Catching Up- August 2013

Just a collection of random little stuff that has been going on this month!

We had a good harvest of raspberries & blackberries.








I was completely shocked when I stopped in to buy a pie at a farmstand and saw them for sale for $5.99 per HALF pint!  That made me feel pretty good about our bushes :)



We also harvested the pear tree the other night.

The kids picked a grand total of 66 pears! (Not including what they ate while picking!)


Tonight we plan to can a bunch of them, and maybe make a pear tart too.






There weren't as many hot air balloons this summer- maybe because it's been rather rainy?  Or maybe we just haven't noticed them, since we didn't grill outside as much as we usually do.
But I got a couple of shots the other night...

Going up across the street
(you can see it hiding behide those trees)

Lastly, here are some flower photos from the picking garden...  I'm going to add these to the next batch of photos I get printed for the downstairs hallway.

I'm thinking that adding some mums to the garden for fall would be a good idea.  We have some planted in the front yard, but this is the perfect place to do mix-matched ones!

Blackberry Bummer

This project didn't go as well as planned... but hopefully we can make up for it next year!

Our blackberry patch was growing on a huge dirt pile in the back, behind one of the barns.
This was a pain for a couple of reasons:
1- We're slowly getting rid of the dirt pile (using it to level other parts of the yard)
2- The kids' legs get torn up by the thorns when climbing to get the berries
3- Parts of the mound are so steep that we can't even reach the berries
4- The bushes were growing right into the side of the barn

So Mike decided to try moving some of the plants and train them to grow in a more orderly fashion.


The first thing he did was put up two fence posts- secured in the ground with cement.






Once they were set, he strung two wires between them.  Then used these spur looking things to tighten the wires.  (Hope I don't lose you with my technical terms!)

Finally, he transplanted a couple of bushes.


Unfortunately, they didn't transplant well.
I think they're dead!








Which could be because of two reasons... either we transplanted them too late, or we didn't water them enough (or maybe at all!)

We've still got loads of bushes growing on the dirt pile, so no lack of berries.

We'll try moving some again next year to get this little garden growing!

August Yard Report

We've really been enjoying having a larger yard.  Sure- there's a lot more work to be done out here, but we're taking it a little bit at a time.  We didn't want the whole summer to pass us by!

Here's what's been keeping us busy, with a little bit o' fun mixed in:

We've found several patches of blackberry and raspberry bushes. 
There were a good two weeks where we couldn't pick them fast enough & we made some great smoothies.  Next year I may even get ambitious & make preserves!

We didn't have the time to do a veggie garden this year, so that's on the agenda for next year.  Site survey is underway for where to put it. 

We HAVE selected a spot in the yard to have a "cutting garden" where we can grow flowers for use inside the house (I feel guilty taking them out of the flower beds that Mike works so hard on!)

Pears are ready to be picked. 
We collected 42 of them the other night!  They're quite small & not very pretty looking (they actually look better in this photo than in person!)  But they taste great!   

Perhaps another opportunity to do some canning... but the kids are downing them four at a time, so maybe not!

                                                       

 

Mike made an old-fashioned tire swing. 

Truth be told...

That tire was in the garage when we moved to the Maplewood house 9 years ago!  

Getting rid of old tires is apparently a lot easier said than done!  So, believe it or not, the tire moved with us. (We had just too much else to deal with at the time!) 

And it's a good thing- the boys love that swing just as much as the playset... which cost a heck of a lot more!

So, that covers the fun stuff... but oh, there's SO much more going on out here!

Mike's cleared tons of the brush along the back property line. 

Here's a sample of what he's been dealing with (not to mention the bees, sticker bushes, dead deer carcass, and the summer heat!  Not a pretty combination!)  This level of vegetation was pretty much from the back of the barns to the property line.

Note the big line of dead pine trees sticking into the air- we heard that some kind of bug got them all a few years back. 

Mike went out, got a chainsaw & will be getting to those shortly!

In the meantime, check out the progress so far: 

All those big brown spots on the ground had been covered with brush. 

Slow but steady progress!