Bluebird Meadows

Fun at Grand-la's house

2012-01-23T17:43:00.003-05:00

You know your dog is your baby when you brush her teeth. And I just can't help myself from posting pictures of Ruth. She seems to be close to crawling already!!!!

Trim, in perspective

2012-01-20T20:09:00.008-05:00

It's official. We now have trim on our windows and doors! I had become used to the look of half inch gaps filled with jagged and crumbling sheetrock all around the doors and windows. It was like a daily shout out to all the voices telling us NOT to move in until everything is done, otherwise it won't get done. But c'mon people, trim doesn't make you any money, right? Atleast that would be what our farm mentor would say. (but point in fact: he still has unfinished trim in his house after fifteen years!!! ssshhhh!!)
So yes, we could have put that money towards something ever so valuable for the farm. Blueberries, another hoophouse, the big section of peonies we want, all the woody cuts and perennials in the catalogs that look at me yearning for a good place to live (it's as bad as looking at those weekly shelter ads for adorable pets that need a home!). But what about feng shui and living in a balanced abode? That must count for something. We must not always put the farm first, which is so often the case.
Having the trim up actually feels like we just took a big deep breath. Like there is progress in more than one avenue of our lives. I was just recently discussing with a close friend and fellow flower grower the ever so important question of how to maintain a good quality of life while running a farm. Because there is always, ALWAYS, something urgent and pressing to do, something to weed, or plan, or start, or order.
Balancing that personal and intimate self-rejuvenation that we all need to live a fulfilled life can easily get neglected. I think a hammock and some wind chimes are in order. And not just those one inch diameter wind chimes. Oh no. We're talking five inches wide so that there is a symphony of the elements where we can go whenever we need to recharge. We have a friend who has these massive wind chimes on her farm (complete with hammock nearby) and I tell you, it will rock your world. Metaphorically speaking that is. Epiphanies and let-it all-go's galore.
How long before we make that happen? What will we prioritize first? Ruth is still for more milk and cream. We have to think about her needs too.
But back to the trim. First we had to sand and seal the windows and put one more coat on our big room (where we spend 95% of our time). Actually, I had no hands on here, I was busy being mom the milkmaid. Ruth and I had to go over to Grand-la's house for the whole process so she wouldn't be breathing bad fumes (another blog for that!). So thanks Skye, Adam, and especially Gerard for all the hard work.
Gerard had the awesome idea to place a sliver of black walnut from some leftover flooring under the top piece of trim. It really gives the trim a unique and, in my opinion, masculine look. Like I can almost smell a whiff of cologne when I look at it. Maybe that is what black walnut is all about. Seduction and intrigue. Such a beautiful wood. But now we're bordering on this whole conversation turning lewd. Anyhow, we love the trim and it's done and we're so glad we did it. There.

To market we will go

2012-01-08T18:02:00.008-05:00

The farm just doesn't let up! Here are some photos of our two hoophouses. I've been biting my nails over the two beds of anemones we have planted. So far they've given us small and deformed looking buds with a lot of rotten centers and they just aren't looking so hot. I get down every time I visit the house and cut them. But the good news is that it looks like they might be coming out of it. I see a lot of big fat buds on them this week, so cross my fingers, let's hope that was just a weird spell. That is one of the problems with farming. You think you can count on growing something right after a few good rounds and then the plant lets you know your place.

The poppies are doing amazingly well. Last time I tried them in the hoophouse a couple years ago they didn't start blooming til' February, but it has been so warm they sent up a major first round of buds....very exciting as these have been the first to go at market. The colors border on being indecent they are so saturated and intense. Maybe that is why they are so popular. A modest indecency for people to help them deal with the drabness of winter. I know I need them more than ever.
This upcoming season is looming large in my mind with an ever-present apprehension about how on earth we are going to get it all done with Ruth. It'll happen. We know time will keep on flowing and we will just have to do the best we can. The farming gods have been good to us so far. As has my mama, who has really integrated herself into our farm. She is amazing. Mothers are amazing. Now that I am a mother, my respect and admiration for all mothers has increased exponentially. I thought farming was hard work but it ain't got nothing on being a mom.

To warm the coldest of hearts

2012-01-08T07:51:00.006-05:00

It's been a while hasn't it??! Time is going by even faster now that we have this little cherub in our lives. We've been dealing with crazy amounts of diarrhea (lovely, right?) and we're not sure whether it is her teething or if the antibiotic has gotten a little weird in her system. But we're changing poopy diapers twice a night, which is akin to a mild form of parenting torture. She is such a sweetheart though, and her awareness has really developed this past month. Just the other day she was explaining the theory of relativity to me with her eyes. It was mindblowing I tell you. She also has quite a few ideas about installing milk fountains around the farm, having cream on tap, that kind of thing.
Here is a video of baby Rue that is pretty hilarious. It's the closest she has come to laughing to date, which I've been so patiently waiting to happen.

Retro dancing, laughing from stuart white on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

Breakfast in Bed

2011-12-13T09:51:00.003-05:00

Flower Crack

2011-12-07T19:34:00.007-05:00

Buy expensive flower seed and you're sure to receive some in these plastic vials, the seed carefully and systematically measured out, never a seed too many. The irony of the seed coming in vials is not lost on me. It's as if the seed distributors are well aware of my dependency on them, the addiction that guides all my decisions and haunts my every waking hour.

Yes, it is true. I am an addict. Addicted to beauty, to color, to form; to the enhancement of life through aesthetics. Always have been, always will be. When I was a little girl I would rake the shoreline for shells and, in complete innocence, seek out the tiniest ones, no larger than a centimeter across. They would be pastel hued, rainbow like (and in hindsight, much like a tree peony bloom) with a glorious, iridescent sheen from both the saltwater and the recent passing of their mollusk inhabitants, and they would be the most beautiful ones of all the shoreline despite their diminutive size.

My day would be more complete clutching the shells in my hand, knowing that I could have them close to me until my need for them dissolved and my attention moved to something else.

Granted, my sense of aesthetics has matured somewhat from when I was a little beachmonger, and I have sunk into a profession that helps fulfill my addiction....but it still never seems enough for me. I guess that is an inherent problem with a dependency on beauty and the perception of beauty. That yes, it enables a sense of clarity and exaltation that enables me to get through the day and make sense of this wild and chaotic world, but ultimately it is still external to my self and is all too momentary for true peace. Flower crack. Better watch yourself.

Our baby, growing so fast

2011-12-07T14:30:00.001-05:00

Gratuitous pictures of Ruth Eleanor for you all. She is growing so fast and learning so much. We're getting lots of smiles, although we're still waiting on the laughter. It's coming though. Lots of aaa-goo's. She also slept for a whopping six hours last night on her first stretch. Longest stretch to date!!! Stuart had her for the evening, so whatever he did was magic. Although I think I recall him telling me they watched Jackass III together.....hmmm.

The picture with all the babies is from our birth class reunion, post partum. Turns out five of us in the class had our babies within a week and a half of each other! Ruth looks like an amazon woman next to all the other babes. Notice how she is holding up all the other babies who are leaning on her. Our anchor.

And then we must include a couple pics with Uncle Ben! He dazzles her every time they get together. She is going to take singing lessons and piano lessons from the maestro one day.

