·:[ high hopes gardens ]:·
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The blog was attacked by link spammers and in an attempt to thwart the attempt, many bad things happened!  I’ll be back soon with more updates.

In addition to Reliance peaches, we recently planted some “Iowa Peaches” which are evidently smaller and white-fleshed. They bloomed for the first time this year.

The blossoms of the Iowa Peach are much larger and deeper pink than the Reliance peach.

Here’s a “starter” bird nest. It’s nestled in a sturdy place, but at about 18 inches off the ground, probably isn’t in a very safe place from cats and dogs.
one year ago…”Putting the Lambs to Work”

I hired out siding the 3rd story east and west dormers and while the guys were here, I had them frame up a new exterior wall for the old machine shed.

Last year I reroofed about half the building, but the half that is over me in the photo is beyond repair - so the new exterior wall will go on this framing. I’m debating saving part of the back wall and make a smaller open-ended shed for implements that will allow me to back into and detach implements and keep them out of the weather. However, taking part of it apart, may be tricky, so it may be a total tear down and rebuild. I’m still mulling it over. I’m not sure why the original machine shed was built so tall.
one year ago…”The Tempest”

The attic remodel is now complete - it was a long, slow project, about as long as two pregnancies, but it is now nearly ready to accept furniture! We just have some touch-up painting, another coat of floor paint, and some insulating in the storage areas behind the bookshelves.

This is how it looked after we removed all the “storage” and took the chimney out. You may notice the place where the chimney went through the roof in the upper left and through the floor. It wasn’t the greatest time tearing it out and hauling the bricks down two flights of stairs, but it made a good family project.

Steven of Two Friends Farm was the brains behind the project - here I am testing the reinforced rafters that added strength and additional depth for insulation.

As the old layers of shingles are torn off the house, the opening for the south dormer is apparent.

Here’s the view of the same dormer after the window is in and the insulating starts.

Finally, the completed south dormer! The black floor grate was salvaged from the old house and covers the hole where the chimney was and is now a new heat run.

The existing west dormer in process…

The completed west dormer, taken a bit further back than the previous shot.

The view to the north, during the insulating phase. This was not a fun time as the distance between the rafters varied from 13 inches to 23 inches, with very few 16 inches, so standard insulation widths didn’t fit and each piece had to be custom measured and cut - not to overlook all the triangular pieces due to the three dormers and no flat ceiling anywhere.

The completed view to the north, the only side without a window. There’s great views and great cross-ventilation and wonderful light up on the third floor.

Finally, a look to the east. The railing around the staircase was original - everything else is new. It was a challenging project to trim, with all the weird angles and inherent unsquareness of the old house.

One of the features I like the best are the built-in bookshelves we added - three of them built into the storage space behind the walls in the east and west dormers. I was going to square off the tops, but decided to follow the roofline and I think the top shelf will be nice to accept both tall and shorter books without wasting a lot of space. We originally thought we’d send a daughter up there, but decided it has Mark and Linda’s bedroom written all over it!

one year ago…”Little Projects”

We’ve reached a spring day worth living! Most of the fruit trees are in full bloom, the weather is beautiful, and it was dry enough to get some onions in the ground today.

The pinks and whites of the emerging apple blossoms are hard to beat.

Of course, the shy little violets tucked under the apple tree do their part to announce spring as well.

The cherry blossoms outdo nearly every other tree is sheer volume of blossoms.

one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #71″

It’s aspargus season!

Our favorite way to cook aspargus is to wipe it with a bit of olive oil and throw it on the grill.  We’re still about 3 weeks away from getting tired of eating it.  Aspargus is a reliable bit of the spring plate that gives the first major relief of from frozen and canned vegetables for the season.
one year ago…”A Day in the Life of Martin”

Here’s this week’s “Thingamajig” entry.

Also check out the last thingamajig answer. Put your guess in a comment below.

As always, put your guess in a comment below.

Hold mouse over this sentence to pop-up answer.

one year ago…”Keeping the Chicks Hot”

Today we found that the mushroom logs we had “planted” with shiitake mushroom spawn decided this wet spring was a good time to pop.  Earlier we showed the process to innoculate the logs by drilling plug spawns into logs.

