our homestead: mid season

1. The first of my sunflowers are starting to open up.
2. A ladybug finds her home on the stalk of a tall sunflower.
3. The vegetable patch.
4. I love my sunflowers.
5. Golden chard and Arabian Nights nasturtiums.
6. Fava bean pods.
7. My free-ranging duck herd.
8. The Blondie.
9. Oswald and the ducklings.
10. My first Brown Turkey fig in the greenhouse.
11. I believe these are a Pink Brandywine/Yellow Pear cross.
12. Resident spiders keep the mosquitoes down in my greenhouse.
13. Big green beauties...waiting to see what color they turn.
14. The majority of our tomatoes appear to be this saucy, Black Prince/Evergreen cross.
15. There's a Cat hiding in here.
16. A basket's worth of harvest with much more to come.
17. Freshly rinsed tomatoes right before grilled sandwiches and preservation.

our homestead: good things from my week

1. Bienenfreund flowers in full bloom. Seeds from Uprising Seeds of Bellingham, WA.
2. Collecting German Chamomile flowers for winter sleepy tea. Seeds from Uprising Seeds.
3. My mystery duckling. Hatched between clutches.
4. Nesting in my palm.
5. Visiting my parents, Flying Tomato Farm, at the Thursday Snohomish Farmers Market.
6. The "Uglies".
7. Flying Tomato Farm offerings.
8. My niece, Sofie, searching for flowers under an old apple tree.
9. This is what summer is all about.
10. Our homegrown raspberries.
11. Making berry soup with Sofie using raspberries and pie cherries from our backyard.
12. The first of our tomatoes: a Pink Brandywine/Black Prince cross.
13. My tomato jungle.
14. Sunflowers growing taller and taller in front of the bird coop.
15. Spyder Munggins in "outer space".
16. Ghosty Cupcakes taking a front porch snooze.
17. Me and my loyal sheppy, Banjo.

trail setters: hanging at the farmers market

I worked a farmers market today for Frog's Song Farm. In between the hustle and bustle, I was able to snap these photos....

My mom (right) and Adrienne (left), my Fairy Godmother 

My mom's homemade soap

My family's Flying Tomato Farm tomatoes

Flying Tomato Farm Garlic Scapes

Wild morel mushrooms at the Frog's Song Farm stand

The first of the strawberries at the Frog's Song Farm stand

Rhubarb at the Frog's Song Farm stand

Little baby beets at the Frog's Song Farm stand

our homestead: garden growth updates

Here's a collection of photos I took of my garden today to document growth.

Our little vegetable garden

The lower potato patch

Potatoes

Arugula

Peas reaching up

Golden chard and 'arabian nights' nasturtiums

'Painted Mountain' corn starting to peek out

I've started digging beds for my heirloom sunflowers

Tomatoes growing taller and taller

Check this out! Way earlier than last year!

Some of the plants are up to my hip in height

'Painted Mountain' corn I'm growing in pots to either transplant or to sell at the market