Radish pic for market

2011-12-06T10:08:00.001-05:00

Ruth learning her vegetables!

2011-11-28T20:05:00.003-05:00

She has all the ingredients to make a great stir-fry, she says. We went to the urologist today and it looks like she will be on a low grade antibiotic for a few months (!) as a preventative measure. The urologist is thinking (and hoping) that it is an immune system glitch that will work itself out as she gets older and develops more. If when we take her off the antibiotics she gets another, then it is most likely some anatomical abnormality that has not thus far been detected by the tests she has gone through, and she will need more tests at that point. Our poor little dumpling.

I hope to blog about the farm happenings soon! Lots of bulb plantings and planning going on.

Birthday wishes

2011-11-15T18:12:00.011-05:00

So world, today is my birthday. It has been a great day. I woke up to my daughter smiling smiling smiling and cooing, which of course made me smile and coo back. I got some great presents, and many wonderful birthday calls. I cut my first decent bunch of anemones that are now gracing our table, sounding out their glory. Ruth got to ride my brother's tortoise, Percival, which was oh so entertaining. Stuart shaved his beard for me, so I am now able to see his beautiful face.

This past Sunday we had to go back to ER with Ruth as she had a 103 temperature. Yet another UTI. That's 3 in 10 weeks. Another round of antibiotics. Luckily she did not have to have a spinal tap this time and we did not have to be admitted. But it was a high stress day and morale has been a little low since. The doctors are telling us our case is 'interesting.' Not a good thing. We now have an appointment with a urologist in a couple weeks. So this year my birthday wish is for Ruth to not have anymore infections and for all this to be over. It's so frightening, the fragility of a small body. Yet at the same time she is so tenacious, so strong. We'll get through this. Maybe she just needs more magical tortoise rides. Her new favorite mode of transportation.

Quinoa Salad, Watermelon Radishes, 1st Anemones

2011-11-09T09:44:00.002-05:00

Blue Monkey, you're so silly!

2011-11-09T09:29:00.003-05:00

Mobile Fascination; Harvesting Carrots

2011-11-06T09:02:00.003-05:00

Signing up members for our 1st Winter flower CSA!!!

2011-11-02T14:37:00.002-04:00

We are officially signing up members for our 1st ever winter flower CSA! 7 weeks of fresh, locally grown flowers for $100. What a great time to have some living color in your life. It will run it for 7 weeks, starting the third week in February and it will go through all of March. You will receive tulips, anemones, icelandic poppies, and ranunculus. These are our longest lasting, favorite flowers of the year, all in one stretch! If you haven't had locally grown tulips in your house before, you will be sure to notice the difference. We never use any chemicals, herbicides, or pesticides on our flowers either. This CSA would also be the perfect gift for a loved one as it keeps on giving. What a great present for the holidays.

Our pick up locations will be:

wednesdays at two locations in Durham....we're still working out exactly where but we think somewhere near the downtown area and also near the whole foods

wednesdays in Chapel Hill at Foster's Market

Saturdays at the Durham Farmers' Market

Please send us an email to bluebirdmeadowsnc@yahoo.com if you are interested or have any questions!

Official Frost Celebration

2011-10-30T09:43:00.002-04:00

This pumpkin is called 'lunch lady'. Kind of cruel, but usually elicits a giggle. We are loving this cold weather, bundling up and taking walks around our property. It is always such a relief to reach this point in the season where things grow so slow it's a month to month type of progress instead of day to day. Not that there aren't things to do every day; there is just a more relaxed feel to the pressure of getting it done. We now need to focus on this winter's flower CSA and next season's garden.

It's been hard for me to deal with such a profound shift in my life, having this beautiful baby. My life was so intensely tied up in the farm and now it is all Ruth all the time. To so suddenly have to let go of so many things is probably the hardest thing about having a child for me. But when I get to whisper to Ruth in the quiet moments about our friendship and how we'll learn so much from each other in this brief existence we have here, I tear up a little and experience a weird but profound feeling I've never felt before, and there isn't anything in my life to which I can compare that feeling. So I guess that feeling is what motherhood is all about. And of course changing lots of poopy diapers day after day.

2011-10-22T16:34:00.001-04:00

, a photo by bluebirdmeadows on Flickr.

Hey everyone! I'm trying to figure out blogging from Stuart's iPhone so these pictures came out as different posts. We are back in the hospital believe it or not with our little love Ruth who came down with yet another UTI Thursday night. Stuart and I couldn't freaking believe it when we took her temp and it was 102.9. We freaked out (or atleast I did) and packed a quick bag and rushed to the ER where she got the whole excruciatingly hard to watch procedure for the second time. Catheter, blood drawn, and the hardest one for me to stomach, the spinal tap. She is now on an iv getting antibiotics and is handling this much better than her parents as you can see by her lovely grins. Looks like they want us to stay through atleast Tuesday to keep an eye on her and run some more tests. Isn't this crazy? It's a good thing she is such a healthy robust little lass to get through this. She already weighs 13 lbs!!!! We love this little chunk light. Have Ruth in your prayers and thoughts for us. I'm sure this will all work out. Definitely puts things in perspective....

2011-10-22T16:17:00.001-04:00

, a photo by bluebirdmeadows on Flickr.

2011-10-22T16:15:00.001-04:00

, a photo by bluebirdmeadows on Flickr.

2011-10-22T16:13:00.001-04:00

, a photo by bluebirdmeadows on Flickr.

2011-10-22T16:08:00.001-04:00

, a photo by bluebirdmeadows on Flickr.

Eno Walk

2011-10-11T08:03:00.003-04:00

October 1st market

2011-10-04T10:10:00.002-04:00

One of our last main season markets!

Winterize Me

2011-09-29T18:10:00.006-04:00

Preparing for hunkering down here at Bluebird Meadows. Stuart has been working hard in the after hours to get our wood pile to size for the cold weather that will be here soon. This weekend we have temps getting down to 44! Fantastic! The farm is winding down, taking deeper breathes, saying long awaited goodbyes to summer crops past their peak....we have just a few more weeks of fall crops to take to market and then we'll get a break from the market scene. I haven't been for two months now which is really weird. I miss it. But Ruth is definitely keeping me busy. Hopefully we will get our hoophouses planted very soon with goods for Nov. and Dec. I get the big house this year for flowers as we're trying a winter flower CSA. I'm pretty excited about it; I just hope little Ruth will be on board with letting mom get some work done. This morning was the first time I took Ruth to the field to work for a couple hours. She slept the whole time, thoroughly unimpressed with the beautiful lisianthus I cut. In other news, Clover wants to show off her new bed to everyone. Hank stole hers so she has been roughing it on the rug for a while now.

Ruth Eleanor White

2011-09-21T14:43:00.005-04:00

Our little angel is here! We have had hardly a minute to spare in our lives since her birth. I had big plans to write up her birth story for you all and would still like to, but things have just been so crazy. This past Wed. we had to go to the ER with our little Ruth as she was running a high fever. We stayed there til Sunday morning, all three of us, as she was diagnosed with a UTI. We are all fine, but they still want to do a few tests on her to make sure all is well. We're not thrilled about any of it, and are still in disbelief about our luck. It's rare for a newborn to develop a UTI. She even had to have a spinal tap! Anyhow, just wanted to go ahead and post a few pictures of her, our finest flower. She is definitely the new light of our lives. She was born August 31st at 7:22, just hours before her due date, weighing in at 8 lbs 8 ounces. WOW!!!

Waiting

2011-08-27T06:35:00.005-04:00

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”--Charles Darwin

So we're six days away from our due date. It's hard for me to move around, get up get down, walk, sleep, eat. I keep thinking I can't get any bigger, but sure enough, this baby keeps on growing (and the rest of me too). The last few weeks have been challenging for me, a test of endurance and patience as we move closer and closer to being full time parents. Stuart has been amazingly supportive and our workers, Emily and Adam, are heroes in my mind. I've been slowly working less and less as my body can only handle so much right now and I'm not getting much sleep. It's hard for me to not be at 100% on the farm. Surprisingly hard. I miss being able to shovel a bucket full of manure, carry a crate of onions, hand weed a desperate plant.....I know soon enough these things will be possible and necessary, but I also know everything is going to be different with a baby. But we can and will adapt and there will be new thresholds of experience to live and love.

Stuart left for market this morning in gusty winds and light rain from Irene. It was slightly painful helping him load the truck knowing that market would not be the bustling hubbub it takes to sell what all we bring. Flowers in particular are a much harder sell on a day like today. We definitely need the rain that Irene will bring, so I guess we should be thankful. We'll be able to shape and raise our strawberry beds and get things better prepared for fall. And if baby comes this week, I should be able to make a few killer bouquets from the leftovers, something for me to focus on during all the ruckus of labor. Crazy times!!!

Abundance

2011-07-22T09:45:00.002-04:00

Of course all of the summer beauties bloom during this heat wave. Tuberoses all at once. Lisianthus so pretty in pink. Buckets and buckets of them. Have you ever had to cut yourself off from a good thing? Do you have any idea how hard it is to leave a perfectly good cut flower in the field????!!! And the melon patch! Whoa mama. Let us hope customers can make it to market for all the goodness.

Sunday Farm Fun

2011-07-17T13:35:00.004-04:00

Short Documentary

2011-07-10T08:57:00.002-04:00

A Farming Way of Life - Bluebird Meadows from Brad Herring on Vimeo.

Hey everyone! We're excited to share this short film of our farm done by Brad Herring. As he states on the vimeo page, "A Farming Way of Life" is a documentary film project that offers a glimpse into the lives of locally-based farmers committed to the practice of organic and sustainable agriculture in the Triangle region of North Carolina. This project is part of the Regional Artist Project Grant* from the United Arts Council.

Thanks to Brad for choosing to work with our farm.

Enjoy!

Today's flower harvest, sans zinnias

2011-06-30T21:31:00.002-04:00

I'm calling these tree trunk gladiolas. They are so big, most of them over four feet tall. I guess I should cut some down for market. I told Stuart if we can't sell these on the 4th of July weekend, red-hot-tall, I'm done with them. I just say that though. I couldn't resist growing them if I tried. I'd like to have a party where I don't have to do any work and have a big huge vase full of these as the centerpiece. I'd use them as a weapon against anyone who says "wow, you still have 2 months to go?!"

Melon Nose

2011-06-30T21:22:00.002-04:00

Melon patch, melon patch two weeks later. Emily with the cutest melon nose. Clover not so amused.

Quick one....

2011-06-30T06:13:00.003-04:00

Well, here we are at the end of June already. The farm is kicking our asses right now with us barely being able to keep up with just the harvesting. The year we are so proud; we have the best crop of heirloom tomatoes we have ever had! We're talking huge, non-cracked slicing delights. We're also swimming in melons this week, perfect for the fourth, and we've done one whole round of onion curing in our greenhouse and we've filled it up again with the last of them to cure. Breathe farmers breathe! We are trying to fathom setting aside a few days for us to get away before our lives change so drastically with the new addition that is growing SO fast ( I'm definitely waddling now ). Beach? Mountains? Can we do it?
Anyhow, sorry for the brevity; I want to post more there just isn't enough time these days!

Baby Love

2011-06-19T19:09:00.004-04:00

We're having some baby love going on. We've gotten a couple presents from our friends and market customers and it is SO SWEET!!!! Impossible not to share. How special to have such a strong community around us. I love all the pregnant stories customers share with me at market. Although I could pass on some of the faces and comments I get from a few people when I tell them when I'm due. A barely perceptible wincing, a drawing in of the breath, and then a bad smile to top it off. "Wow, you're due the first week in September? You're going to be so hot this summer, like a radiator!" Thanks for the brilliant observation, you must be a genius.

These are a few pictures of a cradle Stuart's grandfather built; it was built for Stuart's oldest sister Randle, but every child from the family has been in it since. Isn't is gorgeous?! The detail work is pretty amazing and it makes this great sound when you rock it. We still have so many things to do to prepare. It's all a little daunting considering how fast the time is going by. And names for the baby.....seems like one of the hardest things. It's taking on more life in my belly, moving around all the time and adjusting. Weighs around 2 1/2 lbs now. It gets more real every day the fact that we will be parents soon.

Market prep

2011-06-19T06:41:00.005-04:00

I'm not so sure why bugs eating bugs is so fascinating to me; I was cutting this sunflower Friday and this bug was eating a honey bee! Must have been a surprise attack when the flower was barely opening. We had a great market on Saturday which always feels so good. So many good things at the market to choose from.....I got three pints of my favorite blackberries, cantaloupe, raspberries (!), on-farm processed chicken thighs, two great cheeses, corn, and some goodies from Scratch bakery. This week looks to be super hot with a couple days at 97. Yuck. We'll have to irrigate all day every day since rain has been scarce around these parts.

Hank; Hank-a-Roo; Hank-a-Ranky

2011-06-14T05:55:00.001-04:00

Standstill

2011-06-12T15:14:00.005-04:00

This past week was one of the more challenging ones so far this season. I pushed my limits Tuesday and did some weed-eating and by evening time my back was so painfully locked up I was having trouble walking. Wednesday was worse; I barely got through cutting and arranging our CSA bouquets and by noon every time I took a step there was the chance some nerves in my back and right leg would send a horrible shooting pain through my body. I was basically hobbled and a mess. Stuart had to come with me on the Wed. delivery run as I couldn't carry any boxes or buckets.
It was a strange, painful, and revelatory experience to not be able to walk properly. I had to look at some cold hard issues up close and personal which is really never that much fun. I'm much better several days later, but I know the pain is right there looming and lurking. So, needless to say, my mood has been a little heavy lately as if I'm emotionally stuck in a lap pool having to tread it out.
I got a few awesome treats at market on Saturday. Sharon from 'Weatherhand Farm' had some blackberries that are one of the best fruits of the year. But I'm talking about her blackberries as they are not the same from every farm. They are so beautiful. I want to draw them, paint them, and eat them until my belly hurts. They are SO good.
They look a lot like the 'dark knight' scabiosa which we have a lovely crop of this year. Too bad I can't eat those. I also got a gorgeous Eucomis plant from Tim and Helga at 'Four Leaf Farm'. I hear you can propagate it easily by leaf cuttings; let's hope so cause that flower is hot stuff.

