Autumn Mussings

Even though is it only November I can feel autumn slipping away.  

We have enjoyed some beautiful weather this week but I know it won't last forever.  

Tyler got a jump on winter building a "stone" snow man.

We had a terrific pumpkin and mums season and decided - we need to grow more mums next year. 

Our little ladies are teens agers now and giving us a couple dozen eggs a week.   yum. 

Greenhouses are almost buttoned down for winter and we've got a good start on our wood supply. 

Started some lettuce, swiss chard and basil today. 

On The Farm

Today a family member was posting old photos to her facebook page. 

What a pleasant surprise to see these old photos of the farm.  

The gentlemen in the driver's seat is Edward Sr.  

That's their house behind them. 

And here is Ed's wife Freida.  

You can see the milk processing plant to the right 

and Clark Mills Road directly behind her .

Why the ChickHEN really crossed the road

And we know this is true - Our own henny penny despite her age of 10 years plus would pop out an egg or two every so often.  Unfortunately,  she meet with a demise this past summer when hurricane winds swept her away to the big ole chickHEN heaven in the sky.  This is in tribute to our dear Miss HP.

pumpkins and mums - autumn is here

The mums have turned out quite lovely.  We have a wide range of colors and varieties just waiting to make you home look like autumn.  

Just a sample of our mums and pumpkins.  We also have corn stalks for your decorating needs.
Stop in or call for to make sure were here.

Water Shield

Water shield is a perennial plant with relatively small, floating oval to elliptical leaves (to 5 inches in diameter) with no slit. Water shield has a distinctive gelatinous slime on the underside of the leaves and coating the stems. Leaves are green above while the underside of leaves and stems are reddish-purple. Stems attach at the center of the leaves. Flowers are small (9 1/2 to 3/4 inch), rise above the surface, are dull-reddish in color and consist of 3 to 4 sepals and petals. Water shield tends to be found in soft, acidic waters and can form large colonies.

Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc.). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called “detritus”) for many aquatic invertebrates. Water shield seeds are consumed by ducks and other waterfowl while the roots and stems are consumed by muskrats and nutria.

I just love bugs...

Summer means bugs and killing jars.  I have been intrigued with them since I took a summer enrichment program in 5th grade.  That was when I made my first bug collection.  When my children were in school collecting insects was required for science class and then again in college where our collections seemed to get really large.  When I mentioned this to a friend she dutifully brought me a very large bug - a June bug who of course didn't realize it was July.  

Now, this is what I call a big bug, at least for New York State.  

And the only thing cooler, is the grub form.  We would find these in rotting trees and sometimes in the ground around the farm.  They are similar to the cycling of japanese beetles.

An organic method can be had by applying insect parasitic "nematodes They're available in some garden centers or online. These microscopic worms burrow into the grubs, reproduce and spread a bacteria that kills the grubs; if you must know the "hows." Results vary and a second application may be necessary. Be sure to water before and after if you use nematodes.

To fight them chemically you can find grub killer in your local garden center but I prefer not to go that root. 

To keep them at bay, hand pick the June bugs whenever you see them active. Dump them in a bucket of soapy water. Encourage birds and toads, if you can support these natural predators.

If you hang out traps you may just end up essentially inviting all the beetles in the neighborhood over for a feast.  We don't recommend that at all.  Of course if your neighbors use the trap method that would be ok cause they'd be over there dinning. 

The Potting of the MUMS

 The potting of the MUMS and mum even helped. 

First, you start with a no rain allowed day.  

Then you put up two tent canopy ez ups just in case. 

You need lots of soil.

And of course, pots.

Can't forget the wee little plantlets.

Canopies in place, workers in place, soil in bin, ok lets go. 

Here's mum checking out the progress.

Can you believe she is 83 and still can put in a hard days work.

 More mums waiting to be potted up. 

 And here they are all lined up by variety.  

And the groups just keep growing.  Especially like their system for keeping the pots at the same distance.

 Doug with his mum.  Almost finished.

