Here’s a few more things I’ve been up to lately.
Mowing.
Yes, it’s that time of year. And with all this rain, it’s a weekly thing. But later in the summer, when we are begging for rain it will be brown and dry. That’s the way it is here on the farm. We live in an area that doesn’t get much rain, unless it’s a big storm. We just watch the rain clouds go by. They get close, but go around us for some reason.
I lost all my strawberry plants last year to the drought. So I’m starting a new patch in a different area. Here is the freshly plowed patch. Soon to have plants.
It’s just a small patch for now. I can add more later if they do well here.
And look! My first blueberry bloom.
I probably won’t get many blueberries to speak of this year. Maybe I’ll have atleast one to taste. Believe it or not, I’ve never tasted a fresh blueberry. I can’t wait. I hope they thrive here on the farm. If so, I’ll definitely plant more. We love blueberry muffins. And I’ll bet they’ll taste better with blueberries fresh from the bush.
And while I was out wandering around with my camera, I came across this…..
Check out the blue eyes trying to hide from me.
And there he goes. The critters around here are camera shy.
Most of you know I’ve been trying to get my garden plowed. This year I am breaking ground in a new area.
This ground has never been plowed or planted. Or if it has, it has been a very long time. I had to wait for the rain to stop, then let some of the water dry up. But not too much. This ground here is called blackjack. Part red clay. When it’s dry, it very hard to till. The idea is to break up the ground while it’s still wet, then let it dry and till it again. But I figured since this hasn’t been cultivated before, it should have plenty of rich top soil.
And just look at that rich dark soil. Not red clay, like I’m used to seeing here in the south.
I will wait for it to dry up some more then add composted manure, cause you know we have plenty of that out in the pasture, and retill it. Then start planting.
I already have tomato and pepper plants ready to plant. And I have seeds for the rest. If this garden does well, I may try planting some corn. I haven’t had much luck with corn here, the japanese beetles eat the silks and ruin the corn before it’s ready to harvest.
And then I leave you with a view from my back door.
It’s unusual that horses can’t be seen at any time from this view.
I’ll try to catch them out there and show you what I usually see when I walk out the back door.
So, now you know what I’ve been up to. With plenty more to do, cause my garden is almost ready for planting.
What have you been up to?
Hug a friend and tell them how you feel about them today.
It may be just what they need!
Twisted Fencepost 
You do have a very nice property. It looks like your strawberry patch would fall victim to rabbits among other creatures. I have tried them like flowers hoping to confuse the rabbits into thinking there is no patch but only a plant here and there. Or deer. I bet you guys get more deer than I get rabbits.
beautiful becky just beautiful… and when you do eat that blueberry you will be beg’in for more. We have one and I litterly stand there and eat them as fast as I can straight from the bush! Love them, it’s funny I just went around couple of days ago and snap a pic of ours. Great MINDs. You ground is beautiful rich soil… ours is mostly sand, we had to have several loads of top soil brough in…nothing pretty like yours though! Can’t wait to watch your garden grow 🙂
You asked what kind of chicken that is on Gobsmacked…
It is a “Brahma” a beautiful and stately bird. The ancestry of the Brahma traces back to China.
I added a paragraph about them on my http://gobsmacks.blogspot.com blog.
Wow! You really have been hard at work. Everything looks like it’s falling into place. It is just beautiful and I hope you have a bountiful harvest.
Oh my, Becky. Do you do all that mowing and the tilling? You have been busy. We have a llittle spot tilled but nothing in the ground yet…..except for my sugar snap peas and lettuce. We got them out late but they are up now….the peas are about 2″ tall now….I really love those things.
I won’t be seeing any friends today….I’m sort of a hermit here. I sure could use a hug….I’ve got some serious things bothering me.
Hugs to you, my friend.
Well I have now mowed two times this Spring. Today we planted some flowers and ornamental grasses, plus some wild flower seeds. Things are starting to bloom finally.
I have a pan of stew meat (beef) on simmering, going to remove the meat later on after it’s tender and cook this bag of my Mother’s homemade noodles she sent home with me last week. I prefer chicken and noodles, but Abe likes beef and noodles, so this time it’s time for the beef and noodles. I will also mash up a few potatoes and have already made a bowl of slaw with the vinegar and oil dressing. Have nothing for dessert unless they eat an apple or an orange or there is always ice cream in the freezer.
Sending you a BIG OLE BEAR HUG, hope it makes your day. Have a terrific week-end.
My lawn is brown right now. My son, ‘the contractor’, sprayed it, not once, but twice. I’m beginning to see a little bit of green poking through, but we probably won’t mow until mid to late May.
I’m getting ready to redo my bathroom. I’m picking up the fabric I’ve been looking at and making a shower curtain tomorrow. We have to put in a new light fixture over the sink and paint.
We are into the mowing as well. But, this year our son is finally old enough to drive the mower. Woohoo! We will soon be working on our garden as well. We have part of it tilled. Good luck with the strawberry plants.
What a beautiful and peaceful view to gaze on from your back door!!
Becky: I enjoyed the tour of the back forty and the neat look at the new garden. From the look of that ground it won’t need much to grow a fine crop. I took the dog out for a walk and walked through my back forty, it is rugged and a neat place to see all the deer tracks.
Here’s a hug for you and I think you are a neat person.
You have been very busy!
Your back yard is so pretty.
Blue berries, my favorite! When I was a kid in Alaska we had huge blue berry bushes full of huge blue berries. Mom used to make us blue berry pancakes all of the time. Yum!
So much ahead of us on the spring/garden front. That black dirt is amazing. We have sand here, and in Missouri only red clay. Never topsoil. In different parts of the state they had black dirt like yours, but it looks strange to me!
You have a nice place there! My that cat has pretty eyes. We haven’t had enough dry days here to get the garden started. It did finally get tilled up just yesterday and now it is raining again. I know, like you said come august I will be wishing for rain for sure.
You have been busy, good luck with the strawberries. I love to plant strawberries, but I have too much trouble with weeds, so I quit trying. I love the view from your back door. We have been digging a drainage ditch in our side yard. We’ve put up with the soggy area since we’ve lived here, just hope all the hard work will be worth it and it works.
Oh look how green it is! It is just starting to green up here. In patches. I love your garden spot! I want a garden this year. We will see. We own a construction company, you would think I could get a small area turned? ((hugs)) love you my friend. Oh and I have 3 blue eyed kitties.
Becky-the views around your home are so pretty! And I’m jealous of that rich dark dirt-should be a great garden-and hopefully we’ll get more rain than last year.
Hey….Is that the cat that Flutter and Audacious lost? It kinda looks like it.