my back door:

Around The Farm

There are still three baby fantail pigeons in nests, though it won't be long before they join the rest of the flock as adults. These two are in a high nest, away from the squabbling birds on the floor:

 This youngster was born and raised on the floor and knows how to defend itself by slapping an attacker with its wing. Its parents are still feeding it but it will soon be on its own:

 The bantam hens have reduced their egg laying to almost nothing at this point, which I admit is a relief to me. I simply can't use many eggs and hard boiling them for the dogs is a hassle - although the dogs love the results:

 Their coop needs cleaning, but all the bedding must be hauled out through the pigeons' room and I won't do that until the pigeon babies are fully raised and on their own:

 This is the eastern version of "big sky country" and I am constantly amazed as I watch the heavens above. This mackerel sky might have indicated rain on its way and, in fact, that's just what happened:

 Sunrise in the northeastern sky:

 I walked around to the other end of the barn for a better view and the sun had just broken above the treetops when I got there:

 With the grass in the far south field mowed and baled, I had no excuse left not to replace the kill-switch for the electric fence which had broken. It was an easy job. That's the new one, all connected on the left, and the old, broken one on the right:

These tiny flowers were growing right next to the barn door. I saw them last year and got the genus name but couldn't identify the species. This year, I noticed the hairy stems and pegged it as Galinsoga ciliata. Notice the five three-lobed "petals" with spaces between them:

 And I've long believed I had two or more species of Smartweed by the barn door. This year, I noticed that some had white flowers and knew they were not the Smartweed I was familiar with:

 I took a close look and decided they were Pennsylvania Smartweed:

 The more showy, red flowered kind with a black smudge on each leaf is Lady's-Thumb Smartweed. All Smartweeds are members of the Buckwheat family:

Flowers Galore, Flowers Everywhere!

Just when I thought the flower season was about over, the pink Rose Mallows burst into full, gigantic bloom:

And then, about five days later, the red Rose Mallows began to bloom also:

They are planted up on a rise and next to the county road, where they draw a lot of attention by passersby:

And right next to the Rose Mallows are the two new Morden Roses. This one is Morden Sunrise:

And this one is Morden Blush:

Wildflowers bloomed too, including these Common Mallows at the south end of the barn:

And Lady's-Thumb Smartweed, also at the south end of the barn:

All other Day Lilies seem to have quit blooming, but these wild type are mixed in with my Peonies and are blooming with astoundingly vivid colors:

Not all flowers, however, are welcome. In spite of having been cut down twice, Many Canada Thistles are flowering in the pasture and along the fence line:

I was working on the electric fence and kept seeing these odd wildflowers. They were minuscule flowers with long "fingers" at the top of the plant:

I got a closeup of the flowers and buds to help me identify them when I got back to the house. At first I gave up, finding nothing like them, but then changed my mind and restored them from my Trash file to an active photo file. I finally identified them as Willow-Herb:


Unfortunately, I could tell which species - until I realized the obvious by looking at the bottom leaves. These were Purple-Leaved Willow Herb, a plant I'd never noticed before:

Summer Around The Farm

Our recent heat wave stopped the grass from growing and, in many places, it turned brown and brittle. Walking over it shattered it and sounded crunchy. I was truly worried, though it was nice to not have to mow the lawn:

 But the little rock garden produced flowers abundantly. Yellow and orange Asiatic Lilies competed with the Blue Sea Holly:

 A black striped Garter Snake of rather impressive length (about 30") began living somewhere around my biggest lilac bush. I previously had a smaller, melanistic Garter Snake living near the barn and I reckon they are likely related. Looking at this photo now, I wonder if this is the same snake, just moved to a slightly new location:

 The two baby fantail pigeons are doing quite well:

 The baby pears are also doing quite well:

 They're getting big now and I am amazed at how many there are:

One morning before it got too hot, I took pruners and weed-whacker out into the pasture and began taking down the Burdock along the fence:

 I did not cut the White Sweet Clover, which I was happy to have growing:

 But I made a special effort to take down all the Bull Thistles I could find. They were not along the fence line but scattered around both fields:

 And the Canada Thistles. They were smaller and easier to miss, but just as prickly and invasive:

 Some places are filling up with Lady's-Thumb Smartweed. I didn't try to fight that. The animals don't eat it at first, but if they get hungry they will eat it:

 Near the house, at the base of the Rugosa Roses, the wild Bouncing Bet (in the Pink family) is blooming as it does every year. Now that's a "weed" I can truly appreciate!:

September On The Farm

It has been a busy month for the fantail pigeons. The birds who haven't been able to hatch eggs or raise babies for a long time suddenly began doing both. I'd like to credit my new cake pan nests, but I suspect there were other factors as well. Anyway, here are two babies at one day old. Mama needed to be nudged aside:

 Day two:

 Day four:

 Day seven, when the parent was actively feeding the two babies:

 I discovered another nest with a baby in an advanced stage which I hadn't previously noticed. There were several other nests in progress as well. Sadly, not all the babies lived - but most of them did:

 My little bantam hens have had less excitement, though you'd think otherwise if you heard them all clucking and squawking at once. I used to think that meant someone had just laid an egg, but when I checked, there was no new egg. Heaven only knows what they squawk about:

 Their coop has a clean floor and they get their food and water topped off each evening. Their life may be unexciting, but it's safe and comfortable:

 Blue, Remy and Rosella lined up for a photograph when I walked out into the south field. With the bull gone, it is safe for me to walk out there whenever I feel so inclined:

 Lady-Thumb Smartweed is the plant which produces the pink and white flowers. I was perplexed at the tiny, daisy-like flowers but decided that they were Galinsoga parviflora, sometimes called Gallant Soldier. I furthermore decided that the flowers I previously identified as Galinsoga quadriratiata were too big and must remain unidentified, at least until next year:

 My Rose Mallows put on a big show this year, and the Tree Hydrangea did also. They made quite a handsome display:

 I tried hard to kill all the thistles in my pastures, but this one got missed. I decided that it was Bull Thistle even though it was smaller than usual:

 Autumn is harvest time, and when I stopped at these wild grapes I smiled, remembering how mouth puckeringly bitter they were in years past. But I tried them anyway and discovered that these were not bad at all, perhaps because they were riper than what I'd previously tasted: