Category Archives: Kids

July 9, 2015 · 3:21 pm

Staying Busy

It is a familiar theme on my blog the last few years – I show up and post some updates and then disappear again. I really do not have any good excuses, except that life is busy and blogging falls to the bottom of my “to do” list. I always imagined that life would slow down and get less busy as my parenting duties decreased, but that certainly has not been the case. Our motivation for buying and moving to this little hobby farm 15 years ago was to create an interesting life for our small children and to give them a taste of the country life we experienced growing up. Well, those children are not small any more and in fact, two of them have been out of the house for a few years already. We only have one remaining at home and in only a year, we will be empty nesters. Maybe then I will have more time?

In defense of my latest absence in the blogosphere, my spring and summer has been an especially crazy, chaotic and wonderful one. Our oldest son graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in May and we spent a week out in New York for all the graduation week activities. Family and friends joined us to celebrate our son’s accomplishment and we could not have been more proud to see him achieve his goal!

Immediately after the graduation ceremony, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. Another proud moment for our family.

After returning home from our amazing week out east, we immediately refocused our attention on preparing for that same son’s wedding at the end of June.

See? I was not exaggerating when I said it has been a busy spring and summer for our family. Like graduation, the wedding was wonderful and the day was filled with friends, family and so much love.

Despite all the preparations and celebrations in our life, we did manage to get our vegetable garden planted this spring and it is coming along quite nicely. We have already enjoyed an abundance of asparagus, lettuce, arugula, and spinach this spring. Soon we will be harvesting more delicious and fresh produce to eat.

Here is a view of our onions, string beans, carrots and beets. My sunflowers are shooting up along the fence. The climbing plants, cucumbers and squash, are starting to make their way up the supports that Jesse built for them a few years back. I go out there every few days to try to direct the newest growth up the wire. According to the old saying, if all is going well, corn plants should be “knee-high by the Fourth of July.” Our corn plants are clearly doing well, because they were armpit high by the Fourth of July this year! Now if we can protect the crop from the raccoons we might just get to enjoy some sweet corn in a month or so.We planted tomato plants before leaving in the middle of May to drive out to West Point for graduation week. We knew it was risky because the rule of thumb around our area of Minnesota is to hold off planting until after Memorial Day. Not surprisingly, we did have a hard frost while we were gone and almost all of our newly planted tomatoes froze out. Upon returning home, after Memorial Day, we replanted. The new tomato plants are happy and thriving in the heat and we should start getting some cherry tomatoes soon.

After a disastrous infestation of potato bugs a few years back, we opted out of planting potatoes for two years afterwards. We planted one row last year to see what would happen and all went well. This year we increased to two rows and so far, we are all in the clear. No sign of potato bugs and the plants are going crazy. A similar experience with squash bugs made us take last year off from all members of the squash family. We did not plant any squash, zucchini or pumpkins. Taking a year or two off from planting crops that experienced bug infestations has worked well for us in the past, and like the potatoes, the pumpkins are doing well so far and showing no signs of those disgusting insects. We will keep our fingers crossed that they do not make an appearance later in summer.Besides our vegetable garden, I have been busy in my flower gardens and there have been some other new projects around here that I hope to share some time soon in another post.

In the meantime, I hope your summer is going well and that wherever you are, that you are enjoying the warm summer days and nights!

Staying busy, but happy, in Minnesota…

–Lynell

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Filed under Daily life, Gardens, Kids, Vegetable

Tagged as beets, crop rotation, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, squash bugs, string beans, tomatoes, vegetable garden, West Point, West Point Graduation

February 16, 2013 · 7:36 pm

Making a Farm Table from Salvaged Lumber

With the completion of the first phase of our patio and fire-pit area last spring, I went in search of finding a suitable table to add to the area. We visited many outdoor furniture stores and I searched endlessly on-line, not knowing exactly what it was I was searching for.

I felt like too many of the table sets looked modern and would seem out-of-place with the barn as the backdrop. Finally, I stumbled across a table that caught my eye on the Restoration Hardware website; it was a big chunky farm table made from 100-year-old salvaged elm doors, with a hefty price tag of around $3,500.00…and that was on sale.

I showed it to Jesse and after he studied it a bit, he told me he thought he could make something similar. He forwarded the picture to his dad, who is a skilled wood craftsman, and they discussed how to tackle the project.

