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  • A Week On the Farm

    A Week On the Farm

    Autumn is definitely here, but the thermometer doesn’t seem to realize it yet. The upcoming week has a few days that are the temperatures we expect in late September. The promised rain has not materialized, it keeps getting pushed off another day, then yet another.

    The garden is done except for a few pepper plants that are prolifically producing Jalapenos, and two Ancho pepper plants with a little fruit on them. The bunnies got in the fence and ate all the fall beans that had gotten half a foot tall and it is too late to plant more.

    This morning, before it got too hot, I ventured through the weeds to pick a basketful of peppers as I was making some Tomatillo/Jalapeno jam and needed a couple peppers. Seeing the pumpkin and gourd vines almost completely dead, I spotted 3 more small pumpkins and harvesting them and the huge bottle gourds.

    That makes a total of 11 pumpkins with three that were eaten by or damaged by the chickens and insects. Some of these were taken to our daughter’s house along with their weekly eggs and found them putting out their Halloween decorations. They do more for Halloween than I do for Christmas and it is so fun to see.

    After our visit and daily walk, we returned to Lowe’s to get a third pre potted fall flower combo. Two had been purchased along with two new pots about 10 days ago and placed on the stoop in front of the house. After we got home, I realize I had two more pots just like the ones we had just purchased, though one has a potted fig in it. Being inspired by daughter’s family’s efforts, it was my turn to decorate.

    About 30 years ago, my Dad made me a decorative wooden wheelbarrow. It generally has potted flowers in it for the spring and summer, but I never got around to it this year. It has been repaired a number of times, and today I moved it to the front porch, using one of the matching pots and the new flowers, part of a bale of hay I already had, and some of the pumpkins and gourds, the front is decorated for fall and Halloween (except the Halloween banner and wreath with the ghost, pumpkins, and turkey ornaments will wait).

    A few more weeks, probably after the first frost, the dead pear tree branches, pumpkin vines, dried asparagus tops and other weeds will be burned in place in the upper part of the garden. The plan is to move the metal boxes to the top edge of the garden and use the center portion next year for a three sister’s garden. Before that is done, the fencing needs to be replaced using rabbit fence and since the hens are getting mostly daily free range time, their run will be reworked too. This is going to be a multi day job involving whatever help I can enlist. It is also going to require the acquisition of a lot of corregated cardboard, a trailer load of mulch, and a roll of the fence wire.

    The garden will be put to bed for the winter and the months of bare trees and chilly days will begin.

  • Olio -9/18/2026

    I am the eldest of three, all now senior citizens. Today is the birthday of the “middle child,” my little sister. Happy birthday, Sis.

    This week has been one for the record. We have had 3 medical appointments between us, one a routine annual visit, one a follow up, and one for an upcoming procedure. Added to that, I taught a grown up version of the Herbal Medicine class that I did for summer camp to a bevy of ladies last night. As I was “teaching,” I have no photo, but we had a good time.

    The week began with soap making lessons for a couple that are friends of mine. I have been making their soap for a number of years and have asked repeatedly if they wanted to learn. This year it happened. Two batches were made with my instruction and supervision, but their hands on experience. They went home with one of the batches and the basic equipment to make more at home. The friend that taught me about a dozen years ago sent me home with a batch and some equipment and I have tried to continue paying it forward with the promise that once they are comfortable with the process and several successful batches, that they too will pay it forward. The second batch joined 3 other batches that I had previously made in the past couple of weeks for my SIL and our home use.

    It is curing in a back bedroom until it is ready for use.

    The week also started with me finishing the second Christmas stocking, one of which will go to the grandchild expected later this fall.

    Because they are stranded knitting in the round, the design is on both sides, requiring keeping the chart section of the pattern close at hand and well tracked. It also requires that the stocking be lined with fabric of some kind to prevent the carried strands of yarn on the inside from snagging. The linings are peeking out the top right now as the name needs to be duplicate stitched on the top before the lining can be hand sewn in place.

