Endlessly...

Endless.

I sigh and take a deep breath. "Am I making any progress?" "Am I ever going to catch up?"

The long rows lined up perfectly. Three foot spaces. Tilled down the middle. Long green grasses choking growth. Yet the stalks grow.

I can imagine the warm crunchy corn as the white kernels pop. The aroma. The taste. The miracle of change. Changing a plain dry kernel of popcorn into a fluffy white morsel.

But the rows need cleaning.

Hand pulling. Hoe raking. Stooping. Bending. Kneeling. Deep breaths. Breaks while standing. Gazing down the row. Endless.... And overwhelmed. I am left with tears. I have failed. The muscles of my bottom ache. The lower back longs to stretch. Stiffness enters into my hands. I will not finish today.

But I persevere. One more weed. One more plant. One more row. And the grasses which have been competing for nutrients and space with the corn are left rooted up. To die without hydration. Baked in the late July sun.

Eight more rows to go. Forty five minutes each row. But they will wait. Left to fend by themselves for another day. To struggle against that which grows so readily. While I, the weary farmer, rest.


"May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves." (Ps 126:5-6)

Today's Journey Joy: Persevering

Cool as a Cucumber

This morning, as I was walking around the gardens, I saw several beautiful cucumbers growing. The bees were busy pollinating all the squash, melon and cucumber blossoms. And this little guy was patiently growing. There is nothing as refreshing as a cool cucumber. I will probably pick this one on Wednesday. And then again on Friday afternoon, I will pick for the Market.
The produce is finally getting ripe. The summer squash is in full production; the tomatoes are trying to turn red; the corn is tasseling; the beans are beaning; the broccoli is broccolitizing. (OK, so that's not a real word.... a little neologism never hurt).

It's time to start thinking about planting again. That's rather hard to do. I am so tired of weeding and the harvest is just beginning.... but the cool crops can yet again grow. It is great having spinach, lettuce, radishes, and other spring vegetables in September. So perhaps later this week I will till the earth and sow again.

"The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." -- A biblical verse pertaining to giving cheerfully. Isn't it interesting how many agricultural metaphors there are in the Bible? There is something so common and simple in growing things. Common sense. Shared experience. One cannot reap what he or she has not sown.

Time to get those seeds in the ground. Are there other seeds (cheerful giving, spontaneous praise, or a thankful heart) that need sowing today?

Today's Journey Joy: cucumbers

Weeds don't look quite so bad

Buried behind our garage and growing faithfully in front of the (now harvested) garlic is a smattering of perennials.... purple cone flowers, black eye Susan's, Shasta daisies, chamomile....

Normally I weed this patch of flowers often. This year I haven't touched it. But it surprised me nonetheless with splashes of color, fragrance and beauty. You can hear the rumble-bumble buzzing sounds of the bumble bee lazily swooping from bloom to bloom. What a pleasant surprise. Even in the midst of weeds these flowers bloom faithful.

"Bloom where you are planted" the saying goes. It might be more difficult. It might seem impossible. It might even feel like you're choking.... gasping for air.... frustrated in the thick of things pushing for attention, sun and nutrients. But "bloom where you are planted."

It may not be the exact words, but the Bible says something quite similar. "Be content", "Be thankful" "Be joyful". Sounds like an excellent way to travel in the journey....

Today's journey joy: Blooming

Garlic, garlic and more garlic

Rocombole garlic... it is a stiffneck variety that has a brilliant and full taste. The cloves are very large and the bulb is beautiful. This year I planted two different varieties of stiffneck garlic. Well actually, I planted them last fall. "Music" and "German Whites"..... which are supposed to grow well here in the Midwest. And they did grow well.


Yesterday, I harvested the 400 garlic cloves I planted. Previously during the summer, I had mulched, weeded, and cut off these cool looking twisty flower stems called scapes. Now it was time to dig up the bulbs and see how well the cloves had turned into bulbs.




By nature I tend to be a tad impatient. Waiting 2-4 weeks for the paper thin peels to dry seems soooo long. And the work of twisting the stems and hanging the garlic bundles from rafter may sound romantic and fun.... But basically it is just a lot like work. That's where my wonderful husband comes into the picture. I had mentioned to him that the "Deliberate Agrarian" had made some sort of garlic dryer... "Could you make one for me, please?" So he looked at the picture that Herrick Kimball posted on his blog and figured, "I can do that." (Thanks H.K. for sharing your ideas!) So off to work my industrious husband went.




He made five big boxes of 1 x 6 material, reinforced with triangular corners, stapled 1/2 inch hardware cloth and glued it on to the boxes and further secured them with small wooden strips. In this picture the wood glue is drying.





I dug up the stiffneck garlic (took about 2 hours), snipped off the stems about 4 inches above the bulb, shook off the excess soil, and gentle "stabbed" the stems through the 1/2 inch hardware cloth. (Some stems were too big and these garlic had to be laid on their side).





I stacked up four of the drying boxes on top of the base which has a special compartment perfectly made to hold a 20 x 20 inch box fan. The fan gently moves air through the drying rack allowing the garlic to dry in a steady and quick way.





