Cherry Heaven...

Aren't they just beautiful?  We are so thrilled to be getting our very first cherries this year.  These trees were only planted last year and already we have enough for several delectable cherry pies.  We are so blessed....


xoxo,
Chickadee

A January Conversation With Mr. Chickadee (subtitled: Why I Have A Successful Marriage)

Mr. Chickadee: How big is the garden going to be this year?

Me: (blankly) What garden?

Mr. Chickadee: The garden that I know you are going to insist on planting.

Me: I don't know what you are talking about.

Mr. Chickadee: (Sighs.)

(A pregnant pause fills the air for several moments, then:)

Me: Well, how big do you think it should be?

MC: Well last year you said you were never going to garden again. You always overdo it and then you swear you will never ever do it again.

Me: (incredulously) I do?

Mr. Chickadee: NUMEROUS TIMES.

Me: Oh. Well, I suffered from temporary insanity. The glut of tomatoes and cucumbers overwhelmed me and I couldn't take it anymore. I was having nightmares that they had overtaken the house while we were sleeping. But I have since reconsidered my position.

Mr. Chickadee: So you ARE going to garden again.

Me: Well, probably just a tiny little one.

Mr. Chickadee: (snort) Uh huh.

Me: I am serious.

Mr. Chickadee: (feigns sudden and irreversible deafness)

Me: You never believe me.

Mr. Chickadee: (still feigning deafness)

Me: Never mind. You'll see.

Mr. Chickadee: (wisely remains quiet and buries his head in his newspaper)

*************************************************************

Conversation is over, until we fast forward to March:

*************************************************************

Me: So when are we going to rent the tractor?

Mr. Chickadee: What tractor?

Me: (Impatiently) You know, the tractor that we till the field with.

Mr. Chickadee: I thought you weren't going to have a big garden again.

Me: What are you talking about! Of course I am going to have a big garden! I have one every year! I couldn't imagine life without one!

Mr. Chickadee: (thoughtfully and quietly gives me a long, searching look)

Me: (smile winsomely and innocently at Mr. Chickadee)

Mr. Chickadee: (wisely turns and without comment goes to call the rental place to reserve the tractor)

*******************************************************

And this, dear friends, is why I have a successful marriage. :)

;)

xoxo,

Chickadee

One of One Hundred-Eleven

No, I didn't plan it this way, but somehow I wound up with 111 broccoli plants that germinated and survived my somewhat haphazard basement seed-starting system (as in if you are a plant in this house, you may get watered and you may not, depending on how busy my day is...good news is I take better care of my kids).

These plants are pretty happy little campers with this wonderful weather we have been having.

And yes, they are all spoken for! (To be eaten fresh (raw), lightly steamed (with cheese sauce, yum! or in stir fry or even just as is), and lastly blanched and frozen to enjoy all next winter sauteed or in Broccoli Cheese Soup when the snow is swirling and bitter winds are whipping).

Mmm....

Costs to date:

Seeds: started 114 plants cost of approximately $2 (had on hand) 3 did not germinate

Seed Starting Trays: 5.95 + 3.30 = 9.25 (bases/lids get reused but will count full cost)

Dixie Cups for transplanting up: (.03 each) 69 x .03 = 2.07 (will be reused but I will count it as an up front cost for the broccoli)

Soil for cups: ~$2

Electricity: unknown but not more than a few dollars at the most

Shop Lights: (already owned)

Approximately $17.32, plus some of my time (less than two hours total)

Plant purchase equivalent: $66.60 (.60 per plant, going rate locally)

Approximate Savings: $49

Hourly Wage that I "earned" by growing the plants myself: $25 an hour

Now to see what kind of harvest we wind up with!

xoxo,

Chickadee

(straight from the Lodge where admittedly the seed starting gets a little out of hand each year but makes for some awesome end-of-winter therapy and happy gardening dreams!)

Rhubarb!

My Idea Of A Garden...

It's a little on the large size. (Around two acres).  We also have two small gardens up by the Lodge.  But we need a lot of room to have our market gardens.
That puny green thing is the trusty John Deere tractor we rent with Mr. Chickadee freezing to death on it.  This isn't like last year when we rented it and had a lovely warm day to play in the dirt. Today is so cold.  But when you are a farmer, even on a tiny scale such as this, you can't wait around until you are comfortable.
I love it when the ground is all tilled and ready to go.  We are hoping for another banner year of crops, with some more peas gone wild, or even more gorgeous tomato avenues.

Or some just plain, beautiful house gardens.

I can hardly wait.  But in the meantime, I am back inside.  It is FREEZING out and Mr. Chickadee, gentleman that he is, insists on being the one to turn to a frigid block of ice on the tractor today even though he is sick as a dog. 

Thanks, honey.

xoxo,

Chickadee

Possibilities...

xoxo, 

Chickadee

Tomato Heaven....

From this.....

And this.......
To this!

Sure Fire Recipe For Success

Ingredients:

1 Lonely Country Road

1 Ice Chest

1 Table

1 Children's Handmade Sign

An Assortment of Fresh Summer Veggies Painstakingly Weeded, Grown & Harvested By Mom

1-96 lb. Black Labrador/Retriever Cross

3 Hopeful Cherubs Who Have Convinced Mom To Please, Please, Please Let Them Have A Vegetable Stand

Directions:

Gather Ingredients from list.

Enlist Cherubs help in carting the ingredients down the mile-long driveway, ignoring the complaints that begin sprouting along the way.

Chase down 96 lb. Lab/Retriever Cross who thinks a frolic by the road is a grand idea.

Place Table and Ice Chest out on Lonely Country Road.

Tie 96 lb. Lab/Retriever Cross to Table Leg.

Arrange Fresh Summer Veggies in pleasing display on Table.

Painstakingly tape Handmade Children's Signs to Table, only to watch as the wind rips them off and sends them flying like kites down Lonely Country Road.

Take off at a sprint to try to gather them all up before they are blown to kingdom come.

Find all the Signs and bring them back, panting. Tape them more firmly to Table.

Chase down 96 lb. Lab/Retriever Cross who somehow got loose from table leg. Secure Lab/Retriever FIRMLY to table leg once again.

Position Hopeful Cherubs prominently behind Table, watching over them as they wave and jump and smile winningly at each and every car that drives by. Rejoice with the Cherubs when each and every single car honks back at them (much to the annoyance of the neighbors just across the road). Step back and watch out for the Cherubs safety when potential customers swing into the driveway. Watch each customer take one look at the hopeful eyes peering up at them and immediately succumb to the charm of desperate little salespeople.

Look up driveway and realize the Country Cats are heading down to join the party. Chase the Country Cats back up the driveway for their own safety. Give it up as an exercise in futility when they refuse to be herded. Run back down the driveway, panting again, to stand by the Cherubs sides so they won't get stolen by some crazy person.

Stand out in the blazing sun for three hours. Watch the Little Cherubs rack up $8.50 worth of vegetable sales and $10 bonus tips for just looking cute.

Call it a Wonderful Day.

:)
Chickadee

The Great Zucchini Explosion of 2008

Last count: 27.....

Tomato Avenue...

These are the Roma Tomato Plants I grew from a ten cent pack of seeds. At last count there were 54 in this East Garden. I also have a motley assortment of some 50-odd cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes and hierloom tomatoes in the West Garden. But none of it is ripe yet! Can you hear the frustration? And since I refuse to pay exorbitant grocery store prices for tasteless veggies, we wait.

Soon, I promise myself, soon. And by the time they start to really produce I am going to need some friends to come over and dig me out from underneath it all.

Breaking New Ground...

Mr. Chickadee digs up one of our two new garden plots for this year. After this we will tackle the 2 acre field. And yes, this might just qualify as being just a tiny bit insane to take this much on in one spring but you know our motto at Chickadee Lane Lodge is:

"Life. LIVE IT!!"

And so we do. And besides, I am always up for a good challenge.

(And don't let the big guy on the tractor fool you...it was the only time he was on it all day and he was lucky to get to drive it that much! That baby was MINE!) :)