I am popping in to test things out today and share a few photographs with you.
I had a wee problem with a few trollers on the blog. They made everything sour. So I went quiet for a while hoping they would get bored. Now I am being careful. Poking my wooly head around the corner.
During all this time I have been in my work-triangle of mill to farm to bed. Head down. An apple a day. Lots of water. Getting on with it. Baking on the weekends. Saving. All that ordinary stuff.
If you are on Instagram you are welcome to join me over there. I will post pictures there more often but I miss telling the stories of the farm. Of course in the winter I never see it. I leave at 5 am and get home around 6pm. In the dark both ways.
Let’s hope the trolls did not hear me say I am on Instagram but I have been dying to invite you there I so am willing to risk it. You can work out the name I use- to post over there – that should sort the bastard mink out from the goats. Stay in touch.
The rain came last week. Torrential like rainy season in the tropics. At one point we had 2 inches in 10 minutes and again and again and in the end the rain gauge floated away and I stopped counting. The rivers and creeks and ditches rose, there was nowhere for the water to drain to – we are so flat and low. And the landscape went downhill fast. There was a fault in the ditch bank and the water made good use of it.
The flooded ditch water poured through the hole and into our fields. All the crops in our fields except a few higher islands of new corn are drowned. The road was closed with waves of water washing over it. I could not get my car out and the basement was flooding and holes were appearing in the plaster in the ceiling above old windows so I waited it out. My little car could not get through the water until yesterday – the rain started on Friday.
The gin was gone. I needed to get out.
When this all dries out the farmers will till it up and plant a cover crop. It is a disaster. And not just for us – many farmers lost their crops. But no one was hurt, the cranes and ducks are very well fed. The snapping turtles are out and about and a couple of beavers and unusual flocks of water birds have been sighted. Tadpoles are everywhere!
I have developed a fascination for clouds lately. Now that things are opening up and we are relaxing a little I feel my head turning upwards more.
If I could paint – I would get a krink in my neck painting these clouds. Watercolors I think.
Because I don’t have a lot of time to garden I have created an entire garden out of old pots on the porch. I am growing good food and tons of herbs on my little green belt.
Just as well because John’s big tomato garden got a good drowning after 6 days of solid rain. Do you see the strings up the back – I am growing tomatoes up those, as the tomato vines get higher and I begin to pick, I just drop the line a little every few days curling the vine down onto the top of the pot so the fruit is always within reach. An old glass house trick.
In the end Tia was not pregnant and as Aunty Del died softly in the night a wee while ago, ( which broke my already Sheila-broken heart) I brought Tia a couple of orphan calves for company. They will stay a few years and get fat in the fields.
Though the hay fields are underwater too. Hmm. That Champagne calf is a Charolais. Lovely animal. I won’t get attached.
The floodwaters are slowly draining now. They smell kind of brackish, dark and ominous. I dreamed the other night a crocodile came up out of the floodwaters. But they don’t have crocodiles here – alligators but not in Illinois. But anything could be washing through that big hole in the bank. Once the ditch, that was once a creek, goes down, the men will fix the breach in the bank and we will see what nature decides to bring next.
I hope you are all well. It was lovely dropping in! See you all again soon.
Have a great holiday weekend.
Talk soon.
Miss C
The Kitchen's Garden 
108 responses to “It’s Been So Long”
Good to see you back. Sorry you have had so much nasty trouble. It’s easy to say block and move on, but… So sorry about Aunty Del :-(.
I am cogitating – much more fun!
So, so good to see your post this morning! I would love to see a close up picture of the tomatoes with the line. Might like to try this.
I will take one for you – basically a strong line from the plant to the structure above. Pull out all the laterals so the plant grows straight up. Turn twist the plant stem around the line.
Hi Miss C. I have missed your pictures and commentaries, a bit of life on the farm. I haven’t the time this morning to read all the other comments. Insta is a little awkward for me as I don’t have an acct and most of the time it pops that annoying login screen up . some just want to read /see about different places.
Living in the suburbs I have limited space to grow a few veg. The rabbits & deer can easily wipe me out. I have a few cucs, tomatoes , yellow squash and zuchini. They grow fast enough and are not so tasty. I miss my green beans. I used to grow enough to fill the pot for a few meals. Did not even try it this year. Late cold weather (yes in NC) and then the varmints. I do some container growing as well as in a few flower beds. Considering the flooded fields, containers on the porch are a good choice. A small Kitchen Garden 🙂
I did wonder if you became so busy that posting was set aside. So worrisome to hear about the real cause. They need to grow up and become responsible adults. Period. Post when you can, even the odd picture with or without comment is welcome.
