Spring on the "Farm"

It's springtime in our corner of PA.  Things are growing and it's getting very green around here.  This is what I harvested the other day.

We have FINALLY gotten some things planted in the garden.  Our no-till trial has so far yielded a 100% increase in worms in the garden...that has to be a good start, right?

I recently read a sobering article in Consumer Reports recently about the staggering amounts of heavy metals in many common herbs and spices.  If you look at the article, you can see that none of the oregano and thyme have tested appear safe.  I decided that I needed to make more of an effort to preserve some of my herbs instead of just using them fresh.  I just cut off all my oregano and after washing and sorting it, I dried on the rack in my clothes dryer for 2 hours.  I should get another harvest of it this summer.  I'm still waiting on the thyme.

My orchid is continuing to blossom, it now has 3 blooms on the 2nd flower stalk.

There was plenty of color as well at the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit in Pittsburgh last week.

We have also been having some animal sightings around the farm.  This turkey has taken to hanging out right underneath our bird feeders.

J also made this baby snake sighting in the bathroom downstairs.  The picture is so blurry because she was runnig away while taking it.  Unfortunately, it disappeared and we have been unable to locate it in the past week!

Happy Spring!

Updates

 So, J is home from college.  I'm pretty sure she had about twice as much stuff to bring home as what we took there!  I believe that she is finally all moved back in after about a week.  

She went through her dresser, closet and bookshelves, and amassed 2 boxes of stuff.  JP and I took inspiration and went through the kitchen cabinets and our closets as well and got 2 trash bags and counting of extraneous stuff.  We made a couple of trips to Plato's Closet in different locations over the past couple of days where J sold a few items, and to Goodwill, where I dumped off 2 trash bags +.  There is still a truck load of Goodwill stuff downstairs, where is has been accruing for the past year or so.

All of us made our annual trek to the nursery on Mother's Day to buy perennials, herbs and garden plants.  J helped me plant almost everything that afternoon, AND we transplanted a few of the houseplants that she had taken to school last year.  Now there is a bit of color on the porches.

There is already some color in my "coffin" shade bed.  The bleeding hearts (some of my favorites) are going to town.  L found this deer skull in the woods, and it looks like a Georgia O'Keefe painting.

All of the buds on my orchid inside have all opened on one side (14) and there is another stalk with 7 buds on it so far!

We were invited to a picnic in the park this afternoon - it should be fun to see everyone and hang out.

Finally, as a follow up note, I finally finished my shampoo bar.  I started using it the beginning of January, so that's pretty good, longevity-wise!

Summer is coming.  Enjoy the sunshine!