For Dragonflies And Me

Flowers are bursting open everywhere and the fledglings are leaving the nest... young robins are hopping all over the garden eating creepy crawlies and enjoying being out of the nest... glorious, glorious summer!  The fields are starting to bear and the harvest will soon be coming on heavily... that means 'puttin' up time is just around the corner.  Of course we've been busy with rhubarb and now strawberries are ripe for the pickin' and that means the yummiest jam of all...  Strawberries scare me though... that is growing them. They are really the only 'garden' fruit I don't grow. The runners and weeding they require have never tempted me... until this year! I think I have figured a way to keep them... I will blog more on this next week, so keep watching.  Today we'll stick with more herb stuff and of course some garden junque too! Enjoy and thanks for comin' over![Read More]

Here we are just about in the middle of June... how the days fly. The other day Kyle & Ethan were planting another 50 pounds of Yukon potato seeds... I walked down the row punching the holes in the plastic where they were to plant... Suddenly I saw this big, bossy and majestic dragonfly... He lives here at The Garden Gate Farm... he sports an iridescent blue jacket and flits about like he doesn't have a care in the world. I love to watch them fly about... whip over this way and then dart over that way.  They are by far my favorite insect. I quick pointed him out to the boys and we watched awhile as he showed off.  I truly believe that God always sends me one because He knows how special they are too me.  We also had another 'not so majestic' flying critter that day~ this one though was darting through my house and I was screaming running out the door~[Read More]

Well here we are getting fired up about the garden and all that she will bear for us... spring, summer, fall and winter... each holds a different gift for the individual.  Most people are not aware of the extended growing capabilities that we now have available in more northern climates, such as mine here in the thumb of Michigan.  We have some cold winters but with heated and unheated greenhouses, high tunnels and/ or hoop houses the posibilities are quite amazing.  No we can't grow tomatoes, they need a certain amount of sunlight to bear that vine ripened flavorful tomato.  I don't believe in hydroponics and wouldn't eat anything grown that way on purpose... read the labels friends, you'd be surprised at what you're eating during the winter months.  I believe, but don't totally practice eating 'in season'... my family likes banana's and oranges and we buy them in the winter. I do realize that eating local and in season are wonderful and right things, but, we are a bit spoiled. With all the preserving and root cellaring we do we have pretty much every thing we could want out of the garden all winter long and right on through spring until it all starts coming in fresh again.  With our hoop houses we can have fresh greens and lettuces all winter long... like I said we are spoiled! Which brings me to helping you put up some rhubarb and giving you recipes on how to use it in and out 'of season'... enjoy![Read More]

Well we are already into June and summer is right around the corner.  We have enjoyed all the beauty that spring brings and now we can start to welcome all the special things that summer has to offer... vine ripened heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil along with garlic put together to make a mouth watering Brushetta, Black Eyed Susan's, daisy's and cone flowers are getting ready to show off their colorful faces while our peonies and iris' are bowing out graciously.  Now is the time to start doing some divisions of certain plants, iris' being one.  Herbs are producing prolifically and drying them right now is an optimal time.  If you are a canner and put up your summer's bounty, then you will want to have all those wonderful herbs well gathered and ready to add into your spaghetti and bar-b-que sauce's, not to mention salsa and soups.  I am excited about starting to put the good stuff up here... Rhubarb is ready to be froze and saved to make some yummy strawberry-rhubarb pies, preserves and sauces (more on that next time)... oh my... summer![Read More]

The gardens are bursting with blooms and scents that make a person's senses start leaping... the spicy smell of the rose... the peonies simply radiate with beauty as their big pom-pom flowers sway too and fro on the breeze... weeding amongst the basil's, thyme's, sage's and fennel's just tantalize the olfactory senses to a majestic height... Gardening is a gift and no one can convince me otherwise!  Right now we have lots of herbs that are producing prolifically and it can be difficult to get all these yummies put in the pot, shall we say.  Don't despair, you have more options with herbs than just eating them~ although that is my personal first choice! There are lots of folks out there that enjoy herbs in personal care products even more than on the menu. I am going to focus on this area of herbs for the next while to switch things up a bit.  Enjoy the sunshine and smile big... summer's just around the corner!  [Read More]

Ryan and I were transplanting more tomatoes in the green house yesterday... he enjoys playing in the dirt~ after all he is a boy.  He got 14 flats done and was quite pleased with himself, especially with him earning fifty cents a flat and it didn't even take him an hour!  Work is an ethic that needs to be taught when they are young and being able to earn a little bit on the side isn't all that bad either.  Afterward, I was watering in the hoop house and was just standing there looking at all the neat rows of lettuce and tomatoes and taking in the deep earthy smell... I love to be outside, in the gardens in the fresh air... how much better when it's with my children!  We'll talk on a bit more about how to utilize garden junque and cute-sifying your gardens today! [Read More]

