Nice Day

Posted on by August 6, 2010



Wednesday was a nice day.

We got up at the crack of noon and then had a little breakfast (lunch to most people at that time of the day) and then we gathered up all our recyclables and got ready to go on a few errands.

We’ve been doing pretty good lately at saving all our cardboard from shipping boxes that we can’t reuse… the few pre-made products that we get in jars, bottles and cardboard… and taking them to our local recycling place. It’s near by, so it’s not a big deal to load up old Blue and head down there on our way to another destination.




Stopped at a local fix-it shop to get a belt for my vacuum cleaner. I like going to these little local shops instead of the local Wal-Mart or whatever. It’s nice to chat with the owners and to buy your things from them. I like supporting local business and do so whenever I can.

And of course, Wednesday is our Farmer’s Market day… and today I had pickles, raspberries and maybe some sweet corn on my mind.




I always buy sweet corn from this fellow… he’s got the best. It’s sweet and ready to make any meal perfect! I was going to try cooking it in slices, or coins, and maybe even grilling it, but we ended up just boiling a bunch and serving them ready to eat with some butter and salt. Good stuff, summer stuff.



Got a peck of pickles, ready for some canning this weekend… and 3 quarts of peaches, however, I didn’t do a good job of picking them and they’re mostly hard. I’m going to have to ripen them up a bit, the old banana in a paper bag routine. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them yet… either a chunky peach jam or chutney, or maybe just as slices or pie filling. Hmmm…. decisions, decisions…

We didn’t get any raspberries… no one had any. I guess we kinda missed that run at the whole market thing. Durn! Maggie and I wanted to make a big batch of raspberry jam. Jessy doesn’t care for it, she’s not into the seeds and all. Maybe next week.

Got 4 big bulbs of local garlic for my pickles though… that stuff is flavorful! It’s a hardneck variety and I think I’m going to make sure to grab a couple bulbs and plant them in the garden for next year! See if they come up good.




Grabbed lunch and then went over to visit Fran and Wes. We needed eggs and we wanted to see their new horse! And they have new chickens too! A whole little flock of barred rock hens, ready to go into the big hut and start laying eggs soon!



We save all our bread rinds and such, chicken yummies that go stale and such. They got a biscuit or two and a hard as rock bagel and a bunch of the ends off our bread. We’re not much for eating the “rinds” of bread, so we stash them in the freezer and take them over as chickie treats. I know they enjoy it and it’s fun to watch them grab a crust and run off through the yard with a host of hens in hot pursuit.




Evee got her first look at chickens… she was pretty funny. At first she woofed a bit, and kind of hid behind Jessy, but then she got that herd dog eye thing going and crept out to watch them carefully, and quietly. By the end of the visit, she was pretty cool about them, and was right at the fence watching intently. Now, the horse? She was not so sure about the GIANT DOG… hahaha… she woofed a few times, more almost like weak little attempts to frighten him off and finding that the horse could care less, but then Evee was more inclined to go check out the chickens again and so Jessy and Evee wandered off a bit. Way too many good things to check out and sniff and explore.






But then, there he was. Beautiful boy, Fabulous Joe… just the prettiest stallion I’ve seen in a good long time. He was super nice, young man, very inquisitive and just a nice horse with what seems like a good disposition. He’s only been at their homestead for a few weeks, and he’s just getting used to the people and the place.



Maggie is in love! She has been talking about Joe for 2 days now. She really was taken in by him. And of course, he seemed to be very interested in her. Within a few minutes, he was snuffling her hand and nibbling her fingers, and rubbing up against her on the fence. Maggie and animals is just a given, they go well together.





Their garden is doing nicely, boy, what a big old place to grow stuff! I would love to have a garden that big, I’d have all sorts of stuff going on! I love the scarecrow over in the corner. And they have the coolest sweet corn, it’s probably not even a foot tall and it’s already growing ears!



Now I know, sweet corn doesn’t get as tall and leggy as field corn, which is used only for animal field and processing, but a foot hight… I think there might be something missing from the soil that could help next year. I’m going to have to look that up in my gardneing books. I know that corn is a very heavy feeder, so maybe it’s lacking a bit of nitrogren or something to give it a bit of a boost. I know my corn is not much better this year, it’s trying, but it’s only about a foot and half or so tall.