    The pumpkin vines and gourd vines are dying back now, so pumpkins have been cut. They are a smaller version for pies and baking, and after the ones in the photo were brought in, another was found. One grew through the chicken run fence and they ate it. Another grew close enough to the fence that they ate one side, and one I found had insect damage and was fed to them, so out of two vines, I got 8 pumpkins. It is possible that more will be found when the vines totally die off. The bottle gourds were the only gourd seed that germinated and they will be harvested soon.

    Here in Virginia, the drought has resulted in a state of emergency issued by the Governor as it has severly reduced the hay harvest both in the spring and now in the fall. Our fields produced only about half the usual amount and this week the fall hay was mowed, baled and taken to where it will be fed to cattle this winter. Neighbors that raise cattle are talking about possibly having to sell off some of their herds if they can’t locate hay to purchase. The lawn is brown and crispy, so no mowing is needed. We do have some rain in the forecast for the upcoming week, but if it is only isolated showers like we have had all summer, it won’t help.

    One section of the rails to trails paved area we walk for our daily walk has several Virginia marmots, aka groundhogs, woodchucks, whistlepig holes and tunnel some on the trail side of the fence, some on the airport side. This hefty fat guy was munching grass today and very unconcerned that I was taking his photo.

    Now to toot someone else’s horn. My husband just published his second book. It can be found on Amazon as a paperback or on Kindle as an e-book, the title is The Judas Priest, by James Stafford. He also has a blog with articles about the background and a sample on WordPress as JamesStaffordauthor. Go check him out.

  • Summer is drawing to a close

    It is meterologic autumn according to the weather prognosticators, but it went out with a bang. The daytime temperatures last week were in the 90’s every day. That is nearly unheard of here in the mountains, especially in September. It finally cooled down today to near 80 with similar weather expected all week, the highest day in the mid 80’s. Though I don’t like to take our daily walks when it is that hot, I did, picking the shadiest areas of the rails to trails walk we take each day.

    The garden was a major bust this year, between the drought, the extreme temperatures, and several intense storms that blew peas and beans to the ground before they produced much. Animals that can get through or over the fence ate down most of the peppers, except some that were already too tall to munch. There have been many jalapenos to pickle, some seranos are turning red and will become hot sauce. There have been a few tomatoes, mostly the black cherry ones that are wonderfully sweet, and the pumpkins and gourds are doing well. The raccoons got the few ears of popcorn that did form. Unless I improve my fencing, or build a tunnel (which won’t happen), that problem will continue.

    I did cover the grapevine with deer mesh this year, so I got a half gallon of Muscadine grapes which were crushed and fermented, strained through a sieve and fed some sugar, so now there is red wine vinegar. It will be strained through cheesecloth and bottled soon.

    While visiting with daughter and son in law, when they came over and repaired part of the chicken coop for me, he mentioned he was low on the soap I make for him. That was a reminder and initiator to begin this year’s soap making. I can thank a friend who more than a dozen years ago invited me to her home to learn how to make soap myself. We made several batches that day and she sent me home with my first batch and some supplies. Her generous teaching has instilled the each one teach one mantra to me and I have taught several others to make soap. Next Sunday, a local friend and her husband for whom I have been making soap for several years, will join me to learn, and like my friend did me, they will leave with the basic equipment to make more at home later. I would gladly continue to make it for them, but they can make it themselves in an hour for half what she pays me. SIL’s batch was made early in the week, then a batch of unscented Calendula/Turmeric soap made, and yesterday, Peppermint with French Red Clay.

    While we have the equipment out next weekend, I will make one more batch of the same scent they will be using as that is also the scent that my SIL prefers. This will be a year’s worth of soaps for our use, for the Barn Bazaar at the Museum, for a few gifts, and for SIL. For now, it is curing in a back bedroom until it can be deliverer, or labelled.

    I mentioned traditions in my last post, and have begun a second Christmas stocking, the first is appropriate for a little girl, this one is more boy themed, the appropriate one will be finished with the name, lining, and tag when I know the information. We are still about 2 months from that reveal. I have asked for a photo of all from that family lined up together when Christmas decorations come out.

    The leaves are beginning to turn yellows, reds, and oranges, only the early trees, but it is a sign of shorter days, cooler weather, and hopefully some rain.

