July 2007

One Love Farm's mascot

The picture makes it look like our frog friend is reading about the new bit if vegetation in his habitat

July 2007

One Love Farm goes solar!

sort of

One Love Farm has installed solar panels to power the waterfall and water fountain in our water garden. We used a heavy duty liner to hold the water and stones to finish the edge of the pond. Many of the rocks you see in the pictures above were taken out of the ground at One Love Farm when we put in our raised beds and planting areas. The pond has attracted an abundance of wildlife. Birds (orioles, finches, swallow and robins among others) often are seen walking on the stones to get a drink of water. Thousands of tadpoles are in the water now. Few will survive to maturity, but we currently have 3 frogs calling our pond home. We saw an egret yesterday flying overhead. Maybe he will stop by our pond later for a drink. We also have seen a snake slithering among the rocks.

It is amazing how the sound of falling water can be so tranquil. The water flow ebbs and recedes with cloud cover. As the sun goes behind a cloud, the force of the water retreats. When it reappears, the water goes more forcefully through the fountain and down the waterfall.

We also added several water plants to pond. Some are upright, while others are close to water level. Some are in pots while others float on the water. Some are winter harder while others are tropical. We will let you know how they progress as time passes by.

July 2007

Sunflowers are starting to pop at One Love Farm! I planted a variety of sunflowers this year. Lots are from seeds I saved last year. I also bought a wide variety of seeds. There will be many colors and sizes of sunflowers from 12 inch stems to giants well over six feet! Right now the dark reds are blooming. I expect to have blooms for at least the next month and probably well into September.

Beets were very popular in my first week of harvest at the farmer's market. I expect to harvest from the beet patch for the next few weeks. Basil continues to come on strong and I expect to harvest until frost. I picked the first eggplant of the year and now squash is ready for harvest. For the next several weeks, we will be picking lots and lots of squash. Peppers are doing well. Now it is a matter of time before they turn red and are ready to be picked. Karen picked some blueberries for our dessert. With only two mature bushes (there are 30 more that should produce fruit in the coming years), we won't be selling any blueberries at the farmer's market. I covered the peach trees in hopes of saving the few peaches that the birds have not already taken for themselves.

July 2007

This spring we saw a phesant at One Love Farm for the first time.
Here he is shown hiding from Dick Cheney.

July 2007

Squash flowers waiting for bees to do their job
It's been warm, but not hot at One Love Farm this week. Temps in the 70s and 80s have prompted tons of plant growth. Also, tomatoes, peppers, squash and eggplant have flowered. The bees will be busy pollinating all these plants. Red and green lettuce is still going strong, but arugula is done for the year, while spicy greens are getting to their end. I expect tons of sunflowers in a week or two.