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Yep, the flowers are blooming and the bouquets are back! Since I'm not doing the markets regularly this year, the only place to get your hands on them is as part of Hoot Owl Farms CSA or Farm Stand boxes. You order them, then I pick the freshest most beautiful blooms, bunch them together and you get to pick them up from Hoot Owl. As the season moves forward some flowers will fade and begin to set seed (yay!) and other will begin to show their own true colors. Each different and unique and beautiful.  The green still lingers as the Elk and White Tails (and me) make their trails across the field, but soon the meadow flowers begin and the green will make way for some of the other colors  The Ranunculus are just beginning. They may look delicate but they are a hardy plant that can tolerate light frosts and have an exceptionally long vase life. Usually they are dug up each fall so their corms won't rot in the frozen soil but I missed some and and they overwintered under our deep snow like champs!  The Lupin are the first showy bloom to pop so look for these as the feature in any bouquets! You can add them on to your regular CSA pickup from Hoot Owl or get them with a Farmstand Box, but that's the only way you'll find them at the markets this year. There are always beautiful flowers around, if you know where to look and don't judge so much whether it is called a 'weed' or not. This handful is a mix of filed grasses, weedy wildflowers, and some Sweet Rocket. A deliciously sweet fragrant pale lavender biennial bloom in the mustard family. I had actually forgotten that I had planted out their rosette of basal leaves last summer and you bet I'm gonna use the easily spreading nature of most mustards and let some of this go to seed and begin to 'grow itself' in the perennial rows. Letting the plants grow and spread where they want to is an intentional part of my Wilderness Farm. I still have to 'weed' the slower growing or more tender crops but a lot of those weeds end up in bouquets or my dinner plate!  The Pansies and Violas are showing their true colors now so al so look for some of the Edible Petal Power Flowers available as a CSA add-on or as part of a Farmstand Box from Hoot Owl Farm. They perk up a blah salad or risotto like nothing else!  Next week, keep an eye out for the return of the Salad Mix at the Farm to Market Store in Libby. It's been a little slow growing in this cool damp spring but the fresh sunshine and warmth that is helping the plants to bloom is also freshening up this tasty, crispy lettuce and it's almost ready for it's return!  The rain have meant I haven't had to worry that much about irrigation (which is a pleasant reprieve for me) and it means some special farm friends get to hang around (as long as they can hide from the hungry hens!)  The kittens are great on-the-job learners! They average two gophers/shrews/mice a day! And the tall grass in the growing plots and field gives them protection and shelter while they work What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
Find the Veggies & Flowers at the Amish Farm to Market Store in Libby! Seasonal Bouquets and Edible Flowers are available through Hoot Owl Farms CSA/Farm Stand
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The amount of green is almost overwhelming! Supposedly, human eyes see the most variation in the color green and there is so much green to look at right now. There is so much it is usually calming and magical, all until the guineas start chasing the tiny roosters! My most favorite season is usually the one we are in, but all the plant life and vibrancy feels especially special. And even though the days of pouring rain and subsequent soaked through clay soil means I have to shift priorities and sometimes delay planting, I still feel that I can never soak up enough of the green-ness myself. It's restful yet so alive. But....with all that green comes lots of weeds 🙃 and while many of them are yummy edible plants or pretty or medicinal, I don't need quite as many of them as they like to create, so see below for this year's first farm event. It's free, there will be snacks provided, and you get a chance to soak in all that green-ness yourself (hey, some places it's called 'forest bathing' and people pay a lot of money to get out of civilization and feel alive and free again,... just sayin' 😉) oh, yeah, I'll have eggs, microgreens, dried flowers, seeds, and potentially salad mix available for purchase during the event! Farm Weeding & Fun Day (free event whether you pull any weeds or not!) Join us on Sunday, June 12th for the 1st ever volunteer Farm Helper Day! The weeds are getting taller and growing faster than ever with all this rain and sun so this farmer could use a little help from her friends to pull those weedies out from around the crops. If you wanna help, you can show up anytime between 1pm and 7pm on Sunday, June 12th at Dragon's Breath Farm outside Libby, Montana. Bring gloves if you like to use them! I'll have some simple healthy snacks and drinks available but if you wanna bring some food or beverages to share or not share, that is always welcome as this will be an afternoon to play as much as work! You'll get a chance to see the farm, play with some wild hens and crazy kittens, and help the plants (and this tired farmer) to thrive! You can ask me all your gardening/farming questions, learn about how I manage a 'wilderness farm', and get as stuck into the dirt as much or as little as you want! Email me for directions to the farm so I have a general number of people planning to come out! Some specifics: -bring gloves if you wanna pull thistles -please wear comfortable shoes, preferably closed toe as there are pokey weeds and odd bits around -wear/bring appropriate clothes and hats for the weather. It's an open field so the sun is strong! -kiddos are welcome if you wanna put them to work! The hens don't like being chased by idle tiny humans so if they keep trying to do it, I'll find them 'fun' tasks to keep them otherwise occupied -please no dogs as I'll have the hens and kittens let loose and it'll be generally too much chaos as they are not used to cute puppers  The green-ness this time of year is almost unreal. Add with the morning and evening Robin's songs, the does and yearlings frolicking, and the occasional flock of migrating cranes overhead, it sometimes feels like I live in a movie Some farm visitors are occasional, like this young moose, and some become near permanent residents, like the lone wild turkey that has taken to hanging with the hens and guineas. When I'm gone for a bit and the hens needs to stay inside the turkey usually mopes around from coop door to coop door wondering why it's friends can't come out to play  Some residents and visitors are teeny weeny, like the many Wooly Bear caterpillars that call the farm home. Yep, they munch on some stuff but never enough to warrant their removal. Plus their fuzzy wuzzyness is too dang cute! The greenhouse full of flower and lettuce seedlings is slowly getting planted out! Can you see a difference between using weed blocking fabric and not? hehe, I can! Don't worry though the quack grass finds a way to come back later if not sooner and those weed fabric beds will be as thick and the non-weed fabric ones :(  The kittens love getting outside whenever they can and everything is a potential play toy and every moment is a perfect time for fun (for them at least, sometimes they get put back inside if they have too much fun!) The microgreens add even more green-ness to the already overwhelming green of everything. And did you know the Sunflower Shoots are back?! They are extra crunchy and sweet and perfect for adding to meals or snacking on them alone!  The time for mowing the pathways has begun. It helps keep my feet a little drier in the early mornings, helps me see where all the hoses are, and the hens like the little highways to run around through as well. Even as many seedlings get planted out, more are still waiting in the wings. Many of the flowers will get planted soon, but some things like the Salad Mix is seeded, sown, and planted every few weeks from spring until fall. And, because the spring is so busy, I plan it so that new perennials are sown in the summer and planted in early fall, otherwise they get left behind in the crazy days of springtime on the farm  What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
Find the Veggies & Flowers at the Amish Farm to Market Store in Libby! Seasonal Bouquets are available through Hoot Owl Farms CSA/Farm Stand |
AuthorI'm Farmer Megan with a life full of cackles, clucks, quacks, weeds, crazy kitten, and one tiny, senior, blind dog. Archives
May 2024
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