M in NC
I do work 12 hour days as well! But while the light holds I will try to do better. I love my container garden though I do need to get some more fish fertilizer – containers are easily leached of goodness
Good to hear from you- sorry about the trolls….take care and I wish we had some of your rain here on the west coast!
That is a dry area. I think the only way for you to get rain is to move out here. Water has always been an issue out there in the Wild West!!
At least we are in Washington state- moved back a few years ago from the Mt Shasta area as the fires were getting closer and closer.
Now we are close to the Columbia River and the Columbia Gorge. Much better!
That does sound better. There are some areas people should not settle / too dangerous and just not sustainable. Rivers and gorges sound dramatic!
There were 3 comments when I read this earlier this morning and now look how many have missed you already! I had to come back to let you know how happy I am to see you here. It was hard as all my favorite bloggers left the scene at the same time. You brighten every day and I missed you. Finally found you on Instagram but I’m not good at using it so I haven’t learned to comment. I haven’t figured out why people have to be mean. If you don’t like what someone writes, go elsewhere for goodness sake. So sorry to see all the flooding. Weather is in an extreme pattern these days. I’m so ready for a shot of normal again. Happy weekend to you.
We should have appreciated our boring normal more!! Great to know you are poddling along ok!! Have you been writing?
Not writing as much these days. Lots of changes going on so time and bandwidth are limited. Yes, we should always appreciate boring and normal. Hugs. M
Glad to see you back. I had wondered where you were. As I can only wheelchair garden now your posts are a bright spot. I’m sure you heard about our blizzard in Feb. We [the Homestead Nursing Home] lost power and water, had to evacuate. An adventure I could have skipped. Sorry to hear about the animals, the really are family.
I hope you have a few highly placed plants to garden. I would actually like to design a wheelchair garden!
Have a couple of cucumber vines taht I’ve let spead rather than climb, and 3 tomato plants, ”Improved Porters”. A wheelchair garden to be waist high to the person in the chair and workable from both sides. Mine is made from reclaimed pallettes.
That sounds fantastic! N
I’m so glad to see you are okay, I’ve missed you. It was a difficult winter here on the hill with all the snow and ice. The rain the last week or so had left quite a few with flooded basements and some of the streets were almost impassable with all the water. I was saddened to hear that Aunty Del is gone, she was such a beautiful cow. I’ve had some major changes myself which are best left alone. Pity there are people with nothing better to do than be trolls and disrupt things for other people. I hope things dry out soon and that maybe we’ll hear from you more often. All the best.
I’m so sorry about Auntie Del.
I could not agree more about the sky in the midwest. People complian that driving through the flat states is just boring corn fields. But I just say, you’re looking wrong. Look up.
Really sorry about the flooding and losing your crops. How devastating for everyone there.
Trolls are annoying. I’m not on Instagram but I will keep up here.
Welcome back. I missed you!!
So good that you’ve ventured back into tbe blog world. I enjoy our common social media community via its various platforms and members but the Fellowship of the Farmy is a phenomenon that represents the positives the internet contributes to our lives. Productive potted plants are great… we do not need huge spaces to grow food… sometimes big gardens are counterproductive… too much water, materials, time and work involved. R.I.P. Aunty Del ♡
Oh, Celi it’s so good to see you here again! I have missed you and the Farmy friends. So great to see Ton, Wai, Boo and all the others, but so sad to hear about Aunty Del. I love seeing you in Instagram, but the blog is the best. Here in Maine where we should be getting our share of the rain, we are sadly continuing last year’s drought again. This weekend we are getting a little rain, but probably too little again. I hope the trolls leave you alone. Great to see you back :*)
I too stop by regularly, hoping you were posting. I was ready to put yours in the ‘closed’ – when lo! here you be!
I am glad to hear from you and get your updates.
So good to see you. I’ve seen some posts at Janie’s Mill but it’s not the same. Trolls’ spreading vitriol says a lot more about them than about you, but is still concerning. Stay well. Your determination is inspiring!
SO good to get news and know that you are all OK despite the flooding!
Looking forward to more!