Dispatch @ Prospect Hill Farm

This flat has several varieties of tomatoes that were planted February 20 (a might early, as they say).  This picture was taken on March 13, 2011.

Got two cherry trees for Christmas!

These Cherry Trees are semi-dwarf varieties.  One is  self-polinating and the other requires a pollinator.  I’m going to pull out and review my notes from the fruit tree and berry workshop I took last fall with Mom.  More to come. . .

Our tradition is to decorate for the Christmas holidays with fresh greenery from the farm. I cut some cedar branches, full of lovely blue berries and was keeping them on the back porch. Well, this and that happened and I was delayed in decorating. The branches sat frozen in the water bucket waiting for my muse to visit.

One Saturday I was ready to decorate and looked out the window at the cedar branches to find them covered with cedar waxwings. A flock of these beautiful birds was covering the branches, the flock was about 35 -40 birds. If startled, they flew off in a frenzy, one hit the house but bounced back, and returned with in minutes. They didn’t stop until every berry was gone. The interesting thing about this is the cedar tree from which the branches came, was just around in the front yard – and it was still full of berries!

One theory of why this happened is the berries on the branches had ripen to state of perfection to the waxwings’ tastes. I’ll buy that until I hear something better. I snapped the picture below as they scoured the branches. The bluebirds have also endeared themselves to me. They are in the middle of everything. It seems like they are just being nosy. I didn’t see them eating berries, but they sure love the pets’ water bowl.

On the gardening side of things, I got two new cherry trees and lots of seed catalogs. So excited about a small greenhouse going up. It’s about 8 x 10 and will be a great improvement over the way I’ve tried to start plants in the past.

Winter weather came in fast and furious this year beginning about the middle of November. Caught unaware, I lost a few heads of cauliflower and brocolli. The green suffered with the freeze, but a few warm days bring them around. We are still eating out of the garden, turnips, parsnips and collard greens. So thankful I have other food to supplement that. Wouldn’t want to live out a winter on that stuff! It’s ok once and a while, but not daily.

Already getting excited about the Garden 2011. We are looking through seed catalogs, especially for heirlooms and our favorites. Bakers Creek , Seeds of Change, and High Mowing Seeds , are some of the companies I have first hand experience with purchasing seeds. Baker’s Creek has a beautiful catalog.

There’s lots and lots of information on the web now. The eat local movement has a lot of steam right now. Here is a good summary from the Daily Green of why to eat and plant heirloom varieties:

While heirloom tomatoes grab lots of attention due to their superior flavor compared to mass-marketed industrially grown competitors, a wide range of other produce seeds come in heirloom varieties, including watermelons, onions, bell peppers, kale, okra, leeks, tomatillos, garlic, carrots, cucumbers, squash, herbs, beans and a red-colored “strawberry popcorn.” At least two French heirloom lettuces — Rouge d’Hiver Lettuce and Cracoviensis Lettuce – were described in M.M. Vilmorin’s “The Vegetable Garden” way back in 1885. No need to eat boring iceberg lettuce!

Backyard organic gardeners are trying their hand at growing these gifts from grandmother’s garden, and it’s a good thing, too. Heirloom vegetables keep our food supply diverse, and reduce our dependency on monoculture farming and hybridization. Plant breeders use old varieties to breed resistance to diseases and pests into modern crops.

You’ll get your just rewards by biting into tastier, hardier historic fruits and vegetables.