    Haying has begun up here, we expect our fall hay to be cut and baled soon. It looks like it might be a better cut than the spring hay was.

    Try to stay safe and healthy, until next time!

  • Traditions

    When we married almost 49 years ago, I started what would become a tradition. When our first child was expected, I crocheted my husband and soon to be Dad a Christmas stocking and as my old felt childhood one was faded and torn, also crocheted one for me. They say Dad and Mom on them. Our three children each got a crewel work stocking that I did.

    When our daughter had her son she asked me about 6 weeks before Christmas if I was going to make him a stocking. I did, but it was quilted. Then youngest son and his wife were expecting and daughter was expecting her second, and by then I was knitting, so I got to work. He had adopted his wife’s son and they had a daughter as did my daughter, so I knit 3 different stockings that year.

    Between remarriages, adoptions, and more births, we are now grandparents to 12 grandkids and one on the way. Along the way, I knit two for someone basically for cost, something I won’t do again, but I am currently knitting my 15th stocking. The eldest step grandson, we have only met a couple of times, and he doesn’t have one I made, but his sister does.

    I try to have one for the child’s first Christmas in our family. A couple have been their second Christmas, but each one is lined with quilting cotton and has a small cross-stitched tag that reads “Made with love, Mom or Grandmom and the year.” And each one has their name duplicate stitched at the top.

    Each one is different. As I don’t know if the one due before Christmas is a boy or girl, I am making two and will put one away once I know and have a name to add.

    I wish they could all be lined up together for a picture

  • Refreshed and renewed

    Last long weekend, Wednesday through Sunday, was spent at the Blue Ridge YMCA Assembly in Black Mountain, NC with friends I see only once or twice a year for an annual retreat. It started as a yarn spinner’s retreat and has over the years incorporated knitters, crocheters, quilters, weavers, various paper arts, and one spoon carver. There were 27 of us, 24 staying on site and 3 that commuted for the daytime for two of the days. I didn’t even take my spinning wheel this year, just spindles, crochet hooks, knitting needles, some fiber and yarn. One of my friends raises 80 sheep, alpacas, and a llama and she comes loaded with fiber to sell and boxes of jars of homemade jams also to sell. I did indulge in 8 ounces of her lovely fiber for spinning and began on some of it when I finished what I had brought from home. A pair of fingerless mitts were completed, a crocheted hat done, and another pair of mitts begun. There is always lots of chatter, rest, and good meals that I didn’t have to prepare.

    The building in which we stayed right after Helene hit 2 years ago.

    On Monday, I called the lawnmower repair guy who had both our riding mower and our gas push mower for three weeks about when they would be ready. The return call yesterday afternoon said they were and we went to pick them up. Once the riding mower was off the trailer and the trailer stowed back in the barn, I started the riding mower and the blades wouldn’t engage. The front yard was started with the push mower, but between it beginning to rain and the grass having not been mowed in a month, it was not doable. The edging with the line trimmer was started after dinner and the rain had stopped but the battery only lasts about 45 minutes so it wasn’t finished. This morning, a second go at it got me around the house and most of the way around the garden and chickens, but again the battery needed recharging. We loaded the trailer back on the car, loaded the riding mower and returned it to the shop in the rain. If it ever stops, I will finish the edging and our hay guy is going to bring a more substantial mower over and knock the grass back.

    After hardly any rain this spring, we are getting so much now. The fall hay should be much better than the spring hay. The grass is thick and growing tall quickly. Our riding mower couldn’t even handle the lawn at this point.

    Last night, many tomatoes and peppers were harvested and today, the now ripe grapes picked. The tomatoes along with a bag I had frozen are simmering on the stove. They will be canned this evening. The Jalapenos are pickled, and the grapes crushed and covered to ferment into red wine vinegar for the winter. Though the garden is a mess, we will take what we can get. The rain has encouraged the pumpkins and gourds to try to take over, so there will be fall decorations, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin soup.

