Beauty Farming Life

Sometimes we have to make the tough decisions.  Having this property and only being able to do it on a part time basis means that we have to really look at what we focus our time/effort/money on.  Saturday/Sunday for example was spent cleaning up limbs and of course it was too wet to mow so once again, we are behind on that.  So w e decided to look back at our list of of things to do at the farm and sat  down to focus on priorities... What do we need to work on most of all? What will have the biggest impact? What is most important for the future? We have also, in the course of getting some things done on that list (clearing the new areas for example), created new opportunities (and challenges) that weren't even on it to begin with. The weather has played a significant role in this year's decision making process as well.  I like to keep records of the weather and out of the first three months of this year, twelve weeks, we only h...

From time to time, I like to share plans I have for various projects.  I'm never sure when they will come to fruition, I do have my priority list of other more important projects this early on in the process, but this blog allows me to condense my thoughts and my research and what I like into one spot.  Then, later on, I can come back here and look at what I found and how I wanted to do it.  This is one of those projects.  It's a Fairy Door. Future project: Tree fairy door We have this cool little area at the base of Barnabas the Party Tree.  I had never really focused on what I could do with it, I just considered it an open spot in the tree and never gave it much of a second thought.  Then last Spring, Dani over at one of the blogs we follow,  post about making a fairy door at the base of a tree on her property.  She mentioned seeing it on another blog too (isn't that how we find all sorts of fun things? ha) so I sort of filed this away ...

No, it's not about the latest episode of The Walking Dead.  Today is what is called, in many cultures, particularly Hispanic influenced cultures, Dia de los Muertos...or Day of the Dead. Being in Houston, with its large Hispanic population, Day of the Dead is becoming a holiday that more and more people participate in.  It might sound morbid upon first glance, but it's really all about celebrating the lives of those we've lost.  Because mourning and being sad is seen as an insult to the dead, they would much rather see us happy and celebrating them.  The origin is thought to be a sort of blending of Native American traditions, Spanish traditions and Catholic holidays...November 1st is "All Saints Day" and today, November 2 is "All Souls Day".  On this day, altars have frequently been set up in homes that are adorned with flowers, pictures, candles, objects...even food and drink, that were all favorites of the loved one who has passed...

Recently, I've been immersed in gardening books and bee books and flower books...to be honest I was getting homestead overload and  it was time for something different.  So I  had the pleasure of getting a book that has been a very moving read.   The Book of Barkley: Love and Life Through the Eyes of a Labrador Retriever This is the book (click link below to be taken to the book purchasing options).   It's called  The Book of Barkley: Love and Life Through the Eyes of a Labrador Retriever .   The author is L. B. Johnson and I believe this is her first published book.  And wow, what a read it is. One thing I was immediately struck by is her beautiful writing style.  I love reading authors that have such a way of using words to so vividly describe moments in life.  Her style takes my mind to a different place when I'm reading.  As a lover of the written word, this book made me very happy and I ...

A lot of you have been curious about our hives and the process involved.  Since  I'm a newbie beekeeper (or is that newbee ?) I'm having to learn it all from books and other blogs so to return the favor, I'll share our journey here! One thing I was nervous about was painting.  When you buy your hives, you can buy them either painted or unpainted.  We wanted traditional white hives (with a barn red twist) and si nce my woodworking skills are still in their infancy,  we opted for unpainted but already built.  It is, generally speaking, about the least expensive option, short of buying them unpainted AND unassembled.   The first big choice is what type of paint to use and how to apply it.   The graphic below was very helpful to me, I'm a visual person and like to see it.  This image comes from the  Essex County Beekeeping Association . I decided on a low VOC paint that had primer mixed in.  There is a lot of chatte...

Hope you are having a good week.  Our weather has finally turned into Fall.  It's cool, no humidity, a gentle breeze...God what we wouldn't give to be at the farm instead of work, but it is what it is.    Today is Dia De Los Muertos (the celebration actually starts at midnight on Halloween).  It is also known as "Day of the Dead".  With Houston (and Texas in general) having a large Hispanic influence, it's not uncommon to see this celebratory day being observed all over town. Believe it or not, the awesome PIXAR animated movie "Coco" is worth seeing if you haven't and are curious about Day of the Dead and its many traditions.   Here are some links for those wondering more about this fascinating holiday: Day of the Dead Flower Traditions Day of the Dead WIKI Entry Day of the Dead Sugar Skull History Day of the Dead Decorations at Amazon Eventually, we want to set up our own altar, or "ofrenda", during this holiday to hon...

I can say, without hesitation, that this has been THE single hardest thing I've ever done at our farm.  It took two full days to get it all done.  I have blisters on my hands (even with gloves), my arms and shoulders are sore and my legs feel like I've run a marathon.  But we're so happy with the end result. My boss said something funny to me in a text when I sent him a picture.  He said "the smell of mulch is really nice, but after a few yards of shoveling, the smell of a cold beer is even better".  I'm not a beer person but now I totally understand, ha. Friday morning, about 9am, the truck showed up and dump ten cubic yards of black mulch into the yard in front of the garden.  After using a regular shovel for an hour, I walked down to 2nd Family's house and asked if I could borrow a pitchfork.  There's a twist on borrowing a cup of sugar!  That helped immensely.  I would work for about 50 minutes, then take a break on the ...

Is THIS what Horton was hearing? How cool is this?  I saw this at the farm this weekend.  Not sure what type of flower it is but as soon as I saw it, with its pink color, fluffy texture and tiny yellow speckles, all I could think of is the pink flower from the classic Dr. Seuss story "Horton Hears a Who".  Isn't nature awesome? Horton Hears a Who Hmmm, should I listen closely to one the next time I'm out there? 1st Man Hears a Who? LOL!

Here is the next project I completed.  Working on the area that will become the bee yard.  I found a spot near the garden (fence in the background) but not so near as to be in constant worry of bees swarming around.  I've been clearing this of brush and vines and mesquite tree saplings and now it's cleared and ready and waiting for its next incarnation as a bee yard.  When placing hives on your property, several things should be considered:   The beehive entrance (in the US anyway) should face Southeast so as to keep out the North winds in Winter and allow the morning sun to gently wake up the colony, which gets them up and out to work early.  Nearby trees are good because they can provide some shade and keep the hive cooler, but you don't want full shade.  That will keep the hive damp and that's not good for hive health.  The sun needs to gently warm it up during the day so that dew and moisture dries up. A nearby source of ...

Had to mow this weekend, zen machine time is always good.  So I thought I'd share this.  Remember when we asked for advice on what to do with this mess in the backyard left behind from the clearing?   You all had great suggestions, flower seeds, clover, etc.  Of course, right after I posted that, weeks and weeks and weeks of monsoon rains put a halt to any sort of intentional planting we might be able to do. Backyard before What I did instead was, on the few times I was able to mow in between the flooding downpours, I always mowed this area so that the exit chute of the mower would blow the grass cuttings into the cleared area.  My thinking was that maybe seeds would also get blown that direction.  Weeds or grass, it didn't really matter, at least we might get something to fill that in.   Well it took a few months, but... Backyard after ...here it is now!   It's completely filled in with grass.  I do need to clea...