Frog's Garden finds

The old garden is a mess. It actually saddens me to see it in such shambles. Overgrown weeds intermingled with our leftover herbs and onions. Our daily trip out there now consists of seek & find the plant of the day. Today's plants were Dill, comfrey plus some of the sunflowers which stand at 5 ft tall now. During the hunt for Dill, we discovered my chamomile survived the winter! I was so shocked to see the flowers blooming next to some strawberries.

Frog Found our first green tree/woodland frog of the Summer:


They always seem so at ease when we hold them. Just chillin' out, waiting for me to finish taking my pictures. Once they have had enough, usually after a few minutes they begin to climb up our arm before they jump off. Going on with their day.

Frog also found our first Sunflower of the summer. How Could I have missed such a thing? It could be due to the calendula being in bloom for weeks, making the color of the sunflower not stand out from the rest. So many weeds with plenty of self seeded sunflowers. Reaching as tall, if not more, then Frogs toddler height.



The Onions I planted earlier in the year are being discussed for transplanting. I wonder if they will continue to grow if I uproot them now and transplant within 24 hours. There may not be Fall harvest access later on if I do not take them now. I guess trying is better then wondering at this stage.

I am setting plans for attending the Mother Earth news Fair in September. To bring the happenings of this first time event, via Adventures with The Unusual Farm Chick. Between the workshops, key note speakers & companies of interest, it looks to be an enjoyable Homestead adventure. Somebody must stay home to care for the gardens and livestock.
Luckily, my kids will be staying just down the road from home. A simple trip for them to feed our mob. While The Captain & I attend the Mother Earth News' big party in P.A .

Anyone else going?

Sweetest Dreams,
~Tammie

Weekend road trips spread out the summer fun...

The economy has hit almost everyone in a most unpleasant way. During the summer when our children are off school, we like to do weekend getaways. Spacing out summer fun has shown to be so much more enjoyable then just a week vacation.

We do one tank round trips. Once or twice a month. Camping is 1/4 the price if not lower then what one would spend on accommodations. With a family of 5, this also means the money spent on meals would be much lower due to having a camp stove or open fire to cook upon.

Our children are able to see & explore more then most of their friends. They have so many great adventures to share. Pictures and stories to place in their summer scrap books.

Small towns have so much history and unexpected sites to offer. Driving through these small towns usually delivers pieces of history long forgotten or rarely seen. I spotted this Coca Cola sign fading away on the side of a brick building. Cola has not been 5 cents in my lifetime. The children being so young did not understand the significance, so we had to explain the sign was so old, it is most likely from Grandpa's time. They finally understood it when explained in that fashion...

This weekend, we traveled down by Cincinnati Ohio for the Lavender festival at Peaceful Acres Farm.

We were also wedding photo crashers at this church in town. The things I make The Captain do... I had him snap a picture as we drove by. The families did not look impressed. Maybe it was the not so quiet muffler on my poor Saturn Vue. Slowing down for a quick few photo's just made it last longer for them. I need to get the manual and fix that soon. It is rather embarrassing to announce our arrival in that fashion. What can I say? She is now 7 years old and paid off. Neither of us are mechanics. I look forward to doing it. Just another "did it myself" satisfaction. Now if I can only sum up enough courage to do the brakes...

While attending the festival, we picked a massive bundle of Lavender. Enjoying the fields along with the many bee's buzzing next to our hands. We sampled the lavender foods and lemonade. The children played Frisbee golf with their dad and shot peanuts from the huge slingshot placed by the meadow field. Poor Frog, being a toddler, has a much harder time finding her own entertainment the way her older siblings do.

Although, the misting tent and kids Yoga seemed to be the highlight of her day. She LOVES Yoga!

There is so much left to do in the new Garden. The fence has yet to be erected as I had planned before the trip. More space for transplanting needs filled. And of course there is so many herbs left in the old garden which need to be dug up.

I feel so far behind this year in the garden. So much still to do and July is soon to be upon us. Next year will be better as the saying goes for all levels of gardeners.

Sweetest dreams,

~Tammie

The mcguire Homestead pt 2 Video

In this episode, we have a look at the Modern Mcguire homestead. The buildings of Mr. Mcguire his father's time still stand, as well as the original Home which dates back over 100 years. Stella and her family have added their own touch to the 100 acres. Let's have a look....




Stay tuned for our next video, coming very soon. The Lavender festival of Peaceful Acres I mentioned in a previous post, is this weekend. Looking forward to all the activities and of course the 1 acre of lavender. See you there!


Sweet dreams,
~Tammie


Videos supported by Overstock.com & Lehmans.com
Honorary supporter: Farm Girl clothing brand at Farmboybrand.com

delay, panda's derby race, free tomatoes & Beehives..

You most likely can tell I am behind on our latest video. It's not on purpose. I had the complete video ready for uploading Friday and well....I deleted it. Not realizing what I did until it was too late. This has been a super busy week(even beyond my normal busy).
I am working on it once again. A week delay for our Modern day McGuire homestead segment. My sincere apologies to those who have been looking forward to seeing her new cellar & summer Kitchen.

Panda was in the Akron Area Soap Box Derby yesterday! We had a schedule conflict since Lil' Man had baseball championship games (3 games in one day!!). So The Captain & I split up and he was Umpire for the baseball & I was "co handler" & Cheer master at the Soap Box Derby.
In case you are not familiar with it, Akron Ohio is the capital for the Soap Box Derby. People from around the world come here to compete in this unique & fun race. Click here to read more about the infamous *Soap Box Derby*.

