Sunday Dose of Color and Cute: Bright Spot

I love it when the dogs crash a photo shoot.

We have one lone little tulip plant in the front yard, and despite years of dog abuse, it always gives us beautiful blooms:
4/16/06: Easter Greetings to You
4/16/06: Dogfoot Tiptoed through the Tulips
4/16/06: Time Lapse Tulips
4/12/09: No Bonnets, but Plenty of Blooms
4/12/09: Happy Easter!

The Daily Donkey 64: Young Evie Models Her Pretty Purple Halter

© FarmgirlFare.com, where plans inevitably get changed when the power suddenly goes off (which also means the water goes off) for the afternoon. What can you do without those two? Play Work on the tractor, sweep the floor, weed the garden, or have a baby! Current lamb count: 17.

Tuesday Dose of Color and Cute: Flora and Fauna

Daylily

Tuesday Farm Photos: It's a Pollinator Party

Sunday Farm Photos: Color Me Happy

The lilacs are in bloom!

It's hit or miss with lilacs in this part of Missouri, especially with the late spring frosts we often get down here in our little valley, which the weather people refer to as a 'low lying area.' Sometimes the bushes put on hardly any flowers (or even none at all), and sometimes they're covered with buds but they end up freezing to death.

Friday Dose of Cute: Feline Philosophy

Take all the good in. . .

Saturday Dose of Cute: Spring Has Sprung!

Tuesday Farm Photo #2: Mother Nature's Canvas

A Smattering of Color in the Creekbed

Want to see more farm art?
8/28/05: Discard On Display
9/26/05: Well Seasoned
9/29/05: Heart Of Vine
11/27/05: More Found Art
12/15/05: The Weathered Look Is Very In Around Here
1/29/06: Bird Nests Are Definitely Works Of Art
3/30/06: More Old Stuff Just Hanging Around
8/9/06: Feather Wait
8/29/06: Seeing Things
9/16/06: The Farm Is My Canvas
9/29/06: Perfect Landing
11/19/06: Farmyard Still Life
1/6/07: Precious Farm Jewels
12/15/07: Still Life With Barbed Wire & Buck Brush
1/27/08: Fence As Farm Art

© Copyright 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where even though we're miles and miles from the nearest museum there's beautiful artwork everywhere we look.

Saturday Farm Photo: Daffodil Delight

I Love Them Even When They're Soggy

© 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where Farmgirl Susan shares stories & photos of her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres - and we get the biggest kicks out of the littlest things.

Wednesday Farm Photo: What's In This Season?

Lots Of Bright Color!

Help! I love this flowering bush, but I have no idea what it is. Do you? You can see a photo of the whole bush and find out why I love it so much at my offshoot blog, In My Kitchen Garden.

Want to see more flowering color?
3/20/06: First Day Of Spring Daffodils
4/16/06: Tulips For Easter
4/16/06: Dogfoot Tiptoed Through The Tulips
4/27/06: Color Coordinated In The Garden
5/17/06: Lilac Iris & A Lamb Report
4/5/07: Lilacs!
6/25/07: Echinacea By The Cat Cabin
7/2/07: Holding On For Dear Life Or Just Hanging Out?
8/14/07: Joint Pollination Task Force (& Other Pollinator Pics)
9/11/07: Cavorting Around On A Zinnia
9/27/07: Squash Blossom Butterfly
3/22/08: Leaves On The Lilacs (And Lots Of Lilac Stories)
4/7/08: The Definition Of Cheerful? See Daffodils
Bright Blooms In My Kitchen Garden

© Copyright 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where after 13 years of clomping around in dirty overalls and rubber boots we're probably pretty lacking when it comes to fashion sense, but we do know that Mother Nature always gets her colors right.

Monday Farm Photo: The Definition Of Cheerful?

