Vintage Home and Farm

This has been one of our most challenging years when it comes to caring for our ducks, bees, and the garden on our little farm. First, Barney, the beloved community barn cat, passed away, and since then, the critters he used to keep in check have taken over the garden and eaten everything in sight. Those critters are voles, a destructive rodent, and we have watched as they've eaten all of our corn and green bean plants before they even had a chance to bear fruit. They also knocked over multiple fava bean plants, snipped the pea plants at their base so the whole plant died, and ate the tops off the onions. I had no idea rodents ate onion greens, but they sure did! They ate the potato plants (the green part that appears above ground), so there I was a week ago, digging up the potatoes growing in the ground to see if any were left. It was hard to find them without a plant above ground to mark the way. Blessedly, we do have many nice potatoes to enjoy. Currently, they're wreaking h...

The past few weeks have been busy here on our little farm.  We added three female ducks to our mixed flock last fall and with the arrival of spring our male ducks suddenly realized they are male ducks. Those big bad boy ducks have been chasing the female ducks unmercifully, and sometimes they even turn their attention to our chickens.  I started putting containers of water up on the tree so that the chickens can climb up there to drink, which gets them away from the bad boy ducks.  Fortunately there are lots of climbing spaces in their chicken run so that they can get away from the ducks. One funny moment happened in the chicken coop the other day.  Three hens were spotted trying to lay an egg in one nest.  They have many other nests to choose from, but they all wanted the one on the corner. Our garden is filling in.  That's garlic there in the image below.  There are about a thousand heads and bulbs of garlic growing out there.  Every evening I'v...

Patch the Donkey There was finally a break in the rain today and so we headed outside to visit with the farm animals. As we entered the community barn, we noticed how festive it looks with red ribbons hanging along each stall. Our neighbors have been busy decorating. Each of the animals in the barn has a Christmas stocking as well.  Mocha the Horse Mocha is always eager for attention. She's a rambunctious horse and so we handle her with care. Before long, we were also greeted by Barney the Barn Cat, who hopped down from a bale of hay to come over and greet us. Loud meowing and purring are hard to ignore and so Barney was thoroughly petted before we headed back outside. Barney the Barn Cat We walked out to the end of the field to take in the shiny foil decorations hanging on the fence posts all along the horse field.  The decorations are a tradition for our neighborhood.  Before we left the barn, we were fortunate that Andrea stopped by to get Reggie dressed up for his hol...

It's been a lovely Easter spent with family and friends here at Vintage Home and Farm.  Late this afternoon, we went for a long walk.  When we returned home, my daughter and I were inspired to take a few photos capturing spring's renewal.  We didn't have to go far - we headed out into the yard. Cherry blossoms are beginning to fall like snow from an old tree near our driveway. I noticed that the lilacs are covered with tightly closed blossoms.  I'm eager for the blossoms to open and fill our yard with the lovely sweet scent of lilacs. The garden is doing well.  Here is the side garden, with lushly growing sage, parsley and rhubarb. I've never seen rhubarb bolt and flower like this before. Looks like I need to do some research on it to figure out what to do next year, as I'm pretty sure there won't be much of a rhubarb harvest now.  The flowers are pretty, though. Other signs of life in the garden include o...