June Chronicles

Summer has settled into the farm. The nights are warm, the fireflies are filling the sky with hundreds of mini blinking lights, and the bullfrogs sing us to sleep each night. Yesterday I came home and went to check on the garden. The peas are towering over my head now, and some of them fell over though I am not sure if it is from the weight of the peas or the thunderstorm that blew through. Note to self: next year plant peas along fence, and space them further apart. Also remember to sneak out in the middle of the night, pick, shell and freeze peas before the kids get into the garden, otherwise there will be no peas for winter. End of note to self.
Josh cut down the pea vines that had broken and put them in a large pile after he cut all the peas off. I headed up the hill to feed Gandalf (actually his name is Ralph, but he LOOKS like a Gandalf) the peas. I love the smell of goats, and I sat there and held the vines as he ate them. I love the munch munch munch sound he makes as he eats, and the fact that he burps after ever bite gives me a good chuckle! When I was done I went back into the garden. The garden is my sanctuary, and I spend time there every day. I find myself watching insects for long periods of time. I just can't get enough of insects. I love to photograph them, and study their behavior. Hoverflies are my favorite. They look like a bee, but have the eyes of a fly. They are very small and their wings have the colors of the rainbow in them if the sun hits them just right. They also happen to prey upon aphids and leaf hoppers, so they are one of the many bugs that you want to have in your garden.
Yesterday I walked in and looked at the hollyhocks that greet me by the garden gate and I found a large crab spider tucked inbetween the unopened blossoms. Note to self: you really need to get a good camera, that would have made a perfect picture! End of note to self.
After walking around, pulling weeds and yes, even I eat some peas, I walk around the orchard to look at the trees. The peach trees have so many peaches on them that some of the branches are bowing to the ground. If I learn how to can peaches this year, I will have peaches all winter long. The apples and pears are coming along nicely and the cherries are gone. The birds ate half, the children ate half but somehow I still managed to get a few.
The warm weather has also brought another sort of production this year in the form of broody farm animals. Right now we have a goose on 4 eggs, a duck on 15 or more eggs and three chickens on over 20 eggs! If all goes well, in a few weeks I will have to change the name of my farm to "The Great Peeping Farm" because babies walk around going "PEEP! PEEP! PEEP!" as loud as they can. Well I am off to try to find a book titled "How to Keep Geese From Sleeping on Your Patio". More Chronicles of Farmia to come.