Picklemania

2011-06-06T05:40:00.003-04:00

25 lbs of cukes, several Sunday hours = 2 gallons of pickles. Next Sunday, pickled squash?

Week 27; Big Belly

2011-06-05T08:30:00.003-04:00

These weeks are flying by so fast. We only have thirteen weeks to go and we'll have a little one we'll be able to hold and whisper sweet nothings to all day long. We signed up for a birthing class for some baby education; the problem is that it's Monday evenings from 7:30 to 10:00, and it's a 40 minute drive cause we live in the middle of nowhere. Yikes!!! A nap will have to be in order on those days. I've finally reached the stage where people feel comfortable to congratulate me and ask when I'm due. Everyone is so nice to pregnant women, I love it.
With the oppressive heat we've had lately, all of our spring crops, particularly the flowers, came and went with lightning speed. It's been hard to keep up with cutting them, but this next week looks to give me a little breathing room. These market pictures are from two weeks ago, yesterday I forgot the camera. We had ten buckets of sunflowers and sold all but one!!! It was an awesome flower sales day as there was some graduation happening. Gotta love that. And if you're not growing safflower, think about it. Customers go crazy for its unique look. Wish its bloom period were longer though!!!

New crops

2011-05-27T07:04:00.002-04:00

The last of the berries, always the best

2011-05-27T06:56:00.003-04:00

Roller coaster rides

2011-05-20T07:35:00.007-04:00

The roller coaster is finally slowing down with just our CSA potluck today as the grand finale of a long line of busy-ness; we're talking non-stop, head-spinning activity and not enough sleep. But it has been good. Great markets, awesome women getting married, smooth strawberry season. Hopefully I'll have more time to blog now, and more time for better pictures :) Didn't get any of the white wedding table arrangements, but maybe we'll get some from the wedding photographer. Happy Sunday to everyone!

Good Eats

2011-05-12T07:29:00.000-04:00

These are the days I've been thinking about all winter. I knew a point in time would come when dinner would consist of extravagant amounts of fresh vegetables with a small showing of some form of protein on the side. Sugar snap peas go in every dish as their appearance is so brief; strawberries haven't gotten old yet--this weekend I'm finally going to try the strawberry marscapone tart with port glaze I've been meaning to get to for two years now; we have some cauliflowers weighing in over 2 lbs---we just want to stare at them all day and hold them with both hands as we're mesmerized by their size.
Life is good. We keep saying to each other if we can just get through May.....if we can just get through May. We have a big wedding next weekend that I'm pretty excited about. The bride wants a very elegant color theme of all white with a small, allowable percentage of green. It's going to be beautiful, and, as I'm in attendance, I should be able to get some great photos.

This little guy.

2011-05-12T07:14:00.000-04:00

"lil' bit" is what we've nicknamed him. LB. He showed up at the farm last Friday with his brother. They were sickly skinny and c-o-v-e-r-e-d in ticks. Luckily no fleas. We fed them while my mother warned me if we feed them they are ours. The bigger brother disappeared Friday night, but lil' bit stuck around. We figured he must be the smart one. He is so sweet and gentle. We're still deciding what to do with him; not sure this is the right time to be taking in a dog. He didn't eat anything yesterday (up to then he had been voraciously eating) so we took him to the vet. He had a fever, poor guy, so they didn't want to run any tests. Let's hope he eats something today.

Mother's Day Market

2011-05-09T07:12:00.003-04:00

Awesome market. And we are so proud of our beets. A first for us to have them at market and be able to give them to all of our CSA members. This week will be a wild one at the farm; we always get behind when the berries come in, so now the question is, what to prioritize on the long, long list????

April 30th market

2011-05-02T19:11:00.002-04:00

Hurried pictures, not the best. It was a good market though.

One thing after another......

2011-05-02T07:26:00.004-04:00

That is how it's been around here lately. Friday, our crazy day, we had plans to irrigate everything in the hoophouses and the fields and our pump decides not to work. "We'll deal with this later, we have to get ready for market!" Friday late night, instead of partying it up like we always do (heehee), Stuart tries to deal with the pump and I'm arranging flowers til I can't see straight anymore. You know you've hit a wall when the flowers no longer seem beautiful and moving but instead take on a dimension of hell. Never a good thing.

Saturday evening, we arranged to borrow a pump from a friend and Sunday morning, while cutting the must-cut blooms, the rounds begin. Unfortunately I forgot to check the pressure gauge after starting up a round. The pump we borrowed was a little bit stronger than the one we had and so it cracked our sand filter. Way to go genius. But nothing a good cry in the squash patch won't fix. I think I irrigated half of them with my tears. Sometimes the floodgates open and all the strange flotsam and jetsam collecting spills on out, anxieties and exhaustion revealed, the intangible emotions manifested in some water molecules running down my face. The pond pump and I both had cracked from too much pressure. I'm thinking days like this are never a good time to evaluate your choice of career.

April 24th Market; Farm Pictures

2011-04-24T07:39:00.004-04:00

A successful market yesterday!!! The previous three of four Saturdays were pretty dismal weather, especially last weekend when NC was hit with the most tornadoes in recorded history in one day....something like 25. One came within two miles of our farm around 3ish last Saturday, but with minimal damage. We feel VERY lucky.
The strawberries are in, and we're having a slight gap with flowers. We're about to get iris, batchelor buttons, and sweet william from the field though, so it shouldn't be long. I will miss the ranunculus. The lemon and violet colors might just be my two new favorites this year. I did miss having a bright orange one though. Next spring.
Our farm is looking so good right now. We always have to take in as much as we can around late-April early May when the farm looks it's best. The weeds are still under control, crimson clover abounds with it's stunning red blooms covered with honeybees (not to mention it's nitrogen-fixing benefits), and things just look so healthy at this point.
This week we have LOTS of planting and direct seeding to do, and we kicked off our CSA this Saturday. Life just became a blur from now til' the first week of Sept. when CSA ends and baby is born. Hopefully we can find some time for ourselves amidst the chaos cause life can be so beautiful in the stillness.
Oh yeah, I bought a duck yesterday at market from Dave at Elodie Farm. Nice work Dave!!! I'm so excited because I've never cooked one but love duck meat. Let's hope I can find a good recipe this morning and make something worthwhile and memorable out of it.

Take me to the water

2011-04-17T21:47:00.005-04:00

Moving on

2011-04-15T07:10:00.003-04:00

We've been picking dinner from the garden lately and I must say it is one of the highlights of farming. To cook something that is still so alive and fresh; it makes such a difference with the taste. We have planted, staked, and trellised our big house, moving on to the summer crops already. Yesterday we started our melon seed and heat loving celosia. Stuart mowed down one of best cover crops to date, albeit a bit later than we like due to all the rain we've been having. It looks to rain Saturday, again. Not the best for selling flowers at market, but I shouldn't complain. Looks like just one more week with tulips. I love them while they are here, but I don't mind seeing them go. For everything there is a season.

Red ranunculus make my heart flutter

2011-04-11T21:38:00.005-04:00

Show-n-tell

2011-04-06T07:53:00.002-04:00

The belly is showing now and I've felt the baby move a couple times. We're at 18 weeks here so that means two weeks away from halfway. Amazing how time flies.