Here's the garlic drying rack in operation. In just one week's time the garlic will be dry enough to handle... and sell at the Market. The garlic that does not sell will go either into the ground for next year's crop or I will attempt to make garlic powder (another H.K. idea).

Today's Journey Joy: Drying garlic in a drying rack made with love.

Directionally challenged

In yesterday's post I stated that my beautiful bees were flying south. In fact, they were travelling due east, not south. I think they were gathering from an early blooming soybean field. That's exciting. Soy bean honey is very sweet.

Good thing they don't ask me for directions!

Makin' Honey

I really enjoy watching the bees coming and going from their hive. It is amazing to me that a worker bee can go from flower to flower collecting pollen and nectar. Then, fly home, find the right hive, and drop off the "goods" just to go as quickly as she can to the next flower. Every bee has a role. The worker... well she does all the collecting. The house bee.... she maintains and cleans the house. She learns to take care of the young, clean the rooms and maintain a healthy environment. The guard bee... she makes sure that only the right bee gains entrance. If you are a bee from another hive, you will be rejected... probably stung. Drone bee... he inseminates the queen during a mating flight and then dies. He neither collects food or cleans house. And... the Queen bee... well there's only one of her. She really is royalty. Every bee in the hive is her daughter. And without her the hive would die.


By this time of year we have usually harvested the spring honey. But the bees did not cooperate this year. We had so many rainy days. And they don't like that. So they swarmed. Hard to make extra honey if half your working force goes elsewhere. So no spring honey.

But now the bees have settled down to business. They scurry the countryside looking for what is in bloom. Currently, the bees are flying in a south direction. All of them. From every hive the "bee line" is southerly. I wonder what is flowering that much. It would take a lot of blooms to satisfy 13 hives. But what is most important is how those blooms flavor the honey. In a week we will take what we can from the hives. Then we will put the supers back on the hives to get ready for the summer and fall honey for Labor Day weekend harvest. I can hardly wait for some honey.


Today's Journey Joy - watching bees

Farmer's Market

On Monday - weed. On Tuesday - weed. On Wednesday - weed and pick berries. On Thursday - weed. On Friday - weed and pick berries and produce for Farmer's Market. On Saturday.... the Farmer's Market.

I've had some interesting experiences at the Farmer's Market this year. I don't bring much (yet). At first, just a flat of strawberries. Then a little more strawberries. And then some strawberries and black and red raspberries and apple wood chips (for smoking). Today some red and black raspberries and some German Giant radishes. Not much to take but... I am learning:

1. People are very interesting. I enjoy interacting, laughing, and discussing the products around the market.

2. The weather is unpredictable and determinative. On my first market day, it was beautiful.. The second market day was sunny for the first hour and then tons of rain. The third market was another sunny, hot beautiful day. I said to my son, "We are definitely bringing our canopy next week." And today.... ccccoooollllld and wet and cloudy. The first three weeks there were many people at the market. So many that I sold out in usually one hour. Today... there may have been 50-60 people there all morning. I came home with two pints of black raspberries.

3. The Farmer's Market is business. Vendors are constantly checking to see what your prices are, what your products are, and how they look. Today, a new vendor (to me) stated quite boldly that my prices were much too low and that I needed to raise them. That was strange to me. I did raise them somewhat but not to the level he wanted. I will have to think harder about changing (what I consider a fair market value) at the market. I know why he wanted the price higher.... and I'm all for making a profit.... but it seemed high. (But it was not the reason I went home with fruit though.)

4. I need to get my produce into the soil earlier so that I can get them to market earlier. Those who bring the "first" to the market sell the best.

5. I need help weeding. Time to invest in a commercial grade rototiller.


The cabbages are growing.... and so are the weeds. But it is a joy to see them mature. Remember when they were just tiny shoots? In a week or so I will harvest. That's exciting.

Today's Journey Joy - learning at the Farmer's Market

Cats, Cats, and more Cats

We love cats. They are affectionate, independent, entertaining, and very effective at eliminating mice, moles and voles, and bunnies from around the farm. I have only seen two bunny rabbits all spring and summer (and who knows? Maybe it was the same bunny). I haven't seen any of those nasty telltale signs of moles. Our cats are wonderful.

Recently, our mama cat had kittens. Five of them. They are so fun to watch. Their curiosity and playfulness makes me smile. They embrace life. They enjoy it. They explore it. Oh, so good for my heart and soul. If only I would be more like a kitten.

Today, a friend of my husband is bringing us more cats from the city. Apparently her family has "adopted" every stray cat in the neighborhood. And then they had kittens too. "Enough is enough," she said (or at least that is what I imagine she said). So the crew of cats is coming to the farm. When I asked my husband how many she was bringing... well, apparently "a lot" was the response. "This could be interesting," I said. My son will have to expand his naming business.

I'm glad we have a place for cats to run and play.

A farm cat's life may be shorter than a city cat living in a home. But, the farm cat enjoys life in a cat's sense. Chasing, hunting, and interacting in nature and each other. Our cats and kittens are a blessing to us. They love us and are affectionate toward us. We smile and laugh when they do their funny antics. And we are sad, very sad, when they succumb to the life cycle of farm life. I am grateful for their life and their service on our fruit and vegetable farm.

Today's Journey Joy: Laughing with the kittens