Summer is Here

Friday night we saw our first firefly and the roses burst into bloom yesterday morning. That means Summer has begun on Stratheden Farm! Our seasons seem to lag about 3 weeks behind our friends on the other side of the Ridge, two weeks behind the town of Floyd, and one week behind our neighbors up on the road, so it seems reasonable to be nearly a month late for the official start of summer. (May Day)

This week I got the first plants into the ground. Potatoes and pumpkins. Don't get on me about being late on the spuds. The neighbors lost all their head start in the recent frost. Plant death everywhere!

The Kenebeck potatoes went into bushel baskets lined with black trash bags. I read that you're not supposed to plant potatoes in the same place year to year and the companion planting guides all say not to put them next to much of anything... bit of a dielemma there. Then I read that potatos also want super acidic soil... so the multiple "problems" are all solved in one neat manuever. Oh, and there's no digging in the rain this way. Just dump and grab at harvest time!

Since we're building a raised bed garden in stages I'll use the potato soil to begin a strawberry patch this autumn. They like it acidic too! We have a few strawberry plants in the walled garden but certainly not enough to preserve so I'd like to establish a big bed of them in the vegetable garden.



The pumpkins are a variety we purchased from Native Seeds / SEARCH who collected them from Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. Yes, we are renegade gardeners from the get-go. I started thinking this decision through AFTER we had four beautiful seedlings in the greenhouse. These pumpkins are not going to want ultra rich, moist soil for best flavor and keeping qualities. What the heck would they be growing in up on that mesa? Much tapping of head.... sand banks! I ran this by Mr. Fuzzy and he thought it worth a try as it certainly would be true of an old Hopi garden. Happy for us, we have an ugly little sand pit in the dwarf apple orchard. The siting is even decent with lots of afternoon sun.

So, two wheelbarrow loads of pure, stain-your-clothes, black compost and a few minutes with a shovel later we hade a hopefully decent bed prepared. At planting, I added some MoleMax (to deter burrowing beasties) and some mychorezial fungi to the hole. The planting was finished with four bamboo stakes and a length of string: the standard method of keeping the deer out around here. I may add some tepary beans to the same planting as they are another desert variety.

I promise some pictures soon. I just uncovered my camera last night... it got buried in one of our unpacking frenzies and the battery is as dead as my neighbor's garden.

in the fog

Mr. Fuzzy reveled in the glories of the Fife fogs and haars. He had never been so fortunate to live in a place so blessed. "Little Fife," more commonly known as Floyd County, has done its best to produce fine fogs that are most reminiscent of the Fife coast.

A couple of days ago there was a marvelous fog that formed in the night (a common pattern here) and laid until the sun finally burned through about noon. After completeing some morning duties, Mr. Fuzzy took a leisurely amble down the county road and took these photographs. There's no story, just enjoy the images, if you will. Remember that you can click on the image to enlarge it, should you so desire.

weather redux

Yesterday the grip of winter refused to release us- it was 35F at sunrise and spitting snow. Oh, and did I mention gusts of 20 mph? Mrs. Fuzzy had thought she had laundered my flannel shirts for the last time. Surprise! We just love the variability of the weather in the mountains, really, it is so dynamic and stimulating. Today the forecast is for 67F and for the weekend, 83F both days. It appears that we leapt from winter to summer in about five days. Time to visit Slaughter's Nursery and pick up the Witch Hazel I've had on hold.










Despite the weather yesterday, the native trees on the farm are finally breaking dormancy. There is a fresh, vibrant, visually tasty green bedecking on the forest canopy. There are all sorts of "weeds" popping up, some already blooming, probably all with useful value to someone skilled enough to know the traditions...

The kitties were a week old on Tuesday and have exactly doubled in weight. So far, Girlie and her five babies are all healthy and we pray they stay so. Bluebeard, whose lungs are developed far beyond his siblings, is also ahead on another feature- he is opening his eyes well ahead of the rest; I hope that is not a cause for concern. Girlie moved them yesterday from the box to under our bed. We have no idea what that signals. Guess we aren't as smart as cats.

Life is renewing itself all over the farm. Let us be thankful.

Spring IS here - really this time!

Yes, there's more going on at Stratheden than the felines. Mr. Fuzzy has been busy seeding fescue, rye and red clover to improve the pasture... and working on erosion control upon embankments along the driveway. Mrs. Fuzzy is spending hours every day in the little greenhouse with her seedlings. Together they are building cedar 3 x 8 foot raised beds for the main garden.

Here at the farm, we're on a high spot; the spine of the Blue Ridge mountains is less than six miles away. This cooler, higher air has delayed the emergence of plant life when compared to either town or the Shenandoah Valley. At the farm's elevation, plants are running two to four weeks behind the Valley. However, Spring is here at last, no teasing this time... although the native trees are being very coy about showing their blooms and leaves. The pastures have greened wonderfully over the last three weeks.

Our peach tree has finally blown into bloom (see below); maybe we'll have lots of peaches with some luck. The apple trees are not far behind and are leafing out. The tulips began blooming last Sunday, which was a really beautiful warm and sunny day. Today has been sunny and still, hovering around 60F, tomorrow may be ten degrees warmer (21C).