Here’s a couple growing on a log.

Finally, here are a few in the kitchen on the cutting board.  We are looking so forward to trying some. Waiting a year after planting these is kind of like waiting 9 months to have a baby - you can’t beleive it when they really arrive!

one year ago…”Trailer Guy”

Late last fall the old electric fence charger gave up the ghost.  I didn’t go to great lengths to investigate why it stopped working as it looks as though it dates to only a few years after the invention of the incandescent light bulb. 

I didn’t go to great lengths to investigate why it stopped working as it looks as though the charger dates to only a few years after the invention of the incandescent light bulb. 

Here’s the replacement tucked away inside the chicken coop all rewired and ready for action.

one year ago…”Portable Fencing”

The first fruit trees, mainly the plums and apricots are in full blooming regalia. 

The scents catch you in unexpected places and gently remind yo to notice the wind direction and sweetness of the season.

I’m cheating here by putting this picture from May 6 in today.  Just after sunset a big line of storms moved through to the north.  Emma and I were out on the gravel road watching the huge outflow boundaries of the storm and looking for tornadoes as one had been associated with the storm just one county away (that’s within sight distance out here).  One second we were basking in the warm, humid south breeze and just like someone hit a switch, we felt the cold north wind rush past.

After years of waiting, the first pear blossoms grace the farm!

one year ago…”These Boots Are Made for the Hen House”

Finally, the potatoes that sometimes get planted in March, most times get planted in April, this year didn’t hit the ground until May.  The wet, cold spring is delaying all planting.

Potato planting is greatly simplified with the trencher attachment on the tractor.  Linda also got small amount of the usual early season crops such as radish, lettuce, spinach and the like.  I spent most of the day battling tillers, bit finally got rolling.

one year ago…”House Under Cardinal Attack”

Linda and I snuck away from the farm for 20 hours this weekend to Iowa City.  We had tickets to see Steve Earle and Allison Moorer, a couple of acts I saw at SXSW in Austin, TX last year.  Steve is a rare hippie country singer, but his latest CD is more folk with a hint of hip-hop and won the Grammy for best contemporary folk album this year.  I got the last two seats in the house about a month ago.  The Englert was a nice venue, restored by a big community effort.  There is a tuxedoed man to greet you at the door and volunteer ushers wearing black pants and white shirts.

He played a good mix of his old tunes like Copperhead Road and most of his new CD. 

Before the show we ate at Devotay - a fine dining restaurant that features hordes of local producers and run by Chef Kurt Friese, who is one of the founders of Edible Iowa River Valley magazine. 

Of course, we stopped at Prairie Lights Bookstore as well and did well to keep the bill near 100 bucks.  We picked up Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, a compilation honoring the late Paul Gruchow entitled The Grace of Grass and Water, The Flower Farmer, by Lynn Byczynski, which updates the Organic Flower Farmer which is the single most valuable how-two farming-related book we own.  We also picked up the latest Wapsipinicon Almanac, a seasonal magazine still using the traditional Linotype press and good writing published in Anamosa, Iowa, and Red Bird, the latest book of poetry by Mary Oliver.  We couldn’t wait to read her latest, so after the show, we took turns deliciously reading alternate poems until we finished the book.

one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #70″

I was in and out of the workshop this afternoon and when I returned one time, Martin had a piece of wood in the bench vice and was trying to turn it to observe, and ultimately try to break the wood. Dad counseled him that it is indeed important work, that we should try different kinds of materials, but that we should also wear some goggles in case a piece flew towards his eye.

So, he tried odd pieces of things from the garbage - vinyl, wood, sticks and watched deformation and shear at work!

one year ago…”Tree Mulching”

Here’s this week’s “Thingamajig” entry.

Also check out the last thingamajig answer. I’m really looking for an answer with this contraption that we found when we ripped some sod up when we yanked some old fence out of the ground. I’m clueless what it is.

As always, put your guess in a comment below.

Hold mouse over this sentence to pop-up answer.