Archive for the ‘Crops – Flowers’ Category

June 26, 2006 – Flowerama

It’s time to let some of the flowers in bloom at High Hopes speak for me today.

May 24, 2006 – “Moma” Robin

Yesterday I wrote about the abundant living and dead fledglings – today I caught Martin playing moma robin!

If you look closely, you may be able to see the worm he found for the robin dangling above the bird’s mouth. After he fed it 3-4 worms, we put the bird in the compost bin so it was safe from dogs and had plenty of food. The real moma robin found it and took over feeding from Martin.

We have separation of duties at the farm today – Linda takes care of manure and I take care of dead bodies. Today was clean out half the chicken coop day. It was easier with the tractor as we positioned the bucket by the door and Linda could just throw it an and wet it down all at once before taking it to the compost pile. It was lawn mowing day – got some more weeding done and some ground dug up for a new raised bed.

The first flower bouquets are in the house – the iris are in full bloom.

May 6, 2006 – #$%&*# Stealth Frost

Don’t let the cheery lilac fool you – the tomatoes and peppers we put out yesterday looked, well, dead, today. It was 39 when we woke up, but obviously it was colder than that sometime during the night. The low was predicted to be 40. It’s a bummer not necessarily because of the replanting, but because we had many heirloom varieties from Seed Savers and elsewhere that aren’t available at a greenhouse or garden center. We’ll have to check to see if we have any seeds leftover and start over. The frost also killed the new, tender leaves on the year-old walnut and chestnut trees.

But there’s still lots of things to do – here are Linda and the kids working on putting in the flowers started from seed.

The eggs we were incubating also started to hatch – pictures tomorrow!

April 26, 2006 – Glorious Spring

Spring is in full bloom. The plums are finishing up, the lilacs are on the cusp and many others are in their full spring regalia. If you ask me now, Spring is my favorite time of year. Hope is in the air and the bugs are not!

Cherry Blossoms

Nectarine Blossoms

Apple Blossoms Poised to Open

Apple Blossom

Apple Blossoms

April 4, 2006 – Spring Crocus

May the promise of the season be with you!

November 21, 2005 – Glads

Today we (Linda) started digging the gladiola bulbs out of the garden.

When we planted them this spring, they were less than half the size they are now.

It’s nice to see so much growth – and we can use them again next spring and will probably get bigger glads. There’s still more to get and freezing ground is not far away.

July 8, 2005 – Claire’s Back and Linn St. Market

Today was Claire’s “graduation” from her two weeks at U of I. The director told us that they were the youngest that the university recruited and each has a $1,000 scholarship should they enroll at Iowa. I wonder if Iowa State will match it and add 10%?

Claire after the closing ceremony.

We “had” to go Prairie Lights bookstore where one of Claire’s favorite night-time events was a book reading.

This morning we decided to try to move some stuff at Linn Street Market – a place where local farmers can sell their goods year-round at an indoor venue by renting market space. We brought in some raspberries, flowers, and the first apples of the season.

Linda creating her magic in the barn arranging the flowers. We also vacuum-packed the first few carrots of the year and threw them in the freezer.

June 26, 2005 – Summer Colors

Today after lunch, brother Kraig and family left, Linda and Claire went to Iowa City to drop Claire off at a two weeks writer’s workshop, and Grandma Jo took Jill and Emma, so it was the boys most of the day. We mowed some grass, stained the wood for the trailer and sanded the metal to get ready for primer and cooked dinner.

The clematis on the garage is going nuts this year. Here is a view from afar.

…and a closeup.

While I was mowing near dusk, I happened upon some interesting sights. First was this grass laden with yellow pollen. (Allergy sufferers, it must not be quite so beautiful) and then a Great Blue Heron set its wings over the back pasture and swung around a couple of times. I was flattered that the small wet spot we fenced away from the cattle was even being considered by a heron. Later, near dark, I wandered down there and the Heron was roosting in one of the big maple trees on the edge of the pasture.