  • Camp Week

    The third week of July is summer camp week at the museum where I volunteer, usually as the spinner. It is a Revolutionary War era museum in the first fully planned community in what is now Southwest Virginia. The village was 25 lots laid out on the Wilderness Road with each home required to be an 18 by 14 foot log structure. It could have a second floor and a root cellar if desired. It was built on the plantation of Adam Hance. The museum contains 8 original structures plus one reconstructed building on the site of an original building. One of the buildings is a German barn and one a 10 x 10 foot log building that was the original home of Adam Hance built several miles from what became his plantation and later the village of Newbern. About 40-45 years after the original home was built and had been sold, it was deconstructed and moved to the new community to be a slave cabin. Another 10-15 years passed and it was given a second floor and a root cellar and occupied by the enslaved woman named Mary Draper who was an excellent weaver. She lived there with her son. Upon emancipation, her skills were so valued that she continued to live in that home and was then paid for her labor.

    Each summer, the camp covers a different theme. One year it was Revolutionary War, the next was Civil War with a field trip to Cloyd’s Mountain and Ingall’s Ferry site. They have done other wars, one year was about the various settlers that came from Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, and others. This year’s theme is “Beyond the Battlefields” and focusing on other aspects during the Revolutionary war. Day one, I was the lead instructor and we did a session of Herbal Medicine and they learned to make healing salves. This day included some foraging, lessons on being sure of what they were picking and why that was important, why herbal medicine was so important on the frontier, what some wild foods were and again, how to tell them from imposters and why, and culminated in the salve making and they each got to take home tins of two different salves.

    Day 2 , I was back with fiber on the frontier with growing, harvesting, processing, spinning, weaving, and making clothes and other needs for the family, village, and enslaved workers. This culminated in a spinning lesson with each camper being given instruction, a spindle, wool, and cheat sheet to take home at the end of the day.

    Wilderness Road Regional Museum can be found on the web and Facebook and pictures of the museum and activities can be seen there. As a retired educator, this is my dream volunteer work. I love working with the children.

    We continue in a pattern of scorching hot weather with horrendous thunderstorms every few days. Yesterday, it rained hard while we were in the barn with the spinning lessons, and then it cleared, but by the time I was driving home, there were times when it was difficult to see the cars in front of you on the road and our driveway is again full of gullies from the run off. When I got to the top of the driveway, I could see the ditch uphill from our culvert was full to the road level. This suggests the culvert tube is clogged and not allowing water to flow through. It is 20+ years old and not positioned quite right to the edge of the road, so perhaps it needs to be dug out and replaced. There is a limit to my ability to continue to regrade the driveway to make it passable.

    Between rain storms, with dinner prep ongoing and needing a tomato and jalapeno to make pico de gallo, I did a quick harvest. The 9 hens each provided a fresh egg yesterday and the garden the required tomato, pepper, and a basket full of green beans. Some will go to my daughter’s house, some to our son, as I am off tomorrow to a girl’s weekend near him. Some need to be processed for our freezer for winter use. There are more out there needing harvest, but it will have to wait a few more days.

    The pumpkins and gourds are vining out nicely, but the weeds are winning. Maybe next week will be spent in the garden trying to find the vegetables and paths.

  • Challenges

    Though I don’t generally post about my crafting, July is one of the months that my online spindle group, all Jenkins Turkish spindle owners, have a very fun challenge. Each month there is something, such as which style spindle spins the most; spin your favorite color or the Pantone color of the year, etc. In July, to coincide with the Tour de France, we do a Tour de Fleece scavenger hunt. You may choose any Jenkins spindle and the fiber of your choice and each day, the moderator posts an object that you need to find and post a photograph of that item with your spindle which must have more spun fiber on it than the day before. Sometimes the items are easily found in your home such as a mug or a broom. Some require seeking the object from elsewhere, such as a fire hydrant. As the spinners are from all over the world, Netherlands, Israel, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Spain, UK, USA, etc. some of the items become quite interesting such as the fire hydrant.

    The challenge runs every day of the Tour and if you fulfill the requirements for 21 of the 23 days, you are eligible for the prize drawing. Many of the participants donate gift cards, fiber, and the maker of the spindles donates several spindles. Of course there is chatter so in the first 11 days there are already more than 3500 posts in the thread. It is such a fun way to see other countries, other folks spindles, and spinning.