Fran and Wes’s chicken coop.



The older hens are just not laying a whole lot… the heat is really doing a number on them. One hen’s gone broody and so they’re letting her hatch a nest of 8 chicks! That should be cool to see how they all turn out. When the new hens get in there, that should be fun to see. Chicken TV is pretty neat. I wish we could figure out how to have our own hens. Some day…

Well, we got home and then decided to mow our yard and take down our puppy fence. Evee can clear it in a heartbeat and it’s a pain to mow around, so it’s done and gone. Rolled it up and stashed it in the shed. It worked for a couple months, but now we have to think of something else. The little pup won’t stick around with us, she would prefer to rush all over the place like a goof. We’re working on outside recall, but so far, she’s not that interested in it. Going to have to up the ante soon, or else she’s always going to have to be out on a lead or line in our yard. I wish we could install real fences, but it’s against the whole rules and regulations thing. Some day…

Well, after all that, we settled in and had a nice dinner of ribeye steaks and corn and mashed potates. All good stuff. And then I started working the evening on some of my client stuff and other empire things that needed a little tending. All in all, it was a perfect day. I love those kinds…

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Garden Update…

Posted on by August 5, 2010


It’s been a little while since I updated the whole Moby farm experience… but then we’re at this point of the summer where everything is growing strong and coming into that soon to be harvesting time. It does seem like it was just yesterday that we were just popping the little seedlings in the ground and now, how they have grown!

We are really experiencing some hot hot temperatures and a real lack of good rain. I keep watching weather.com and they will say, rain is coming, tomorrow, and then they push it back a few hours, a half a day, then a day and then more. No one seems to have a good handle on it.

I know that next year, I’m going to have to develop some sort of watering system that makes sense. I’ll have to get my water pressure problem addressed so that I can run a decent sprinkler. And I want my rainwater system in place for sure. I can see the pressure that this heat and inconsistent water is doing for my yield this year.

Well, as you can see above, my little pair of Meyer lemon trees are doing nicely. They were but twigs when I first got them… as much as I would have LOVED to buy decent sized mature trees, the 60 – 100 dollar price tags were just tooo much for me! So I opted for the little $6 twigs and go them going. I made the decision to bring them outside for most of the summer and warm fall. I’m hoping that a real good nearly 3 season time outside, in the sun, will help to get through our winter. The way they are leafing out and have good solid growth, I think they will be good and strong when they must be brought in. I just hope that when it starts to turn that I don’t forget them some night and freeze the little darlings!


My one strong apple tree is really doing a good job this year. 9 apples on the little guy. He started with almost 20 and the birds and other issues seem to have thinned the crop. My other trees had a few, but lost them all. They are still trying to get good and established, so I’m not worried. But I think we might actually have a WHOLE pie worth of the little dudes this year! They are just starting to redden up a bit. The tree is a red delicious, but her neighbors are golden and another variety. I believe we might be creating a new Moby Apple here at the homestead!



I haven’t sprayed them or done anything to the fruit, just kind of letting it take it’s course. I’ve noticed quite a few Japanese beetles though, and I think that I might have to do a little reading up on them. They are eating a lot of the leaves and all, just being a little destructive.



I am ashamed to show off my berry patch! (hahaha) It’s a mess. I just got sidetracked and let it go wild and well, as you can see, it SO needs to be weeded and gotten back into shape. Silly me. Well, just another chore for a nice cooler day… soon… soooooon. We got a nice little crop of berries and added a few new plants and blueberry bushes as well. They are all still young and not super productive, but that’s okay. Someday, they will be a great asset to the Moby farm.


This is Fat Jack. He looks like our Jack, but well, much more rotund. He might be Jack’s dad, but we don’t know. Fat Jack has been hanging around a bit more, because I think the words out that we like cats and we feed them. He’s taken to lounging on the hood of Old Blue, Jessy’s car, but I think we might try and discourage that. I’ve never been a fan of mixing cats and cars.



The south side Moby camouflage program is working nicely. The new side beds are generating rapid height and hiding the boring side of the Moby just so nicely. I think we might actually have sunflowers within a week or so. That really makes me happy, I love sunflowers!



Look! You can almost not see my nasty boarded up window anymore! How cool!

(Yeah, I know, I need to fix that soon. Before winter if I can. It is very secure and Tim got it all nice and snug, it doesn’t leak air at all. But it’s not very attractive. But, hey, all things in time. It’s on the list. In the meanwhile, hopefully the sunflowers will keep on doing their thing and take care of it for awhile!)

The monster tomatoes are doing fantastic on the side of the house. The beds are good and hot, filled with awesome compost and just really growing well. Not very weedy either. Most of the weed block fabric we put down is already fading and deteriorating, obviously NOT the 5 year fabric they toted. But that’s okay, I accidentally bought too much of the stuff, so I’ll be able to lay it down again next year and hopefully that will really help to banish the majority of weed seed from the compost.


I did something new this year. I planted flower decoys in the beds. And they are working! ZInnias and marigolds. For some reason, the bugs are eating up the flowers and haven’t touched the tomatoes and corn. And I have fallen in love with zinnias! What beautiful little flowers! The colors have been delightful and they are so pretty! I am most definitely going to be planting more of these little gems all over next year. They are so pretty.



They are not taking up that much space, and if they help the yeild and keeping me from having to spray nasty stuff, hey, that works for me. And they are so pretty! I have to clip a few for my desk tomorrow morning on my doggie walk. I just have to!



Oh my gosh, I must have 24,958 green tomatoes on my plants. My 41 plants. of 10 different varieties. What was I thinking? (hahaha….) I’m going to have to dig under the jungle of growth and see just what varieties are where. I know that I planted two of each variety in each of the four big side beds. And two in the back. I have paste and cherry and huge ones and prize winners… all growing like mad. I plan to go and pinch back some of the top leggy growth of the plants soon. I’ll have so many, there’s no need to go nuts trying to stake them and train them and all. Just going to lop off some of the top growth and force them to concentrate on the fruit they’ve already got cooking. I haven’t gotten a single red one yet, though. And I keep looking. Soon. Sooooooon.

There is a great sense of pride for me this year. Everything in the garden came from seed that we planted. Everything! How cool is that? All heirloom varieties as well. We have totally enjoyed almost 18 pounds of produce so far off the Moby farm. Mostly beans and onions and garlic and cukes! Almost every day there are more pickles in the yard and if we don’t keep at it, they get huge and turn yellowy on us! After last year’s terrible pickle harvest, I’m glad to have discovered the errors of our ways. They are right next to the faucet and get the first drink of the day even if I’m not able to get to everyone. They just seem to need regular watering to really go nuts.


Out in front, the black-eyed Suzies are going to town! They are just doing better and better each year. I need to shoot a new picture of the estate and I think after we mow tomorrow, I just might do that. I love my flowers, they are important in a garden. They just seem to add something delightful to your garden. It’s that whole “take time to smell the flowers” sort of thing. And perennials are wonderful. Makes it easy to have a nice bit of landscaping.


My little peach tree is sure trying hard to get a crop done for me. There must be 20 or 30 fruit on the tree. I’ve noticed that there are quite a few bugs also working the crop, and I might need to consider some sort of fruit tree spray next year. They are lovely looking though, the peaches. They are starting to get a nice little blush over them and you can smell that lovely scent when you get near to the tree. I hope we see some fruit off of it, and I can make a little peach preserves this year from our own tree. That is SO cool.


A pair of cukes I picked from my tour. The longer one is a Parisian heirloom pickle. They are super good. We’ve been just slicing them after a big of a frig chill and salting a bit and just eating them as they come off the vine… super good. I did get a peck of pickles at the Farmer’s Market today, so I will probably save up some of our own pickles for the processes. Going to make Vodka pickles, bread and butter slices and try a home made relish! Going to be fun!

Well, that’s the tour. Everything is growing pretty good, hanging in there. We actually started a second planting of peppers where we dug up our garlic and onion patch. The green beans are just about done, and I’m going to be planting fall broccoli and peas in the beds and in the cold frames pretty soon. Carrots too I think. And we have another pair of apple trees that I’m going to plant in containers for the south side of the hut. I would have dug them in, but there are power lines and such all over, so I think we’re going to try deep containers for them! Hey, I got them for $3 each, deep discounted and the last of the little dwarf tree stock at Lowes. If they make it, great, if not, well, I’m out $6 bucks. They are doing well so far just in their little teeny 3 gallon pails! They’re going to love their new homes!

But that’s another post!

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Sewing with my girls…

Posted on by August 4, 2010



When I sew with my daughters, I feel the reverb of generations of mothers and daughters, stitching and pinning and planning their craft, their projects together.

I don’t worry if a stitch is wrong or curvy, or that edges don’t meet up perfect, or if a nightgown hem is a little wobbly. It’s a learning process.

In the old days, a young lady was expected to have 13 quilts done by the time she married. Her 13th quilt was to be her masterpiece, the quilt with all her finest blocks and stitches in place, and the ladies of the area would gather and help her to finish it, pin and stitch the top to the bottom and set her on her way as a wife and a mother and someday maybe even a grandmother.

I often wonder what became of quilts #1 through #12. Though, I imagine they ended up as utillity quilts, and saw every day use on beds and in cribs and wherever a quilt was needed. Back then, quilts were not quite the decorative item that we see today, hung on walls and admired. They were USED. And loved and cherished. Handed down from mother to daughter.


I try hard to teach patiently. Afterall, I know what I’m doing, but my girls don’t always. And it can be frustrating for them, to see me finish up something or make something and it works, but then their attempt is awkward or incomplete. It’s a shame these days, that so many people think if you can’t master something in a few hours or days, that you should get all mad and upset, casting that project aside for the next victim. Stick-to-it-ness is a lost art, it seems these days. But, it’s not surprising in this age of instant gratification in so many things. We are not a patient people as a whole, these days.


Sewing takes time. And time mean talking and learning more about my young women. Anytime I can get a teenager to sit and discuss deep teenager things with me, I adore. This time is so fleeting. It will be gone in a heartbeat. In four or five years, I could be totally without children in my home. That seems so odd to me. I’m not looking forward to that at all.

So as we finish my daughter’s first quilts, I feel a certain sort of calm. At this rate, it will be awhile until they get to that lovely number #13 quilt, that cumulation of all their sewing talents and time with me and other mentoring women, sewing and plotting and planning their projects. A few friends I know locally, we’re talking about getting together a little sewing, quilting and canning club and teaching our daughters and daughter-in-laws how to create these lost arts. I just so love that idea… I know my daughters both were excited to learn about it and Maggie has asked me almost daily about it. Back in the old days, we had a homeschool sewing circle that met a few times. We still talk about that. I wish we had kept it going. But, life interfered.


Take the time to teach your young people things like sewing and quilting and cooking, canning and home-ec skills. Your boy children as well as your girls. And teach them how to garden and landscape, and build things with wood and tools. It’s so important. If you don’t know, learn with them.

When I think about things like survival buckets and keeping a good pantry in case of emergency, the thought crosses my mind.

Isn’t teaching our children and ourselves these lost arts just as important as a bucket of stuff to live off for a week? I mean, yes, that bucket will help you to survive the first few days of any sort of disaster, but in reality, if you are ill prepared in some good solid survival skills as well as home skills such as sewing and cooking and preserving foods, making and building structures and shelters and such, then that bucket is only prolonging your end. Fifty, sixty years ago, people still knew this stuff, these skills that have been with us for generations. But now? We’re loosing it. We’ve lost touch with how our food becomes food, how cloth is made, how buildings are built, even our cars and technology is so advanced, you just can’t fix it yourself anymore. We are sooooo dependent on other people to make our life work day to day. Kinda scary.




Time to slow down, reconnect with the lost arts and relearn again what it means to be proud of your handmade quilt or a birdhouse from scrap wood or that garden box of tomatoes. It’s important. And it’s fun!

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