Andrew's Going-Away Party

Well, nobody likes to say "goodbye for now" to a good friend, but everyone's favorite Aussie, Andrew, is headed back down under.

People came from miles around - as usual, Jason and Neely had the longest trip :) - to BBQ, eat, drink, and be merry. Somehow, the crazy late-season rain broke, and the sun stuck around all weekend!

We're all wishing Andrew a good trip, and speedy attainment of his goals, hopes and dreams. Now it's time to start saving for the big visit...

Only part of the big group - the day after the party. Lots of Andrew's martial arts buddies and families made it, and camped out. It was great to finally meet them!

Awww, aren't the Hart family adorable?

Jacoby made godfather Andrew an offer he couldn't refuse: "hold me"!

Hmmm - Neely should be scared, because I look totally insane...

Stop the Press:Farm Dog tries to Make Self Useful

Since this is totally inappropriate for our farming blog, I figured I'd put it here. We've been working really hard to get everything ready for growing for the farmer's market this summer. Matt's been working away on the big greenhouse, and prepping an area for the second 2600 gallon rainwater catchment/irrigation tank. I've been preparing beds, and trying to get rid of the gophers before they start breeding in the spring. But finally, Sammy managed to catch... a baby mouse?

I was sitting on a small junk pile next to the greenhouse, taking a break (and some photos) while Matt worked. Sammy was staring into the vegetation, and there was a persistent alarmed squeaking. When I got up to locate it, Sammy stuck his nose into the scrap lumber and came up with a baby mouse, which he just held in his mouth without seeming to know what to do. I easily got him to drop it, then we all stood there for awhile, deciding what to do. Matt was the first to suggest clemency; Sammy and I agreed, and Matt scoooped it up and put it back into under the scrap heap next to its sibling. We're sure that frantically squeaking mama mouse was relieved!

Below: Sammy after a really hard day helping Dad. Yes, we notice the similarity between the infant mouse and our lazy dog. :-)

Welcome, Jacoby

We are happy to congratulate Neely and Jason on the birth of their first child, Jacoby Parker Hart. We were able to talk to Jason, and by all accounts, everyone is doing well. Neely's sister Julie is there and sent out an announcement via e-mail soon after. And we know Andrew will be a proud and wonderful godfather.

Best wishes for a long, happy and healthy life, Jacoby!

Big changes

Hey everybody! It's far enough into 2010 that we should have all stopped writing 2009 on our checks, right? We know it has been a long time since our last post, and we apologize. Rest assured that it's not because we haven't been busy!

I'll let you in on the biggest news first: soon, our farm-related blogging will be at a different location. We've been selected as one of four new farms to partipate in Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply's "Freshman Farmer" program. We'll be blogging, and posting pictures and video on their site. This is the third year of the program, and we are very excited to have been chosen! Our blog site will be http://www.freshmanfarmer.com/driftwood/. You can also find a link on Peaceful Valley's home page. We'll still post family and personal things here.

Other than that, we've been soaking up the rain, and enjoying the occasional hail storm:

Matt has been making leaps and bounds on the big greenhouse, and has added a wind/privacy screen on the northwest corner.



And we're still enjoying watching our resident great blue heron.

The Backyard

We are so happy to finally have what feels like a real back yard. Matt finished the main fence some time ago, and recently designed and installed a short "spur" of privacy fence in the spot where the view of passing cars was directed into the area behind the house. From the end of that, to the beginning of Sammy's yard, we put up wire fencing to keep the deer away from our plantings. We were finally able to remove the ugly cages protecting the plants, so we can now enjoy them even more... with more privacy from passers-by.

Before:

(This is when the first fence was in progress. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures from the best angle at that time. But the shrubs in their cages give you some perspective.)

Recently:

Now:

Happy 2010

(Our Christmas tree was a live, locally native shore pine, which will soon be part of the landscape...)

