A Stump Collector?

  

We were parked at the gas pump waiting for the tank to fill.  A big 4 wheel drive, bright red truck pulled up to the pump aside of us. " Look mom, that lady is a stump collector too", my son quipped from the back seat pointing to the gnarled roots of a stump he could see sticking (no pun intended) out from above the side of the truck bed.  "What, do you mean by that?  Are you calling me a stump collector?" I asked.

"Ya mom, any time we go out into the mountains, after a load of wood you say, "We can't cut this stump up , it will look nice in the yard."  I had never thought of myself as a stump collector  before.  Isn't it funny the way your kids perceive you.  A stump collector?  Well, I thought about it, and about all the stumps I have drug home over the years.  Ya, I guess I am a stump collector, but look at the cool things my stumps have become........ 

 

 

 

a bench made from stumps and an old second-hand bed frame

placed on one side of the arbor, a

perfect place to sit after a long day's work

and watch the sun set.

 

 

 

a stump to set an old wooden faerie house on

 

 

When we moved from Nevada I left quite a collection of stumps and

old twisted trunks, I wonder if the new owners cut them up for firewood?

 

Try this:

bury a tree trunk with the roots sticking up and hang bird feeders

or birdhouses from the gnarled roots,

 

or use the roots to hold a large bird bath

and grow a beautiful flowering vine up it,

 

or hollow out the middle cavity and plant flowers in it,

 

or put a trunk out in the garden and put old lamp bulbs on it

my BULB TREE has graced my gardens for many years

 

 

 

use a trunk for a bench around the fire-pit

 

 

 

What ingenious ways have you used old tree trunks or stumps? 

 I know I'm not the only "stump collector"  who drags them home!

 

 

 

 

A Straight Line

 

 

 

 

Everyone knows that the shortest distance from point A to point B is a straight line, that is except for mom (myself) who insisted that her boys walk out the front door, down two steps and turn left.  Now follow the path around the rock garden 

 

 

out through the gate

 

 

 turn right and walk past the hutch, and picnic table to the end of the driveway

 

 

Turn right again and walk along until you come to the lane on your left that goes to the farm. Actually the lane is straight across the lawn from the front door.  So boys being the wonderful boys that they are would head up to the farm to milk, weed, transplant trees, and cheerfully do whatever project mom had on her agenda, but no way were they going to walk all the way around  when they could just go straight across the lawn, hop the fence and be on their way.

 

 

 (mom still can't make a straight line)

 

 

So off we went to get a load of rocks to make a pathway across the trampled lawn,

 but after we made a path it opened a whole new can of worms.

"Let's make an Arbor" said the mother (me). "WE (meaning the boys) can bury cedar posts and cut out dead limbs from the elm trees

 to make a roof and sides, and go get more rocks for a large walkway."

And so the work began.

 

 

Steps were placed in the sand that the wind had blown in

 and the half buried wire fence cut away

 

 

 

post holes were dug and posts planted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 (these pictures were taken at the end of the summer last year)

 

 

Nearing completion.........

need more dead limbs for the roof and sides,

and another trip for rocks.

I have a chandelier to hang for lighting,

 and some solar lights by each post would be nice.

I would love to have grapes growing over it, but alas our weather

is to harsh and cold for concord grapes or ivy.

Any suggestions of a vine or perennial what would grow in about

 a zone 4 climate (1a in the western gardening zone) to cover the arbor? 

 

 



WELCOME HOME

I have been at the farm for over a week now.  The kidding is coming along nicely.  I have been spending long days working in the gardens. Pitch forking tumble weeds over the fence and the
 W-I-N-D  just blows them right back over.  The driveway and path to the house was burried under 6 feet of tumbleweeds, but we were able to burn and clear them away.  We have been getting beautiful rain the last few days which was desperately needed.  Things should start greening up now.

  As I  first walked into the little red house, knowing I could stay for the summer, I was met by all the familiar things that make this little house a home,....... just about anyway.

 

A vintage love seat with a 60's hand crewel- embroidered pillow sits

 in the enclosed porch.........waiting

 

 

 

A collection of swans' sit patiently waiting on a shelf,

 they have a special meaning for my youngest.

