Spring

When I was a child I used to adore summer. It was the time of rest -- no school, lots of playing outside (although most kids today have no clue what that means), and a time to gear up for the new school year in the Fall. However, as I've gotten older the heat of summer isn't something that I exactly look forward to anymore. As my agricultural activities have grown, so has my fondness for spring.

Spring is a time of renewal. Althought winters in Louisiana aren't quite the same as some of our friends up north (snow? what is that?) things do die down a bit. Trees are bare, the grass is low, and there is very little activity. But spring hits, our clocks change and suddenly the grass is growing, trees and bushes are flowering, fruit is budding, vegetables are sprouting, bees are buzzing, and birds are hatching.

When we first moved to the property we had an idea of what some of the flora was, but couldn't know for sure until things started to grow. As K has said before about this property always giving us what we need, we're finding that there are many fruits growing all around the house. Here's some of our finds that made us extremely happy.

Blueberries! I thought it was a decorative plant of some kind until I saw the buds.

"All around the mulberry bush ..." Well, mulberry trees.

I grew up across the street from my grandparents, who always had a fig tree in their backyard. So glad to have spotted this in the front of this house.

I don't think I've ever seen a persimmon before, but we have four trees so I guess I'll have to figure out something to do with them!

Blackberries are growing everywhere out in the pastures. Hopefully we can get some harvested before the sheep get to them!

Pomegranates on either side of the well shed. Probably pretty young, but in a few years they'll be a great treat. Homemade grenadine, anyone?

Oranges, lemons, grapefruits! I can't begin to describe the smell.

The apple trees were just planted out in the pasture last month. I hope they do okay in the heavy clay soil. They seem to be sprouting, so we'll see how they are in a year or so!

The pear tree is of an impressive size. Not sure what kind, but no matter what we will find a use for them.

Mystery vines! Flowers? Grapes? Muscadine? Who knows! We'll find out soon. (I'm hoping for grapes of some sort.)

And, obviously, we can't ignore the sheer amount of flowers blooming. The wisteria climbing the trellis by one of the gates is starting to bloom and smelling amazing.

No clue what this flower is, but it looked awfully pretty.

While Louisiana is a much different climate than my native New Jersey, I do appreciate the lack of a horrific winter, and the quick jump into spring.  Many places around the country are just getting out of from under many feet of snow while we already have things developing!  Just this weekend K and I picked a small container of blackberries out along the fences and ponds and took note of how many will be ripening in the next few weeks.

We seem to be surprised by the farm on a daily basis. I can't wait to see what we discover next!