around the farm

 

before summer snuck completely by us, we swept the cobwebs out of the playhouse that is sitting right there in our front yard, and made it into quinn’s domain. he set up his kitchen inside, and promptly began to play a game of chess against himself.

 

speaking of play, our living school starts on tuesday! eeeek!!!! man oh man are we excited. i wish everyone could feel this way about school. we are busy buying school supplies, backpacks, lunchboxes and such, and out of the blue it turns out that quinn has renovated his list of favorite colors. until now, he has liked green, orange, pink and white the best. now his “very most favorite” color is red, followed by orange, yellow and brown. “yellow is the mama of orange and red is the dada of orange.” he ordered a red backpack, orange lunchbox (the best i could do was an orange t-rex on a green background- he was disgruntled but he got over it) and “rainbow” slippers. you can tell you live on the west coast when the place selling the mocassins gives you a “waldorf discount” on your design-your-own shoes they are handmaking right in front of you from formaldehyde-free leather, because you happened to mention that the slippers are intended specifically for classroom use.

oh that’s right, this is a farm post. well, the flamingos are roosting comfortably in their new habitat, guarding the saved-seed dahlias that are about to bloom- mystery fun! apparently they can be any color when you grow them from seed, if you want to keep them the same you have to divide the tubers. i started with an orange one that had purple foliage, and i got green foliage and it’ll be anyone’s guess what color the flowers turn out to be.

also getting ready to flower are the lovely wild garden lettuce mix beauties like this pretty oak leaf lettuce. we still have more kale than anyone could ever want to eat, and have been harvesting other bits and pieces. i dug the first of 5 beds of potatoes and got about 12 pounds (guessing) of yummy fingerlings.

tomatoes in the greenhouse jungle are coming on, and even outside tomatoes are starting to do their thing. tomatillos are looking like they might produce a nice crop. they make such cute balloons!

a girl got into the greenhouse and provided atmosphere, unpacking several boxes of seashells and knickknacks.

i think it inspired the plants, because things have been taking off. such as the peppers. cutest pepper ever.

and the cucumbers. i gave them these bamboo stakes to climb less than 24 hours before this photo was taken- i think they liked that.

in other cute vegetable news, the carrots are doing nicely. i accidentally pulled a couple while weeding and i can report they are the best tasting wee carrots on earth.

i think i am growing mullein (i am a little fuzzy on the id. yuk yuk.)

we picked blueberries to celebrate our 8 month anniversary.Β  quinn was filling rich in on the swimming hole we’d get to walk to after we finished picking because, “we came here before we even met you or were friends with you!” it was a whole year ago, after all.

aforementioned rad swimming hole.

blueberry lemon jam in the making. i didn’t snap a picture of the best jam i’ve made yet but if you happen to have lemongrass and raspberries, let me tell you what a nice combo they make!

jars on jam making day. and a new tea kettle to warm our home. it’s been fun to set up home with this guy. most items we already had two of, and had to decide between his and hers but the teakettles we had both needed replacing. this one is “ours”. i like that. i like the us-ness infusing our home more and more all the time. whether it’s the eggplant and cucumber plants entwining in the micro-climate of our greenhouse, or the two cell phone chargers entwined in the corner by the electrical outlet.

we also bought a lot more stuff for “us” at costco. raise your hand if the first time you ever went to costco was this week? (me! me!) we scored headlamps for the whole family, batteries included, for just $9. you can’t live in beaver creek in the winter without one, or so i hear. phew! we are truly beaver creekers now!

overheard in beaver creek last week at hootenanny guitar jam at “the barn”:Β  “he deserves a girlfriend.” (the barn band heartily approves of our relationship.)

quinn scored a sweet set of wheels from friends of ours who outgrew their purple princess bike. we’ve been practicing going around and around the house with mama holding on. mama will need a yoga class after each round of that particular body contortion/exercise.

so that’s where we’re at, just reveling in the feeling of being home. hope you are all well and enjoying all the many wonders of summer.

 

10 comments to around the farm

    • marybethrew

      nerd! (i mean that in the most loving way.)

    • marybethrew

      my mom said this: Loved this edition of around the farm. What jazzy mocs. I’m envious. We just love the love that shines through in your writing and are deliriously happy for you all. It does look like you are growing a mullein. It appears to be a first year rosette which next year should grow its big stalk and one yellow flower (usually) will bloom each day. I love mine and want more to spring up. I am a mullein rescuer. Dad was plowing pasture and I saw a rosette in the vicinity and ran and transplanted it in my mullein patch down behind the house. I love the Grandmother's Flannel name for it. The rosette leaves do look like flannel. Now that I have wowed you with my knowledge, I'll say goodnight/good morning. I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MOM

  • it's so nice to hear from you. i can't wait to hear more about the school – what a treasure!

    seems like you have many treasures in your life. πŸ™‚
    stacy @ sweet sky recently posted..Fluidity

  • Lb

    Nerd with pride πŸ™‚ I used to carry mullein leaves in my pocket when I was little so I could have fuzzies with me wherever i went. Mom was not so happy on laundry day…

    I made you some special jam! Would you like it now or at Christmas??

  • yes on mullein.

    happy 8 months!

    Yippee on the start of Living School!

    xoxoxo
    6512 and growing recently posted..science espeerment

  • tim

    Common names

    V. thapsus is known by a variety of names. European reference books call it "Great mullein".[26][27][28] In North America, "Common mullein" is used [29][30] while western United States residents commonly refer to mullein as "Cowboy Toilet Paper".[31][32]

    Hmmm… you may make good money selling it to cowboys.

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