Love, Mom

Cherry tree in our back yard

Right outside my kitchen window I see a beautiful cherry tree, covered in fragrant white flowers. When Lisa was a little girl, she and her dad planted a handful of Bing cherry pits bought at the local grocery store. Amazingly, six germinated. Smokey, our Siberian Husky, ate four of the seedlings and the fifth one died.  But the last one survived. How wonderful it was to watch that tree, and Lisa’s love of nature, grow. Even though we lived in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Lisa found a small chapter of Future Farmers of America and joined through a horticulture class offered in high school. 

Lisa never relinquished her desire to place seeds in the ground.  Her first garden was a few square feet of earth in our backyard. Along with the cherry pits she planted marigolds, petunias, and a tomato plant.  And in every home she had thereafter, one would find a garden.  Lisa asked the landlord of her first apartment if she could plant a few flowers in the public courtyard. Even in this tiny bit of soil she fed her need to plant and watch things grow.  In her next three homes, the gardens expanded to include vegetables, flowers, and shrubs. 

Right outside Lisa’s kitchen window at Untah’s Farm I see her largest garden yet- 5,000 square feet!  It is teeming with organically composted rich soil in which strawberries, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, onions, peppers, spinach, squash, raspberries, rhubarb, garlic, pumpkins and herbs thrive.   Lisa reads seed catalogs in the same way I might read a love story.  She mentions that her garden is her sanctuary; a place to unwind, to ponder, to refresh her soul.

Lisa and Gus

When I think about Lisa’s childhood filled with her love of all living things I also remember the animals. Along with the family pets - two dogs, parakeets and a rabbit - kittens, gerbils, and hamsters seemed to “follow her home.” In elementary school her fifth grade class hatched eggs and Lisa volunteered to adopt one of the Mallard ducks. Neighbors were astounded and amused as Lisa walked Gus around the block tethered to a cat leash.  As part of her Animal Behavior class in high school she brought rats home during winter break. As part of her biology class various mammals and reptiles came home as dissection homework.

Untah’s Farm lies in one of the most beautiful areas of Wisconsin.  The rolling hills lead to the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River and I can see for miles when I sit on Lisa’s deck, rocking in the chair her father made. I smell the garden, that warm, green, earthy smell I remember from my own childhood when I stood in my grandpa’s garden. I hear the bees by the pond, and watch the dogs playing before they finally come up the stairs and lie at my feet.

I wave to a neighbor as he drives by, the only car to pass in an afternoon. This is heaven, I think, and how happy I am that Lisa and her family have found the exact place they were meant to be - Untah’s Farm.

I would like to share a poem I gave Lisa for Mother's Day in 1996.

Dear Lisa,

You encourage your daughters to experience the world:

 ...to peer into rain puddles, and then jump in!

 ...to carve October's jack-o-lanterns grown from April's

    seeds.

 ...to touch fragile treasures with tiny fingers while learning the

    meaning of "gentle."

...to speak with authority in private syllables knowing you

   understand.

In your arms your babies find the warmth and security that will embrace them throughout their lives.  You provide them a model of womanhood to emulate:  honest, hard-working, nurturing, loving. What better gift could a mother receive than to witness her daughter's becoming such a wonderful mother?  Happy Mother's Day, Lisa.  I love and admire you.

Love, Mom

Busy, Crazy Spring

It has been another busy, crazy week at Untah’s Farm.  One day the trees look like sticks on the hill side.  The next they are in full foliage. Shades of green can be seen for miles. My tulips are standing tall and proud with  crowns 

Several tulips among dandelions.

 of orange and yellow.  The peonies and lilacs will follow with burgundy and pale purple flowers casually bobbing in the breeze.  The hollyhock leaves are as big as dessert plates and the lambs ear with it’s velvet leaves are creeping across the garden floor.   The birds are colorful too.  Several cardinals and blue jays have made our prairie their playground.  They have steady competition from the red winged black birds and robins. Rick and I had three unusual sightings this past week.  We saw a male and female wood duck swimming in our pond, a couple of orioles enjoying the orange slices we set out and an indigo bunting in the thicket behind the house.

2 flats of flowers...better then a bouquet!

I had the most wonderful Mother’s Day.  I woke up to wet slobbery kisses.  No, not from Rick, but rather Tobey…all 120 pounds of affection.  Caliber came trotting in the bedroom a few minutes later, tail wagging. I think they knew how nice the weather was going to be.  I went out onto the front porch and found two flats of the most beautiful assortment of flowers for my garden.  I received a beautiful card and phone call from my oldest daughter and a De Soto softball wind breaker from my younger daughter.  I also talked with some of my favorite Moms, including my own. Seafood for dinner…what could be better?

