Back from Boston

I returned home from Massachusetts yesterday morning, after visiting my dear friend, Daniela.  

It's always so nice to go back there, to see her and visit familiar and new places.  My family lived in New England for about 15 years.  My two youngest were born in Rhode Island. 

This is her.  She has created an incredible garden over the years.  Every plant, every tree she planted herself.  She designed the fence, stone wall and where some of the large boulders would go.  No weekly hired guns on this property.  She weeds, mulches and trims it all herself; before work, early in the morning and on weekends.  Her husband works in the yard too, of course.  

But the garden is Daniela's therapy, her moment to be in nature, to relax, decompress and meditate on the greatness and goodness of the Lord.

And this is the place you can find her in the early mornings: in her gazebo.  In the rain, in the snow, in the summer, spring and fall.  It's her sanctuary, so to speak.

It's a tradition that we have wine in the gazebo in the evening and breakfast in the gazebo, still in our pajamas in the mornings.  

She recently created two fairy gardens.  This is the first one you see before going up the steps.  The little house has solar lights for night time.

This is the second one, a little tucked away.  To see it you have to tour the garden.  

Her plants have grown incredibly in the years since I've left.  I remember all of these plants and trees as babies.  

Everything is so full and lush now.  I just love it.

She has other structures in the yard as well.  Her husband built this fort for their daughter.  It has electricity for a TV, radio and lights.  There were many a little girls' sleepover in there. 

I love the charming shed also built by her husband.  I mentioned several times that both structures would make great chicken coops.  But she's not having any of that.  As a young girl growing up in Switzerland, she was responsible for cleaning out the coop.  She explains to me how she'd cough and gag every time.  She says, "Never again!"  

Hmm... but I'm not giving up the chicken dream just yet!  I mean, really... wouldn't this type of structure look great in my yard as a garden shed/chicken coop?  But envisioning all that poop...!  He-Man and I have got to come up with an 'easy clean' chicken coop.  Coughing and gagging is not my idea of fun.

Stay tuned for more.
(In the days to follow, I will post pictures of the Brimfield Antique Fair, my favorite shop up there, some of the restaurants we went to as well as the Museum we visited.)

Love from Whippoorwill Road,

Bernadine

Muscadines, Frizz and Beauty Berries

Early this morning, I wanted to check on the garden.  So I donned my new rubber garden boots and headed out in the wet grass.

I love the early morning, when this small part of my world is still quiet and my house is still full of sleepy heads. 

The Butternut Squash seems to be doing well.  The Basil is still going strong.  

The asparagus... well, I just leave it alone.  For now.

This photo is from yesterday.  This little pepper plant was nibbled to the ground.  I'm thrilled it has grown and produced another pepper, without fertilizers or insecticides.  He-Man applied another round of Liquid Fence around the perimeter though to keep the little rabbits and a few big deer away. 

I decided to check on the rest of the yard.  

These are wild grapes called Muscadines.  I'm fortunate to have a growing population of these on our property.  They are delicious and taste somewhat like a Concord grape.  

I ate my way through the inspection of our property.  I border on the appearance of a crazed wild woman when I'm out in the woods or garden.  It's the frizz, I tell you.  The frizz.  My hair and humidity: they're rivals.

Back to the Muscadines.  This is an unripened cluster.  I think the grape season is coming to a close.  I know I missed a lot of ripened grapes because I stepped on a lot of mushy ones that had already fallen to the ground.  What a shame for me, but nice for the wild life. 

We are fortunate to have Beauty Berries also growing wild on the edge of the woods.  They don't look like much without the berries but when they're in bloom, they live up to the name.  
I recently found out that the leaves of this plant are a natural bug repellant when rubbed on the skin.  Just as effective as the chemical repellants in a can.
I tried it once and it worked.  I have to remember to do this every time I work in the garden or wander in the woods.

I love this plant.  It's good food for birds as well.  I'm thrilled when I find it growing in a new spot.  I'm trying to let them grow wherever they please.  

It's been a lovely morning so far.  Tomorrow I head to Boston to visit my friend for a long weekend.  We're going to the Brimfield Antiques Fair.  It's projected to rain while I'm there.  I lived in Massachusetts for fifteen years.  Always wanted to go but never did.  Now, I'm going as a tourist.  So, today is a day of packing and preparation.

Top of the list though is a trip to my stylist.  She has to tame my frizz so I'll look somewhat sane on the plane tomorrow.  And if it does rain... well, let's just say I'm glad my friend has seen me on better days.

Love,

Bernadine

The Tree Saga

A few weeks ago, a storm split our old oak tree.

This was the first step to remove the downed limbs.  We did what we could, but it was too dangerous to finish the job.

That dangling limb was heavy.  Every time a limb lying on the ground was cut, it tore more of the trunk of the tree.

Time for a professional.  We hired Joseph, a certified Arborist.  

He climbed up to inspect the damage and to give us a prognosis.  Our big concern: Has the damage weakened the tree to the extent that the whole thing has to come down?  Is the tree dying?

He cleaned up the split, sawed the dangling limb off and gave us his expert advice:  The tree remains strong.  It will survive and live for a long time.  It would take a tornado to topple the tree.  
Whew!  What a relief!

Now, it's our turn again to clean up.  The leaves go into the compost bin.

Larger limbs get chopped up.