    There have been other challenges. We are in an area that has been in some level of drought for several years. However, the month of July has tried to make up for that in one month. The rain has been relentless, often dumping an inch and a half in less than an hour, other days light rain and mist. The forecase would say it would end in an hour, then two hours, then all day. Today we finally have a clear sunny day that until late this afternoon remained very pleasant, but the heat dome is again decending on us, reaching near 90 today and over 90 for the next few days. By Friday, the rain returns.

    This morning, for the third time in a couple weeks, with the tractor and blade, I regraded the driveway and attempted to cut run off channels to a depression that runs down one side of the driveway and to a culvert that goes under the driveway and down the hill beyond the house. Hopefully, the next few dry, hot days with us driving up and down the drive, we will compact it enough that when the rain resumes, it will not cause ruts and gullies down the length of the drive.

    Over the July 4th weekend, eldest and his two sons cut down a dead pear tree in the orchard and tossed the branches into the upper unused portion of the garden where the burn barrel is located. I need to get out there and burn it as the rain has encouraged the weeds to try to overwhelm the garden. The currently used portion with the raised beds need a good weeding as well.

    I need to hire the local grandson and a couple of his friends to come help me redo the fencing situation around the chicken coop and garden. As much of the garden is unused now, I may wait until the paltry harvest is done and move the raised beds near the asparagus and fence off that area. It may mean moving the healthy blueberries that produced almost no berries this year, giving them a good dose of compost and using them as a wind break outside the fence. There are two old wooden boxes that need to be taken apart and disposed of in the dump. If the help is forthcoming this fall, the area that will be gardened will be covered with cardboard before the boxes are moved and wood chips layed deeply in the paths. The boxes are too close together now so even the line trimmer can’t get between them.

    So, fun challenges, weather challenges, and chores challenges. Such is life. Next week, my challenge will be two days at the museum’s summer camp with about 10 kiddos between 6 and 12 teaching herbal medicine one day and spinning/fiber production/use on the frontier the second day. That should fit the fun challenge category.

  • Heat wave

    Like so much of the world right now, we are experiencing unprecedented heat with heat advisories. We normally take a 2.5 – 3+ mile walk each day, preferring to do it outdoors, but after sweltering through two days this week when the temperature was about 7 degrees cooler than today’s 96f, we chose to go into the local mall. Like many malls, it is sparcely populated with stores anymore with 3 anchor stores, a Planet Fitness, a Children’s Museum, and a remote campus of the local community college holding it together. It is cool on days like today and frequented by many mall walkers. On very cold or icy days, it is also our go to spot. A complete lap is about 1/2 mile, so we can still get our exercise.

    With the heat and dry weather, our hay guy has spent the last 3 days, mowing, teddering, raking, and baling the hay fields we own. Because this region is in a light drought and has been for several years, no one is getting huge amounts of hay. Tommy got 47 five foot bales, not the least ever done during our 20 years here, but certainly light. It is done, the yard was mowed the day he started, so the farm looks neat and in order right now.

    This is definitely a beautiful place to live.

    This is good, because we will have all three of our children, their spouses, and 10 of our grandchildren here for the 4th of July. One son and his family staying with us, daughter and her family live locally, and the other son and his family coming in early Saturday and staying through the fireworks in one of the nearby towns before driving home.

    I don’t usually decorate for the 4th, though it was my Mom’s birthday. She would have been 103 this year. We did purchase some tablecloths, pinwheels, a couple small flags, and two adorable patriotic gnomes. It will be too hot to use outdoor tables, so we will seat everyone indoors for meals. And with 16 to feed, 13 of them breakfast and lunch before the others arrive for dinner, we did break our rule and bought disposable plates, cups, and cutlery. It was that or try to figure out enough plates and doing dishes 3 times in one day.

    They were too cute to pass up at the dollar store.

    Stay safe everyone, heed the heat and the dry conditions. Happy 250th anniversary USA.

  • Wild life mini disasters

    One of the downsides of living on a rural farm is the wildlife seem to become less wild in the daily presence of humans.

    When our children were young and we lived in a coastal surburban area, we would travel to the mountains for a weekend vacation hoping to see deer and an occasional bear. Loved watching the chipmunks scurry under the stone stairs of the cabin. Seeing raccoons, sometimes with a brood in tow peeking over the stone retaining walls along the Parkway.