 

 

 

 

A plack on the wall reminds us of how valuable we are to each other

and how we should treat one another when we are all together again.

 

 

 

old ornate mirrors that reflect the way we live

an old shabby door installed long before they were fashionable

lots of windows covered with lace curtains and hand crocheted doilies

 hung with balin' wire of course

 and old crystal chandeliers can be found in every room...........waiting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The  small opening  (BELOW), cut into an exterior wall, leads from the bedroom

 into the enclosed porch area.   We put up a wall and turned it into

 a tiny 5x10 foot  floor to ceiling library filled with gardening books, and all the classics

..........waiting to be read aloud to each other when we come in for a few hours

 during the middle of the hot summer days.

 

 

Yes, it's good to be back to the Little Red House, but it won't be

HOME

until the rest of the family is here in a couple more weeks.

 

I learned a valuable lesson years ago from my oldest daughter after we had moved

yet again.

 

She said, "Home is where the family is".

 

 

Hurry back guys, the little red house and I miss you,

can't wait until you're HOME!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking Barefoot while Wandering

Thanks, for all the starts with "W" comments.  I had such a hard time choosing which answer I liked best.  I laughed for a good 20 minutes about having to move whine lines.  Every answer really made me stop to think about how living close to nature is a Wonderful Way to live and how blessed I am to have that opportunity. 

After an agonizing afternoon of trying to decide which answer I liked best, I finally come to the conclusion that there was not an answer I liked best,(I liked them all), but I narrowed it down to 2 and combined them, and came up with what I found most inspiring to me........


                        Walking barefoot

 (while) Wandering  the Walkway of the

Waking World surrounding you (me).

Thanks to all those who commented.  Keep following, more paintings in the works.

Unique Water Fountains Recycled from old lamps

 

I have always been fasionated with the old brass and glass bulb lamps.  About 3o years ago when I first began collecting them they could be found inexpensively, so I would tear them apart and make something else of them.   I would hang the extra large glass bulbs from trees, or stick them atop a cedar fence post in the pasture, and of course add them to my Bulb Tree that stands out in the middle of my Garden.  The brass parts would be used in art projects, or put together in other combinations to make a number of odd contraptions, bird feeders and bird baths, pots for plants etc., but my favorite idea was to make them into water fountains. 

 

 

 

Sorry, these are photos of old pictures, so they are not very clear.   This is a water fountain I made years and years ago.  I simply tore various lamps apart and utilizing the tall center hollow pipe of the lamp, I  tightened a nut on the bottom threads (leaving a space of pipe under the nut to hook the hose onto)  and begin stacking bits and pieces of different  lamps on the pipe, creating the design of the fountain I wanted.  When I reached the top of the pipe a nut would tighten all the pieces together.  Then  fasten a water pump and hose to the botton of the hollow pipe and the water would flow up the pipe and down the sides.  I liked using a larger piece for the top that would allow the water to drip off the edge. 

 

 

 

As you use these brass fountains they weather beautifully with a nice patina

 

 

 

The fountain base

 

 

 

This is what is looks like now,

the hard water has mellowed the brass

 

 

Shouldn't have torn all those lamps apart, now-a-days they are worth a small fortune, but

then again I wouldn't have enjoyed all the quirky yard decorations.

Sometimes you just can't put a price on a yard

that makes you smile, and makes people think you're a little wacky!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battery Exhausted

Been working like a hill of ants here at the farm.  We are in the thick of kidding season with a bunch of new babies running around.  Been up all night for the past couple of weeks crawling in and out of the goat shed checking on the deliveries, making sure the babies are eating well, milking out the mom's that give more milk than the babies need.  The weeds are just about all burnt and the ground is getting tilled.  Cold frames are being moved and planted.  The peas are in, as are broccoli and cabbage.  The task of what goes where leaves me standing in the garden  muttering to myself.........".what did we plant here last year?  I can't plant squash in the same place we had cucumbers.........what did I do with the flat nose shovel? " On, and on I mutter, because I forgot to bring the plans from last year's gardens down to the farm and I am too busy to walk back the miles and miles (seems like  miles sometimes)  back to the little red house to get them.  My hands are aching from digging potato rows, not to mention I can't stand up straight, from all that shoveling and crawling in and out of the goat sheds.  I walk in a half -bent over awkward gate cause I'm an old lady out here trying to do a young whippersnapper's job.  I would be taking lots and lots of pictures, before and afters, of all the projects I've completed, and of cute new baby goats, but alas, I got me a new-fangled pocket digital camera that has a rechargeable battery and I left the battery-recharger cord for  it up north.  I turned the camera on and this is what it said BATTERY EXHAUSTED and then the screen went black.  Well, tar-nation how can I document my progress.  All this work, work, work, and it doesn't look like I've accomplished a dern thing!

