Around the Homestead

Sara, over at Farmama blog, has invited folks to do a weekly "Around the Farm" post on Thursdays to show what we all have going on around our farms, gardens, homesteads, etc.... I think that I'll happily join in!

It's been a cloudy and drizzly few days, so I had to jump out there with the camera when I had the chance.  So not as many photos as I'd like, nor as light-filled.  But, hey!  Let's get on with it, shall we?

poppies are blooming

and so are the peas!

and the water irises

spinach and baby spinach is bountiful

broccoli heads are forming

the comfry is nearly as tall as the hoop house

the asparagus is as tall as me!

strawberries are coming on

and so are the wild roses

We're working hard to help this little swath come back to health, and teaching Doug (the owner of the greenhouses) about sheet mulching.  I hope we can convince him to get rid of the old tires too... and not grow food in them!  I wish we could convince him to also get rid of all the landscape fabric he has covering every square inch of his space, but that's not going to happen.  He is quite proud of and attached to his landscape fabric.  Who knows... maybe by the end of the season he'll see the wonders of simple sheet mulching and choose to do away with the fabric.  Here's hoping!

About half of the bees swarmed.  That brown blob is them festooning on a branch in a Hemlock outside our shop.

these Johnny-Jump-Up's greet me at the greenhouses every morning

garden fresh salad lunches!
yum.....

the cucumbers are loving their home in the greenhouse

the onions do too!

beets are up and on their way!

I am off to the greenhouses!  So much to do there... it's kind of overwhelming.  But, I just have to remember to take it one step at a time, check things off the list and keep moving forward.  It helps to be somewhat tunnel visioned and task oriented, not big picture.  This is challenging for me....  I am such a big picture kind of girl!  Time to be like an ant or a mouse on the ground seeing only what is right in front of me, not like an eagle in the sky taking it all in....

Later this morning the kids and I get to go milk our friend's goats, then go pick up a bunch of alpaca fiber in trade for my willing and helping hands at last week's shearing.  I am so excited!  I also have some thrilling news to share regarding fiber.  Tomorrow promises a fiber and photo filled post!