Her Grandpa was her Team Handler, helping with setting up & other details involved with her car. In this picture, look behind them and you will see 3/4 of the hill track they go down. It is 989 feet long!

Panda LOVED it & Lil man will be in his first race next year. I guess you can say I'm a Derby Mom now...

Panda did not build her car this year. She is driving in a Sponsored car for the local championship.The winner of a Local Race is called a "Local Champion" and is eligible to compete in the AASBD World Championship in Akron, Ohio against other Local Champions.
What started out as favorite childhood pastime in the early 20th century, has evolved into a world over loved event. Frog so badly wanted to have a go down that hill. 3 1/2 more years baby. Then you can have a go.

As for other news, I am picking up 2-3 truck bed fulls of Tomato plant flats! FREE! I have offered to my Homesteaders group to come get a few flats and offered to local friends as well. The woman who was adamant I do the Farmers market is shutting her nursery shop early this year. She called me up & said "they go in your truck or the compost." same as she did when she gave me 8 flats of cauliflower, cabbage & kohlrabi... And to think, I thought that 20X60 plot of land at the new house would not be used up. The Landlord has some squash he wants to plant in there since he ran out of room. What is going to think when he see's me driving in with truck loads of tomatoes?! Hopefully my friends will unload me of most. I mostly want the paste kind.

The Nursery owner, Mrs. Becker, will also be spotlighted in future videos. That woman is AMAZING! The things she has done & is doing to be self sufficient and the ideas for her set up... Very inspiring and a garden lovers dream. She was teasing me on the phone and said now I have no reason to back out of market this year. I'll have to change my sign to Tammie's Tomatoes & the Tweens.

I also scored a few free Beehives complete with an older "smoker" & beekeeper gloves. The 84 yr old man had at one time, over 300 hives! I feel fortunate to have received these in kindness. he was a hoot to meet & I look forward to have someone so knowledgeable I can turn to with a lifetime in Beekeeping.

So much excitement this week. I am a very proud Mom & a super stoked Gardener/future Beekeeper. June has been my lucky month.

Sweetest dreams,

~Tammie

Our NEW homestead....

I have held off on sharing more of this news until I had pictures for sharing. We are moving July 1st into this very fitting & lovely home. it looks small from the outside but is 1700 sq ft on the 2 floors with a full basement not included in the footage:

I would pass this house everyday during the last 6 years, when the kids participated in open enrollment in this school district. I fell in love with it's charm and this unique front door:

We are ALL very excited to move to this 1940's house which sits on 3 acres. 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms and 2 fireplaces along with a mud/sun room and full basement (which is where 1 of the fireplaces are located) complete with a root cellar in awesome condition and a canning pantry! Oh and the kitchen.... This is truly a rental rarity. The owners have worked hard on maintaining and updating without taking away much from it's original charm. Priced right. Puts the kids back in their old school system. Just a short walk to their grandparents house & Panda's best friend (since kindergarten- have I mentioned Panda is going into the 6th grade!) The perfect size interior with so much old house character. Curved interior door ways, cedar closets, big windows, plus so much more.

It is backed up by at least 100 or so acres of woods. With 5 acres to one side (vacant and owner refuses to sell anytime soon- is letting our landlord use it if he likes as more land to grow produce) and an old graveyard on the other side.

Just beyond this tree line sits at least 100 acres of woods. There is a road to the left which has at least 300 more acres of woods. There are a few neighborhoods in the area but all are backed by this natural environment.

We have a huge pear tree which gives lots of fruit and at least 3 apple trees which also still bear plenty of yummy apples. This is on the side which looks towards the vacant land the man refuses to sell.

We have about 4o ft of woods separating us from the graveyard. A perfect "adventure" area for the kids.

The Landlord is putting in a 230 gallon Rainwater catch system for the watering of my 20X60 garden, which he so kindly disced up for me last week once I told him the size I would like.

He is placing a new gutter system on the large outbuilding and hopes to have it finished before we move in. He is still cleaning up from the old tenants. It was his suggestion since they have asked we do not use the house water (it's well water) for the garden. "What do you think of rain barrels for watering the garden?" I would LOVE to use that system but I have no more barrels." I have a 230 gallon barrel sitting in the garage for this purpose. Would you be opposed to me setting the system up for you?" Of course not. I would greatly appreciate it!".

He is putting a large Hoop house off to the side by the woods for his organic produce. He will begin this to sell produce to local restaurants. He also happens to be a professional photographer. He and his wife seem excited to have a young family with so much in common with themselves, moving in.{rare to find other Organic method people). A mutual respect and understanding of this life is a great thing.

The chickens will be housed in this old dog kennel and the rabbit hutch's too. We have agreed no roosters and must have written permission to add more animals then the amount we already have.

We do have neighbors across the street from us .An elderly couple who lived there a very long time.

I was trying to unload my tiller yesterday and one of the gentleman from across the road came to my rescue. He had heard a young family was moving in and mentioned they were happy to hear the neighborhood will have the sounds of children once again. I laughed and said the laughter also comes with the normal sibling squabbles and occasional scream. He smiled with a twinkle in his eye and said "Whats the great without the bad to appreciate what is there".

This is going to be one grand adventure.

Sweetest dreams,

~Tammie