Thursday, May 07, 2015

the farmette

Today I divided and moved hostas, yarrow, ferns and anemonie.  I planted probably three dozen perennials, some purchased just this morning from the two perennial ladies in Verona. I dug up 5.8 ton of weeds and quack grasses (rough estimate). We cleared the grape garden and put in the cucumbers. Ed built support structures for two of my biggest flowers. I clipped spent daffodils and I pruned back (severely) any and all lavender, giving it a chance to establish new branches. I moved many loads of wood chips. Ed picked asparagus from the wild clumps that grow, well, in many strange places (our planned asparagus bed is in its second year, so we must let the asparagus there go to seed). I dug up invasive vines. I promised myself that I am done, done, done with the flower field that abuts the brick path leading to the farmhouse door. I pulled out maybe 500 seedlings from underneath the crab (birds eat the apples and leave the seeds behind...), listening to the buzz of 600 bees working the blooms. We found a frog in the car and had to tote it on our shopping trip, then back again, to the yard. It hid in my newly purchased iris. I cut some white lilac for the kitchen and late, very late, I rode with Ed on his motorbike to the first of the season local farmers market, where we exchanged our eggs for cheese curd and bought more asparagus.

I thought, during that ride, how much I love the farmette and the work that it requires. The warm, really warm air blew in strong, beautiful gusts past us and I wondered if it's possible to be more at peace with a day.



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Scotch comes early to ask -- are you up yet?




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the man and his rooster




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breakfast on the porch!




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Are you digging? Worms! We're on our way!




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Our crabs have exploded with blooms!




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In the old orchard, at this time of the year, even the violets and dandelions look great!




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working along the brick path




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waiting (as always) for me to pick out my perennials




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the frog that traveled with us




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one of my favorite end of day tasks: surveying the day's work