The chicks are growing steadily and I moved them out to the coop.  We hooked up the heat lamp and gave them a bigger waterer and food trough.  They eat an unbelievable amount of food per day!  They are starting to lose their soft yellow down and their first little feathers are starting to come in.  The chicks are separated from the hens by a chicken wire wall.  The ladies have been very curious about all the commotion on the other side of the coop.

Most of the garden has been turned.  I planted twelve ever-bearing strawberry plants and transplanted 10 of my June bearing in a new area of the garden.  I hope to thin the old strawberries and clean up the patch.   Jack-O-Lantern and pie pumpkins have been planted as well as eggplant, celery and red onion bulbs.  I found several bunches of onions I missed last year.  I dug them up, separated the bulbs and added them to the onion patch.  The greens haven’t wilted  so I think they took.  Cucumbers, peppers, acorn squash, summer squash and tomatoes still need to be planted. We are expecting a few cool nights next week so I will wait to be sure the soil is warm.

Basil, rosemary, sage and oregano

I have been moving the herbs out into the shade during the day.  It has been very windy and very hot.  Some of the plants have not tolerated the transition very well. The basil is flourishing, the oregano and sage are okay, cilantro is green but not strong and the lavender is lost.  I will need to supplement my seedlings with some store bought plants.

IdaBean Dolls, filled with real beans!

The Gays Mills Farmers Market begins next week on Wednesday, May 18.  I will be there with some plants and cloth napkins made from reclaimed fabric.  As the season progresses I will have fresh and dry herbs to sell.  I am also going to be carrying IdaBean dolls by Jack Scraps.  These dolls are a modern version of the dolls girls made and played with as they traveled across this very land many years ago.  They are meant to be decorative but I believe they would be safe for an older child as they have buttons and are filled with real dry beans.  For more information about the Gays Mills Farmers Market check out http://www.gaysmillsfarmersmarket.com/.  The market hours are from 3:30pm until 6pm.

I hope you stop by and say “hello”. 

A Day in the Life...

It has been another busy week at Untah’s Farm. Work, softball games, confirmation class, tending seedlings and more car trouble.  Yep, I hit a deer this week.  I was on my way home from a hospice call around 8:30 at night. Coming around a curve I saw four deer crossing the road.  I was already under the speed limit so I applied the brakes. Two deer crossed the road, one trotted back into the woods and the last zigged and zagged and zigged again right into the side of my car.  The damage was not horrible but enough that the car wasn’t drivable.  Rick pointed out that it was almost a month to the day he hit a deer. He joked that the best way to avoid a deer is to dress in camouflage and carry a rifle.

Today was especially busy.  Up early to get some cleaning done. A load of laundry in the washer, and Caliber loaded into the car. We drove 20 miles into town and Caliber had his annual check up and nails trimmed.  He gets a little nervous going to the vet office but he really likes several of the staff members.  I am glad to report Cal is free from Lyme disease and heart worm.  We live in a hot bed of Lymes for pets and humans so monthly medication is very important.  Trish, the groomer, always makes me feel as if Caliber is her favorite client. She greets Cal like an old friend and gives him a kiss on the head when she’s done.  I have heard she makes all her pet owners feel this way.  Trish will always have a special place in our heart. She was working the afternoon almost two years ago when Cal was brought in after being run over by a truck.  She comforted both dog and owner. Trish helped stabilize Cal so I could bring him home while we decided if we were going to pursue orthopedic surgery repair of his pelvic fractures. When we returned for the surgery I was emotional and told Trish I felt funny because many people were praying for Cal. I mean, there are people with far more trouble then a hurt dog that need prayers.  Without taking a pause, Trish looked me in the eye and said, “Lisa, God is all powerful. God created Caliber. What makes you think He couldn’t help Cal heal?”   

After the vet, we headed over to The Salon.  I was early so Caliber and I went for a walk. At least I won’t have to do my exercises later.  I got my hair trimmed and we were off -again.  Next we headed about 30 miles northwest to the Chaseberg Farmer’s Co-op.

25 chicks eating, drinking and staying warm

I picked up a small box with 25 of the loudest peeping chicks I have ever heard. Little beaks and eyes peaked through the air holes in the delivery box.  I grabbed a bag of starter chick food and we were on the road again. Caliber, sitting in the back seat, was very curious about the noisy box on the front seat.



Last night I had set up the bottom half of the dog crate with a heat lamp, shavings and water. I gently placed the box into the crate, picked out one chick and gently put the tip of it’s beak in the water. She drank without difficulty. Cal continued to be curious and watched carefully as I repeated the process 25 times.  I spoke softly to Caliber, explaining that these chicks are very precious and I used the word gentle over and over.  He sniffed them and watched them.  I wonder if he feels responsible for these little ones like he does the cats.





Caliber... the guardian of all small creatures.



Up to the house to finish laundry, clean the house, get ready for work this weekend and write my blog.   

Drinking water is such a curious thing.

Oh, and dinner…I guess I better get that started.