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as I type this..the rain is falling again outside my window. Today has been the most beautiful day here on the farm and then a thunderstorm rolled its way in with the most refreshing rain falling to water my just mowed lawn. I checked on my ducklings before the rain came and I just love watching them in the water..if it comes from above, they happily sit with their faces to the sky and take it in. If only all of us could face the rain the way they do..

Before the storm rolled in, the temperature was a lovely +24 (C), the sun was shining and there wasn’t a breath of wind. I played around in my garden after letting the chickens out and moving the ducklings to their exterior pen then realized I could take my basket for the first time this season and collect food and flowers for our home! It makes me giddy to collect from the garden and the chicken coop and I swear it will never get old. Today I picked up still warm eggs from my ladies in the coop (10 to be exact…a pretty good day!!), lettuce for a lunch salad along with chives and freshly picked green onions. To add to our tablescape, I picked a beautiful Graham Thomas rose, some lilacs, some chive flowers, a stem of salvia and a stem from one of my many blooming columbines. Kind of an unusual bouquet but most definitely beautiful…

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heliotrope1

heliotrope

if you add just one flower to your list this year before heading out to the greenhouse, I would highly recommend you make that flower heliotrope! It is a member of the borage family, its absolutely beautiful and the scent…oh that scent! It makes me close my eyes and sigh every single time I get a whiff of it!

Posted in Farm Garden , farm photography , gardening
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  • Linda - So pretty, but i bet they don’t grow in hot, dry, drought conditions.ReplyCancel

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Garden Planning

This time of year on the farm is extremely busy for all of us as most every farm family is now out in the field sowing the seeds for our 2015 crops. The crop planning began months ago as to what seed we needed and how many acres we would be planting of each. Here in the farm yard, not much is different! After returning home from our Winter vacation in early March, I excitedly planted my first tomato/eggplant/pepper seeds and have been watching them grow steadily ever since. I spent hours pouring over the newest seed catalogues and dreaming up plans for what I wanted to try this year, what failed last year and what I knew I didn’t want to grow again. Going out to my garden to pick fresh produce for my family to eat is probably one of my greatest passions. Seeing something grow from a tiny seed into what it can become in the garden with just a little water and sunshine amazes me every single year.

flis

FLIS April

FLIS April 1

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This year I also broke ground on a new garden space for myself..my 3rd one in just as many years! Last years garden was a complete train wreck, trying to grow fruits and veggies in nutrient poor soil was hard work that yielded very little for our family. So this year I moved spaces and have yet another 3,000 sq ft space of garden to plant at my leisure and I am so excited to see how we grow!

April FLIS

So far my plans for this garden are pretty lofty. I know exactly where I want the flowers and vegetables to grow together and I have a vision of how this space will look in just a few months. At the moment, the English peas have been planted and are coming up quickly as well as the early beets, potatoes and carrots. Can’t wait to see this place take shape!!

flis peashow is your garden planning coming along?

Hop on over to Lisa & Laurie’s sites to see whats happening on their farms this month!

Posted in Farm Life Inspired Series
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  • laurie - beautiful photos dawn – makes me sooo excited for this garden season!!ReplyCancel

  • Linda - Wow can’t wait to see it when everything is planted.ReplyCancel

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Yesterday we woke up to a gentle rain fall on the farm and I think everyone here welcomed it with open arms. Although we are in the middle of seeding and of course want to get done sooner rather than later, we also need the moisture too! My farmer told me the other night he has a sneaking suspicion this year will be fairly dry for us and he is hoping to be wrong. Feeling thankful Mother Nature played along this time and gave us what we were hoping for. Our Saturday was a day of staying around the farm and rest for our men. We have only been at seeding for 2 weeks but those are very long days for them and a little day of rest does wonders to help motivate them for finishing up!! I for one was very happy to be out of the field for a day to spend with my little family. Our son has been staying with his grandma while the rest of us are working in the field and I have never been away from him for 3 days in a row and was missing his sweet little face. Yesterday we slept in a little, we sat and visited over our morning cups of coffee and talked about our plans for the farm, for the farmhouse and dreamt about someday building our dream home. When that was finished, Adam went to visiting with his dad about field work while I baked up a storm in the kitchen to stock up for the lunches coming up. Banana loaf, breakfast muffins, oatmeal whoopee pie cookies…it all smelled so good!! And to top it off I threw a rack of pork ribs in the crock pot to give my farmer a nice, warm home cooked meal..a rarity during seeding/harvest!! To say we enjoyed our rainy Spring day here on the farm would not be an understatement.

Rainy April Saturday

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Posted in farm kitchen , farm life , farm photography
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  • Linda - Dawn, sounds like such a busy time for you all. I have know idea what a whoopee pie cookie is but it sounds yummy and when its not so busy could you please share the slow cooker pork rib recipe.
    ThanksReplyCancel

  • Linda - and oops i think that should be no idea not know ideaReplyCancel

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