Wow, time sure has flown! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. After enduring an operating system upgrade - performed by me (a not-particularly-techy person) - our computer is up and running again. Here's what else we have been up to:

My mom was up for Christmas, and among other things, helped us prep for and install a 2600 gallon water tank for rain catchment (mostly for supplementing our well for irrigation). Matt replaced the rain gutter along the back of the garage, and installed fittings on the tank so we can run a hose from it when necessary.


Matt has also been hard at work converting the old car canopy into a 10x20 foot greenhouse. He's making great strides, and we can hardly wait to fill it with starts, as well as propagating native plants for landscaping the property.


Meanwhile, I was busy planting the 10 new bare-root fruit trees we ordered (we saw a great deal and couldn't pass it up). I've gotten nine in so far, and have one last one to finish (I'll update the list soon! But there are more apples, pears, and plums, as well as Asian pears and one cherry - which to be honest is borderline). I made gopher baskets out of chicken wire for each tree to protect their roots from the voracious rodents, which truly - for each tree - took far longer than the digging, amending, planting and watering that followed! But I know it will be well worth it.


And the chickens have been happily laying eggs - probably 7 or 8 are laying now and we are poised to start selling eggs to co-workers. Mostly they lay where they're supposed to, but a few are turning up in odd places...

Hope this year is shaping up to be what you are hoping for...

Two types of dogs

When previously looking up skunk spray removal remedies, I came across a saying. With regard to skunks, "there are two types of dogs: those that learn the first time, and those that never learn." Unfortunately for us, dear Sammy is a never-learner. The other night (on his evening walk with Matt) was his 3rd (or 4th?) encounter - a direct hit - leading to a hurried peroxide/dish soap/baking soda bath at 10 pm, a night sleeping in the garage (Sammy - not Matt), and then a full bath the next day. What's not to learn?

Our sunny weather had departed before that - and we are very glad for the rain. What we are not glad for is a constantly damp, mildly skunk-smelling dog wanting to roll on the carpet!

I've planted cover crops in the empty rows, and am planning on prepping more (especially since the seeds have finally started germinating. The flocks of migrating birds we see every morning are a joy, except when you suspect they are stealing all the seeds!) But the weather is not cooperating... and to be honest, I'm not complaining. I'll post some outside pictures when the weather clears a bit.

Hope everyone is all prepared for Christmas!

What season is it?

Today was an unexpectedly beautiful and almost warm day - especially appreciated after last week's several nights of frosts and hard freezes, and yesterday's rain! So, it probably comes as no surprise that we spent most of the daylight hours outside. I worked in the garden, digging and amending planting holes for some blueberry plants we have ordered (we're going to try out 3 varieties - 2 plants each - to see what does best here). Matt was busy out in Santa's workshop... but no pictures of that! We wouldn't want to spoil any surprises. :)

The animals were happy to frolic in their little pasture, probably thinking it's spring. Oh - and, a single chicken has begun laying. We had actually assumed none would start laying until spring, but we've had small pullet eggs for 4 days, and we've seen one of the black hens in a nest box.

Hardly Strictly Baby Festival

On Saturday, we had the pleasure of going to a celebration for Neely and Jason's baby-on-the-way. They were quite clear that it was not a baby shower. On the calendar, I wrote "Hart baby fest." I'm sure Jason would not object to Baby-palooza. :) Whatever you call it, we had a great time. Luckily, Matt took lots of great pictures.

The serious business of the day was tie-dying "onesies" for the tyke. Fortunately, the largest size was for a 12-month old, preventing potential scenes in the future ("I don't care that you're in 8th grade - your aunt Julie made that shirt for you and you are wearing it to the dance!") But we won't be surprised if the child grows up with an unexplainable affinity for the 1960s...






When we weren't splashing around in the dye, we were free to chat, eat, drink and be merry.

And admire the cutest cake ever...
(The writing on the front reads, "May the forest be with you.")

In three words or less

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We did.
It's been a long time since our last post. In the interest of time (yours and ours!) today's captions will be short.

What has been going on?

Mischief

More mischief

Firewood

Greenhouse construction: start

Migration: American robin

Migration: Killdeer


Sugar snap peas

Garlic

More to come...