Triple Creek Farm, a Week in Review

Indian Summer has stayed with us here on our little farm.  I have enjoyed each and everyday, this is my favorite time of the year.  We have worked in the woods clearing out some of the fallen trees.  This is not fire wood and it would break down in the woods, but I have found these trees are wonderful for the garden.  My soil is getting deeper each year.  I left a garden I could dig down two feet and find nothing but rich composted soil.  {When I sold my home, the new owner contacted me as to how to retain the soil in the garden.  I shared with him how I had worked the soil and he felt it was hard work.  The last time I drove by I saw my garden was now a place to park cars.}  I hope to get the garden soil here as deep as what I left.  We take one afternoon each week and go to the woods, this brings back so many memories of my childhood.  Daddy would hitch, Katie,  the mule to the wagon and we would go into the woods to collect fire wood.  I always looked forward to spending a morning in the woods with Daddy, knowing he would let me drive the wagon home, but Katie knew the way home and she did not care how much pulling the wrong reins I did, she bought the wagon loaded with firewood home.  How strong can a 5 or 6 year old be, but I thought I was driving the wagon.  Katie was playing with me, she was as proud as I was.

IN THE GARDEN

I have been digging 2 foot deep holes, filling them with manure and replacing the soil.  These will be my tomato hills next spring.  How do I find them?  I put the tomato cage on top of them, come spring I remove the cage and plant my tomato.  The results were wonderful this spring and summer.   I plan to do this for the pepper plants as I did the peppers hills in the spring, I would like to try doing them earlier allowing the manure to break down.

The tunnel is doing good, harvested spinach, swiss chard and turnip greens this week.  The winter peas are producing shoots which taste wonderful in salads.  We harvest the shoots with no more than 2 sets of leaves on them, I have them growing in the tunnel and outside.  The goats love these plants and await any I wish to remove from the garden.

pea shoots

As my plate has not been full enough we have started a new adventure.  Mushrooms.  The farmer is knowledge about mushrooms and came over to our farm looking for them.  She found summer oysters and a few weeks later I found winter oysters.  

oyster mushrooms

I had found loin's mane a few years before, however this year, there were more around the farm.  We are finding the loin's mane on lightning damaged oak trees.

loin's mane

I am not knowledge about mushrooms, so this is going to be a slow process for me.  I am studying and trying to learn as much as possible.

IN THE COOP

The chicks hatched in the summer are no longer little.  The roo started crowing this past week and now I await the first egg from the little hen.

So pleased you stopped in and spent a little time on our farm.  Looking forward to seeing you again real soon.