Moving to a new homestead in the Spring can make for some busy times, and many rewarding results. The past few weekends have been spent with tools and wheelbarrows in hand, putting our efforts into settling in and getting set up for the oncoming growing season. Blackberries have been pruned to free up grapes, weeds have been pulled, potatoes and onions have been planted, and this weekend the garden was tilled. Somewhere in all these long days, we’ve managed to sleep, cook good meals, go to work during the week and have a couple of adventures and a live banjo show thrown in the mix. Life is nothing short of rich and full these days.
We borrowed Helen the rototiller from our friends this past weekend, and in very short time, the fallow garden that was growing weeds became a fluffy, rich brown expanse of soil. Corey went over it three times, raked out grass clumps, and we had a beautiful garden to work with.
Being the hard working team we are, it didn’t take much time to hoe up rows and mulch a path down the center. It was amazing to stand back and see what had been a weed patch in the morning transformed into a respectable garden. It was lovely working with a garden patch that had obviously been well established and well used, and made for one of the few times things went faster than I expected with farm work.
We got the potatoes and onions planted the other week, and now only had to fill in some seed onions where the sets didn’t take, and put the few starts I got going at the farm in the raised bed. This year I did cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, basil and tomatilloes and plan to do all the rest from direct seeding.
My very favorite thing that went in the raised bed was this great find from my trip to Territorial Seed Company in April. I can’t wait to have someone over to dinner and tell them the name of their salad.
I think my very favorite part was getting the compost bins built out of pallets and starting the compost pile. With so many great materials like yard debris, leaves, wood ash, old compost and grass clippings to layer, I am quite proud of my creation. I threw up a sign leftover from the housewarming to invite all the decomposers over to have a compost party. Expect more on that later.
The kids spent some time on their annual resurrection of “Dude” the scarecrow. It’s a laborious task, that requires many breaks and headstands, but the finished result is always a lot of fun.
We got the marionberries weeded and removed all the old canes, and weeded and mulched the beautiful blueberry bushes.
As you can see, we are expecting a good yield of blueberries this year.
The raspberry patch was in a sad state of affairs, but with some weeding and transplanting of starts along the row, we’re hoping to have a healthy patch established by the end of the summer. And lots of juicy berries to graze on (I’m a shameless raspberry grazer.)
In other parts of the garden, we got the ivy pulled that had taken over the retaining wall outside the living room windows that was beginning to encroach on the siding of the house. I decided this was a perfect location for a fairy village, and set up our three fairy houses with little mosses, ferns and flowers right at eye level outside the windows.
I’m enjoying looking out at it in the morning to see what tiny flowers have opened up for the day.
My son even built us a fairy chicken garden in the flower pot on the front steps. I’m really liking these fairy gardens in flower pots, which seem to have been left in abundance here, so expect more to come.
The last rhododendron finally opened up and bloomed by the back door, and I’m enjoying the peach hues.
One of the most rewarding things about all this work is the views we get to look out at and enjoy. With the grapes rescued from the blackberry brambles, we get to look out at our fence line hanging with grape branches and developing clusters of fruit.
The view of the woods behind the house is constantly changing with new things leafing out and growing almost every day. I’m looking forward to spending some time exploring around up there this summer in the cool, green shade.
The view of the mountains is something I appreciate every single day, when I’m working out in the yard or looking out the dining room window. It’s one of those things I grew up with and always wanted to have again, so I am just immensely happy to gaze away at those ridge lines and let my mind wander like a cloud.
The view of this entire homestead is shaping up to look like all our dreams come true, and it will be a wonderful thing to see the changes from day to day, week to week, and year to year.
We’re really digging in, and it’s a beautiful sight indeed.
Ooohhhhh!! Wonderful! 🙂
You've been busy! Looks like a beautiful place you've got to call home. 🙂
Just lovely. I live up the Mckenzie as well, off of deerhorn road. Where abouts are you?
WOW! Beautiful place the view , the garden, & all the fairy stuff. I ev idently missed the writings on your leaving the other place & finding this. You have worked hard , & its a place of beauty. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy!! Mary Ann
April, we're in Vida. Sounds like that makes us neighbors now 🙂