Friday Nights with the Family

Outside my kitchen window, my neighbor flits in for her daily drink from a pokeweed plant. She's swift and beautiful in her shiny green feathers. Everything here is green. Crickets, cicadas, and katydids sing us to sleep at night. The field/yard is full of clover and bees. We harvest honey on Fridays, so that it will be fresh for the Saturday morning farm market. Our family's Friday night entertainment consists of moving slowly through the hoop house with plastic bags and a knife, harvesting produce. It is a peaceful way to spend a weekend. I am grateful for the singing insects, the starry clear nights, and my beloved family working together on the land.

Catching a Fairy

The warm spring weather brings out all sorts of lovely beings. We celebrated the Spring Equinox with a spring treasure hunt. Some friends and their children helped us look for green shoots, flowers, singing birds, and other early signs of the season. One little girl brought glitter to "magic" my garden. Now the crocuses and tulips twinkle! We even found a large owl pellet, with the intact but fragile bones of its former dinners. I could see a tiny ball joint sticking out of the mat of hair and bones. The guests also enjoyed kite-flying, stories, playing, and a tour of the Manor.

Yesterday, Faerygirl and Squirrelboy enjoyed a vernal pool that was created when the Lord of Dragonwood experimented with building a pond. We often find tracks around the pool. This year, the children found it brimming with life. Squirrelboy came running into the house for a jar, which he delivered to his sister. The girl was calf-deep in the pool, squealing with delight about the "fish" she was trying to catch. Not long after, my muddy-footed offspring proudly presented me with a jar of pondwater, algae, and many small creatures. I immediately identified several tiny leeches, only a few millimeters long, and a beetle that uses a bubble of air to dive. There was also an incredible pinkish-orange creature fluttering through the water. It was absolutely fascinating. Upon further investigation, we found out it was truly a fairy. Here's a link to a picture of some of its kind:

http://cfb.unh.edu/CFBkey/html/Organisms/otherarthropods/GEubranchipus/geubranchipus.html

These little fairies are quick and colorful. They live for a brief period in vernal pools. The rest of the year, they exist as eggs that withstand drying out, freezing, and all sorts of weather. Only in the spring do they hatch and live out their brief lives. They are truly magical creatures. I am delighted that Faerygirl was able to catch one so that we could see it up close. Also, now we have real evidence that fairies live in Dragonwood!

If I find a picture that I am legally able to share, I'll try to put one up. Or we'll have to try some underwater macrophotography that I'm not sure our little digital camera can handle.

The Passing of May

This has been a busy month for us in Dragonwood. It is the month of warmth and planting the rest of the garden, the month of asparagus for dinner, the month of bees swarming. I have caught three escaping swarms, bringing our hive count to ten! We have been eating asparagus several times a week, and I even put a couple of quarts away for the winter. I love asparagus - it comes up anew every day, and it is so tender and tasty. Our strawberries are starting to come on, as well. When I am weeding the strawberry/asparagus patches, I don't hesitate to nibble for some refreshment. This has also been the month of irises, which bloomed gloriously this year. Now it is getting hot, and the mosquitoes are starting to haunt the woods. They like the undersides of cool green leaves. Squirrelboy emulates his namesake, climbing everywhere he possibly can. When I am working in the garden, he wanders off on great adventures, absolutely fearless. I often must go hunt him when my tasks are finished, but he is usually found in one of his favorite places - a mud pit, a pile of wood, or a dirt hill. In the Manor, the Lord of Dragonwood and our hired man work diligently to hang our drywall. Most of the large rooms are being mudded now. Today I made a large harvest of citrus thyme, which I hope to sell at the farmer's market. We won't be selling until July, but there is much work to be done now. I also hope to make lots of tasty herbal tea. The mint is insane in my gardens, and I must pull it as a weed to make room for other things.

Sunflower Month

We have moved beyond the showy time of the lilies and are now in the season of sunflowers. Hints of gold touch the fields and trees. Pollen hangs in the moisture-laden air. Even though it's been unusually cool and wet this year, now the heat has arrived. Corn and zucchini fill the market stands, but everyone I know is having trouble with tomatoes. It's been too cold and wet for them to be happy. Perhaps now in this August heat they will take off. Already we are gleaning honey from Aphrodite and Beatrice. We look forward to a large honey harvest later on. We can see and feel how heavy the super frames are getting. I was also able to put up some beans. I love the Royal Burgundy bean plants, with their purple flowers, stems, and pods. So pretty, and so practical! We have found these purplish plants to be hardier than their green cousins, more resistant to disease and insect damage. They are tasty, too. When you blanch them, the purple goes into the water and the beans turn green. I grew dwarf sunflowers in the garden and big ones in front of the beehives. Their happy yellow faces attract beneficial insects and bring a smile to all who look at them. I hope that later on in the year, as the seeds ripen, we shall see flocks of goldfinches settling on their strong stalks. It is amazing to see how well the showy males are camoflauged when they are feeding on sunflowers - even their gaudy yellow feathers blend in!

Going Up

The Lord of Dragonwood sits atop the roof, resplendent in his yellow safety harness. His powerful weapon blasts nails into the endless shingles that go into covering our huge Manor. Meanwhile, down below, either Faerygirl or I peel countless cellophane strips off the backs of the next shingles to be loaded onto the scaffold. It's a tedious task, but daily we can see the fruits of our labor. Perhaps, by the end of this week, we shall have a completed roof!

I, the Lady, am also busy pulling weeds from our strawberry and perennial beds, preparing soil, and planting as much as I can. With the Lord so busy and focused on building, the garden tasks fall to me. I don't mind this at all; those of you who know me well are aware of the joy and pride I take from working my land. On sunny days, my family is seldom indoors.

Faerygirl has taken up softball, so her schedule further complicates an already busy spring season. She cheerfully helps with the shingle-stripping and gardening and by watching her brother whenever she is available. We all appreciate her for this!

Squirrelboy is living up to his busy namesake, scrambling up log piles, racing through the woods, and digging in sand and earth. He is happiest when he has spent a lot of time outdoors. He cannot get into too much trouble that way. Yesterday, he even caught a tiger beetle and brought it to show me. It was so pretty!

The spring wildflowers are up and blooming, too. Now the middle story is beginning to leaf out. Every living thing reaches for the warmth and light shining above.

Current Dispatch - End of March

Just before the rain, I managed to plant two rows of broccoli, a row of marigolds, and a row of cabbage. Let's hope the rain and slowly warming earth help them to sprout! Squirrelboy insisted on going out in the rain and jumping in puddles. Nothing is happier than a little boy getting drenched as he splashes in joy. When the soil dries out enough, I'll continue planting cabbages and some early spring herbs. I also have seeds in the freezer and refrigerator to "cold treat" and then pull out mid-April for planting.

Not Too Early to Work the Garden

Today I dragged Squirrelboy outside for about an hour. The air was warmer than it has been for a while, and the sky was grey. Rain hung in the wings, waiting for the right moment to begin. Cheerfully, I began tugging out the old tomato cages that had been supporting the wraiths of last year's plants. They slid easily from the muddy earth. I set my boy to picking up rocks that had been piled between the plants. He plunked a few into the bucket, but didn't stick at the job very long. He's only three, after all. Squirrelboy stood watching me vigorously dealing with the tomato cages and the vestiges of weeds surrounding the black mulchcloth. He kicked at the "bad guys", denuded stalks of broccoli, as the rain began coming down. I reached around his little body and helped him pull the bad guys from the ground. The thick stalks and kinky roots made an impressive conquest for a little fellow. By the time I finished yanking up all the leftover plants and checking to see how easy it would be to get the mulch off the ground (yes, I know, my bad for not taking care of it last year), Squirrelboy's hair was matted to his head and he was shivering. Such a little trooper! Of course we went in and had warm soup for lunch, so all was well.