                                     Well, I have just one thing to say about all this nonsense

 

MY

 BATTERY IS EXHAUSTED!













CSA season 2013

A new season is always a celebration for us.  We have made it through another cold winter, everyone is healthy, the new baby lambs and goats are scampering around the field, and the ground is waking up from it's long winter nap.  I wake every morning giddy with excitement of what the day will bring.  Will it be so windy I can't stand straight and the dust is so thick I can't see, or will I be able to work all morning listening to the birds sing, and preparing the ground for seed?  Every day is an adventure and a joy.

Deliveries are as follows:

Wednesday, May 15th

 in St. George at the REAL FOOD health food store

 on 700 South just off of Bluff Street.

5:00p.m. -7:00p.m.

 Mesquite Nevada
Wednesday evenings 7:00p.m.
(if we get enough interest so contact me soon) 

Thursday, May 16th

Cedar City

10:00 a.m.

FARM PICK-UP

Thursday evening 7:00p.m.

Full Share delivery on:

May 15th
------------------------

1 large or 2 small spaghetti squash
1 Turk's Turban squash
2 pounds of potatoes

green garlic

1 pound of Rhubarb

Romaine lettuce
10 oz. bag of mixed greens

1 1/2 pounds of Spinach

onions
radishes
wild greens(dandy lions, and lamb quarters)
3 European cucumbers

1/2 pint local honey


Full Share delivery May, 22nd
-------------------------------------------
Chard
Spinach
Red leaf lettuce
Green leaf lettuce
Snow peas
Shell peas
Golden Zucchini
Green Zucchini
Crook-neck
Pecans

In our Spring Green Share you will receive a bounty of greens,

root crops and winter squash I  hold over from last fall,

and as Shelly's garden in sunny Leeds begin to produce

her vegetables will be added to the share.
As the season progresses I will be adding many new items to your delivery.
We are anticipating a very bounteous harvest this year.
Our Greenhouses are producing well and
our 5 acre vegetable garden is well under way.

If you are interested in a FRUIT share for the season

 Shelly has a 3 acre orchard and grows all kinds of fruits
( apples, apricots, cherries, pears, nectarines, plums, pomegranates, and grapes).

We are looking forward to a beautiful and bountiful season.
If knowing who grows your food, and how it is grown is important to you,

Please call me if you are interested in a share of our farm's produce.

Contact me now to reserve your share of the tastiest, healthiest,
 freshest fruits and vegetables available.
  Thanks so much for your support.

Payment schedule can be negotiated if needed.

Recycle a jar

 

I purchased this jar of salsa at the dollar store.   It is approximately 4 inches tall and

3 inches in diameter.  After enjoying the salsa, not as good as home-made, but not bad for a buck, the jar was thoroughly cleaned and the label removed.

 

Using a soft sanding pad, remove the paint as desired.

 

Add a knob purchased from a hardware store or use one you have in the junk drawer.

The bolt that comes with the knob will need to be cut off shorter, or add washers to the bottom of the jar lid.  The bolt is much longer than needed because you are not going through the thickness of wood.  I would suggest just purchasing a shorter bolt that will fit the knob.  The cut ones won't thread on easily.

 

I have a whole row of these jars filled with dried herbs from the garden.

 

Use them in a craft room to fill with buttons, pins, and spools of thread.

 

Use smaller jars to contain beading supplies.

 

Place them in a bathroom filled with home-made bath salts, soaps and oils.

 

Add a cute label and your saved seeds from the garden.

 

Fill with dried fruit from your trees, or your favorite home-made muffin mix,

 or a dried soup mix made from your dried garden bounty.