All this beautiful wood.  I hate to just burn it, so... 

... the larger limbs were put to good use, lining the new garden bed.  

I love this look.  

Have a great weekend,

Bernadine

The Local Farmers Market

We went to the Farmer's Market last week.  In our little town, it's open on Saturdays.  It's small, maybe 20 vendors, but it's growing.

In the next town over, there is a larger one with 50-60 vendors on Saturdays.  On Tuesdays, it's open again but with a smaller number of vendors.  Maybe about 10-12.  This was my small purchase last week.

A young couple was selling melons.  I asked about that larger white round object (pictured above).  They said it was a Snow Melon.  Now, I've never even heard of a Snow Melon, never mind seen or tasted one.  

They were so enthusiastic, explaining how they grew their melons, how delicious the melons were, the best time to eat them, the best way to serve them (always chilled from the fridge) and how special the fruit was to them.  They were such a sweet couple.  

They offered samples while explaining they had a very small crop this year so each one was very special to them.  

It was absolutely delicious.  Better than any melon I've ever tasted.  I paid her price without batting an eye and looked at it the same way she did, as a precious commodity to be appreciated.

Then I asked about the striped things.  To be honest, I didn't know what they were, if they were a vegetable or fruit.  (I know, I'm limited.)  The young man stepped in and explained they were Tiger Melons.  He was thrilled to share his favorite way to eat them: slice them and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  It was his favorite summer dessert.  I bought two of the four that remained.  On the way home, we bought vanilla ice cream in anticipation of the sublime experience we were about to enjoy.   

Once home, Colson and I sliced them, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and oohed and awed over every mouthful.  The young man was right, it was a delicious dessert.

That's just one of the benefits of a Farmers Market.  Had I seen these products in the grocery store, without a doubt, I would have passed them by.  Even if I was adventurous and had purchased them, most likely, they would not have had the same fresh flavor because they would have been shipped a long distance.

Now pictured below is a squash I've bought several times from the Farmers Market.  The first time I saw it, I thought it was an early Halloween gourd.

Feeling the total novice, I asked what it was.  The vendor happily told me it was Paddy Pan Squash.  (Never heard of that either.)  He explained it was currently his favorite versatile squash.  You can eat it raw with the skin, chopped in salads or you can cook it just like you would any other squash.  I got a great crash tutorial.  

It's my go-to squash these days.

It's been the same way with heirloom tomatoes (I should have taken photos), even honey.  Most vendors let you sample the product first.  They all explain how it's grown or harvested and you learn what's growing in season right where you live.  

Since I missed Saturdays market, I can't wait until tomorrow. Who knows what new thing I'll find.  I'm hoping for Snow and Tigers!

Bye now 

from Whippoorwill Road.

Love,

Bernadine

Oh Great...

A few nights ago, a storm blew in.  While we were comforting Big 'Ol Nasty Dog (see previous post), Mother Nature was having a heyday.

Whether it was from lightening or just a weak spot, we lost half of the biggest oak tree.  

We were awed... and sad.

It didn't fall on the fountain.  And the wood might be good for something other than burning in the fire pit.

But when I look at this picture, I think, "Man, what a mess with all those weeds."  And then I look at the tree and I wonder if I'm ever going to make progress with this property.

Here's the bright spot.  My kids were out in the garden today, working.  Isn't this the way life should be: growing your food, enjoying the great outdoors, being at peace with one another?

On a side note, this was New Man's first day of college.  And he's out here, weeding the beds with his siblings.  

I loved this moment.  Seeing them outside, preparing for a future harvest.

Look what we found!  We do have deer in the garden!  

And when I look at this picture, I think, "Man, I wish I could have seen them."  And then I think to myself, it's a good thing we don't depend on this garden for survival.  Otherwise I may not love seeing this as much.

I do love Mother Nature with all her ups and downs 

on Whippoorwill Road.

Love,

Bernadine

It Was a Hot and Scary Night

It's been so hot, that when we first saw this squirrel, we thought it had heat exhaustion.

It didn't, it was just cooling itself off in the shade.

Finally, it rained.  It thundered.  And Big 'Ol Nasty Dog panicked yet again.
We tried to close him off from the main kitchen area since he pants and slobbers and we were eating dinner.

Clay went to the rescue.  He left his meal to comfort Big 'Ol Nasty Dog.

He sat there in the dogs bed and held this trembling fraidy cat until the worst of the storm was over.

And me, being the compassionate one, wrote myself a note.

Love from Whippoorwill Road,

Bernadine

Garden Glory has Faded

All my beautiful vegetables plants are gone.

We ate, and picked and froze as much as we could.  

The heat, drought and overcrowding got the rest. 

It was a great first experience.  We pulled up all the fading leaves and cleaned out the beds.

This was my Mother's Day gift.
Isn't she a beauty?

We used my new gift to till up a new area for a fall crop.  

This is all that's left of the tomatoes.  Only one remains.  I took out two that weren't really producing.  The basil keeps going and we've made a lot of pesto.  Which has translated into homemade Pesto Pizza.  
The beans in the lower left of the photo will be pulled up this week.

These two little patches of earth gave us so much.  I was always amazed how much food we received daily. 
Now, I'll enrich the soil with some organic compost and grow again.

Love,

Farmer Jane

aka: Bernadine