Right now garage & rummage sales are around every bend along with estate sales!  I don't always have time to go to these because I am typically at market on Saturdays and by the time we are on the way home, the last thing I feel like doing is 'saleing'.  Thrift shopping is another story though... I know I will find just about whatever I want at the ones we drive past in the city on our way home.  But good garden junque is not so easy to find this way.  Antique shoppes, flea markets and sales are better shopping opportunity for this kind of stuff.  I love to add elements into my beds that give a feeling of invitation... cool old chairs, stools and benches say 'come on in for a stay!', tin pails and buckets add height and dimension in the flower beds; ladders and bird cages can be incorporated as well!  I love to get lost in my flower beds and just relax... weed, water and rest... gardening, what could anyone want more?[Read More]

Believe it or not but we are already coming to the end of May... soon it will be summer!  I love summer but nothing is as special to me as Spring.  The rebirth and joy that comes with spring cannot be compared!  Gardening is in full swing right now for most of us who garden... the peonies are ready to pop, lilacs are dancing, columbine and iris are swaying in the breeze as softly as the light of the butterfly that settles upon them.  Monarchs and yellow Swallow Tails are hovering about now along with my first visit of the happy hummingbirds now flitting about.  There is such life right now, such joy... you can see it in the wings of the birds as they glide overhead...

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Be Green Ideas, Nifty Bug Trap, Mailbox in the Garden and Yummy Spring Spinach Topped Tomatoes

Welcome me back!  Well I do apologize for being gone for awhile here at For Dragonflies... my computer was giving me some issues for a bit over a week and then we have been busy here planting all the good stuff that fills our farms CSA share boxes each week and provides the lovely spread at our market tables.  But this is one of my happy places and I am glad to return!  Right now at The Garden Gate we are very busy... raising piggies and chickens and getting the raised beds and field planted.  I love the busyness of this time of year... it is exhilarating for me... I feel refreshed and alive and cherish every moment I can be outdoors.  We just planted the raised beds outside the hoop house with chard & beets today... the cherry tomatoes, lettuces and basil are growing beautifully in the hoop house beds, the sausage garden raised beds are full and growing beautifully!  Green is good in more ways than one.  I will give you some fun ideas on how to be green that won't tax your time or wallet!  [Read More]

Lavender is one of my favorite herbs; although I don't use it as a culinary herb even though you can, I am partial to it as a lovely hedge about my flower beds.  Evan loves lavender, he will often bring me a bouquet of the sprigs he has picked... so sweet. 

Cooking with Herbs is such a special treat... once you start using fresh herbs and taste the difference from the dried, it will be hard to enjoy them as much in the winter.  Fresh herbs are a culinary delight to the senses and add a flavor that is hard to beat. Many people skip herbs when baking, so here are some yummy 'Herb Additions' to your everyday meals along with some baked good recipe's![Read More]

The end of the month... we are already through one third of this year... I certainly cannot believe how fast time keeps moving on.  Our farms winter market is over ~ 21 weeks have flown by and now the regular season farmers market which will consume the next 29 weeks our lives begins... Gardening and farming will soon take up much of each day.  I love this time of year and the feeling of exhilaration that comes along with it.  In the next few entries here at Dragonflies, I will be focusing on Herbs. We will be able to start putting out all those goodies in the gardens, decorating our porches and patios and adorning our flower beds with boundless blossoms... my favorite time of year![Read More]

Evan and I picked rhubarb and asparagus today... so fun! He enjoys being outside helping so much, it is such a blessing. The other day when we were in the front garden hoeing he and Ryan were picking up all the weeds putting them in buckets to dump... well Evan wanted to do more, so there he goes with my hoe diligently working away at some weeds 'mom missed'... Hard work is something that needs to be nurtured in them while young, and when we can make it fun they want to be with us!  I am working hard at teaching these children all about gardening and feeding themselves... companion planting is an important part of this process, especially for the Organic gardener.
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Spring is such an exciting time of year... I love all the flowering trees and shrubs... in my opinion if it doesn't bloom at some point, why bother having it! Although I do admit the beautiful colors of Autumn in the fall with all the maples and other trees bursting forth in spectacular hues of orange, red, yellow and bronze is stunning as well... I welcome spring with open arms, dream for summer and long for fall...  
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I spend a lot of time in the kitchen especially in the summer when we are busy with all the canning & freezing we do around our home.  I love to can as you will learn more this summer through my blogs I am sure!  Right now I am excited with spring and all the bounty she holds... rhubarb, asparagus, fresh greens, spinach, fresh garden tea... oh spring is delicious.  But I think all the seasons can be, especially with the season extensions that we have now with hoop houses and heated green houses at our farm.  With our Winter CSA they allow for fresh stuff all year!  Today I am kitchen mode so here are some fun ideas, tips, decorating ideas and yummy drinks to read about! Have a great day and wonderful weekend!
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Our gardens are filled with love, patience and long suffering... these are attributes that we as spouses, parents, co-workers and such strive to maintain and build in our personal character.  I believe that gardening helps us grow these virtues.  I always tell my my friends that God made me to love gardening because that was the only way He was sure to get these virtues instilled in me.   Perennials I believe help along with this much more than annuals.  My closer friends know how much I enjoy 'instant gratification'~ which is why I probably will always incorporate my beloved annuals... petunias, nasturtiums, pansies and the likes~ they are ever faithful!  Today we will look at perennials and the pro's and con's to them along with some tips & hints on maintenance.
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