if it bares fruit...

I didn't think the cucumbers would do much. They had very few leaves... but suddenly they are blowin' up with flowers.

Peppers!! Green Bell and Red Chilies.

Cutting and sharing the very first strawberry!

OK. Let's discuss tomatoes. Are they supposed to be over 5 feet tall? Because mine are... I'm about 5'9" and as you can see, one of the plants is almost as tall as me! I think they are on steroids. Hopefully they'll have some mojo leftover to bare fruit!

co-gardening

I recently dug up the avocado seed to discover it had cracked open and put a root down. I buried it again and instantly began to anticipate the day I would see green growth. I was very surprised to see green stuff the very next day - but it was coming from an odd area in the pot and has several shoots and I was perplexed. Later I found the same green growth in the Spearmint and then in the pot of beans.

The beans! Finally it clicked. This green stuff was not avocado, nor mint, nor bean. This was a new, different crop - one that I had NOT planted myself!

These things were coming from some kind of seed buried by that varmint chipmunk that has been skulking around these parts!!

It's funny because I see him (or one like him) running around on the ground with big mouthfuls of stuff. I guess some of those mouthfuls ended up in my pots. When I dug the green stuff up it revealed clusters of what look like small sunflower seeds. I think he gets them from the local bird feeders.

It's also funny to think of him coming back to his past burial sites for a snack only to find that plants have grown up from his stash.

Anyway, if I was a real farmer this would probably be troublesome and require pest-control but I quite enjoy my pests.

LATE EDIT:

The question is quickly becoming, "Where HASN'T that chipmunk buried seeds?!?" Several more deposits have sprouted overnight!!

photo diary

These were taken on Saturday - which was basically a perfectly relaxing day...

The first strawberry, almost ready. We have a date to eat it on Wednesday.

Gnome's crop of chives looking good.

The biggest tomato so far.

My vantage point: "Ahhhh..." (sips on a beer)

Another angle: "Awww..." (pukes in own mouth just a little bit)

(wonders after typing that last line, "how did I get so lucky in love with such unromantic views?!")

Thrifted glass items, both with "couples" in them. (I guess I'm a little bit romantic after all....)

A new improvement on the hummingbird feeder. Added a little bowl up top (drilled a hole through it and sealed the hole with "Shoo Goo" for lack of caulking), filled it with water to catch and drown the ants that have been taking advantage of the nectar.

You been scavenging long?

As soon as I took this picture of these turkey vultures the Husband and I both thought of the classic "You been farming long?" poster.

So I had to pay homage... and since this is a farm blog, it seemed like a good place to pay it.

Varmint!

Apparently setting up a mini-farm (or a "farmagery" as I like to call it when I'm feeling French-ish) on your balcony qualifies you as an official part of "nature". The concrete space you are used to sharing with only one person and two cats may become home to many other creatures. You might as well put out small, wildlife-sized welcome mats.

It appears that the chipmunk-friend I blogged about earlier has taken up residence here. Just before I snapped these pictures I spotted him burying something in the beans! He proceeded to investigate every other pot on the porch to see if they were suitable for burying things in.

I had to apologize to the cats after this because I'd previously accused them of digging in the Spearmint. My bad. Sorry cats.

farm update

The livestock are doing their usual thing: being lazy and cute.

I scored the wooden shoes at a thrift store for 3 bucks! I thought about planting something in them but instead I plant my feet in them while I eat breakfast - because the concrete is still cold in the morning.

Everything has gotten BIG. It's becoming a jungle out there. The tomatoes have little flowers - Yay! The peppers have some aphids - Drat!

Rainbow Swiss Chard - all the stems are different colours.

The Towering Peas.

In the foreground, store-bought Cilantro. In the background, homegrown-from-seed Cilantro. I'm trying to show it how it's supposed to look. Such a straggler! Get a job Cilantro!!

The next picture is NOT on the balcony! This is the deer that has taken up residence at Husband's parents' farmhouse. This is through glass on a gloomy day this past weekend.

I also hung out with some old farmers on the weekend. It was Husband's Dad's 40th class reunion from Agricultural College. Below is a choice cut from their class picture.

I'm not sure if J. Posthumus or "Puttin'-on-D. Ritz" were there but I did spot Creed (C. Reed).

That is all for now.

Humdingers!!

We are seeing our hummingbird-friend with some regularity now - usually in the morning. Yesterday he even came while I was on the balcony, bustling around and watering the plants!

I'm so addicted to these little guys that, even though I'm not that into flowers (well, I mean, I like flowers but have been concentrating on edible things for the balcony), I went and bought a hanging Petunia to bait, I mean "attract" the birds to my lair.

Your welcome hummingbirds!

Evolution of a Garden Gnome

I'd been wanting a Garden Gnome for the farm but couldn't bring myself to pay twenty bucks or more for a new one. Also, all the gnomes I saw were either ugly or way too big for our petite-farmagery.

Finally, one day at Value Village, this little guy spotted me and tried to worm his way into my heart.

He actually looks really sweet in this "before picture" but I assure you, he wasn't that cute in real life - at least not to my eyeballs. This is just good lighting.

I was going to walk on by without a second glance but he was a smooth operator: telling me all about how his small stature worked to his advantage; how he was functional, not simply decorative (coming with his own little pot and all); how he could change for the right woman; and how he thought we had relationship-potential together... so, having been sufficiently wooed, I picked him up (or he picked me up?) and I took him home.

Really, how could I resist his come-hither demeanor?

True to his word, his was OK with a little bit of change. I was going to give him a bright red hat but he said that was "going too far". He said, "Baby steps Baby... slow down Baby... maybe sometime down the road... Baby." (See? I told you he was smooth!)

So far our acquaintance has proven very fertile. We drilled a hole in his pot and we're growing some chives. I think we're going to be very happy together.