Something new

We did a little impulse shopping this afternoon.  A friend of ours sent us a photo of these and we just had to have one.

 K13 has named him Fernando... I'm not sure why.  He will inhabit the Goth Garden.  That seems appropriate, at least until we get a zombie statue for out there.

Ha Ha!  Gnome on the range....

A Summer Saturday

Oh my, I'm tired.  And I don't even feel like I accomplished much.  Oh, I fed and watered chickens, did some dishes, did 5 loads of laundry and sorted and got some put away that has been languishing in baskets for the week.  I didn't do much laundry last weekend with guests in the house so there was a backlog.  I've still got some sheets and towels to wash tomorrow but I'm nearly caught up.
I also took J17 and K11 shopping this afternoon.  There were things they both discovered they needed (or things I forgot to check) before school started- such as sneakers that actually fit.  I also was informed by both boys the night before school started that they needed new backpacks.  Now, really, don't you think they could have told me that earlier when I asked what else they needed...  But at least things were on sale since school has already started.  That seemed to take all afternoon but it really only took a few hours.  Of course, there were a few other stops to make as well so we did a combined trip.
But I did want to share a few images of the day...
First, one of the morning glories we've got climbing up the side of the deck:

 They're from Seed Saver's Exchange- I don't remember the name off hand (Grandpa Ott's??) but they are growing well in spite of getting planted late.

Both kiwi plants that we had planted for the pergola were dug up by some animal during the heat wave (chipmunks??- but I think something larger) and I didn't find them before they had dried out.  They really didn't seem to be doing well anyway so I'm not sure I want to replace them.  I'll have to think of something else.  Maybe I'll just keep the morning glories and add moon flowers.
And V's birthday present to himself:

A replica of Blackbeard's flag!  We've had a 'traditional' pirate flag flying for a while but this one finally arrived- special order.  I'm sure people driving by on the highway will wonder even more about us!

The Surprise lilies are blooming.

 They have outdone themselves this year and the clumps of flowers are huge and fragrant.  I even cut a few to bring inside.
Finally, our latest outdoor addition:

J17 and I built this a few weeks ago for a red climbing rose.   This will be the entrance to the Goth Garden.  We are planning a patio on the far side of this and a path will lead into the garden.  We've still got a long way to go but the structural pieces are taking shape.
One more day to the weekend.  I know it will be busy.

Sunday Scenes

I'm tired.  I didn't sleep well last night and have been busy all day.
V and I visited Roger in the hospital this morning for a bit.  He isn't doing very well emotionally.  The cancer was a 'surprise' discovered when he was hospitalized for something else.  He has a terrible infection in his foot that has been cleaned out (down to the tendons!) and they are hoping it doesn't continue to spread.  He is worried that he may lose his foot.  Add onto that the new diagnosis that was  found and he is a wreck.
Of course, like any gardener, he is worried about the weeds in his garden that he hasn't been able to tend.   I wish I had a better handle on the weeds in my own garden or I would go weed his.
But, on to more positive things.  It was a lovely, sunny day today after it dried out this morning. I spent the afternoon outside in the garden.  Here are a few images of the day
Chickens doing chicken-y sorts of things in the temporary run:

 Broccoli peeking our of its leaves-

Purple cabbage: as beautiful as any flower-

Raspberries beginning to ripen-

 And blueberries, too- our first!

 Red currants ready to pick-

 The first tomato!  Black Krim

 Peppers- Volcano (hot hungarian wax)

My asiatic lilies that I planted this spring are blooming- at only about 8 inches tall!

 The Goth Garden:

 Grrr- bugs were on my basil!

I hope you all had a peaceful Sunday.

Happy Birthday big sister!!

Solstice at Troll Bridge

Happy Summer Solstice!!

Things here at Troll Bridge Acres are going well.  Of course, it's still raining off and on and the garden is weedy.  But things are growing and blooming. Here's a few photos of the day.
The Black Watchman hollyhocks are blooming in the goth garden:

As is the Sweet William 'Sooty'  It doesn't look very dark in the photo...

 The St John's Wort is blooming... maybe some tincture is in the future.

 And the tomatoes are starting to bloom.

 And of course, I can't post photos without some obligatory chicken photos.
Below is Georgie or Captain Georgina.  She's an Ameraucana.  Check out her ruff and green legs.  Isn't she cute.

 And Magnus is staring me down...  He's getting little wattles on his chin. Awwww...  he's growing up.

The days start getting shorter from here on out until December.  EEK!  Where has the year gone.  It has been such an odd spring that it doesn't really seem time for solstice yet.
I hope Summer is good to everyone and that the weather cooperates with the gardens, here and wherever you are.

The latest additions

 We had some new arrivals today and over the weekend.
First, today's newcomers:

A pair of cranberry vines.  They don't have to be grown in a bog. They get only 10 inches tall and spread out to be 2-3 feet wide each.  I LOVE cranberries but never thought I could grow them here.  We'll see how they do.
And then, over the weekend, I made a few plant purchases.  Two for the Goth Garden.  One is a red climbing rose that we plan to have vine up over an arbor and then this really cool guy (or gal):

It's a twisty rush.  J16 really wants a Devil's Walking Stick bush but they are so expensive.  This looked like a less expensive alternative to add some interesting texture to the garden.  It is perennial and should form a 2 foot tuft of spiral grass.  Pretty fun.
I actually had some time to get outside today to enjoy the weather.  I woke up this morning about 3 am with a migraine so didn't go in to work.  After some drugs and sleeping until 10 I felt much more human and was able to get out and clear off the herb beds, goth garden and the hostas along the garage.
I also did some measurement and planning for the chicken coop.  The current chicks (The Fab Four!) are almost 2 weeks old so we really need to get that coop built.  The new batch of chicks arrive the first week of May so we need to get a move on.  I did get the rough plan made and I'm happy with it.   I just need to sit down with V and finalize the plans and figure out how we will run the roof lines since the coop and run will be right up against the west side of the shop.
Now, I'm exhausted.  I'm still nursing a nagging headache that the sun today didn't help. I had to wear my sunglasses because the brightness made my head spin this afternoon. But, it was worth it to be outside in the spring.
I have so much to do here- I don't want to go to work tomorrow!

