Just garden and sky

A canopy of berries

After our disappointing spring mushroom hunting experience, Bryan and I were overwhelmed by the amount of summer berries we have discovered. There is a local trail within biking distance of our house on which our friend noticed mulberries. I have been passionately hunting wild mulberries since Papa Steve cut down his mulberry tree. While picking a few mulberry bushes on the bike path I noticed raspberry bushes. Upon closer inspection I found the entire path was over grown with black raspberries. If you stopped to look up you discover that you were under a literal canopy of red and black berries. Gleefully we pick two quarts of black raspberries before we tired. It was more then enough to make a batch of jam. Later that week we saw black raspberries selling at the farmers market for five dollars a pint. A forager's savings of $20!

Yes the project is progressing, no i'm not blogging.

We have been avoiding blogging lately. Many improvements have been made. Here are just a few photographs of the garden as of this week.

(post script: these photographs were taken before we received our massive truck load of mulch)

rare sightings

The first defense against pests in a garden is observation. There is apparently great value in the ability to identify that destructive agent. Well after weeks of broken, mashed, squashed, and just plain snapped plants we were able to take these rare photos of the creature who has been destroying the garden.

Recently I have taken up swearing...

Recently I have taken up swearing, along with kicking the tires and all out red faced yelling at our ancient rotor tiller. These antics are usually followed by an exhausted flop into the near by grass where I ponder our decision to grow our own food. After several repairs, and consulting sessions with Papa Steve, I've given up and will be renting a tiller tomorrow from the City. $90 a day is preferable to slowly losing my mind. I'm resting in the hammock today because tomorrow will be a marathon of tilling.

Looking for guests this summer

We were thinking of trying out a residency program this summer but have not cleaned or renovated the studio spaces yet. However, we have finished the guest room and would love to have visitors this summer. Call it an visiting artist position if you like. Come relax, have fresh organic produce, sit by the fire at night and sleep in the hammock. It's pretty quiet out here on the farm. We would love the share our experience with anyone who wanted to stop by. Check out the rough draft of the new residency website and gallery.

Spring Chickens

It was such a lovely spring day that I could not help taking a few new pictures for the blog.