Farm and Garden Weekly - weeks of July 18 and July 25

In the past two weeks, we have harvested all the leeks, onions, and garlic. I've got enough leeks in the freezer for ten batches of Gladys Taber's leek and potato soup. I pick some of the zephyr squash each day and have quite a bit frozen already.






There are still lots of beautiful daylilies in the gardens, including a new one we just planted in the spring. I love this color.


Now they are sharing top billing with the sweet peas. This has been the best year ever for the old-fashioned, wonderful smelling flower. I bought three different varieties from Renee's Garden, and will get them all again next year:

Antique "Cupani's Original" - An especially strong blooming strain of the first cultivated sweet pea. Perfumed, heat-tolerant and beautifully bi-colored in deep maroon-purple and orchid-violet.

"Painted Lady" - The first named sweet pea cultivar, dating from 1737. Painted Lady is a beautiful rose, pastel pink and cream bicolor that is deliciously scented and heat tolerant. Begins flowering early.

Knee High, "Jack & Jill" - Blooming in dainty salmon-rose and soft mid-blue, our perfumed duet grows just 3 feet tall. These nostalgic and charming flowers bloom early offering heat tolerance and strong garden performance.

Now if I could only post that fragrance!

You've been seeing the monkshood as the banner photo for a few days. It is the only flower in the garden which is that color at this time of year. The blue/purple color is much more common in the spring with the iris, lupines, mountain bluets, lilacs, and violets.

On the farm front, we've decided to section off part of the north pasture. We have fewer animals than we used to, and they don't need so much grazing land. We wanted a bigger area to walk with the dogs. This pasture connects with the yard outside the kitchen door, where the vegetable garden is.


Just as the dogs are shedding, so is Daisy the miniature donkey.

donkey dreads :<)

Two weeks ago today the man up the road who grows blueberries called and said the first ones were available. He used to put up a sign outside his place, but now he doesn't. He just calls whenever he has picked and we go over and buy them. We put them on cookie sheets in the freezer, and when they have frozen we transfer them to freezer bags. During the year, I take some out and put them in a bowl in the refrigerator, and the next day we add them to our morning yogurt.

Last week's egg count was 52 and this week we got 50.