When we first purchased the farm twelve years ago, an old farmhouse stood on the property. Before tearing it down to build our current house, Jesse and his dad salvaged materials from the old structure; bricks, wood flooring, baseboard and trim, doors, and floor stringers made from rough sawed wood. We used some of the wood flooring in our new home and stored the rest of the salvaged wood in the barn for some unknown future use. Jesse thought he could use some of the salvaged elm floor stringers to make the farm table.

We planned the project so that our oldest son would be home on leave from West Point. He is very interested in woodworking and we thought it would be a great learning opportunity for him. We also coordinated with Jesse’s dad to make sure he could come down to advise and assist.

After digging the boards out of the loft of the barn, the first task was to remove all the nails. The next challenge was to plane the boards down to both make them smooth and to create some uniformity in their thickness.

Basing the table measurements off the dimensions of the Restoration Hardware table, they started to assemble the table and square up the ends.

Once the boards for the table top were planed and cut to the proper length it was time to work on the structure that would hold everything together. The guys decided that 1 1/2 in. angle iron would provide the proper strength and be consistent with the rugged appearance. Our son started to measure, mark and drill the holes in the angle iron that the carriage bolts would be bolted through.

With the angle iron prepared it was time to square up the table and begin to drill the holes and mount the angle iron. Measure twice and cut once 🙂

There was quite a bit of discussion on how to design and build the legs for the table. Jesse’s dad does a good job of explaining what they are doing and why. Jesse and his dad have done so many projects together over the years that they usually quickly understand where they are going, so bringing our oldest son up to speed is an important step.

They clamped the boards for the legs together and drilled holes to attach the angle iron that will connect the legs to the table top. To better drill straight holes and minimize errors, they modified a jig.

Without too much trouble, they attached the legs and marked the holes for the table top through the angle iron supports.

The guys were surprised how heavy the table was now that it was completely assembled. They turned the table over and stepped back to admire their handiwork. Things were looking pretty good.

We have had some outside furniture over the years and have tried many stains and varnishes but they have never held up to the elements. To avoid the peeling and to keep a rustic look, we decided to use a natural oil sealant. The old dry lumber really soaked up the oil and highlighted the grain nicely. We will need to apply a fresh coat each spring, but this approach should avoid having to sand and reapply varnish every 2-3 years.

I used a small art brush to get the oil in between the boards.

Here is the finished product as the second coat of oil is still soaking in and drying off. The shine goes away and a nice natural feeling surface remains.

And finally…our new farm table! Total cost of the table was around $200 for the angle iron and carriage bolts. Much better than $3,500, don’t you agree?

I absolutely LOVE our new table! The price was right and I think it fits perfectly with our farm setting.

Most importantly though, I love it because it was made by these three special guys working together.

–Lynell

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Filed under Daily life, Kids

Tagged as farm table, outdoor table, salvaged lumber, woodworking projects

February 21, 2011 · 8:52 pm

A Field of Ice

We were enjoying warmer spring-like temperatures a week ago here in Minnesota and our ridiculously large piles of snow finally started melting. All that melting snow meant that a LOT of water was trying to make its way from our hay-field down towards the river.

The water was still backed up in the field when the temperatures plunged to below freezing once again over this past week. As a result, our hay-field turned into a giant ice rink. With a free day on the calendar yesterday, the kids decided to take advantage of the ice.

They grabbed their ice skates, some hockey sticks and a tennis ball and headed out to the hay-field.

With their boots in place to mark the goal area, it wasn’t long before they had a lively game of hockey going on.

None of my kids are hockey players, but I think they do pretty well on the ice for only getting their skates on a couple of times a year.

I thought they were a little crazy at first when they decided to head out to play on the ice. The latest winter storm was rolling in and the wind was really whipping out of the east.

I was freezing when I went out to take pictures of them. As I glanced out the window later, I noticed they had taken their jackets off and were skating around in sweatshirts! These kids are hardy Minnesotans!

Sofie was trying to figure out what we were all doing out in the hay-field. She went out to watch the kids play and when I showed up to take pictures she looked over at me inquisitively.

Everyone eventually came inside to warm up and enjoy our Sunday brunch.

The predicted snow finally started to arrive in the afternoon and the kids talked their dad into going out on the ice before the snow covered it up.

I went out to take pictures again. I didn’t last long. I’m a Minnesota girl, but am definitely not as hardy as my husband and kids.

Each year around this time, I tell myself that I am better suited to live where it is always warm and they have palm trees and sandy beaches. I always get over it…you have to when you live here.

It snowed the rest of the day and through most of today. We now have about a foot of fresh snow! The recent teasing of a spring thaw is just a distant memory, as we are now buried in snow once again. And so is the ice rink in the hay-field.