Yesterday I tried to save a swallowtail from our hoophouse; I think it may have been in there for too long cause it wouldn't fly away from me. I had it in my hair, on my back, in my hand for a while. I felt lucky to share some time with it.
Clover wanted to show-n-tell everyone about her new favorite ball from uncle Aubrey. She always has it close and if, by chance, you're around, she'll show off her amazing catching skills. And last but definitely not least, Stuart wants to show off the big hoophouse almost ready for tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Freshly amended, tilled, and ready for the coming heat, we'll be planting in here today.

Durham wedding at Duke Gardens

2011-04-03T08:24:00.003-04:00

I want to get married at Duke Gardens in the springtime. It would almost make buying flowers for your wedding inconsequential. Thankfully our last bride didn't feel this way. I was lucky and got to arrange her bouquet while a friend did all their other arrangements with buckets of flowers from us. We has a great market yesterday but I failed to take any pictures. This week there is a tulip bonanza happening on the farm with almost all of our field tulips coloring up. My back is bemoaning its fate right now, thinking of all the bending, squatting, lifting and heaving involved with tulips. I'll be sure to get some pictures for everyone, especially of next week's market, cause it'll be quite the flower show.

For Sarah P.

2011-03-30T07:41:00.003-04:00

Zinnias in the first picture, and gomphrena is in the right forefront of the second picture, the ball shaped flower.

Flower Madness

2011-03-27T08:57:00.004-04:00

Evening walk on the farm and last market

2011-03-24T08:18:00.001-04:00

Ancestry

2011-03-20T09:16:00.004-04:00

I'm a lover of old family photos. I can never get enough of them; seeing how people age, the jawline or eyebrows or lips that pass from one generation to the next, the spirit revealed through a smile, the apprehension of life conveyed by a glance captured by film over a century ago. Though I would share these somewhat recent acquisitions to our meager collection.

1st photo- Stuart's paternal grandmother, Ruth. Stuart's father is the oldest son. All of Stuart's siblings have some of Ruth's features. I hear she was an amazing woman and I wish I could have met her.

2nd photo- Stuart's paternal grandparents, Ruth and Ranny (nickname for Ransom), Stuart's father in the adorable western wear shirt. Stuart's parents have some amazing furniture pieces made by Ranny, a artist with wood, although not his profession. I hear he also built a boat, the start of Stuart's father's love for boating.

3rd photo- circa early 1900. my maternal great great grandmother Milly Ann and her 9 (soon to be 10!) children. Can you believe the hairdo's? My great grandmother is the female in the front row. Milly Ann's husband was a scoundrel and she raised these ten children basically on her own. She looks tough as nails to me, and beautiful.

4th photo- Maternal great grandmother Bessie with her three children, my grandmother with the adorable bashful look in the middle.

5th photo- My lovely mother around age 16.

Spring delights

2011-03-15T08:34:00.004-04:00

Did you all see Bittman's commentary on the sustainable food movement? Check it out and viva la revolucion! We can do this!!!

For Sarah

2011-03-15T08:29:00.001-04:00

My brother says we can take it for a spin when you come visit.

House arrangements

2011-03-07T18:05:00.004-05:00

This past week we received a house-warming present that makes me so happy. Our neighbors who collect and sell antiques gifted us this lovely pitcher and wash basin set. I can't get over how vibrant the blue is---so gorgeous. This picture does it no justice. Our neighbor had the perfect idea that it would be appropriate for warm water foot massages from Stuart to Alice....heehee.
The poppies are almost officially "in season" on the farm. They are loaded with blooms and we picked our first bunch last week. We'll see what the 30-31 temps do to them tonight. Hopefully just make the buds more cold-hardy! Also new on the flower front---hyacinth. A new cut for our farm and I'm smitten. The bulbs are pricey but the frangrance.....divine. You need some of these on your table.

My mother's mad skillz; old picture

2011-03-06T21:27:00.004-05:00

Some artwork by me mum. Isn't she amazing? Her heart is more beautiful than any bleeding heart you'll ever come across, and that is the truth. We actually need some bleeding hearts on the farm....behind the house is a great spot for some and also hellebores as it is shady but well drained.
Right now our garden looks like a swamp. We only got an inch and a half of rain today, but whew, it sure made a mess of things. Drainage issues abound at our farm; it's something we really need to work on as we lose many a crop dollar to wet feet.
Our good friend Alix came by the other week and brought us a portrait she did a few years back for Mule Magazine. It's great to have a good picture of us both, a rare thing. We noticed something was weird about the photo; I'm not really that much shorter than Stuart, but I had just pulled my hamstring when this was taken so I must be leaning on something for balance. It's so sweet I wanted to share it with you all. Thank you Alix!!!

Today's discoveries

2011-02-28T19:11:00.003-05:00

Today we heard the baby's heart beating. It was hard to hear initially because I couldn't stop laughing when the midwife touched the instrument to my belly, which compounded the weird microphone sound and made me laugh even more. i think the baby might be ticklish.

Today in the garden we found the poppies are busting at the seams and the tulips have all emerged at a rapid rate. It has been way too warm around here, considering we still have a month and a half where we could easily have a hard freeze.

This warmth also means we have had to speed up our game. I'm not ready for this.....

Hard to love the shorties

2011-02-22T11:33:00.003-05:00

Not sure what is going on with the tulips we're forcing. Two of three varieties we got in Dec. are blooming out at 6 inches or shorter.....a length that makes it impossible to sell and makes me feel like a bad flower grower. Not impressed. The third variety, the red one, is doing fantastic, with nice long stems and a knockout color. The mice are unable to resist the beauty and have worked their way through about 30-40 stems already, paying no attention to our many traps set about. Little buggers.

Gecko green it is

2011-02-22T11:23:00.003-05:00

We needed a little kick for our big room, so we decided to paint the loft wall and wall under the stairway a nice vibrant green. i feel so much more comfortable now. It took me most of the day on Sunday, and some soreness on Monday, but it's done now and we can move on to other pressing things. Although we're both tempted to just keep picking out funky colors and lose all the cream in the house.

My brother says it looks like baby shit green. He's not a fan. Maybe we picked it out in anticipation of what's to come....

Countertops are done

2011-02-20T08:54:00.003-05:00

They are in!!! And we like them even more than we thought we would. Stuart slurried them and let that dry, then sealed them thoroughly (thanks for the warning Vera) several times over, and then waxed them twice. We needed some strong guys to help us lift, so my brother and his friend came over (brother in green) and helped

Stuart lift and place the heavy tops. [As baby is now the size of a lime, I'm very much less inclined to lift anything heavy. It's strange as it feels like I lose a little power that way, having to ask for help. So it goes.] Now our kitchen is one step closer to being done. We have a sink and dishwasher (hoping to write some of this dishwasher off as it's main purpose is to save me hours a week washing vases) waiting to be installed, hopefully in the next couple days.

That just leaves trim, a backsplash, an island built, pantry door, shelves for the pantry......hmmmm. Let's just savor this one job being done. We should be able to get our official CO by the end of the week!

