Hillcrest C.1820

One last look at the farm before I return to my regular agenda of random rambling and Portland junk.

The farm is called Hillcrest.  They don't have any livestock (so far!) other than the chickies so they stenciled a chicken next to the horse on the garage.

This is the view from the house looking down past the garage to the barn.  I miss watching the two of them stroll down there in their boots every morning to open the chicken coop and gather eggs.
{{big sigh}}

The back side of the barn where you can see the neat old stone foundation. That door at the top opens in to the hay mow where the hay is stored.  The property is currently farmed by an Amish gentleman who grows hay and soybeans.  He harvests the hay and gives it to them in payment for using the land.  It is a nice arrangement since my son can't be there full time.

A closer look at the hand-stacked foundation.  The original barn burned down and this one was built in 1957.  It was not as large as the original so the old foundation extends past the current structure.

This is what remains of the old milk house.  The round thing on the left is a well.  Water would be pumped up from the well and circulated through the trough on the right to keep the cans of milk cool.  The well has a wooden lid.  My son lifted the lid for us to look down inside.  One of the kittens had climbed up in the tree behind it, un-noticed by any of us, and suddenly decided to try to jump down on to the rim of the well!!  Luckily, my son has fast reflexes and swooped him out on to the grass as he was going down.  Wowza, we all shrieked!  No kitties were harmed in this incident.

The soybean field is behind my son.  The property runs to the tree line you can see in the back.

I have never actually seen a soy bean still in the pod before.  The crops in the area all seem to be soybeans and corn and they rotate the fields between the two.  One of the things that was really noticeable to me is the absence of fences there.  There are very few fences around yards or farms, just vast stretches of green broken up by stands of trees.  VERY beautiful.  I didn't realize we were so territorial here in the West and feel compelled to put fences around what is "ours".

Farmer Andy playing with his favorite toy.  That bucket on the front of the tractor sure came in handy when we were switching out the cook stove for the heating stove!  I have tractor envy.

On our last morning I finally spotted a flash of red and saw a Cardinal. It is a crummy picture, shooting straight up in a tree with my phone so you'll have to just trust me on this one.

Endless thanks to our host and hostess for letting us invade them for 9 wonderful days.  I miss you guys and the farm so much!

Late Summer Bounty: Black Tomotoes

 These little black beauties were a happy accident.  Last Spring I told The Farmer to be sure he included some cherry tomatoes in The Farm because I think they are just like little bites of sunshine.  When he went to buy tomato plants, the store only had one cherry tomato plant left and it was a black tomato.  Well okay, something new to try out!

They were black right from the start so we didn't know how to tell when they were ripe other than to pick one and bite it.  We eventually figured out that the slightly green bottom turns pink when they are ready.  They look just like plums and they are yummy, indeed.
We also have traditional tomatoes that are coming on strong now.  We have been eating something from the garden nearly every day since the start.  First was lettuce and radishes then the peas, beans and summer squash.  Now we are starting to harvest the root crops like turnips, rutabagas and beets.  Late summer bounty!

Friday UPDATE!  Lunch at my desk today - SO good!

The Garden Remodel - Done!

 The bark dust was delivered today so our project is finished - at least as finished as a garden project ever gets.  They delivered enough that we were able to extend the new bark to include the fire pit area.  I took out a no-longer-needed brick path on the left side over the weekend and changed the curve of the lawn to suit the area better. I like it a lot better this way and I'm sure the lawn-mower guys will, too.  8+)

 This is taken from the front of the garden, just inside the new fence and gate.  It looks SO much better with the landscape cloth covered.  I'm sure the neighbors were starting to wonder about all that ugly black stuff.  New bark smells SO good.

 My new little table and chairs moved back in to place.  I may re-think the location and move them from the back to the front of the raised bed.  There is a little spot up there where it is shady in the afternoon.  For now they are just sitting there waiting for me to take a break, like that ever actually happens - lol!

 A blank spot where roses were removed and will not be replaced until next spring so I moved in my old garden wagon.  After I took this photo I parked the two pots of herbs in the wagon and I think I will move the Farm Fresh sign to the side of it.

The garden from the back side.  The crops are coming along nicely.  I snacked on a fresh radish tonight - yum!
If any of you emailed me yesterday and did not get a reply it is because my email was broken for about 24 hours.  Technology is so awesome when it works!  Anyway, I don't know if the emails that didn't come through ever will so if you asked me anything important, please re-send the email.
Thanks, all, for tagging along on the garden remodel adventure!