See Daffodils - Or Even Just One

A year of Farm Photos ago:
3/29/07: Late Supper Picked By The Light Of The Moon
3/30/07: A Year In Bread Has Begun! (And it will continue!)
4/1/07: Making Mischief In The Morning Light
4/2/07: These Two Are On Top Of Breakfast
4/3/07: The Grass Looks Fake This Time Of Year
4/5/07: Lilacs! (Wow, we're way behind this year)

Two years ago:
3/28/06: It Seems Like They Never Stop Moving
3/29/06: They Certainly Do Learn Early
3/30/06: More Old Stuff Just Hanging Around
3/31/06: Doll Face & Her Baby Boy
4/1/06: Spring Has Sprung
4/2/06: Same Scene New View Of The Haybarn
4/3/06: Big World, Small Donkey
4/4/06: Babies Chew On Everything
4/5/06: The Lilacs Are Coming! The Lilacs Are Coming!
4/5/06: A Sweeter Sheep You Will Not Meet - Farewell
4/7/06: Purple Beet 'Greens' In The Greenhouse
Weekend Dog Blogging: Dogfoot
Weekend Cat Blogging: Molly Doodlebug & The Cat Cabin

And out of the kitchen came:
Garlic Lover's White Bean Soup

© 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where we love flowers like daffodils and echinacea that come up year after year despite being totally neglected - and a fenceline full of daffodils never fails to delight.

Farm Photo 3/22/08: Leaves On The Lilacs

Which Means There Will Hopefully Be Flowers Soon

Last year I told you about my infatuation with lilacs, and you were kind enough to respond with your own personal (and wonderful) lilac stories and memories. I know better than to sniff my lilac flowers before they bloom, as they usually only appear every few years here because of our crazy weather, but I can't help but get excited whenever I see these first leaves popping out. The dreamy scent of lilacs might possibly be in the air.

Do you have a lilac memory or story? I'd love to hear it.

© Copyright 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where unfortunately we're usually too busy to plant flowers, but we always make sure to take time to appreciate the ones that are kind enough to come up every year on their own.

Farm Photo 9/27/07: Made For Each Other?

A Perfect Match

When I first saw this butterfly I thought its wings were partly transparent and that I was seeing the color of the squash blossom beneath them. Considering there are probably at least a million colors in the world, it seems incredible that this butterfly has the exact same coloring as this flower. Or does it? All I know is that from now on, this winged beauty will be referred to in my garden as the Squash Blossom Butterfly.

Speaking of squash, have you frozen some grated zucchini yet so you can make Carrot, Raisin, & Zucchini bran muffins once I finally get around to sharing the recipe? It's a scrumptious new variation of my popular bran muffin recipe, and calls for one packed cup (weighing 8 ounces) of grated zucchini for a dozen muffins. I hope to have it up in the next couple of weeks. (The Tomato Basil Sourdough Bread recipe is coming first.)

More into salads than squash? Over In My Kitchen Garden, I've just written all about how easy it is to grow Swiss chard, one of my very favorite vegetables, from seed. No garden? No problem. Swiss chard does exceptionally well in containers, which means even apartment dwellers have no excuse not to try sprinkling a few seeds somewhere.

Next up In My Kitchen Garden will be two of my favorite Swiss chard recipes. In the meantime, I hope you'll add your favorite way to enjoy Swiss chard in a comment on the how to grow it post--whether you actually grow your own or not. The suggestions so far all sound so delicious that I've been out in the garden urging all my 1-inch high seedlings to grow "Faster! Faster! Faster!"

Want to see more?
You'll find plenty of pollinator pics here, and lots more flower photos here.

© 2007 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where Farmgirl Susan shares stories & photos of her crazy country life on 240 remote acres.

Farm Photo 9/11/07:Cavorting Around On A Zinnia

Fauna & Flora In The Kitchen Garden

Speaking of the kitchen garden, after an unplanned two month hiatus (where does the time go?), I'm back to posting at InMyKitchenGarden.com, the garden blog I started as an offshoot to Farmgirl Fare back in the spring of 2006.

You'll find my latest post, "Planning & Planting The Fall Garden" (which includes about a zillion links to help you plant your own fall crops as well as enjoy the bounty of late summer) here. If you do stop over for a visit, I hope you'll leave a comment and share your successes, failures, and lessons learned this year in your garden. Love food but not a gardener yet? Find out why you'll still probably enjoy In My Kitchen Garden here.

Want to see more?
You'll find all sorts of other flower photos here. Several also include Lamb Reports since they were taken during spring lambing season.

© 2007 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where Farmgirl Susan shares photos & stories of her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres.

Farm Photo 8/14/07: Echinacea Visitors

Joint Pollination Task Force

It turns out my camera has more zoom than I thought. Who knew?

