Well it has been awhile since I have written. It has also been awhile since I spent some quality time in the Garden. For weeks it has been quick forays to harvest kale, and more kale. So much kale. That and harvest another crop of tomato leaves and look at green tomatoes by the dozens… Continue reading Garden Surprise.
Judge Not.
I was writing a post about life here on the farm as the news rolled in. It is peaceful here but my heart troubled. So today the blog rolls of the farm and into the rest of the world. But first a little history. Many years ago when my oldest was a baby I apparently… Continue reading Judge Not.
Imperfectly.
Yesterday for the first time in forever I loaded the younger kids up and headed to the “Big Town” for a bike ride. While we have been on our own rural bike ways many times I figured they (and I) could use a change of scenery and we could social distance well enough. So along… Continue reading Imperfectly.
Spring rituals
Now entering the Groundhog Day phase of the shutdown I sit talking to my dog while drinking coffee in the early morning. The valley is gray and the spring rains have returned. The lettuce thrives and the tomatoes droop. Yesterday was placing pipe in the trench dug Friday. Today I eat to soften the ibuprofen… Continue reading Spring rituals
The smell of summer.
The cats are curious why I insist on picking them up and sniffing them before the letting them in the house. The night before while introducing my daughter to Indiana Jones with all the windows open the smell of skunk came powerfully through the house. We closed the windows but I wondered “who is having… Continue reading The smell of summer.
Just Flowers
I get a text from my son’s fiance about a farm sale, looking over the add I ask her if I can tag along. I have mixed feelings about these events despite a love of thrift and the realization that the ex farmers will not be needing the tools much longer. Wandering through the bones… Continue reading Just Flowers
Triage and the election.
In a mass casualty event there are, in the most general terms, three classes of injuries; those that are likely to be fatal no matter the medical intervention, those likely to survive with or without immediate intervention lastly and those who will survive if medical intervention is initiated quickly, This is where the word “triage”… Continue reading Triage and the election.
Rural Shopping
Spring is in full swing here in Oregon; the front yard grass is two feet tall awaiting the return of the mower from the shop, and a blackberry cut down one day will be four inches above the ground the next. The heavy wet Willamette Hazelinear Clay Loam sticks to everything it touches and “take… Continue reading Rural Shopping
To move in time.
I have a strange affiliation for that moment when transferring the coffee beans to mason jars they perfectly fill them; no leftover lonely handful of beans in a crumpled bag nor half full jar reminding of the inevitable need to buy more. I have even gamed this by grinding the coffee and filling the coffee… Continue reading To move in time.
Open windows in April.
We have had an unseasonably warm and dry April here. The forecast shows it about to end and my goal is to get the last of the trees planted before the rain returns. Firstly because several weeks of warm rain is the perfect start for them, and secondly because I would rather not spend hours… Continue reading Open windows in April.