Time to Share the News

2011-02-14T08:45:00.002-05:00

That is right everyone. You may have heard the news already, but if not, Stuart and I are expecting a new member to our family this year. We have a baby due the first week of Sept.!! We are both very excited, and yes, this was planned. We both wanted a virgo rabbit. Call me crazy, but I guess I like a good challenge, which i'm sure August will be this year. We're hoping to start our CSA a couple weeks early so that it'll be done by baby time. So, to honor our little growing one (now the size of a fig), here are some pictures from last year from the week the baby is due. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

The reveal: part 1

2011-02-07T18:56:00.003-05:00

We are so pleased with the results so far. We managed to flip them over with just the two of us (i'm so proud of myself, I had my doubts). Next steps: wait a couple days for them to air cure, and then polish, slurry, polish, seal, wax. And presto, we'll be done before we know it.

I wish this for you

2011-02-07T18:39:00.002-05:00

An early Valentine's Day gift from Stuart. A delicious box of lovingly handmade chocolates from Dolly Mama. I always find it hard to initially bite into the buddha. Iconography--a fascinating subject. So yes, if you like chocolates, Dolly will have these boxes at the Durham market next week! Come early. And we'll have flowers too....

But the gift I can't stop anticipating????? PANCIUTO next Monday. If you haven't been yet, you are at risk of living an unfulfilled life. I can't wait. They will be handing out local flowers that night as well. I have a feeling I might be handed one of our own anemones. Now if that doesn't make me feel special I don't know what will.

Countertops: The pour

2011-02-02T21:28:00.002-05:00

Well, they are curing as we speak and we think they should turn out really well. We have to wait around five days before we remove the forms and flip them over so they can air dry some more. We only did one inlay, can't wait to show it off. I got a really nice tile as a present last year and we put that in one of the more visible corners. I had wanted to get some glass tiles but just ran out of time....and they are expensive new. There was definitely a learning curve to the process of pouring, so we just hope they come out resembling each other.

Concrete Countertop Forms

2011-02-01T09:43:00.002-05:00

Today we pour! I say 'we', but really it has been Stuart and our friend Gerard who have put all this together so far. I have been hard at work in the greenhouse starting all our little seedlings. Having these countertops done is going to really change things around here. Our living room has had cardboard covering it up since the flooring went down, so it'll be a true reveal when we remove it. Countertops also means we can finally get our kitchen sink installed, another big milestone. And we get to reclaim our living room. We have an incredibly beautiful and special braided rug that Stuart's grandmother made out of old high school uniforms that I can't wait to see on our floor.
More pictures to come! Let's hope all goes well today.

Local Hare?

2011-02-01T09:11:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago a hunting troupe was on the property right next to us, dogs howling all day with intermittent shots firing off. Clover barking incessantly when any of the men came too close to our property line. Stuart disappeared at the end of the day for a while; I thought he was just going to get the mail, but when he returned he didn't just have the mail. He also had been gifted a freshly shot wild hare for us to have for dinner.
We quickly looked online for technique on butchering rabbit. Stuart was very brave and gutted the thing with his hand, lifting out this one line of intestine with a row of perfectly formed pellets, glistening like brown beads within the lining. It was all fairly gross. But we threw together a quick roast and it was pretty good, considering it was our first attempt at rabbit meat. Next time I'm thinking some kind of asian twist. It was very generous of our neighbor; we think he had shot three on the outing. Stuart and I like to think it was the rabbit eating our ranunculus in the hoophouse.

Time to get our hands dirty

2011-01-16T18:11:00.004-05:00

Well, I am officially tired of the cold. It makes me withdrawn and tense, so that I feel like the fingernail of the moon that hangs in the sky, waning in its light, suspended in darkness. Although I still feel whole like the moon. [I can write these cheesy analogies, because this is my blog. Mock me if you will.]

Customers have been loving our anemones. I think they have finally caught on to the fact that these are an AMAZING cut flower. They don't have quite the transformation factor as tulips over the course of their vaselife, but they are so sweet and the colors are so vibrant. They make me think of little kisses, waiting to be delivered with love.

We have been slow to get into the pace of the season. I'm behind starting some of my favorite flower seed. And our big hoophouse is fairly desperate for some attention. All in due time. We did get the last of our forcing tulips planted today, and here is a picture of a soil amendment we used for the lovely ladies. It makes me tear up and my heart swell because it is so beautiful. It's what dreams are made of. Leaf mold. Crumbly, rich, black, soft, and rare. Hard to find around these parts. But some things are well worth seeking out.

Upon Return

2010-12-30T10:11:00.003-05:00

Coming soon to the DFM.....anemones and tulips! How sweet to come home to a full bouquet of color rich flowers and a woodstove to keep us warm.

Florida Walk

2010-12-30T09:59:00.004-05:00

Pinks

2010-12-14T22:55:00.003-05:00

My kind of womb

2010-12-11T09:34:00.003-05:00

This is a picture from the Dec. National Geographic and it is of brood cells that female Osmia avosetta bees make out of flower petals. As the article states, the bees "arrange flower petals to form unique nests that swathe their larvae in nutrients and warmth for the winter." Making one can take up to two days. So beautiful. This is almost as good as the Bowerbird article they had a few months ago (if you haven't read it you must!!! And check out the picture slideshow too....we now know where Goldsworthy and Daugherty get their ideas from).

Let us celebrate

2010-12-08T09:54:00.003-05:00

November was a hard month. It was a very difficult time filled with lots of tears, anger, and the never-ending questioning of purpose and truth in this strange and often confusing reality. Needless to say, it has been hard to get anything done in such a state. But we have now made it to December and the breath of life continues to animate the world around me. I may as well join in the action, right?

The exciting news....We have moved into our home!!!! And it is everything we thought it would be and more. We celebrated with an old and musty bottle of wine I brought back from New Zealand years ago. We still have months of work to do, painting, sanding and sealing doors and windows, we need to make countertops cause as of now there is no kitchen sink, and etc etc. But who cares that there is no kitchen sink!!!! We are waking up on our farm!!!!
Other news---we have had our first anemone bloom from the hoophouse. They look REALLY good. I don't think they'll come on strong til February though. Also exciting, the tulips we're trying to force for x-mas are looking mighty healthy. They are a bit more spindly than I'd like, but I think they will be beautiful. The tulips made it into the house before we did. This speaks highly of my love affair with them. Stuart was not happy about it.

Walk with me

2010-12-05T09:49:00.003-05:00

Mum is the word

2010-11-22T07:50:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago I went to Tulsa for the annual ASCFG (Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers) conference. We got to tour Vicki Stamback's farm, Bear Creek Farms, and her reputation as one of the best flower growers holds true. She is a year round grower so she had quite a bit for us to see. The chrysanthemums were pretty amazing in their diversity of colors, shapes, and sizes. With an awesome vase life as well, I think we need to put these on our 'to grow' list.

Something to Love

2010-11-21T07:59:00.002-05:00

Carrots=Happiness

It was a golden kind of day

2010-11-07T08:08:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T09:49:00.002-04:00

My mom is a master pumpkin carver, just one of her many talents. She also has an endearing knack for giving everything (e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g) mystical and esoteric significance. Such as this pumpkin image, labeled "Hothead" on the pumpkin carving kit---she deems it is a representation of the soul leaving the physical body; a metaphorical self-immolation; all that is and ever will be releases the "I am the body" idea; the burning of the false ego and the actualization of pure awareness. Fascinating, right? A glimpse of my world for you.

