Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Some Shots from the Fourth

We had a fun but very tiring July 4th. 

We started laying pavers on our back porch.  Rob found some free pavers on craigslist last year and they've been stacked in our backyard since then.  I somehow convinced him to lay them this weekend before we bothered to do a silly little thing like measuring.  Well, long story short - we have enough pavers (which are now cemented down) for about half of the patio.  oops. 




Earlier in the weekend, Rob mulched our flower beds and re-sealed our driveway. 

Thankfully, we were invited to Rob's parents house for a July 4th picnic.  I fear we would have been unloading a pallet of pavers well into the night had we not committed to attending. 

Rob's aunt, uncle, and three cousins were visiting from Iowa.  The youngest cousin of the clan, Lisa, is moving to NYC to work for a design company.  Check it out.

We enjoyed some great food, volleyball, water balloons, sparklers, and a slip-n-slide! 

Here are some of the pictures from our fun time together!

Josh is just so cool! :)

Lisa, Jim, and Ilene

Josh and Wesley

the spread - me, Nic, Aunt Ilene, Nana Putz (my m-i-l)

water balloon launching - Jeremy, Josh, Emma, Travis

Angie, Jim, Ilene, Katie, and baby Malachi

Natalie

my father-in-law and Wesley

Travis and Angie

Kate, Travis, Emma, Jeremy

Emma on the slip-n-slide

Jacob

Emma and I

sparklers




We decided to let our kids stay up late and watch the fireworks.  On the 30 minutes drive home, we had two little sleeping girls.  Look how excited they are about the fireworks! 


We loved the fireworks, but it is really hard to take good pictures of them.  This is about the best pic of the bunch (and there were about 100).  




We enjoyed celebrating the freedom we are blessed with in the United States.  We are forever grateful for the bravery of our founding fathers and the foresight they had to craft the Declaration of Independence. 

Hope you had a fun day celebrating with your family and friends!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Introducing

baby Malachi, our newest neighbor and nephew!

born June 24th, weighing 8lbs and measuring 19 inches

What's Growing Today

On our little patch of earth.....

golden beets and baby carrots





tomatoes - that re-seeded from last year - I don't know what color they'll be

cone flowers, chrysanthemum, russian sage

wave petunias

celosia,coleus, coral bells, hosta

vinca, lavender, russian sage, santalina
The red raspberries are finished, the sugar peas are over as well.  We haven't successfully grown any blueberries this year, and we currently have one fig.  I am really loving our gardens this year.  It's become my nightly ritual to water, weed, harvest, and generally enjoy the beauty of our yard. 

Friday, July 1, 2011

Farm Tour

Remember how I was telling you about our local farms?  We recently enjoyed a farm tour at the Ilyes Family Farm.  The evening was perfect - about 75 degrees and sunny.  We walked about a mile and a half, sampling fruits and vegetables along the way.  John Ilyes shared with us their methods, expertise, and little known facts about farming. 

What we really appreciated was John's commitment to the least amount of spraying necessary and utilizing the natural order of things to achieve delicious results.  I also really appreciated the extra care he took to point out the wonder of Creation in every way he could. 

Rob took lots of great pictures - come along for the tour with us!

the pond they built in 1983 to utilize run-off water for irrigation needs

Emma trying the seed sprayer - this is John Ilyes

they farm about 30 acres

the gorgeous rural views

John explaining that the wheat is ready [to be harvested] when it "bends it's head"

our little tour group




see the baby watermelon?



can you spot the green pepper?


asparagus gone to seed - beautiful

sweet cherries


one of the farm dogs, Eve

Emma's favorite part - sampling the produce - a wax bean, in this case

a view through the deer fence



picking mulberries

finding and picking green beans





Did you know that every piece of corn silk corresponds to a kernel and that every single one needs to be pollinated by a bee? 

If you're local - take the farm tour.  Every Wednesday evening at 6:30 the tour starts at the roadside farm stand (it's free).  I would highly recommend it.  We'll probably take the tour again in August when the cantaloupe and watermelon are ready for harvest. 

Charles Ilyes Family, Inc.
1181 Bucktail Ln
York PA 17408
(717) 792-2743