Two orders of Lobster Legs Please

Yes, we finally got away from the farm on a weekday to have some ocean time.  We saw the biggest brightest rainbow I've ever seen on the way there; it even had a double for a little while.  The things dreams are made of....

We also had an alarming episode of a drunken beach loser knocking on the door at 3:00 am trying to get into the house.  Cops and a long story ensued and very little sleep for tired farmers.  
But we got to see my sister Briah and my neice Kayla, take a swim on an amazingly beautiful day, get some good reading time in, burn our legs that never see the light of day to a nice hue of deep pink, and not think once about having to weed the eggplant.  

Clover with lilies

July 18th market

Dahlia bust 2009

These are dahlias from last year.  I can't seem to get them off my mind.  Possibly my favorite flower, a signifier of fall, cool weather, the end of the season, and our anniversary.  Even if we couldn't make money on dahlias, I'll always grow them.  I think we need a song to express how I'm feeling about them and to remind me of days past. This year was going to be THE year for dahlias at Bluebird Meadows. We bought 400 tubers, more than I ever thought I would plant. But then we got behind in May picking all those strawberries, then it rained too much to get the soil ready, then once we got the soil ready and planted half of the tubers we got 5 inches of rain that week. Let's just say when I checked to see how many had survived there was an odiferous rotten stench in the air, a stench on par with rotting potatoes. To further torture myself, I dug up the ones that had rotted to definitely make sure they had rotted, and, sure enough, most of them had turned to a slimy yellowish stinking mush. Well, perhaps it's a bit premature to call it a dahlia bust. I guess there are a few plants in the field and in the hoophouse that we planted really late that will produce some flowers if we have a late frost.
2010, watch out.

Jackson Pollock does an eggshell??

If only I could find a Rothko somewhere on the farm.....

Shittake harvest!

This week in color

loaded pepper plant, gomphrena or globe amaranth, indigo bunting (love these birds), my awesome new hat (Dolly Mama you are the best!), our full share CSA from this past week, complete with cantaloupes and heirloom tomaters.  

July 4th market

Great market this past Sat. We have succeeded in growing the nicest glads of yet this year. Some are as tall as me! but most are around four ft. It's so odd and amusing how with farming some years have incredible crops and some years have incredibly lame crops. For instance~ last year we had the best lisianthus ever, good enough to fool myself into thinking I could grow it well. This year it's blooming out at 6 inches tall. Last year we couldn't get a glad to bloom for the life of us, and this year they're like cutting small saplings at the base. I suppose it keeps us guessing and life interesting to know that there will always be certain successes and certain failures each year.

Farmers in Mule Magazine

Open publication - Free publishing - More steve james

Here is an interesting (and of course AWESOME) piece done by Alix Blair. We interviewed with her last year right after I pulled my hamstring, so if you do the flicker album photos (you can go to www.mulemagazine.com for these) that is why I'm weeding in that odd position! Thanks Alix, great article, and we love the magazine, can't wait for the hard copy. I love Kirby Lane Taylor's piece on the right hand side later on in the magazine.

Water Lilies

Unfortunately looks like the water lily is only good in a bouquet for a couple days and for day two it must be wired. The scent is very odd. Overwhelming, and almost a sickly sweet. But I am in love, captivated by its trembling petals. I really want to find some lotus flowers we can grow in the pond; there used to be a woman who sold lotuses at the Carrboro market, so they must have a decent vase life.
I've been revisiting Michael Holland's music of late. He's so great, AND a local.
His song "Chandelier" is one of my all time favorites.

House Walls are Finished

Unbelievable! The finished product, perfect for Stuart and I and the little ones we might have in the future. Now all we need is a roof, a floor, interior walls, windows and doors, electrical wiring, plumbing, fixtures, etc. etc. We hope to do a lot of the interior work ourselves with some help from friends and family. Move in date??? We're really really hoping by next spring. Miracles never cease, right?