KinderGarden wrap up

Ok, I'm a bit behind the times. Oh, well, I've had fun this growing season, making sure I involved the children. I have always tried to get them invested in what's going on. It's not always easy, especially now that they are getting older. The garden doesn't seem to hold quite the appeal that it used to and there are days it is a struggle to get them outside. But, here are a few photos of the year- in no particular order.

We've had successes- the galeux d'eysines harvest is now up to 16.

And failures- all our poppies in the Goth Garden died.

But the columbines have grown tremendously.

They should be beautiful next spring.

The Black Knight Butterfly bush is thriving to the side of the Goth Garden.

And the pumpkin vines continue to thrive-

I think, in their bid to achieve world domination.

We've had wierdness

And beauty

And discussions about where our food comes from.

We had a bit of a discussion about natural selection when I selected the biggest, best peppers from the most robust plant to save seeds for the Anaheims. Aren't they HUGE!?

Thanks to Kim at The Inadvertent Farmer for hosting the Kindergardens challenge this year. It has been fun, even though I've not always been good about posting.

KinderGarden weirdness

Troll Bridge Farm has been invaded by alien pods! Or, as J16 put it: "They look like a giant's boogers". Hmmm..

Pretty cool, huh.

A Galeux d'eysines pumpkin.

For some reason this morning, I remembered reading that these shouldn't be left to get too ripe on the vine as the "warts" will continue to grow. So... I decided I'd better check them. Oops, several pumpkins were totally covered, much to the delight and grossed-outedness of the children. They look kind of like they are covered with peanuts.

K10 models a pumpkin

Gotta love that face!

I13 looks like he isn't sure he really wants to be holding this weird thing.

J16 has picked her favorite.

All in all, we picked 8 pumpkins today.

They're happily curing in the shop.

We counted at least 5 more big ones on the vines and a multitude of little ones. And the vine is still blooming like mad. I'll have to check the remaining pumpkins more frequently so we can get them with a pleasing amount of warts. LOL! These are supposed to be excellent eating pumpkins- I guess if you can get over the bizarre look. But, for all their strangeness, they are fun!

KinderGardens is winding down. So, a few photos from the Goth Garden. Once again, my favorites of the year:

Sunflower Moulin Rouge

Black Pearl Pepper

They are starting to ripen and look like little bright red marbles!

It was a lovely but WINDY day here. I'm not sure the temperature ever got above 70F and we had 25-30 mph wind all day with higher gusts. Not quite the hurricane conditions some folks may have had but quite breezy. It really made it feel like fall. In fact, I'm making some beef stew for dinner tonight since it is so cool outside. It was a lovely, relaxing day at home for me since today was my comp day for working last weekend. So, I get a 4 day weekend. Ahhhh.... today it was laundry, dusting and sorting my closet (EEEK). I only got through about half of it before I got distracted by other, much more fun things- like picking cucumbers and tomatoes and discovering pumpkins!

I hope you all have a safe, fun filled holiday weekend. Enjoy the last of summer.

To those on the east coast with the hurricane and to those in New Zealand with the earthquake- my thoughts and prayers go out to you.

KinderGARDENS and a KinderCanner!

Sigh- the septic guys got rained out today. I'm not sure if they will be out tomorrow to finish or not. The county health inspector also needs to look at the system and he didn't show up today either.

It was too wet to get out in the garden and life has been a bit crazy around here lately. But, even with the rain, it was a fun, eventful day.

The Black Knight Scabiosa is blooming in the Goth Garden.

It looks much darker in person.

The first sunflower is blooming.

My pattypan squash are blooming like mad but no squash yet.

The Black Pearls are growing. The largest is only about half an inch across!

J16 and I had planned to go blueberry picking this morning but didn't go due to the impending rain. But, we ran a few other errands and had lots of fun.

We went to Kalona to the Amish bulk store at Stringtown and then stopped at the cheese factory. Next week is Eat Local week sponsored by the local food coop so we wanted to get a few things. We didn't anticipate getting these:

Three more barrels for holding rainwater.

The cheese factory periodically has 55 gallon barrels that they sell. These have previously contained sanitizer or water purifiers. They are a great deal if you are there when they have them. They sell them for $5 each or 3/$10. Since they had a whole stack (8 or 9 barrels) today and we happened to be driving the van and had the seats out, we got three!

We also had a great find while we were at Stringtown Grocery:

Possibly the tastiest peaches I have ever had!!

So we decided to make peach jam. I think it's great that J16 is eager to learn how to can and preserve food. There are so many people out there who have no idea and so many fewer people out there to learn from.

She even has pretty good knife skills for a teenager.

I've seen way to many adults who don't know how to handle a knife and it's scary to watch!

Mmm, seven jars of July Gelatinous Yum (as named by J16)

And of course, she helped clean up. LOL!!

Tomorrow she wants to make Baba Ganoush from the eggplant we picked this morning. Mmmm.....