Butterfly Bait.

Butterfly Bait. This is a type of milk weed that has infested our pasture. I missed getting a picture of the swarm of monarch butterflies that came in the week before I took this. I had gone out to mow, but Susan wouldn't let me mow this patch! Not gonna get a good crop of hay yer after year with farming practices like this, but the butterflies are happy!

Tumbling Composter

My new composter. This thing is great. It turned our vegetable scraps into compost in three weeks! I'm gonna have a rich mix for the raised beds next spring! With food prices climbing, and big stores with their far flung supply chains, and the risks of large suppliers spreading pathogens, and the transport costs, we really enjoy gardening.

Image by suburbandollar via Flickr

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Here is the first of many loads of hay from our pasture. We can get one good cutting a year, the weeds take over too much after that! We enjoy being organic, but pay a price for that.

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Susan Takes Honey for a walk

It was a nice day, and Honey was kind of frisky. So out for walk they went.

Our 57 acres is divided into three basic segments. The lake sets in the center of the property, flanked by a sloping pasture on either side. North of the dam is a rocky, steep set of slopes cut in two by the creek flowing from our lake. It is thickly wooded, and almost impassable. We leave it wild, as a place for our deer and foxes and other wild-lings.

This Lob-lolly Pine sets across the lake to the left of the dam.

It is much broader than tall, and I should prune it a bit. It has it's own character though, and I'm reluctant to make any big changes. I may put a few more of these along this edge of the lake, but further back from the water.

Rooting around under the tree

Honey found something tasty under the pine tree. Susan couldn't tell me what it was, but Honey rooted there for a long time.

Susan was having trouble getting Honey to come along. Whatever she had dug up under the pine was just to good to leave behind.

This Stump is usually under water. Most of the time, only the small slivers of wood will show. I'm conflicted about taking out or not. The lake being low gives me a chance to get rid of an obstacle to the paddle boat, but it may serve as a fish gathering spot. What do you think?

Susan and Honey go for a walk

Tyson

The coming storm.

I hate to admit this is in my front yard! It's a spot in the yard we have never been able to keep grass growing, due to the large trees that keep it in constant shade. The snake is a juvenile water moccasin. There was an even larger snake across the walk way, but it slithered off before we could get the camera. I am not fear-full of these snakes. They have a major role to play in ridding the farm of pests. We live between two chicken farmers, who have confinement houses with thousands of chickens. Field mice come running for the water in our lakes whenever the trucks come and the houses get emptied. I get a bit nervous, however, when they lay out on our sidewalk! This little guy isn't gonna be back.

Hay in the field.

First cutting of hay this year went well. Better crop than expected.

Black Widow

What a lovely creature. Wouln't you love to find this scampering around in your wood pile?

Dead Tree

This is a tree along the path to snake lake. We had the brush cleared and the slag heap leveled out to reclaim that old strip mine and make it productive. The plan is to get some topsoil moved in there. This tree lost the fight for survival, it seems. the sun gets scotching hot reflecting off the shale slag left over from mining. This mine was done forty years ago, and nothing was required then to reclaim the property. We will have to rely on volunteer dirt haulers for now. Anyone local who needs to dump a load of just dirt, no trash, can feel free to donate. Check my profile for contact information.

Butterfly

Allison took this photo. I love the color. I need to send her out on photo taking trips more often! My work has kept me so busy these past few years, I am relying on Susan and the kids to keep up with the farm chores. Our plans for building a timber-frame barn have been put on hold due to my stiff work schedule. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however. Help is on the way at work!

Lilly Pads

17 Years

Sunset 19 July 2011

Our seventeenth anniversary.

More of the floods. The Ohio is north of our farm, but the ground to our south is lower, and runs first to the green river. Flooding has the potential to leave us on a kind of island.  

This is from the spring flooding. Trees that were down from the big ice storm were washed and floated out of the ditches into the road. 

Longest Day of Play

Here Matt and Bridget show their form.