Daffodils make any day brighter.
Hooray for Spring!
Ah, indeed, spring is here! Mother Nature is announcing the arrival with sunshiny days and chirping birds. At the farm the forsythia is nearing full bloom and smiling daffodils are begging to brighten the kitchen table.
It was enough inspiration to bring on some serious cleaning, like washing windows and refurbishing flower beds Robin climbed aboard the tractor. Along with our friend, Robert, acting as the chain man, they removed 8 overgrown junipers, that were blocking the view from the house.
Robin deftly maneuvered the tractor to remove overgrown shrubs.
But a lot of the clean up required hand to ground work.
Congratulations to Lucy, who found the first seed tick of the season—or should I say it found her. Seed ticks are a curse that comes with living in the Ozarks.
Ozark Gothic. Robert and Lucy mimic Grant Wood’s American Gothic. Robert’s got the stern look down, but Lucy couldn’t help but smile.
Grow or Else, Little Seeds
The garden protector. I want one of these.
Let the Gardening Begin
I was more inspired to garden after seeing the well-designed, tightly-enclosed plot at our friends’ weekend cabin near Steelville. They tell me it’s deer proof, racoon proof, possum proof, rabbit proof, squirrel proof, groundhog proof, armadillo proof, and possibly mole proof.
It’s just a wire/wood construction, but it checks a lot of boxes for the home gardener. What’s more, the soil hauled from St. Louis Compost is two-feet deep. Wow!
Inda with the family’s new puppy, Claude, who is half Standard Poodle, half English Setter. The fancy fence keeps him out of the garden as well.
Working Cattle
Spring on a farm also means “working cattle.” Robin joined the team rounding up more than one hundred Black Angus for their spring inoculations. Some got four shots. Others got just two—much like many of us have in recent months.
Cattle Talk: “We’ve both had our shots, Bessie, does that mean we can quit this social distancing?”
Fruit Tree Inspection
Peach tree buds.
It was time to see how the fruit trees had wintered. Of the dozens that I’ve planted over the years, only a peach and pear survive. It’s hard rock farming around these parts. I want to plant a fig tree—though the previous two didn’t make it. Hope springs eternal.
At the end of the work day, we celebrated Lucy’s birthday with a German Chocolate Cake. I’m told the classic cake offers relief from aches and pains. We’ll see.
