It is hard to believe that August is already half-over, and the time for our annual summer farm and garden photos is here!
Every year dating back to 2011, we always take time to stroll around the farm to snap a few pictures in mid-August. It is amazing for us to look back at some of the prior year’s photos and see how much the farm has changed.
Our Annual Garden Photos – it is hard to believe this is how it all looked in late 2010
One thing is for sure, more than anything else, we enjoy the fact that we built it with our own four hands and a lot of sweat equity. There is something so special and satisfying about a DIY lifestyle.
Yes, things may not always go perfectly. Yes, projects can take longer than expected. But if you work a little every day at your dreams, good things happen.
We hope you enjoy this years’ farm and garden photos below. Here is to many more August photos in the years to come!
Farm And Garden Photos – 2018
The House And Farm Below…
It is hard to believe there wasn’t a single thing on the property in the spring of 2011 except a mowed-off field. Fast forward to today, and we somehow managed to build a barn, outdoor garden, chicken coop, outdoor fire pit area and pergola. The funny thing is, it never seemed like work then, nor does it now.
To this day, our recycled barn remains one of our favorite DIY projects. We created it from two old barns that we tore down and brought to the property. One of the barns was my dads, making it all the more special.
The Garden Tomatoes
It has been a really great year for the garden, especially considering that we simply didn’t have the time to be in it as much this year. It is amazing what raised rows, good compost, heavy mulch, worm castings and cover crops can do for the health of your soil.
This year was a big test for the real “low-maintenance” garden, and we couldn’t be happier. As you can see, our San Marzano tomato plants are loaded.
The Vineyard Sitting Area
This little spot is all DIY! When we first planted the little hillside vineyard, we wanted a space above it to be able to enjoy the view. We carved out this little flat space by digging into the hillside. We picked up a few loads of inexpensive large rocks at the quarry down the road to create a natural retaining wall, and added a gravel base.
After than, we laid down crushed limestone and a little pea gravel and built a few of our Adirondack chairs for the space. We finished it off by sinking an umbrella holder, and our little vineyard sitting area was complete!
Hydrangea In Bloom
The hydrangea bush is coming on with a second wave of beautiful light blue blooms. It is such a wonderful plant in that it provides color and interest throughout the spring, summer and fall. We hope to add a few more (lime green and white) next year to the landscape as well.
Home Made Pasta Sauce
Our San Marzano and Amish Paste tomatoes are coming on strong! That means its time to can our homemade pasta sauce! We never get tired of seeing the canning jars cooling on the counter, it is simply a beautiful sight to behold.
This has been an amazing year for the tomatoes in the garden. The weather has been nearly perfect, and with adequate rain, it will be a bumper crop. San Marzano tomatoes are simply are absolute favorite when it comes to making pasta sauce, pizza sauce and salsa. They are big, meaty, and have little seed cores – making them ideal to work with.
The Stone Fire Pit
Using rock from the nearby quarry, I think we built our fire pit for right around $100. It has certainly stood the test of time. We use it cook big pots of soup over open flames, roasting marshmallows, and to simply hang out and talk with friends and family late at night.
We built 4 of our 2 x 4 Adirondack Chairs to sit around the fire. The heavy-duty chairs have been one of our favorite DIY projects in the last few years. We have a total of 10 scattered around the property. Not only are they inexpensive to build, they are virtually indestructible. See : How To Build Our Adirondack Chairs
Pop Corn
The popcorn has really performed well this year. Perhaps too well. For the first time ever, the raccoon have meandered in to try a few ears! You can see the bit of damage in the second photo with the stalks laying on the ground.
We don’t mind sharing a bit, but Mary gets a bit upset when they don’t finish an ear!
The Volunteer
This photo is my personal favorite for today. It is of our sprawling cantaloupe plant growing strong and wild smack in the middle of our green bean row.
It is loaded with about 8 to 10 perfectly shaped melons. The best part of all – we didn’t plant it! It somehow ended up in our garden via our compost, and the seed took hold. It seems like every year, somewhere in the garden or somewhere on the farm, something happens we didn’t expect. That is all just part of the fun!
We hope you enjoyed this year’s August photos – Happy Gardening! Jim and Mary. To receive our 3 Home, Garden, Recipe and Simple Life articles each week, sign up below for our free email list. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. This article may contain affiliate links.