 

 Tye a beautiful bow on it and give as a gift.

 

Fill it with something special like CHOCOLATE

or honey candy.

 

Next time you are procuring the grocery isles, think about what you can use that

 little jar of  pickled artichoke hearts for after you have eaten them.

 

Here's a thought, with Mother's Day in a few days, make a complete canister set using a large jar and progressively getting smaller jars. Buy jars that have the same color of lids if desiring a set to match , or spray paint the lids all the same color and add a beautiful knob.  Fill with staples for the pantry, or with her favorite treats or snacks.

 

 

 

 

starts with W

 

 I am sitting here waiting for baby goats to be born, thought Brownie would have them before now, but I am passing away the hours thinking.........

generally my thinking gets me in hot Water,

 but I got to thinking about all the FARM/GARDENING words

or combination of words

that begin  with the letter W

so dust off your old Dictionary that's sitting on the shelf and find

a perfect Word or words that describes your concept of gardening,

 nature,

 and living

close to the earth

 

 

Here's my list, please add to it in the comment section

I'll pick which one I find most beautifully unexpected and Wonderful,  and

send along an original painting

 OF A FARM/ GARDEN SUBJECT OF YOUR CHOICE

 

 

 

 

 

WATER

WATERING

WATERING CAN

WATER TROUGH

WATER LINE

WATER METER

WATER HOSE

WATER BUCKET

WATER WITCHER/DOWSER

WIND

WINDY

WHIRL WIND

WILD

WILD FLOWER

WILLOWS

WAITING

WATCHING

WONDERING

WHISPERING

WISHING

WINGS

WHINING

WHEAT

WHEAT BERRIES

WHEAT GERM

WILMA (THE FARM CAR)

WHY?

WONDERFUL

WOW

WHOA

WHISTLE

WRASKILY WRABBIT

WHEW

WATCH OUT!

WATCH YOUR STEP!

WHICH ONE?

WHAT?

WEEDS

WEED EATER

WEED WHACKER

WRENCH

WEATHER

WORK

 

 

Remember these are the rules.

 

1. Usually I ask that you are a follower, but anyone can leave a comment

for this painting of your choice, just send me a photo of what you would like me to paint.

Gardening, flowers, or farming related (sorry no portraits)

.  Available to U.S.A. delivery only.

 

2.  Leave your answer in the comment section (you can only answer once)

 

3.  Promise you won't throw darts at it!

 

FOOTNOTE   HOOFNOTE:  Brownie had 2 beautiful bucklings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dead Mouse in the Little Red House

 

 

 

I've hunted high and low

 

Looked under the couch and chair

 

dug through all the cupboards

 

but I can't find it anywhere.

 

 

 

 

It's  hidden out of sight

 

it might be in the wall

 

when you walk in the door

 

the smell almost makes you fall

 

 

 

 

I  run out to the close line

 

and grab a wooden pin

 

and clamp it on my nose

 

so the smell can't get in

 

 

 

 

I look kind-a funny

 

a walkin' around the house

 

with a clothspin on my nose

 

but  at least I don't smell

 that
 Blasted Dead Mouse!



disclaimer:  I never have professed to be a good writer and my stab at poetry isn't any better, in fact it's down-right awful.  I have added an "awful poetry" label to my posts.  More awful poetry coming soon!

 

 

 

 

 

Marigolds/ Calendula

 

the humble marigold

 

should be a staple in everyones' garden

 

it attracts harmful nematodes to it's own roots and away from your plants

some say it works and some say it doesn't, but either way it is

a bright happy flower standing sentry around the

garden perimeter

 

it can be fed to chickens to deepen the color of the egg yolks

 

it can be used for dye

 

 

 

 

the species

 Calendula

or pot-marigold

 is a tasty addition to fresh salads,

add the petals to rice dishes

sprinkle them over scrambled eggs

and it makes a calming tea

 

 

 Calendula can be made into a soothing salve used for healing and minor burns

it is good for chapped lips

diaper rash 

 

to make the healing salve:

steep on low,

 1 cup  fresh Calendula petals tyed in cheesecloth

 in 1 cup oil for 4 hours do not burn!

