runners

We used to run around the track and the neighborhood.

Then we moved and started farming fulltime. A 7 day a week thing, with livestock, vegetables, markets, deliveries.

Our runners now are a different thing.

These beans bloom red. The hummingbirds love them!

They don't mind cold temperatures. Word is that native Americans grew them.

No beans yet. Flowers first, and pollinators, then beans. And these beans are great as string beans. Or a little larger as fresh beans out of the pod. Or dried and used in the wintertime to fill a pot and add a delicious bit to a meal.

blueberries

4 years ago we purchased bare root blueberry plants. They arrived in two boxes and each bush was just a small set of roots and one or two twigs growing up from that.

We dug holes and added what was advised. Each year we've been able to pick blueberries and have them to eat fresh for weeks. We've had to pick elsewhere to freeze enough to last for the year. The mornings we have oatmeal we put frozen blueberries directly in the pot with water, oats and salt. As the oats cook the blueberries do too, and the result is a warm lovely breakfast concoction. Frozen blueberries can go straight into any baked good too, or a pancake. Everything cooks together.

The section of the farm were the blueberries are located is set apart from our paddocks. It gets overlooked, and has gotten overgrown. Homer has been working at clearing it out.

We purchased a ratchet pruner. With long handles and a ratchet head, he could clip off the tree saplings that have grown on the field.

We have learned that while we are busy farming, weeds and trees will grow where they are not wanted. So plastic weed barrier goes down to keep the blueberry bushes clear.

All for this. Each of those flowers will yield a blueberry. There are 20 bushes of 3 different varieties. An early blooming, a mid season blooming and a late season blooming. Each bush has berries that ripen for about two weeks, and with the 3 types of berries we can pick for 6-7 weeks and have fresh berries.

It is likely we will need to pick at other farms for our freezer stock, but as the bushes continue to grow and produce more we will be able to harvest enough here for us to stockpile for a year, until fresh again. So. Good.

apple cider vinegar

There are apple trees here in the farm. They were planted by previous owners, and grow a little wild. We live our tiny orchard that grows ugly fruit.

We eat our apples. And then we also do this:

Apple cider vinegar.

Chopped up apples and skins. We never spray our trees with anything, so after a wash to remove dirt they get packed into these barrels.

We add water and a bit of already apple cider vinegar to the barrel.

It sits for months until it no longer bubbles or smells like alcohol.

4 gallons total this year! And gluten free, so I don't get dizzy when we use it. Salad dressing, over cucumbers, brighten up tomato sauce. So delicious even as a quick shot.

in the woods

On the far side of the property, past the apple trees and the bramble maze, is a small woods with and old stacked stone wall.

It was filled with all sorts of things when we moved here. We keep clearing stuff out and uncovering more. Its like an agricultural archeological dig. As we remove layers older stuff is unearthed.

At this time of year all the moss is visible on the rocks.

And the may apples too.

Spring is here!