    Well, they all live here and are much less wary of humans than it seemed they were when we were actively trying to see them. The deer barely look up from eating when we drive down the gravel driveway. The chipmunks dig holes in the deck plants. Food scraps left in the compost pile disappears overnight. And the deer come right up on the patio to eat the sunflower volunteers under the bird feeder, knock over the flower pots on the deck steps looking for something on which to graze. The perenniel sunflowers and daylilies don’t stand a chance. They are planted right up against the house and I haven’t had daylily blooms in years. I don’t think to take before photos of the tipped over pots with potting soil spilled out on the steps. The one this morning is a huge pot up two steps that was sown with wildflower seed and was full of young plants a few inches tall. It has been righted, as much soil and seedlings as could be salvaged scraped up and as of this morning, those pots now have tomato cages with plastic mesh inside to discourage such behavior. The daylily bed has panels of old bent rusty fencing tunneled over the garage side bed to try to get a few blooms this year. It is discouraging to put in the work of planting and caring for beds and pots to have them destroyed within feet of where we live.

    The orchard is their feast, it is across the other side of the vegetable garden seen in the above photo. They are welcome to feasting in the orchard, there is too much fruit for us anyway. The vegetable garden has 4 foot fence with a solar charged electric wire around the top, so the deer stay out of it, but the rabbits flourish. Hopefully with the unused part mowed back, they will be less bold. To get in the garden, they have to go through the chicken tunnel except on the house side. That fence is in very poor shape, so perhaps that side should be refenced with rabbit fencing to block their ingress, however the gate still leaves bunny sized holes around it.

    We love seeing the wildlife that share our farm, but they have 30 acres of grass and woodlands in which to graze. Leave my flowers alone.

  • A slight respite

    Today dawned with a few clouds and a delightful 54 degrees f. The high today only aimed at 74. As I was up early, my garden jeans, an oversized worn out tee shirt, and garden boots were my early attire. The line trimmer fully charged and a pair of garden gloves were grabbed, and off to tackle the vegetable garden so it didn’t keep me in a funk. The paths were trimmed to bare earth where possible, the blueberry bed trimmed, some taller lambs quarters and amaranth pulled, the rest cut as close to the earth as the trimmer would cut. The burn barrel was going to be moved out of the way, but it has burned and rusted through the bottom, so the remaining ash in the bottom will have to be shovelled into big garbage bags and taken with the remains of the barrel to the dump. Maybe, once empty, it can be moved somewhere to continue using the vented sides on a bare spot until it totally gives up.

    After the work with the trimmer, a hoe and hand weeding got most of the beds back in order. And some of the peppers were in better shape than I thought yesterday. After cleaning up and putting the battery for the line trimmer back on the charger, we left to do our daily walk and some errands. The nursery did not have any Jalapenos, but did have Anaheims, so we purchased a small flat of 4 plants. The big box hardware store did have nice potted Jalapenos in 6 inch pots, so two of them were purchased and the bird netting to cover and protect the grapes from the deer. They got all the leaves and grapes last year, this year I want them and plan on winning this battle.

    Once back home, the garden clothes were put back on and the recharged line trimmer was used to beat down the stickweed about to overtake our mailbox and the grass around the culverts that we can’t get with the mower. A few other areas need trimming, but the battery only lasts about 30 minutes. Once it was back on the charger, the peppers we purchased were added to the garden. The two Jalapenos replaced two that were in the worst condition and the 4 Anaheims planted under the trellis that the peas are on. As the peas aren’t doing much, they will be pulled before the peppers need the vertical space. The rest of the hand weeding was done, and though the garden hasn’t proved very successful so far, it least I’m not still intimidated by the tasks that were needed and accomplished on this mild day.

    Tomorrow, we are forcast for another mild day, so maybe some fence work, hanging the netting over the grapes, and putting up a bunny barrier around the peppers can happen in the early part of the day.

    When the weather cooperates, it is a pleasure to get outdoors and work. Once it gets above 85, I don’t want to be outside, and have to force myself to get the daily walk in for my health.