Three weeks later

2010-10-31T09:33:00.003-04:00

Last Market??

2010-10-19T08:10:00.002-04:00

Customers are loving the red dahlias. Why did I ever order pink and light purple dahlias for fall? They are still selling, but not like the reds. We have so many things going on at the farm right now; trying to get the soil ready for winter, finish up some house details, flower transplanting and planning, hoophouse cleaning. The list goes on and on. We're looking forward to Wed. A day off cause it's our anniversary!!!! Three years have zoomed by already. Will year four be the year of the perennials on the farm?? YES!!!

Flower Pinwheels and Mushroom Delights

2010-10-17T19:30:00.004-04:00

Our helper for this season had her last day Friday. If you are lucky enough to know Emily, you know that not only is she sweet, genuine, honest, and loving, she is also capable of putting together awesome presents that make your heart go pitter-patter. This is a pinwheel of WILDFLOWER SEEDS!!!! Collected from local wildflowers!!! I am so excited. Atamasco-lily (Zephranthes atamasca) with the sexy title '2010 NC Wildflower of the Year', beautyberry, american alumroot, and many more. BUT THAT IS NOT ALL. The pinwheel was attached to a growler full of the new and local Fullsteam Brewery's Summer Basil brew. And to continue my praises, we also received this very entertaining link from her this past week.
We were able to offer a fun task on the last day....cutting mushrooms. Our oysters finally flushed with one whopper of a clump weighing over 1 1/2 lb. It hasn't been the best mushroom season, so it was nice to get some for market. A great way to end the season.

Milemarker

2010-10-16T16:49:00.001-04:00

Persimmony Splicket

2010-10-10T16:47:00.008-04:00

We went to a most memorable wedding this past Sat. and the reverberations of love are still echoing through me. [Or is that just sore muscles from all the dancing?] The ceremony and reception left me feeling like the world is more complete now that these two are married. Like the world will be a better place. I wish I could feel like that more often. I was lucky enough to put the bridal bouquet together with a request from the bride for some veggies. Carrots, turnips, radishes, shittakes, persimmons, peppers, squash...they all had a moment of glory, a moment to shine and be just as beautiful, as magnificent, as graceful as the dahlia cushioned up beside them. We had another wedding this past weekend as well and the persimmons made it in those bouquets too. With some to spare for Clover and myself.

In the globe amaranth patch

2010-09-26T07:39:00.002-04:00

A first

2010-09-07T06:54:00.002-04:00

Lion's Mane mushroom!!! It took over a year and a half, but isn't it beautiful?

Local Durham Wedding

2010-09-04T18:03:00.006-04:00

A field hockey friend from high school got married this past Saturday. She did everything local and got hitched at Duke Gardens. We had some great flowers blooming to work with, particularly lisianthus and our fall crop of dahlias. And her bridesmaid wore yellow which was fun. I hope to get some pictures from the wedding to show on the blog. It was a long long long day Friday, but on Saturday afternoon it was all worth it. You can see here my excitement (and perhaps delirium?) Friday evening around 7ish, when I was done with the wedding arranging and was able to turn to all the market flowers to prepare.

And I got a haircut. Bangs for the first time since I was 5. Change is good.

To all the duckies in the house....

2010-08-30T07:58:00.002-04:00

Clover just wants you to know that she is not messing around.

Everything is going to be alright

2010-08-27T06:51:00.003-04:00

Amazing what a few days of slightly cooler weather will do for morale. And for dahlias. Our very small small fall garden is looking good; it would be bigger but the weather has held us up from planting more things. Too hot, too wet, too hot, too wet. But the light has been seen at the end of the tunnel. The 2010 main season is coming to an end. Speaking of light, we have power on at the house!! We can now listen to the whir of the fan in our bedroom and see that the light in the shower is too dim.

Luna Moth

2010-08-23T20:44:00.003-04:00

Taking a walk with our good friend George, he discovered this beautiful creature nearing it's demise. Maybe it was hit by a car or something; it was still alive but not long for this world.

Foster's Market Dinner

2010-08-21T15:44:00.007-04:00

We were invited by Foster's Market of Chapel Hill to do a farm-to-table dinner last week. We brought over boxes and boxes of produce for them and they worked their magic and made it into quite a feast.
The food was really delicious and makes me want a wood-fired oven. We cannot claim the incredible chicken--that came from Weatherhand Farm (you can find them at the Durham market----amazing farm processed chicken!) or the apples. The wine pairings were really nice; we bought a bottle of the white we had with the flatbread. Missing photos----the roasted potatoes we had with the BBQ chicken and the flash-fried padron peppers we grow that they passed around as an appetizer. They were SO amazing. I could've eaten a whole platter of those, but then I wouldn't have had room for everything else. Thanks Sara and Foster's Market for putting this together.

August 21st Market

2010-08-21T15:28:00.002-04:00

Cooler weather next week. Let's put these dog days of summer behind us, shall we? Soon it'll be arugula, carrots, late peppers, late cherry tomatoes, turnips, lettuce heads. Next week, the motherload of sunflowers.

Stairs with newel posts

2010-08-08T10:13:00.001-04:00

Waiting for cable rail.

Gardening Inspiration

2010-08-08T09:31:00.007-04:00

This is an article about my pops who has always been one of the best gardeners I know. Makes me so proud. I can blame him for my penchant and love for growing flowers and being in the dirt. There was always loads of color in our front yard growing up, which is quite a nurturing thing. Thanks Pop for all your inspiration! I wouldn't be growing without it.

Towering sunflowers grown by local gardeners delight passersby

By Beth Beasley
Special to the Times-News

Published: Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 10:04 p.m.

With exclaims of “Wow!” and “Cooooool,” walkers and drivers are stopping in their tracks and craning their necks to check out the sky-reaching sunflowers growing outside a bungalow near downtown Hendersonville.

The crop of sunflowers that Anne Hansley and her partner Walker Pruitt are growing in their front yard this summer are heading into the 15- to 18-foot range.

When the duo planted the giant variety of sunflowers in late spring, they didn’t know what they were in for, Hansley says.

“Both of us have never seen them this tall before,” she says with a smile.

The sunflowers didn’t even begin to bloom until the they reached the porch roof, which is at least 10 feet high. And they’ve just kept up their skyward ascent.

“I’m 5-foot-8, and they’re at least twice as tall as I am,” says Hansley. “They just kept growing and growing.”

Last year, Pruitt planted sunflowers on the North side of the front yard, in partial sun, with less colossal results.

The East-facing cottage, at 311 Buncombe St., is between Third and Fourth avenues, in view of the Main Library’s parking lot.

Hansley believes the flowers are loving the morning light — soaking up the unobstructed sunshine before the noon hour.

When the green flower heads of this year’s sunflower crop finally burst into blooms about two weeks ago, Hansley noticed the happy flower heads were following the sun. In the morning, the young flowers faced the dawn. By evening, they had turned to face the setting sun.

Unfortunately, Hansley fears some of the plants’ stems may have grown too thick now — a few stems are at least a couple inches in diameter —to continue changing direction with the sun’s rays.

