Delicious, Delightful, Delicacies!

We've been enjoying fresh beans nearly every day. . . There are four varieties of heirloom beans pictured above. . . Empress, Pencil Pod Golden Wax, Royalty Purple Pod (they transformed to green after cooking), and Painted Pony. All were delicious!

The peppers are coming along nicely as well; Jimmy Nardello and Tolli's Sweet Italian, especially.

And even though the raspberry and blueberry seasons are nearly past, it's almost blackberry season. It looks to be an exceptional crop this year!

An Unusual Discovery: Part II

Isn't he (she?) getting handsome? This is the baby pigeon (actually a baby Rock Dove, to be specific) that we discovered in the upper level of our barn. He's growing quickly but isn't moving around much yet. Note the adorable yellow "fuzzies" on the top of his head---still signs of baby-hood.

A Fox Hill Farm Celebration

Guess who is 90 years old?


















We'll give you a hint. It isn't the little girls square dancing in this photo. :-)






It's not this cute little cowgirl, either. :-)



























Aha! You've guessed it! Fox Hill Farm recently celebrated 90 years---the farm was originally established in 1919. In light of this momentous occasion, we threw ourselves a party; complete with a hayride, square dancing, lots of food, and an extra-special cake.







It was a delightful day---wonderful family fun.

The lovely Fiona. . .

We snapped a nice new photo of Miracle Lady Fiona last week. . . at two years old, she is maturing beautifully and we couldn't be happier with her. She's sired by Mt. Ridge Yellow Jacket, out of Doncardeb Miss Sunny Ruby. Fiona is a Sec. A Welsh Mountain Pony and we love her. :-)

Garden Update - 8/19/09

Lots of new photographs from the garden this week. . . things are growing, growing, growing.



This is a Goliath tomato (aptly named, because of its large size).

These are Empress Heirloom beans, prolific producers, which we have been planted for the past three years running. They are absolutely delicious, and our favorites.

And here are the heirloom Lazy Housewife pole beans. However, they definitely aren't lazy, at the rate they've been growing!

Our Tolli's Sweet Italian pepper plants have been producing very well. This is our first time growing them. . . the SSE catalog said that Tolli's Sweet Italian produces "large, dependable yields" and this has been absolutely true!

And these darling things are Dwarf Gray Sugar peas. They had the most beautiful purple blossoms, and the pods are just as beautiful if not more so.

An Unusual Discovery

Last Monday, while we were working in the upper level of the barn, we discovered something nestled in the corner. Sitting atop a small pile of hay bales was a very tiny, very pink baby pigeon.

The little guy (girl?) has grown quite remarkably in the past nine days, and white feathers are growing in at an impressive rate. We feel quite privileged to be witnessing the growth and development of a baby pigeon; as it's very unusual to locate a pigeon nest (Google the words "baby pigeon" and see how many references pop up that say "Do baby pigeons exist? How do we know if we never see them??").

Without further ado, here is the little one. . . we think he must be about 12 days old at this point. More pictures as he gets more "pigeon-like." :-)

Winter Hay

The view inside the upper level of our barn---partially filled with winter hay. A wonderful sight!

Black-Eyed Susans

These photos pretty much speak for themselves---the wild Black-Eyed Susans are particularly abundant this year, and simply beautiful!!!

The Very BERRY Days of Summer

It's berry-picking season!

The berry bushes are absolutely loaded this year---the quantity of raspberries and blueberries is amazing. We've been picking and picking and picking and picking and---you get the idea.

They have been simply delicious, either fresh or baked into yummy raspberry/blueberry crisps.

Morning Fog