try using a small crock-pot on the warm setting

add 4-6 tbs. beeswax

20 drops of lavender oil

(note:  for some the lavender oil may cause skin irritation,

 but it is a good anti-viral and anti-bacterial)

pour into small jelly jars

do not place the lids on until it has throughly cooled

 so excess moisture can escape

 

 

for a lip balm

use 1/8 cup of the above recipe

 add 1-2 tbs. more beeswax

 2 capsules of vitamin E

 and pour into a small jar or empty lip balm cases

(try coloring this lip balm with kool-aid, just add a small amount of the packet  into the hot liquid and stir until dissolved, keep adding until you get the desired color wanted)

 

 hand/facial cream

 I leave out the lavender oil and add a little more beeswax  to make it a thicker consistency. 

 add 5 capsules of vitamin E , 2 Tbs. solid coconut oil,  and a little honey

 This is especially good for sensitive skin.

 

 

 

 

What's a CSA

My Great-Grandfather's on both sides of my mother's family peddled vegetables.  Back then you would save money to buy seed thus the expression of "seed money" and then plant, hoping the crops would grow to harvest without pestilence, floods, frost, or other natural disasters.  After tending the plants for months and months the wagons would be loaded and hauled to town with the hopes that someone would buy your produce enabling you have the means to survive the rest of the year.  Every year the process was the same, invest time and money and hope to be able to sell. When I was young my family planted and harvested corn, potatoes, and winter squash to sell.

The concept of a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture supports the farmer up front.  You invest in the farmer and his/her harvest even before the planting process begins.  This  allows the farmer to gage the amount of crops to plant and guarantees that all the time, effort, and produce will not go to waste, because the harvest is divided among the members.  As a member in a CSA you share the risks and rewards of the farm.  If there is a bumber crop of radishes or spinach, that is passed along to the members, and if the chipmunks dig out all the blue pumpkin seed just after they germinate, there won't be any blue pumpkins in your share. in the fall.

CSA's come in different forms, each as individual as the grower or farmer.  The basis of a CSA is to support  local growers who deliver to a pre-determined location and disperse what is ready to harvest that week.  Most  CSA's grow all their own fruits and vegetables, some CSA's procure the fruit and vegetables from smaller growers, acting as a vegetable broker or co-op.  However the initial concept was for people to support a local farm and farmer.  My sister and I work together in our CSA.  Shelly lives in Leeds and has a warmer climate.  She plants, and has vegetables ready early in the spring.  Her fruit share spans the whole season.  I farm in a colder climate and provide the bulk of the vegetables during the peak summer months and through the fall.

A CSA connects you with the farmer or grower, you know how your produce was grown and the methods used.  Most CSA use organic methods, but many choose not to be "certified organic".
On our farm we only farm using organic methods, but we are not certified.

If you are interested in our CSA please contact me 

DELIVERY STARTS MAY 15TH

in St. George and Mesquite

MAY 16TH

Cedar city and farm pick-up

A payment program can be fit to your individual needs

WELCOME TO THE FARM!

Keep the shoes we'll take the box

 

 

 

"Keep the shoes, we'll take the box"

is what my dad would tell the shoe sales-man whenever I needed a new pair of shoes.  You see, my feet are as wide as they are long......I am serious.  Finding shoes to fit me was impossible when I was young.   So in order to have something to wear other than shoe boxes, or Kleenex boxes ( they already have a hole cut in the top and come in prettier colors) I always buy my, somebody else broke them in, worn and stretched, two or three sizes to big, boots from the thrift store. 

 Yes, I even wear men's boots to church.

 

The pair above was a recent score at the local thrift store

 

 

I actually have quite the collection of men's boots, but these are my favorite. 

 

retro boots from the seventies, had a pair like this when I was in High School

 

This pair is waiting for me at the farm.  I'll wear them while I am trudging behind the hand-tiller,

and they will protect my feet while I am shearing sheep. They will deflect  the sharp spiky thorns from a kazillion tumble weeds as I walk down the lane to the farm.

They smash rodents with a single stomp and don't mind getting covered in mud.  They would gladly tromp on stink bugs if I would let them, and they are always ready for an adventure.

 

Don't know what I'm going to do when they wear out.......

 

I think

 

 I'll just have to retire.

