I have recently started drying both wildflowers and cultivated flowers to sell on my Etsy and eBay sites (update, I no longer sell online). I love gardening but have minimal experience with ornamental gardening and flower gardening. I prefer vegetable and herb gardening (mostly because I like cooking and eating). When we moved into our home last summer we had so many flower beds that were only partially or not at all maintained. We did what we could last year to improve the flower beds and this Spring we bought a load of mulch to help reduce weeds and bring the beds back to life. Some flower beds have received more attention than others but hopefully, over the next few years, we will get them all back to their former glory. I have also slowly begun filling in the beds with multi-purpose herbs. Herbs are beautiful in flower beds and most can also be used in cooking or teas. I have also begun the long task of identifying all the bushes, shrubs, flowers, and ground covers in our beds. In addition, we have tons of wildflowers growing on our property some of which I am familiar with but many others are unknown to me. Pictured below are some of the wildflowers on our property which I have managed to identify. Unfortunately, many of them are invasive or not even native to my area. Wildflowers Oxeye Daisy Yellow Tansy White Yarrow |
Once our plot was tilled, we needed to put up a fence as quickly as possible. We have a large number of deer on our property and in the surrounding area (as evidenced by the fact that we hit three deer in a six-month period with our vehicles!) so a fence is absolutely necessary. We fenced in roughly a half acre, a 150’ x 150’ square. We used poultry netting for the bottom 3 feet with an extra 1 foot that we turned outward at the base to discourage digging under the fence. The top 3 feet of the fence we strung with 3 electric fencing wires. Because we do not have electricity close enough by for the fence we bought a solar powered electric fencer to power the fence which works very well. Once the fence was done and the grapes and fruit trees planted we focused on our vegetable garden. In addition to our large roto-tilled area where we planted corn, lots of vine crops, beans, tomatoes, and peppers, my husband made two raised beds for me (with hopefully many more in the future!). One we used for asparagus, the other I planted with annual flowers for cutting and drying. Other things we have done this summer include build a wooden play set for our daughter which we promised to do as we had to leave her other one in New York when we moved. We are currently in the process of sanding and re-staining our log home (a much bigger task than anticipated)! We discovered some logs were beginning to rot so this was definitely a necessary task this summer. Lastly, we have spent the entire spring and summer fighting the ticks which will likely be a separate blog post in the future. We mostly have dog or wood ticks but have also found some deer ticks which carry Lyme disease. We had a huge problem with deer ticks in NY (in fact we lived in one of the worst counties for Lyme disease in the US) so we are glad to exchange them for wood ticks. But we have so many wood ticks here that we find them everywhere including our house, clothes, yard, field, play set, fish tank, and more. Daily tick checks are a must! |
Author
In 2016, my family and I moved from the New York City area to small town Wisconsin. Our move, this website and blog (and our previous Etsy store) is the result of our desire over the past several years to simplify our lives, increase our quality of life, reconnect with nature, and enjoy a more self-sufficient life. I grew up as a country kid in central Pennsylvania working on my grandfather's fruit farm and as a corn "de-tassler" at a local seed farm. My background is in biology where my love of nature originated. I am a former research scientist and professor and have now transitioned to a part-time stay-at-home mom, self-employed tutor, and small business owner. Thank you for taking the time to check out my site.
Marisa
Archives
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
March 2023
January 2023
May 2019
March 2019
November 2018
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
February 2017
January 2017
Categories
All
1020 Trays
6-cell Pots
Acidity
Aerogarden
All Natural Home Decor
All Natural Wreaths
Altitude
Antique Glasses
Apothecary Glasses
Average First Frost Date
Bacillus Thuringiensis
Bacteria
Ball
Bare Root Trees
Bato Bucket
Beer Glasses
Bernadin
Berries
Biopesticide
Bleached Pinecones
Bleached Pine Cones
Brassicas
Bt
Bt Crops
Cabbage
Cabbage Loopers
Cabbage Worms
Canning
Canning Beans
Canning Resources
Chard
Cheese
Chemistry Glasses
Chickens
Chicken Tractor
Chinese Cabbage
Cold Frame
Collards
Compost
Cornish Cross
Crafting
Cross Pollination
Cucumber Beetles
Daisies
Days To Harvest
Deer
Deer Fencing
DIY
DIY Seed Tapes
Dried Flowers
Drinking Glasses
Dry Red Wine
Dual Purpose
Duck Breeds
Duck Eggs
Duck House
Ducklings
Ducks
Dutch Bucket
Eat Local
EBay
Eggs
Elevation
Extend Growing Season
F1
F1 Seeds
Fall Crops
Fall Garden
Fall Gardening
Farm Life
Fermentation
Fermentation Books
Fermentation Crocks
Fertilizer
Flea Beetles
Flower Gardening
Flowers
Free-range
Free Range Ducks
Frost
Fruit
Fruit Trees
Fruit Wine
Garden
Garden Huckleberries
Garden Huckleberry Preserves
Gardening
Gardening Is Healthy
Gardening Saves Money
Garden Pests
Garlic
Garlic Scape Pesto
Garlic Scapes
Garlic Scape Soup
Geneticallymodified Organims
Genetic Engineering
GMO
GMO Seeds
Grapes
Greenhouse
Green House
Greens
Grilled Garlic Scapes
Growing Garlic
Healthy Canning
Heirloom
Heirloom Seeds
Herb Gardening
Herbs
Hill Crops
Home Canning
Home Decor
Homemade Jam
Homemade Preserves
Homestead
Hot Sauce
How To Dry Flowers
How To Ferment
How To Grow Garlic
How To Raise Ducks
How To Start Seeds
Hybrid
Hybrid Seeds
Hydroponics
Insect Control
Insecticides
Insect Pests
Kimchi
Lactic Acid Fermentation
Lactobacillus
Lacto-fermentation
Lettuce
Lights
Make Your Own Seed Tapes
Meat Birds
Mosquito Bits
Mulch
Mulching
NCHFP
Nightshade Family
Noma Guide To Fermentation
Open Pollinated
Open Pollinated Seeds
Orchard
Organic
Organic Pest Control
Peas
Peppers
Pest
Pesticide
Pickles
Pinecone
Pinecones
Pine Cones
Pine Cone Wreath
Pinecone Wreath
Pine Cone Wreaths
Potato Beetles
Pots
Potting Soil
Pressure Canning
Raised Bed
Raised Beds
Raising Ducks
Ranger
Red Pine
Red Wine
Rustic Home Decor
Rustic Wreaths
Safe Canning
Safe Home Canning
Salt
Sauerkraut
Seedlings
Seeds
Seed Saving
Seed Starting
Seed Starting Mix
Seed Tapes
Seed Varieties
Self-sufficiency
Self-sufficient
Self-sufficient Life
Slugs
Square-foot Gardening
Steam Canning
Sun-ripened Tomatoes
Supplies To Start Seeds
Sustainability
Tansy
Ticks
Tomatoes
Transgenic Crops
Turnips
Twopondsfamr
Two Ponds Farm
Two Ponds Farm Blog
Vegetable Garden
Vegetable Gardening
Vegetables
Vintage Glasses
Water Bath Canning
White Pine
Wildflowers
Wine
Wine Grapes
Wreath
Wreaths
Yarrow
Yeast