Fawns, Fury, & Fluff!

A lot of work got done this week but it didn't feel like much as it was as variable as the weather. From sun, sun, sun, to thunder, hail, wind, and heavy rain bursts. I was able to get the new tractor, Oscar, up and running and begin mowing down the tall grass in preparation to expand my plots with just a few thunderstorms that forced me to some different work inside. 

The perennial/potato patch got weeded (as will many other beds over the next weeks). A task that has been forgotten and left behind, even if the weeds don't forget to grow.

More beds were prepped and ready for plantings early next week and the greenhouse is full to bursting with flats on the floor, tomatoes bursting from above their beds, and the beginning of their trellising system up and ready to begin use, while the Cottonwoods unleashed their masses of fluffy seeds upon the world. They are a favorite tree of mine but that doesn't mean I need 300 of them coming up in my newly prepared planting beds. Guess there is more weeding in my future!

Plus there are baby deer!

I found this little nugget when I almost stepped on it while trying to set up my camera to film the mower in action. It was nestled right in the center of where I needed to mow, sooo I didn't mow there that morning and have begun walking the areas to be mowed to check for more little nuggets of gold in the grass. While walking back to the house after this discovery I saw a doe leading another little wobbly nugget across the lawn to a new hiding spot in the tall grass. Luckily, this one had moved by the next day and I was able to mow.

Once I was able to finish mowing, the Violet Green Swallow watched cautiously from its nest in an old fence post as it watched its new neighbor settling in. It returns to this same nest every year and swoops over my head as I work in my main field plot.

Hella finds the strangest places to feel safe and cozy, including inside the new tiller attachment for Oscar, the Tractor. It was only sitting in the grass, not even hooked up, but it is a good reminder to check everything and everyone before getting started.

BEFORE: the perennial patch filled with weeds

AFTER: weeds be gone! Now the rows of potatoes in the foreground, asparagus in the back left, and sunchokes in back right can be finally seen!

Iris, in the rear, and Rosemary. The remaining golden girls from my original flock of 8 backyard chickens. They are 10 years old now and Rosemary still lays a few eggs every spring. They are left to roam during the day but don't roam far, preferring to spend warm days on the cool, shady porch by the little fountain. Don't let them see you with food or they will become your shadow and sometimes jump up to pull it from your hand. Luckily they can't jump too high anymore.

Where to find it all?
I'll be at the Farmers Market at Libby, this Thursday from 3-7pm!

I'll be at the Troy Farmers Market, this Friday from 330-630pm!

I'll be at the Kalispell Farmers Market, this Saturday from 900am to 1230pm!