 

 

BALIN' WIRE or BALIN' TWINE

Balin' wire was the greatest invention of the 20th century.  Well in my opinion anyway.  If you have a piece of balin' wire you can fix anything.  It even rates above Duct Tape  on my list of have to have on the farm.  Sadly, however it is slowly being phased out and replaced by the balin' twine. Personally I don't care for the twine.  One good thing about twine is it comes in lots of bright colors, and makes a handy belt to hold up Handsome Man's britches when ever I have to borrow them.  The twine makes nice ropes when braided together but it looks (even a little too red-neck) tied all over the fences, holding the panels to the posts. 

 

By adding "barbs" and twisting 2 large wires together barbed wire fences changed face of the west.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I've used barbed wire on an antique mirror,wrapping it around the mirror and adding roses to make it "girly"

it hangs in my remodeled bedroom

 

 

 

Balin Wire holds the basketball backboard on so our family can play ball

That's Darlin Dodie shooting......she coaches basket ball at a large 4A high school

Her younger brother, trying to block the shot is a Senior, a star starter on a 3A team

recently tripped out to the city for him to get an

 Academic All-State Award!

(good job feller--see, pulling weeds DOES make you smart)

 

when we are not pulling weeds or working on other projects,

 the kids' are playing ball, even when it's winter and cold,

just scoop the snow off the cement pad and " PLAY BALL"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balin' wire holds all my old implements on the wood fence

 

 

 

 

It ties the mail box nice and tight to a post after the snow plow knocks it off

 

 

 

it wires the chicken wire to the panels I have around the garden

 to keep the pesky rabbits out

 

The best use I have had  for balin' wire is when I had to  start my old green,

International Pick-up.  I would pop the hood, turn on the key, climb on the front right tire so I could reach down and  place one end of the balin' wire on the side of the starter and one end on the battery post .  Worked like a charm.   If I was able to park on a slant I could just clutch start it.  Sheesh, I miss that old truck.  Another thing I used balin wire for was to wire on the Fenders to my old green International truck.  You see, it was a step side and the fenders were gone, so an old boyfriend had modified it by using cut and shaped 50 gallon drum barrels welded onto the side as fenders.  Well, the welding wouldn't hold, so they fell off (I'm sure it wasn't because of my wild mountainous adventures or driving)

and I  figured that balin wire would do the trick. So I wired them up nice and tight and they held on for as long as I had the truck. I was quite the site a driven down the road in my old green truck (early 60's model) with the modified 50 gallon drums, balin' wired on fenders, in my bib- overalls, a BIG black dog in the back named "HOSS", a straw cowboy hat---of course, and  the windows rolled down a singin a Willy Nelson song.  Good times---No, GREAT TIMES.

 

I'll paint ya a picture sometime.

 

Yep, balin' wire was the best invention as far as my opinion goes.  I am sad to see it being replaced by twine, but a least twine comes in all those purty colors. 

 

Which do you prefer?

JILLYBEAN'S FARM VOL. III

Here is the third volume of my farm magazine.  If you have been following me the past couple of years you will know I always wanted my yard to be in a magazine, but because I live out in the middle of now-where in the high dessert, and my yard is nothing fancy, my yard will never grace the pages of a reputable publication.

  So I decided to write my own , featuring the things I find beautiful and interesting in my yard at the Little Red House.  As always I will have a picture of me on the front cover, but I am a bit camera shy so the cover would look something like this.



my cherry red 1963 ford step-side pick-up
"Red Freddy Ford" we affectionately
call him





In this issue

                                                        I would take you for a stroll down
                           a secret path that leads you  around a corner and on to the herb garden

 

We'd walk through the herbs gathering bits of this and that to make

 a lovely herbal and flower tea

nasturtiumns would be gathered to add a dash of

color in our freshly harvested lettuce salad

 that we'd have

 along with tiny cucumber sandwiches

and dilly beans

sitting at a lace covered table

in a cove of trees

 

nasturtiums

 

 

The beauty of this red Geranium in a window flower box

would inspire us to set up an easel, and our paints

 

 

and paint a quick sketch to remind you of a beautiful day

spent in the garden among the flowers, bees, the scent of herbs,

and the company of good friends