Hansley and Pruitt enjoy the comments people passing by their home make about the sunflowers. And delighted neighbors check on the sunflowers’ growth every day.

“They’re eye-catching,” says neighbor and friend Mary Jo Padgett. “They really make a show of themselves.”

Padgett has been watching the sunflowers’ progress on her daily morning walks. The flowers are also visible from her home’s front porch on Third Avenue.

“I wasn’t sure what the plants were at first, and then suddenly there they were big sunflowers,” Padgett says. “They even provide shade for Anne’s porch.”

Hansley has seen mothers pushing strollers stop in front of her home to show their tots the blooming giants in all of their splendor.

Nothing special has been added to their soil, says Hansley. And Pruitt only waters them lightly — whenever he douses the hanging basketson the wrap-around porch.

Of course, large sunflowers are thriving in other gardens in Henderson County.

It’s not uncommon for specimens to grow to great heights in this area, say Jan and Walt Chase, Master Gardeners, who volunteer at the local North Carolina Cooperative Extension office.

Another fine example of tall sunflowers can be found at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site this summer, they note.

The sunflowers at the Sandburg Home are about 10 feet tall, a fair bit behind Hansley and Pruitt’s downtown giants. Janene Donovan, a Park Service ranger at the Flat Rock site, says their sunflowers were grown from an extra large seed variety and thrive on soil amended with manure from the Sandburg goats.

The tallest sunflower on record was one grown in the Netherlands, according to the National Sunflower Association. That sunflower, grown in 2004, measured 25 feet, 5.4 inches and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

And Hansley and Pruitt’s experience with the sunflowers tracking the sun is also explained by the Sunflower Association. When sunflowers are in the bud stage, the buds tend to track the movement of the sun across the horizon, the association says.

“Once the flower opens into the radiance of yellow petals, it faces East. No one knows why,” the Sunflower Association says. “However, it is likely a defensive response. Facing south or west could result in sun-scalding of seeds during very hot days.”

Urban gardeners

This isn’t the first time that Pruitt and Hansley, who owns Lighthouse Medical Solutions, a provider of diabetes testing supplies and other medical equipment on Justice Street, have gotten attention for their green thumbs.

The duo’s gardening prowess was rewarded last summer when their yard won a first place residential Landscaping Award from the City ofHendersonville’s Tree Board.

They installed their eco-friendly yard four years ago. It balances a variety of colors and textures, and is virtually maintenance free.

After considering grass for their front yard, Hansley followed Pruitt’s advice and instead installed a creeping thyme walkway, and a number of other edibles including basil, parsley and variegated thyme.

The property was also featured in ECO’s Green Home Tour last year for its drought-resistant landscaping that features plants such as lavender, dwarf spruce, dwarf maple, day lilies, dusty miller and lamb’s ear.

Butterfly bushes successfully attract winged insects, and peonies give showy flowers in the spring.

Nearby farm

A mile or so from their bungalow, just minutes from downtown, the dynamic couple is also raising fresh produce on another 2.5 acre property they call Let It Bee Farm on Blythe Street between Sixth Avenue and Highway 191.

At Let it Bee Farms, Hansley and Pruitt raise chickens and bees and grow a variety of veggies — from potatoes and peppers to squash and the native Pawpaw plant. They also grow goji berries, elderberry and Concord grapes.

Hansley traded a pile of mulch for the grape plants last year, which are now producing in abundance.

“The grapes grow on an ugly cyclone fence — which gets a lot of sun,” says Hansley. “I look for places that look like places the plants want to be.”

Pruitt, who once owned a natural foods store, Oasis in Chapel Hill, was also involved in private label manufacturing and brokering natural foods for big supermarkets.

He’s been busy planting some late summer season crops with his 11-year-old grandson, Christian, who is visiting from New Bern.

“These tomatoes will be ready in September,” says Pruitt, pointing to plants poking about 5 inches above the surface of dark, rich soil at Let It Bee Farms.

Walking into a carved-out mulch pile, Pruitt lifts several large, light green leaves to reveal a perfectly formed bird-house gourd.

The gourds and pumpkin plants that were sown on the composting mulch piles tumble down the slopes, thriving in the moisture and nutrients the leaf mounds offer.

A shaded forested area houses the logs inoculated with shiitake spores, ready for production.

Hansley hopes to one day harvest wild mushrooms, including truffles — eventually, when they have more time for farming.

In a structure similar to a Community Supported Agriculture arrangement, Hansley offers produce from the farm to her employees at Lighthouse Medical.

“We allow employees to opt in for $20 a month during the season,” she says. “They can have all they want of this non-pesticided fresh produce,”

Lighthouse Medical then matches the $20, and pays Let it Bee Farms.

The farm is so productive, the couple also sells some of its veggies to some downtown Hendersonville restaurants — West First Wood-Fired Pizza, Square One, and Mezzaluna.

Just down the road from the farm, the urban growers plan to add tilapia to a lake already stocked with bass beside some rental property they own.

One day they hope to farm some property near Lake Lure, too.

For now, the couple looks forward to another week or two of joy from their happy, albeit temporal, crop of sunflowers.

Says Hansley: “They’re not going to last long.”

Picture Fast

2010-08-03T22:17:00.005-04:00

We're unable to upload photos from i-photo to the blog. or to emails. not cool. am feeling computer illiterate, which is ironic since I've been wanting to blog about being Lisbeth Salander, my new idol.

Anyhow, thanks for your patience. We'll work this out soon. not much is happening anyway, besides daydreaming about the fall and winter. and introducing our large crested celosia as a modern day weapon for women. we're onto something here. so see ya soon.

July 24th Market

2010-07-25T10:17:00.003-04:00

Beauty of the Night

2010-07-25T09:55:00.003-04:00

Lovely. Fuzzy. Elegant. Natural. I wanted to reach out and touch it, but I knew I was being more than invasive with just the up close shot; the clicks of the lens, the strange bright red flash of light, the camera a large obtrusive unfeeling object poised centimeters from its breathtaking face. Nevertheless, this creature and I are now friends.

Stairs

2010-07-21T19:24:00.006-04:00

Who knew stairs could be so exciting? We decided to go with cable rail vs. balusters and I think we're going to be very pleased with the final look. For code we need 11 strands. Seems a bit much. We'll have wooden newel posts instead of the preferable steel, but it's still gonna look great. We got the idea for cable rail after spying into Bay 7 of the American Tobacco Campus (where we've done wedding flowers). That place is AWESOME!!!!! If you haven't chosen a spot to get hitched, look into it.

So it's slowly dawned on us with everyone asking when we'll move in that we seem to be a perpetual 8 weeks out from moving. We've been 8 weeks out for about 8 weeks. People who have built before give us a look that conveys both understanding and recognition of our naivete. But one day, one day.....
The last post is a picture of the new color of choice on the old, very wrong color of choice. Not that I don't LOVE this semblance of tarheel blue. just not for the walls.

July 17th Market

2010-07-18T15:37:00.005-04:00

We have lisianthus coming out of our ears. It's the most beautiful I've ever grown. Despite the fact that it's pink. I love it. I can't believe a millimeter sized coated seed started in December can produce such a gorgeous flower.