Thursday, March 04, 2010

Retirement helps a lot

 

A lovely shipment of bareroot persimmons, two goumis, and two aronias from Hidden Springs Nursery, Cookeville, TN. These people are highly recommended. Risa was, briefly, a member of their extended family and farm, when it was in Georgia, some thirty-five years ago, so she should know. They have done a lot for edible landscapes and native species. As they did not have the kiwis we were looking for, we agreed they could surprise us and now we expect to learn all about goumis and aronias. 

Hopes for 2010 at Stony Run 

Currently we have in flats in the house: Amish paste tomatoes, diamond eggplants, Aunt Ruby Green tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, celery, California Wonder bell peppers, Stupice tomatoes, Rutgers tomatoes, Pingtung Long eggplants, Bulgarian Carrot peppers, Beefsteak tomatoes. In flats in the potting shed: red cabbage, white cabbage, collards, cauliflower, spinach, Red Russian kale, 2 kinds of lettuce, chard, beets, Joi Choi bok choi, parsnips and leeks. 

In grow tunnel: onions, walking onions, dandelion, yellow peas, elephant garlic, favas. Oh, and kale. Always some kale around here. The herb beds are pretty quiet right now ... some rosemary, chives, lavendar and mint mostly. 

In garden: favas coming up; as usual there's lots of rhubarb, elephant garlic, garlic, walking onions, Jerusalem artichoke. 8 new blueberries, 2 early and 2 late, and three kinds of grapes. Corn, beans, basil, tomatillos, pumpkins, squash, peas and the like are waiting in their packets, and sprouty potatoes in their sacks. 

In orchard/poultry zone: one pie cherry, one van cherry, 2 bing cherries, 2 Black Tartarian cherries. Apples: one each Gravenstein, Granny Smith, Cortland, Honeycrisp, Egremont Russet. Pears: 2 Bosc, 2 Anjou, 3 Bartlett. Plums: 1 Santa Rosa, 1 damson, 1 Satsuma, 1 Superior, 2 prunes. 4 nectarines of 2 kinds and 2 Elberta peaches. 4 pineapple quince. 2 figs (which may have died this winter). 1 filbert. 

Came in the mail today: 2 persimmons, two Goumis and an Aronia. Still on order: 6 Cascadian hop vines. Looking for three hardy kiwis. 

Under the trees, on grass: 7 Rhode Island Red hens with rooster, 8 Americauna chicks, 5 Ancona ducks, 6 Khaki Campbells, and a pair of White China geese. Current project, rehabbing the "barley field" across the creek. Can't grow anything there right now as it is a highway for deer... 

Be it noted we are not regarded by any jurisdiction as a farm.

Don't go thinking Risa does nothing but work all day; she has chronic lumbar disc trouble from her forestry days and also faces occasional bouts of debilitating depression, both of which make a day in a bathrobe an attractive proposition! Especially with chocolate. 

Fortunately she's learned to go back to bed and read, knowing she'll be up for a project around ten a.m. or so if she allows herself the downtime first. You can get a lot done even if you are a lazy or timid person or deal with some disabilities (or all three as in the present instance), simply by finding out what your rhythms are and adjusting to them -- not so much an option for the eight-to-five set. This was a problem for Risa for many years, but retirement helps a lot!
 

One of the most fundamental facts of country life is that one is always learning. -- Sherry Thomas and Jeanne Tetrealt, Country Women: A Handbook for the New Farmer

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:55 PM

    Hi Risa -- I just want to let you know how much I enjoy your narrated journey to sustainability. Because of your thoughtful insights accompanied by wonderful and useful pictures, I often bring you with me in the garden (the real one and the garden of my mind).

    I learn a lot from you and Beloved (most recently about the cautiously impressive hay hook!!), and find your writings forever important and inspiring.

    Thank you for writing about your life.

    Warmly,

    ~d :)

    P.S. I really wanted to introduce....I'm hooked!! ;)

    Enjoy your new fruit trees, and may some cute kiwis surface soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great variety of orchard trees! I wish I had access to Choke Cherry. We love lots and lots of Wild Cherry though and the birds continue to bless us with more every year. Not so good for the livestock. I've got to figure out a remedy for that one. Leaf blower I think!

    I hope Risa is up and about soon...it's almost 10am here!! ;) What you said is so true. We just live is such a rush rush society and never give ourselves time. Time to relax and unwind is vital to good health and healing. I'm glad that my Honey understood that. Most folks couldn't understand that "my job" was to get well....I did...now my job entails so much more and I'm so grateful!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Risa,
    When you figure out goumis (hey they are nitrogen fixing!) let us know what you used them for. The taste is very interesting sweet tart with a strong hit of tannin I think. Maybe there's a wine in there....maybe an additive to an otherwise bland fruit wine. I am convinced these funny little berries need more uses than me just eating them straight out of the garden. By the way what zone are you?
    (I predict your fig will come back.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Zone 8a, I'm told. Yes, hoping to see the figs resprout from the ground. Thank you for the encouragement, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  5. As I suspected we are in the same zone :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Risa,

    Totally echoing anon's comment! I always take such pleasure from your posts and could leave a comment pretty much every time saying how lovely and inspiring I find each one, but I just wanted to pop in and say this post is so lovely and inspiring!

    "You can get a lot done even if you are a lazy or timid person or deal with some disabilities (or all three as in the present instance), simply by finding out what your rhythms are and adjusting to them."

    Thank you so much for that.

    Restful and restorative vibes to you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. hey risa! i'm excited because i know where you can get hardy kiwi! and fuzzy kiwi, if you're so inclined.

    the web site is www.ediblelandscaping.com, run by a friend of mine named michael mcconkey and his beautiful family. they're great folks, and produce really wonderful plants. they have always supplied acorn's fruit trees, berry bushes, etc (that's the farm i lived on in virginia).

    it looks like he's got about eight varieties of hardy kiwi - i've tasted the red variety myself, at his place in afton, va - it was delicious!

    the site can be overwhelming to navigate, so i'd suggest clicking 'plant categories' on the left and going right to the vines/kiwi section, otherwise there's a lot of tempting stuff to scroll through!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Actually, there are some around here, but very pricey for some reason, and I'm just being stubborn. But, they sound like fun, I'll do it! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

Stony Run Farm: Life on One Acre