Category Archives: Slow Blog

Here are some quick pics I shot in the backyard over the weekend. It’s pretty clear to see Spring is just around the corner. (ALWAYS REMEMBER TO CLICK THE PIC FOR FULL DETAILS.)

Looking straight out back.

Click the pic to see Molly at the top branch of the birch tree. Molly always flies to me / that place on the tree when I come in to the back yard.


Ah, the “Sun Man” next to the Ghiardelli Chocolate pot… that’s Daphne in the background.

Daphne from behind…

Daphne silhouetted by the, um, purple bush-thing.

Pear tree in blossom next to the other purple bush-thing.

Apparently the bees are away and resting while I air out the house. New bees get ordered today.

Artichoke plant we just can’t seem to kill.

First cherry blossom of the year. (Click for close-up)

2nd Plum tree, halfway through blossom, now with leaves showing.

I’ll add more later, just wanted to get these up.
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Henrietta and Gracie

Not a new Jeopardy category (though they could be, I suppose), they’re a couple of gals we’d seen around town before but got to meet this morning. (DON’T FORGET TO CLICK THE PICTURES TO SEE THE ENTIRE PICTURE)

Back in November I made a post that said Campbell Chicks are the best. Today Springfield Al and I were introduced to them both. The one in the foreground is Gracie and the other one is Henrietta. Or is it the other way around? Dang.

Anyway, Al and I stopped by to introduce ourselves to the “chicken lady” (yes, I know – we’re very original in our naming conventions 😉 and to ask her if she’d like to participate in the Campbell Farmer approach to garden-sharing. Turns out she’d be thrilled to participate so we’ve added another contributing / exchanging person and their gardens. (She’s already got a nice garden going and is converting another unused area to garden as we speak.)

Thus far we’ve got “the usual” goodies: lettuces, onions, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, peas, beans, potatoes, herbs, watermelons, cantaloupes, fresh chicken eggs, jams, jellies and honey.

Seems like with very little effort, we’re picking up momentum. Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to write when you get work.

CampbellFarmer.com home page photo / logo

Springfield Al and I were out yesterday and I shot this pic to crop and use as part of the homepage of CampbellFarmer.com.

Downtown Ted tells me the beginning of his winter vegetables will be ready soon to give me in exchange for the jar ‘o honey I gave him last week.

So far, I’ve got local sources for fresh laid eggs and winter veggies (beans, lettuces, etc). Our citrus is ready for harvesting now, so we’ve got fresh orange juice and citrus needed for the marmalades everyone likes so much. Oh, I know: I’ll check with that certain neighbor who loves to bake bread to see if she’ll swap some of our goodies for her bread. Mr. C has smooth-skinned avocados I need to pick for him today… he always offers some, so I’ll swap some pomegranate jelly for those, too.

Darn… if only there was a milk cow in the neighborhood, we’d be closing in on a pretty good local-food exchange.

That’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to write when you have work.

Hey, Bud!

Well, it’s happened a whole lot earlier than usual – the first blossom of the year on one of our fruit trees.

I saw the buds forming up late last week and thought they’d open in a week or so… they opened yesterday, so here for your viewing pleasure is the first blossom of our Apricot tree for 2009 🙂 (Click the pic – it’s massively beautiful!)

Almond blossom.

Fig bud (several weeks before they’ll open, I’m betting.)

Almond blossoms.

Cherry buds (weeks before opening), with beautiful Dapnne in the background.

I realize that a number of people who visit TBC are pretty well wrapped around the axle, chasing the ever-important sale and other business goals and/or family / life issues they’re dealing with. With the reporting tools Google provides me, I can see that visitors are coming from around the world, including snow-bound places like London, Munich, Berlin, Wales, Oslo, Chicago, Ft. Wayne, Beijing, Boston and the like. Thinking of them, I stepped outside last week to shoot these photos and then, naturally, took the a few minutes – just for me – to stop and smell the flowers.

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to write when you get work.
hal