And here is Willy and his Columbian mum.  Willy is our summer helper and a terrific worker and friend.  His mom came to pick him up after work and got in on the act.  Thanks Maria. 

Photographer James forgot to get a shot of Willy so this was Willy last night at rehearsal.  

Planting Big Time

Douglas, John and James took on the overwhelming jobs of replanting 7 cedar trees.  Sounds easy but these trees were 7' tall. 

Removing tree stumps.

Rearranging soil.

Two in place - five more to go.

John backfilling.

John in "training".  These are the legs that will be doing the boilermaker in a few weeks.

James - manning the controls and calling the shots.

 It's a thumbs up.  

Getting ready to put three #3 in place.

Fitting the loop over the back hoe teeth.

And now to pull it into place. 

My love of lawn mowing...

I do believe I have perfected the art of mowing our overgrown lawn.  It seems it just grows faster than I can mow it.  That and all the rain we had this year.  Today, as I finished up my mowing I realized I didn't get stuck once. Now if I could just remember where the holes & roots are. 

 Lawn mowing and me go back to the 50's.  Our first lawn mower was so "green" and even today I can remember the sound it would make as it went back and forth on the lawn.

 But it was soon relegated to our summer camp (Tom Kettle Lake), 

where my sister and I would get the job of mowing the little patch of "lawn".

 Today, that little mower has a a unique and honorable
 resting place.  Leaning against the wall of our store.

And this is what replaced that trusty, green, no gas needed lawn mower.  

Sitting in our garage waiting for it's weekly chore. 

I loved mowing the lawn but we had a poodle who made
the grass in the back yard very very lush. 

If we didn't keep up the weekly back yard mowing it would become a nightmare trying to get that mower through it without it stalling.  I become quite adept at lifting the front of the mower when ever I heard that tell tale sound of shutting off because it was easier than pulling that cord multiply time.

Over the years those push mowers were replaced, at my moms, where my boys
took over mowing for her, to the homes I had after getting married.  Who would have guessed that one day I would make a living mowing lawns for the government: first with John and then James and then Joshua, we would travel throughout Oneida County maintaining the lawns of repossessed houses.

And this was a good lawn compared to some we used to get.

Now, my lawn mowing is curtailed to my yard.  And we have a beautiful Ferris mower
that makes it so easy.  If I had to mow "the manor" by push mower it would be an
 8 hour a day job 5 days a week.

 

Now, I can get it all mowed in just a weekend and that includes mowing around the trees, the berry bushes, the gardens, the tree roots, the rocks, the fallen apple tree branches.......

AND I LOVE IT.

In Pacific islands, such as Guam and Hawaii, they have plants called sleeping grass.  

They have thorns when they close up.

I came across this photo and it did give me a giggle.  Of course,  being the horticulturist I am I needed to find out just what sleeping grass.  AND, it is the sensitive plant that we would grow in the greenhouse back in the 70's when I would for Cerri Flowers. Never thought of calling it sleeping grass. 

 It would close up when ever it was touched.  

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It's a Strawberry Moon

I love the moon in all of its stages but I am especially fond of full moons.  In fact, I love sunsets better than sunrises and falls better than springs and yes, I am a night owl and not a noisy morning goldfinch.  
Tonights full moon awed my whole family as they one by one came into the house and the first thing out of their mouths was "Have you seen the moon?" Duh - of course and I hope you too got to see it. 

Full Strawberry Moon – June This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!

We're moving on down to the orchard....

with a deluxe apartment in the coop.
They're moving on down to the orchard.
They finally got a taste of some corrrrnnnn.

 Well ladies, what do you think of our new digs.

 I heard they have a penthouse that was once used by Jolly Rooster.  Seems he only let "certain" ladies stay overnight.  You know we've got to make sure Alphie doesn't get any high minded ideas.

 Yea Mabel,  if they thing I'm going to put up with her nonsense they're wrong

 Oh, Hilda, at least we have more room here than in that chicklet nursery.

 And I noticed they even painted the walls before we moved in.  Well sort of,  half anyway.

 Hey Gladys,  check out this nifty resting place

Yup,  we are in for some fine times Ethel.