More pollinator pics:
Farm Photo 4/10/06: Look What Landed At My Feet
Farm Photo 5/11/06: Butterfly Conference
Farm Photo 6/22/06: Farms Depend On Pollinators
Farm Photo 6/23/06: You Can't Have Too Many Pollinators Around
Farm Photo 6/28/06: Butterfly Paradise
Farm Photo 7/08/06: The Stuff Of Life
Farm Photo 7/16/06: Butterfly Bonanza
Farm Photo 8/18/06: A Most Extraordinary Hug
What's Growin' On 6/24/06: Pollinators & Sheep & I Love Spiderwort
What's Growin' On 6/29/06: Obsessed With Bunnies & Butterflies
What's Growin' On 8/26/06: Butterfly Photos Are Better Than Nothing
5/11/06: My Good Deed For The Day

© 2007 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where Farmgirl Susan shares photos & stories of her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres.

Farm Photo 7/28/07:A Picture Perfect Walk In The Woods

Forest By Mother Earth

Accessories By Mother Nature

Something strange is going on. On July 16th, I took 81 photographs. I haven't taken a single one since. At some point during the past 12 days I stopped lugging around my beloved camera and didn't even notice.

I'm blaming summer. I don't function well when it gets above 80 degrees (okay, okay 65). Toss in 90% humidity (yes, that's really what it is, I just checked), and my brain hangs out a giant Do Not Disturb sign, while my body wishes it could do the same. Even the smallest outdoor chores feel monumental.

When I moved from northern California to Missouri back in 1994 it was November. And it was lovely. A big ice storm hit the small town we were staying in a few days after our arrival, and every single thing became encased in ice. While everyone else was huddled indoors staying warm, I bundled up and went for walks, admiring the glistening landscape that had magically appeared overnight. I felt as if I'd moved to Disneyland.

Then people began asking me if I'd been here in the summer yet. Lots of people. People who all said a variation of the exact same thing: "I thought it was humid in [insert nearly any state in the country here], but that was nothing compared to Missouri." I started getting very nervous. And unfortunately my fears did not go unfounded. Summer in southern Missouri must be experienced to be believed, and in a bad year you have from early May until late September to experience it.

I realize, of course, that there are many lizard-type people who think there is nothing better than lying on a burning hot rock in the scorching sun while most of the water in your body pours out of your skin at a medically alarming rate. It's too bad I'm not one of them. In my opinion, if you're not moving, you shouldn't be sweating profusely.

All of this whining is in fact leading to a point.

I know that many of you have come to believe I live a picture perfect life in a picture perfect place, and while I don't like to complain about all the bad stuff (and on a farm we definitely get our share of it), once in a while I think it's only fair to set you straight.

It's beautiful here. Really, really beautiful. Stops-me-in-my-tracks several times a day beautiful. My life is far from perfect, but I do in fact live in a picture perfect place. What you do not want to do, however, is actually climb into some of the pictures. Take the one at the top for example. I could have said nothing about it and simply let you believe that Bear and I were out for a pleasant stroll in the woods, enjoying nature and the crisp, refreshing air.

The reality, though, is that despite the early morning hour, it was already very hot and very muggy, and my clothes were completely soaked with sweat. A small part of my brain was functioning well enough to see the photo opportunity in front of me, but the rest of it was taken up with counting out how many more months until autumn on my fingers, and thinking about how much nicer everything would look if it were covered with several inches of snow. Right now it feels like a jungle. A jungle with pine trees.

I wasn't planning to write this. I was actually in the middle of watering the garden and feeding insect-ravaged turnip greens and Swiss chard to Whitey and her not-so-baby-anymore chicks (yes, I promise a long overdue chick update is coming soon). I only popped inside to jot down a couple of notes before the sun zapped them right out of my mind, which is what's been constantly happening lately.

Originally I was going to post these two photos with nothing but their captions and let you think whatever you like. In retrospect, that may have been the better way to go. You could have stared contently at them, letting out a small sigh and taking in a deep breath of cool woodland air. But as they say, misery loves company, and so I thought it only fair to hit you head-on with a sweat-drenched, furnace-like blast of my summer reality instead. Besides, the longer I sit here and type, the longer I can stay holed up in my little office--the only room in The Shack with air-conditioning--before I have to open the door and step back out into those perfect pictures where there won't be any snow for months.

P.S. There are plenty of nice winter photos in the monthly archives located on the homepage sidebar if you feel like cooling off.

