RUG HOOKING BLOG

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I'm a mother of four grandmother of seven and great grandmother of three. I live with my husband in the house that we built with the help of my brothers and will have been married for 57 years this February.

Saturday, July 23, 2022

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

 Holy cow! I haven't posted since June 17th. I've had my knees to the ground, weeding and that's nothing new. I think I'm growing stubby roots on my feet.  No, actually those are my toes. Seriously, the time has flown by so fast for me. It seems that I was just planting and we have been eating from the garden for several weeks or more already.

Thank goodness for my son helping to cut my lawn with the big lawnmower but there are places that he cannot go with the big lawnmower and I haven't used the small lawnmower to mow those areas so my lawn is not looking the best but it's green this year. Because I didn't have time, I didn't plant as many flowers this year and concentrated more on vegetables.  The deers are being a nuisance as they have chewed all the top of my beans again this year in the big garden at the farm. 



 I have weeded most of my flowerbeds but the weeds grew back wherever there was no mulch. I can't be in two places at the same time. I've spent a lot of time weeding at the farm and there are many rows and the rows are long, unlike my small garden at the house, and my back is giving out on me. A little rest from weeding has been very welcome. 


I've had two sets of visitors this week and it was wonderful. Needless to say, it was hot and muggy and it felt good not to have to weed. A young man who used to work on the farm stopped in with his wife and 4 very polite little kids on their way to PEI. Then on Monday, my daughter Christine and her two very polite boys that I hadn't seen since way before the pandemic arrived and left yesterday. It's been like having a blood transfusion. It really brought life to this house and removed the stigma of not having visitors for so long. 






Christine and her boys working on a  fun puzzle.


I pulled very few loops on my rug although it's on the frame, waiting for attention. I'm afraid, it will just have to wait longer. The garden is bursting with all sorts of veggies ready to pick. 

We've been eating red potatoes, peas, onions, dill weed, cucumbers, beets, cabbage, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, kale, Chinese cabbage,  spinach, and green onions and I picked beans this evening. I have banana peppers that are ready and also Jalapenos peppers. The corn is higher than the electric fence now but no cobs yet. It's been so hot this week but you all know that. Potted plants dry up quickly so I've had to carry buckets of water for my potted plants around the Gazebo and the steps. 



 I love these for making pickled beets. One beet goes a long way and takes less room in the garden.


The peas are now finished, only very few left on the vines.


Jalapenos  peppers for making Salsa


Again this year, my Norland red potatoes are big. These were picked several weeks ago. They are getting even bigger now. 


Chinese cabbage I use in stirfry

I didn't take photos of all my harvest but you get the idea. 

Why go through all this work?  I know where my food comes from and it's farm fresh, and I enjoy the magic of seeing things grow from the dirt and from a tiny seed.  It's a good workout, and I enjoy the bounty and beauty of it all, even when things are not  Martha Stewart perfect. lol... I'm learning all the time and life isn't supposed to be perfect anyway.  Every year, I do things differently.  Do you suppose I could learn to clone myself so I wouldn't need to work so hard? lol...



I thought that I would show you one of the gardens at the farm. I'll show some of the others next time maybe. 

We used some old chopped-up hay to mulch after the weeding was done. This is the first time we use old hay to mulch. It's a lot more pleasant to walk in the garden with no mud on our boots.


In the next section, lots of tomatoes, and some peppers and I can't remember what's at the end. 


And in this next section, broad beans, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflowers, and assorted cabbages.

These photos were taken last week so things have grown even more since then. 

In the next post, I will show some flowers. Hopefully, I won't wait so long to post. 


Thanks for your patience Kimm, I'll try to post as I go from now on. No promise though. 

Thanks, everyone, for visiting and leaving your comments.

Julia


26 comments:

  1. It is lovely to see a post from you, but you have been super busy (and productive).
    Hooray for pleasant visitors.
    Stay cool, stay well.

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    1. Thanks, EC. I've noticed that I'm getting slower and slower every year and just can't do it all anymore so I do what I can and don't worry about what is left undone. The right thing to do would be to adjust my workload to my capacity, in another word, downsize...

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  2. Oh my but those beets made my mouth water. And then there was the cabbage and mention stir fry. Perhaps I'll forgo breakfast and make some supper. Everything did look Martha Stewart magazine perfect.

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  3. Hi Saundra, I love beets too. It's not all Martha Stewart perfect. I'm cheating, I'm only showing the tidy stuff. To be fair, I should show what is left undone but it would probably exhaust everyone.

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  4. I have been handing out Wows this morning, so here goes with another just for you. Wow! Your wonderful gardens inspire me greatly and cause me to resolve to do better with ours next year. Actually, as it has turned out, because of the drought, we are rather glad we kept our garden small this year.

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  5. Thanks Hilltop, You are a wise woman. I plant for my family and friends. My husband is giving potatoes and veggies to everyone who comes by, lol... Our church used to have two community dinners a year, one in the spring and one in the fall to raise funds for the church and we have been supplying all the squash for those dinners. Since the pandemic, we haven't been able to have those dinners and so we grew other vegetable as well and ask that parishioners gives a donation to the church for vegetables and it was one way to raise money. My husband gets very enthusiastic with planting as much as he can but we get. no help with the weeding. I'm glad that we mulched to preserve moisture in the ground in this heat.

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  6. When I see your huge garden I smile at my little raised beds! We get plenty of produce and what we don't grow I get at the farmer's market. It's wonderful to grow your own food and know how it was planted, raised and harvested...plus it's so much tastier! With the price of food it sure helps to have some you don't have to buy! You must never have to go to the store! Just don't overdue it too much....haha! I know you're a worker bee and resting is not in your vocabulary. Have a good week Julia and it's always great to read your blog and see how you're doing. Take care now! I'm so glad you had special visitors and I can't believe how big those boys have gotten since the pandemic!

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  7. Thanks for your comment Yaya, You are so right, the price of food is ridiculous. I really feel bad for young families who are struggling to make ends meet especially since the pandemic and I know, it's going to get worst. Food shortage is a real possibility. At the price of meat, I wouldn't be surprised if that wandering herd of deers which roam is in the neighbourhood would end up in someone's freezer. Not mine because we don't eat a lot of meat. lol...

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  8. You know how I love your gardening posts as they remind me of my childhood...Although our gardens were no where near as weed free and tidy as yours (hey...us kids were only paid a nickel to weed a whole row....and that "offer" was usually only available for a few weeks before the fair so we could earn our "own" money for the one night at the fair. Otherwise, it was unpaid labor LOL). Thanks for showing the farm gardens - when you mentioned them, I was thinking 'show us! show us!' so I am happy you did. But I drooled at the photo of the peas....and almost cried when you said they're done. Fresh peas are my all-time most favorite ever. Having no garden nor anyone whose garden I can raid, I have managed in past years to get a few from the local farmers markets. However, this year, I have gone 3 weeks in a row to where it is supposed to be (according to the internet and whoever I've talked to) and there's been no market. I am so sad. I don't want to think about a year without peas. Anyways...glad you had some visitors. It must have been great to have your daughter and grands there - especially after so long. Looking forward to your flower gardens post! (But please don't mention peas again, K?) ~Robin~ (TheCrankyCrow)

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  9. Robin, I usually plant several types of peas so they last longer but they like cool season. This year, I only planted one kind in my small home garden. They taste so much better than store bought ones. I picked them as they are ready and put them in a plastic bag in the fridge and use what I need for a meal for two so they lasted for quite a while. I may plant longer rows at the farm next year with support. I'm sure the deers will love to eat them.

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  10. You are like me with the store and work...busy, busy, busy. I only planted green peppers, a few tomatoes and jalepenos this year. We are waiting for them to all bear some veggies. My parents always grew a big garden. Janice

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  11. I planted some Jalapeños peppers at the farm and some in my son's garden which I'll mostly use for making some salsa. My husband and son love salsa and eat a lots of it. Last year, I had to buy the Jalapeños since I didn't plant any. I plan to do more canning this year if the beans grows well after the deers ate most of them.

