In which things are growing and getting pretty, (except the Eleanors)

It's looks like a real farm!

Blue sky over Haiku Farm

Here's what is absolutely astonishing to me about the picture (above): almost everything in it has been added or changed since we moved to Haiku Farm.

Out in the distance:  horse, goats...and a fence!  Closer in: barn, chicken tractor, and Pickle's tree.  Up close, the garden and the chickens' Winter Palace.  All that stuff, we brought here.  Amazing.

The garden has seen an astonishing transformation.  Back in the spring of 2009, our neighbor Herb came over with a rototiller, and stirred under a big patch of the back yard.  We didn't have time, that year, to amend the soil or add organic matter and fertilizer.  The lack of preparation really showed:  the "soil" was poor and gravelly, and the "crops" were pathetic.

We found these compost bins in pieces under a tree when we moved here.
 Will and I reassembled them.

Fast-forward to 2013:  we have REAL DIRT now!

The garden soil is now more than 12" deep--my shovel no longer hits the old layer of gravel on the first "shove."  The soil is a combination of rotted leaves from the landscaping trees and the orchard,

Plum tree, cherry trees, apple trees, pear tree

plus years of stall cleanings and garden scraps and compost. The chickens live in the garden during the winter, and spend the colder months sorting and sifting through all the vegetation and organic matter we throw in there during the warmer months--adding their own special fertilizer to the mix.

The result is garden soil to make a farmer proud.

The tomato bed.  I don't go here.

This year I've planted potatoes and peas, spinach, carrots, beans, cucumbers, zucchini (of course) butternut squash, pumpkins, and GIANT pumpkins.

As usual,

See the pretty tomato plant?  This is as close as I get.

Jim planted the tomatoes.  It's been demonstrated scientifically, in a double-blind experiment, that any year in which I plant tomatoes, it rains all summer.  I'm not messing around anymore.

My contribution to combating climate change:  I refuse to plant tomatoes.

But I'll tend the rest of the farm

Pretty floofs, here to help.

...with a little help from my friends, of course.

Strawberries continue to spread through the upper garden

The herb bed is a little weedy, but pretty!

I've never had rhubarb "bolt" like this before!

Speaking of helpers, can somebody convince Luna not to eat bees? At least it makes a pretty picture when she does it.

Luna poses for the camera beside Pickle's tree
and the bee-attracting lavender and rosemary plants

And speaking of "pretty," look who isn't:

Eleanor GothGirlz, complete with ragged outfits and piercings.
It's not a good look.

The Eleanors are almost a month old, and have halfway grown feathers.  Soon they will be pretty little hens...but not yet.

Ah well.

It's still good.