© 2007 FarmgirlFare.com, the sweat-drenched foodie farm blog where Farmgirl Susan shares photos & stories of her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres—no matter what the weather.

Farm Photo: 7/2/07

Holding on for dear life or just hanging out? (click on photo to enlarge)

So it finally rained. A lot. Like three inches in twenty-four hours. Thank goodness.

Welcome new visitors!
Click here for a brief introduction to this site.

© 2007 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where Farmgirl Susan shares photos & stories of her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres.

Farm Photo 6/25/07: Pretty in Pink

Echinacea by the Cat Cabin

I love echinacea. It flourishes in our crazy climate, blooms for weeks, never needs watering, attracts all sorts of pollinators, spreads like mad, and is pretty much impossible to kill. That's my kind of plant.

Want to learn more about echinacea? Check out this kitchen garden blog post: My Favorite Easy To Grow, No Maintenance, Heat Loving, Drought Tolerant, Long Blooming Flowering Perennial? Echinacea!

Did I mention it's a joy to photograph?
8/23/05: Hardy Echinacea Blooms All Summer Long
6/20/06: Preparing to Burst into Color
7/16/06: Butterfly Bonanza
8/26/06: Butterfly Photos are Better than Nothing
6/28/06: Butterfly Paradise
7/8/06: The Stuff of Life
11/25/06: The Easiest Way to Store Seeds
6/25/07: Echinacea by the Cat Cabin
8/14/07: Echinacea Visitors
7/6/08: Been Busy
7/8/08: Winged Spectacular (one of my favorite photos)

© 2007 FarmgirlFare.com, the perennial foodie farm blog where Farmgirl Susan shares photos & stories of her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres.

Farm Photo: 5/16/07

Yard Art

© 2007 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where Farmgirl Susan shares photos & stories of her crazy country life on 240 remote Missouri acres.

Farm Photo: 1/11/07

Golden Globe Turnip Flowers In My April 2006 Garden

Excuses for the lazy kitchen gardener come almost too easily. Didn't get around to harvesting all of your bounty? You're saving the seeds of course. Forgot to actually save the seeds? You're feeding the birds--and, more importantly, keeping your beloved seed companies in business. Once again, it's seed ordering season in the kitchen garden--oh my! **

There is nothing more wonderful than the feelings of pride and accomplishment that accompany a meal of glorious bounty that were once just a few seeds in your hand--even if that bounty consists of only a handful of arugula. Growing food from seed is not as intimidating (or as much work) as you might think. Honest. (Well, as long as you don't get really, really carried away with your seed order.)

Inbetween sending in my seed orders, I'm working on some posts for InMyKitchenGarden.com about ordering seeds. If you would like to receive each new IMKG post via email, just pop over there and look for the sign-up thingie in the top right hand corner of the homepage. Didn't know about my kitchen garden blog? Click here to read why it's not just for gardeners.

And thank you all so much for your congratulatory comments and emails regarding my Food Blog Award. I never could have done it without you!

A year of Daily Photos ago: Distracted By The Sky

Welcome new visitors!
Click here for a brief introduction to this site.

** For some of my basic tips for starting seeds, click here and scroll down to the comments section. A great place to find answers to all your gardening questions is at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds' iDigmyGarden.com. With nearly 2,000 members and over 20,000 posts, it's the Internet's largest forum dedicated to the heirloom gardener. My favorite gardening book for the past 5 years has been The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Ed Smith. Click here to read my review of it.

Daily Farm Photo: 12/18/06

Autumn Sunflower 2

This is another sunflower photo I took a while ago. (Click here to see Autumn Sunflower 1). These flowers are not on the farm; I came upon two entire fields of them while driving through the dense backwoods not far from our property. They were everywhere I looked, so different than anything I had ever seen, and the brilliantly colored trees that surrounded the fields made a wonderful backdrop. I found myself entranced, snapping pictures and oblivious to the spattering rain falling on me (and my camera). I ended up with 7 photos I really like, and am toying with the idea of a series of blank notecards. The bizarre, silent, and totally unexpected landscape had such a mysterious, almost eerie (but not at all depressing) feel to it, and I think it comes across in the photos--or maybe you just had to be there. What do you think?

A year of Daily Photos ago:
Do You Think She's Been Stolen?
And WCB #28: The Doodle Monster