Egg Carton Nature Collection + Faerie Chain Project For Kids

School is officially out! I work at my children’s school which means I am now home all day too. Slow days at home are a luxury and a relief. However, too much open time and lack of structure…my kids turn into crazy people.

We’ve been trying to start the day with an outdoor activity. I found the egg carton idea above on Pinterest (where all good ideas reside ;). I attempted to find the original creator but was unable to. My kids loved storing their nature treasures in the egg cartons! Thank you to whoever came up with this idea!

With the extras, we made what my daughter calls “faerie chains”. This project kept them busy most of the morning (though I ended up joining in rather than folding laundry). I HATE folding laundry but that is a journal entry for another time ;) We are lucky to live on a farm but you could find many of these items almost anywhere! In fact we collected all our acorns from a soccer field parking lot.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• A sturdy branch

• Twine of some kind

• Nature items. You can include items that wilt (we did). However, things that dry will be best. Twigs, evergreen, acorns, rose buds, rose hips, thyme, lavender, and moss are all good choices.

• Hot glue if you want to further secure your items to the twine.

• Nails, hooks and/or fishing line for hanging. This will look different depending on where you want to display your faerie chain. We already had nails in place from christmas behind our wood stove, so I rested the faerie chain branch on those. Never place these items behind a stove you plan to use! Since it is June, we will not be using our stove until the fall.

Directions:

Collect the nature items. Find a sturdy branch. Attach the twine in long lines hanging down from the branch. Use smaller pieces of twine to tie on your selected nature pieces. Hang where you will enjoy seeing it! Pretty straight forward.

I love anything that gets my kids outside, forces them to problem solve and engages their imagination. The fact that it is FREE makes me especially happy…enjoy!

-Jenni

Open For The Season

Happy Memorial Day! We are open officially for the season and it feels good to be back :) This year, as I started my seeds, I thought of our farm stand shoppers. I grew lots of pumpkin, green bean, sweet pea, cosmo and nasturtium starts for you!

The farm stand will be open M-W-F 8am-6pm from Memorial Day through to Halloween. I‘d LOVE to stay open through the beginning of December, but we’ll see if the farm agrees. We will also be open for some selected Saturdays over the summer, keep up to date with us on Instagram.

The roses are going crazy right now. Above is one of my favorites, the Bathsheba climbing rose by David Austen. It has almost no thorns, is fast growing and has nice long stems for cut flowers too. Best part? It smells like cantaloupe.

I finally have my dahlia rows moved to a more suitable place. Ive tried many different forms of staking. I met a 90 year old woman who told me to keep it simple and use a tomato cage reinforced with a bamboo stake on top of each tuber. If you are a dahlia enthusiast you are likely thinking that’s too many cages to buy.

You would be correct! We happened to have tons of tomato cages that were left here when we moved in. They had been piled behind our shed for several garden seasons. So I figured, why not try it? This is not a solution for large dahlia rows but for our small collection, seems like an interesting solution. We’ll see!

We have more eggs than you can imagine! This season we are offering dozen and 1/2 dozen cartons of eggs. Do you see the extra large copper eggs in this photo? It’s practically like eating two eggs at once they are so big - you can thank our Maren breeds for these giant, richly colored eggs.

I’m the most excited about our farm that Ive ever been. We have been re-doing our garden structure, amending soil properly, and started so many seeds this year. The hens are happy and so are we…bring on the growing season!

THE BEGINNINGS OF SPRING

When I hear sprinklers in the neighborhood start, I know spring has arrived. A more familiar sign is the sound of lawn mowers and the smell of freshly cut grass. These sounds and smells take me straight back to childhood!

It is Easter today. Which is strange because the last time I updated this journal was during Christmas! Suddenly it is 70 degrees and the daffodils are making their last appearance. While it is cliche, time is truly flying by. I was able to cut several fading daffodil for our Easter table! It’s always a good feeling to make use of flowers before they bow out of the season.

In the early days of spring, I spend a lot of time walking around the farm making plans and feeling overwhelmed (and excited). There is so much to do…pruning, clearing winter brush, weeding, mowing, and amending soil are a few of the tasks. I’m a bit late to everything on my to-do list and I’ve accepted that will never change. The job that I look forward to the most is starting seeds!

During the summer I sell bouquets full of dahlias, sunflower, celosia, cosmo, zinnia and sweet peas. The sweet peas are always a step ahead as they don’t mind the colder nights. I like to collect clamshell containers all year and use (and re-use!) them for seed starting. There is a common misconception that you need a fancy greenhouse to start seeds early. In actuality, all you need is a container with drainage, seed starting mix and some sunlight. Make sure to cover your seeds at night with lids, an affordable greenhouse tent or really anything that is clear and allows light! If you find the early sprouting seeds are leaning in one direction, rotate them back and forth to avoid “leggy” starts. I have found the warmth of a seed starting heat mat is helpful if you are getting a late start (like me!). It can speed things along.

It is magical to watch seeds sprout. I can imagine the cutting garden to come when I see the green poking through the soil. I was gifted several seeds from friends and family this year. I love the idea of all my favorite people’s gardens showing up in my yard via the seeds they saved and shared with me (Thanks Mom, Natalie, Stephanie and Tasha Tudor *I bought hers but I still imagine she sent them to me herself ;)

Today I feel grateful for daffodils, sunshine, a good meal and church. I also really like biscuits, of which I had many this morning. I hope you had a joyful Easter! More updates from the farm to come!

-Jenni