Kale

This was last year's new veggie. It sold well. All I have right now is this one lone plant (grr.. chickens) but we'll have more soon!

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Garden pictures

Thought I'd try to post a picture or 2 of the farm every day. My peas are coming on! I have a tiny patch right now, but Grampa has quite a few more coming. They are the sugar snap variety with an edible pod. These are very frustrating to pick because you think you've got them all picked and then you discover 10 more that must have grown as you were picking the others!

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Baby Goose

We have a baby goose! One of the younger geese decided to sit on the eggs this year. Grampa wasn't to sure  how well it would do, so he didn't put any extra eggs under it. Two of the 4 eggs hatched, but one of the goose-lings only lived a short while. Hopefully this one will grow up with no psychological problems. Geese are a very social animal. They don't do well all by themselves, but I'm not sure if they need others their own age to thrive or not. 

Naked Dog

We had both of our Great Pyrenees sheared yesterday, but at the time I took this picture, the other one was to embarrassed to come out from under the house. Grampa Tom stuffed a huge garbage sack plum full with dog hair. There's enough there to make at least one blanket if you were to spin it.  They weren't to enthusiastic. Lady really fought it, but I'm sure they both feel much better in this heat!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

Mound garden

My new mound garden. Tried to post this directly from my phone, but for some reason the pictures didn't load.

This is a 24 X 48 foot garden that I've been digging paths in and piling up the dirt on the beds. Both the beds and the paths are 3 foot wide. Most people make 4 foot beds, but I have some trouble getting to the middle of our 4 foot concrete block beds, so I decided to scale these down. The mounds are oriented north to south so they get the most sun. The mounds will be permanent garden beds that never have to be walked on. 

Advantages:

1. Soil is not compacted.

2. Better drainage.

3. Weeds can be pulled and crops harvested even if it has just rained.

Right now it is mostly potatoes. I've got a few tomatoes, some melons and a bed of summer greens planted in it. The greens are chard, kale and an new thing for me "arugula". I'm not done building it yet. I'm thinking about  taking it out another few beds and planting a fall garden in those. When the crops come out, I'll put some compost over them and rake the straw in the paths up on to the mounds to rebuild them for the next season. Then I'll put new straw on the paths. It's more work to set up than a conventional garden, but I won't have to wait on a man to come till it :)

God Bless You All!

Grama Sue (who doesn't do tools with motors)

Markets Are Starting

Markets are revving up! We've been to the Burlington market the last 2 weeks. This week we add two more!

Mondays 3:30-6:30pm  at the Nauvoo C Store (Mini Mart)
Thursdays 5-7:30pm at the Burlington River Front
Saturdays 7-11am at the Keokuk Mall

Next week we will add Tuesdays from 3-6pm at the Quincy Mall

Don't know if we will go to the Hamilton market much this year. Just depends on how much produce we have. It will be at least mid June before we venture down there.

This week's menu:
Rainbow Eggs $3/doz or $2/6-pack
Goose Eggs $4/6 pack or 75 cents each
Cookies $2/6pack
Muffins 50cents
Spinach $3.50
Lettuce $3
Radishes $1
Swiss Chard $2.50
Herbs $1
    oregano, sage, dill, spearmint, lemon balm

Well, I've probably forgotten half a dozen things, so you'll just have to come see what we have!

See you there!

God Bless You All!
~Grama Sue

Burlington Hawkeye

Brag time! We had 7 paragraphs devoted to us in the farmer's market article yesterday! We feel so important! Thank you Hawkeye!

http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/Farmers-Market-050611

God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue