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August
'09 on Our Family Farm
Below is
a picture of one of my twelve sons harvesting the potatoes.
My one and only daughter was busy playing with the baby, so
we could get a good jump on the huge harvest. We try to do most
everything by hand and organically. We plant an old time heirloom
variety that does well up here in the frigid North. They are
called "Butte" (pronounced beaut as in beautiful)
and have the highest levels of vitamin C. Especially good for
winter eating! Yes, those are tires you see. We plant them in
tires and get a huge return! We literally have "tons"
(no joking!) of potatoes!
Have you ever heard
of Costmary? It's also known as Bible Leaf. One of our sons
just plucked one, below. Back in days past, folks used them
as bible markers. Occasionally, they'd take it out and sniff
it or nibble on it (it tastes and smells minty!) in order to
stay awake!
A farm isn't
quite a farm unless you have these 2 legged, cackling creatures!
We love our chickens! We recently had to pen up our "free
range" hens as the hawks and fox were having a few too
many free dinners. At one point, we had nearly 100 feathered
friends! We truly enjoy having fresh eggs for breakfast and
for baking. We still have plenty left over for sale (the eggs
are spoken for before they are even out of the nesting boxes!)
I find it interesting
that chickens are mentioned in the Bible! In Matthew 23:37 and
Luke 13:34, Jesus compares himself to a mother hen, when talking
about Jerusalem: "How often would I have gathered thy children
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,
and ye would not!"
Ah, the
famous St. Joseph Bean! Yes, you'll find it on this page:click
here I enjoy growing these as the bloom (not shown) is gorgeous.
What you will see below is my dirt laden hands (I love the dirt!)
holding one of the pods. When mature, you open the pod and there
are the St. Joe Beans! And as with everything on our farm, absolutely
no chemicals or pesticides are used!
That may
look like a stack of two hay bales to you, but to my boys..it's
a pitchers mound! We just baled 1,100 bales of hay and the boys
and their cousins decided that the animals wouldn't miss a few
bales! We will hopefully get another big "cutting"
in before winter. You'll also notice my hand pump. I use it
to water the animals and sometimes the kids!
Is it grass?
Is it corn? What the heck is it? It's Job's Tears (also known
as Mary's Tears). They haven't sent out their seed yet, but
will shortly. The seed is what we use to make chaplets and rosaries.
It's very hard to find Job's Tears as no one seems to grow them
any more. My friend Alice sent me seed from Louisiana and it
seems to like us here in the frigid North! Another interesting
note....Mother Teresa's favorite rosary was made from Job's
tears! Did you spot my scare crow? Seems the crows like Job's
tears, too!
This
is Nino Divino, nestled in our woods. It's one of my favorite spots
and I go there often and pray...especially for those who have sent
us a prayer request. It's very peaceful and it's in the stillness
and silence that I can hear God's voice. If you have a prayer request,
feel free to email directly or you can add it to our prayer book:
click here
What
kind of berry is that? Well, it's an elderberry! I enjoy growing
elderberry's because they are useful in so many ways. You can make
them into jam, wine and medicine! I always make a tincture with
them because they are a wonderful and natural "anti-viral".
We had a bumper crop of berries this year! They must enjoy zone
4/5 weather!
I
can hear it now.."Get over here Martha, that girl has herself
some funky looking purple beans!" Yep..I sure do. They are
very "sought after" in the organic market. As you can
see, I'm holding a nice little bunch, ready to harvest, in my grubby
looking hand. Did I mention I like dirt? Good thing since I have
a dozen boys! My daughter doesn't care for dirt. Oh, well! Anyhoo...the
neat thing about these heirloom beans is that they turn green when
you boil them! The kids think it is a neat magic trick!
I
have many more pictures to share, but must go wash off the bazillion
zuchinni's that have overtaken my counter. Thank you, Jesus for
the bountiful harvest on our family farm!
Okay,
I'm back!
My
Dad planted the corn fields for us this year because I had just
given birth. Thanks Dad! It looks great and should be ready to harvest
soon. The left over corn stalks make super Fall/All Hallow's Eve
decorations! We've already had alot of folks asking for them!
Speaking
of corn stalks and Halloween (All Hallow's Eve)...note the "Haunted
House" sign that my kiddo's put up. They are hoping to have
a full fledged pumpkin farm next year (I'm tired just thinking about
it! LOL). This year, they've already started decorating the pumpkin
trail and have been hashing out idea's. There's never a dull moment
on the farm!
Oops,
how did that get in there? Cute and curious little farm boys. No
matter how many times they've seen me give a baby bath, they still
like to watch and help.
Other
folks have asked me how we manage to get all of the kids at one
table. Well, our local Mennonite friends helped us out! Here is
our 15 foot table. I pulled all the high chairs away so you could
get a good look at this monster. LOL. In the corner, you'll see
the big wood stove. We try to heat as much as we can with wood.
Being that the downstairs only consists of two rooms (the kitchen
on one side, the living room on the other side), it seems like we
might be able to pull it off! I like to keep things SIMPLE! Also,
you'll notice paper towel holders on the table. My solution to messy
boys!
Yeah,
my blackberries are getting ripe! After I took this picture, I feasted
on them! We just finished our bumper raspberry crop. Will be adding
blueberries to the farm, next year.
Ah,
here is our Christmas tree for this year! If I weren't so tired,
I would have went up the steep hill behind the tree and showed you
all the baby Christmas trees on the farm. We plan on experimenting
with different types of pine. Always a new project in the wings!
Well,
now it's time for dinner. I will try to post more pictures as time
allows. I still have pictures of the farm dogs (Siberian Husky/German
Shepherd mix),, the barn, the apple orchards and a bunch of other
farm stuff. I'll leave you with a picture of my tractor. Yes..my
tractor. LOL. My son took a picture of me brush hogging. Yes, I
know...I didn't have my bucket up! Oops! Hopefully, we will have
enough goats and sheep to keep things in order shortly! The less
gas used, the better!
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