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  12. Kyrotime aka CynthiaJuly 25, 2022 at 9:19 AM

    Julia you are so prolific in the garden! I think the weeds are just trying to keep up with you! lol What a clever idea with the hay, it not only holds the moister in the ground but the light colour of the hay keeps the suns heat down too.
    Nice to have visitors, my son will be visiting this week for a few days but Thanksgiving all are home again & that makes my heart sing. So glad that the kids were polite & I do believe children learn what they live & I strived to have polite child too which has come back to me on how kind & polite my kids are too even though they're in there 30s & 40s. Christine has not fallen far from the tree! You & George are so kind & generous with all you do to everyone.
    Veggies, oh my! They are looking so bountiful & yes so much more tastier than the grocery store. Our blueberry bushes have started to harvest for us & the wild rasberry bushes are in demand with the bears right now. We too try to live along side with nature & they have the 'right of weight' with us. lol
    I'm feeling the effects of aging now too with the rhuemitoid arthritis so I try to get as much done whilst I can. I'm seeing a specilist in Bathurst for a new drug to slow the process of my immune system attacking itself but it will leave me with a compromised immune system.
    I can't win for lossing with this autoimmune illness.
    Loving my life & my eyes forward, I move on into this beautiful life. You are an inspiration to many Julia. Thank you for your lovely comments. xXx


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    1. Thanks for your lovely comment Cynthia, I'm sorry to learn about your rheumatoid arthritis. It sounds like quite a challenging health problem and I wish you some good luck with the specialist in Bathurst.
      It's overcast today so I'm taking advantage to weed my cucumbers and veggies in my son's garden. The weed have grown so fast. XxX

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  13. Dear Julia, whenever you post, it's a joy to read about your activities around your farm, your garden, your kitchen and your family. You are an amazing woman, I really admire you for all that you do in your home and your garden. ~ Inger at Desert Canyon

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    1. Dear Inger, thanks for the comment. I wish you lived closer. I would love to share some fresh produce from the garden with you.

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  14. My goodness, the boys are so big!! Its been that long already? Oh your garden is so beautiful. I love that you are using hay. Ben and Megan have been using it and it really has kept the weeding down. I love how it looks. I bet you are working so hard right now. I love it. It will be so nice in the winter to be able to go to your pantry and pick what you will have for dinner from your own food. You know just what is in it. Such a blessing Julia, I am so glad you had company and you have such wonderful pictures to look at.

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    1. Thanks for the comment Kim, the hay is also keeping the moisture in. It's been so hot this past week and the old hay keeps the moisture in and controls the weeds nicely.

      Yes, the boys have really gotten big since I last saw them.

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  15. Even with a bit of help, I have no idea how you can possibly keep up. Your gardens just blow me away. Totally gobsmacked.
    How nice Christine and your grandsons were able to visit. They are no longer little boys!!! Time is flying.
    Looking forward to seeing your beautiful flowers!

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  16. Thanks Lauren. All work and no play make Julia a dull girl, lol... I do what I can manage and I just leave what I can't do until later. It's always a work in progress but I enjoy the outdoors so much.

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  17. Hello,
    I LOVE how you answered "Why go through all this work?"

    Your produce looks wonderful and yummy.
    I also like how you shared that the visits felt like a blood transfusion. I do understand, we can get bottled up with LIFE. When we get a dose of FRESH AIR from a visit or change of some sort, it really does jump start oneself.
    xx oo
    Carla

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  18. Carla, I'm so lucky that I live on a farm and there's always a lot of busyness to keep me from dwelling on the miseries of life but there's nothing like family to make everything real and worthwhile. I so enjoyed these visits. I'll be doing some visiting of my own this weekend. It's been a while since I visited my own family to celebrate my brother's wedding anniversary and the whole family will be there. George will remain on the farm to look after things. He weeds a lot too.
    xx oo
    Julia

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  19. Your hard work certainly shows in your lovely produce. I agree with you, having sweet little visitors brings life back to a house!

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  20. It is always sweet to have young ones visit. All of your garden and produce look wonderful!

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