Hockey in the hay-field. I never would have imagined…

–Lynell

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Tagged as Daily life, Kids, skating

April 19, 2010 · 6:44 pm

Township Cleanup Day

Every spring in Minnesota, townships have a spring cleanup day when residents can bring in various items to dispose of, including old appliances, electronics, mattresses, batteries, tires, scrap metal, etc. The township charges a fee for some of the items, but allow disposal of a limited number of items free of charge.

In celebration of our township’s cleanup day this year, we decided to resume the barn project and tear out the cattle stanchions and miscellaneous piping to haul in for scrap metal disposal.

We have owned our farm for a decade now and we have never done anything with the inside of the barn, besides stash things that do not belong anywhere else. Prior to us purchasing the place, many years had passed since any animals occupied the barn. Needless to say, it is a real disaster.

Continue reading →

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Filed under Barn, Kids, Outbuildings

Tagged as Barn, barn renovation, cattle stanchions, Kids, stanchions, township cleanup

April 10, 2010 · 10:46 am

All the Way from Chico, California…

Our package bees arrived last night after a long and harrowing trip from sunny Chico, California, to the cool weather of Minnesota. Their arrival was delayed a day after they were temporarily stranded in Wyoming due to a snow storm. Our bee supplier, who lives only about 15 minutes from our home, received 800 packages of bees from the truck carrying around 2,400 packages (about $100,000 worth of bees!). These are some of the pallets sitting in his yard when we arrived.

Although most of the bees were inside the packages, there were several “hitch-hikers” flying around too. You can see some of them on top of the packages.

I was hesitant to approach the crates to take pictures, but the bee guy reassured me it was safe.

“They won’t hurt you. Come closer. They’re good girls.”

So I bravely told our son to go over by the bees so I could take his picture. 🙂

Once we got the bees home, it was time to install them in their new homes. Jesse sprayed them with sugar syrup to slow them down and make them easier to shake out of the package.

He was not wearing any protective gear because we only have two bee suits and both of the boys wanted to help.

Our youngest….

Our oldest…

After spraying them with the sugar-water, Jesse first removed the queen from the package. She is in a separate little cage inside the package. Her attendant bees stuck close to her.

Time to shake the bees out of their package and into the hive.

The bees explore their new digs and after shaking the majority of the bees out of the package, they released the queen down in hive. She was quickly surrounded by her attendant bees.

Because it is early in the season and no pollen is yet available for the bees, we are providing them with some supplemental food in the form of pollen patties (on right).

We are also feeding them a sugar syrup mixture to get them through the next few weeks until the first crops are available (usually dandelions). The feeding bucket has tiny holes that drips the liquid out when inverted on top of the top board.

Notice that Jesse ended up having our youngest hand over the bee suit after being stung on the head! Turns out the bees were a little cranky after being banged around and dumped out of their package and into the hive. I would not be surprised if they were also a little upset about being relocated from warm and sunny California to Minnesota. That would make me crabby too.

The installation of the second hive went a little smoother and by the time we finished it was almost completely dark. It is best to install the bees at night so that they can acclimate to the hive for several hours before the worker bees take off to forage.

Here is the queen for our second hive.

After putting the queen into the hive, Jesse carefully replaced the remaining frames being very careful not to squish the queen.

The bees are now installed into their hives and ready to start their work today. We are hopeful for a successful beekeeping season with healthy and productive bees!

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Tagged as Bees, Honeybees, installing bees, package bees

February 12, 2010 · 10:58 am

Our First Honey Harvest

After our first summer as beekeepers, we were fortunate enough to enjoy a moderately successful honey harvest. Jesse collected the full frames from the hive and we brought them into the house to start the messy process of extracting the honey from the comb. Using an electric uncapping knife, we sliced away the waxy caps of the honeycomb to allow the honey to drain out.

The hot knife cuts right through the wax. You can see it starting to ooze out already.

Furthering our investment in beekeeping equipment, we purchased a honey extractor from Mann Lake, Ltd. The extractor holds three frames. Once the frames are uncapped, we placed them into the extractor for spinning. We learned from a demonstration at the State Fair to only partially spin one side out and then turn the frames around and spin the other side out.

The extracted honey sits in the bottom of the drum until opening the drain valve. Passing through a double-strainer, the beautiful golden honey drained into a five-gallon bucket.

After finishing with the extraction process, we were ready to put our honey into containers. We ordered 25 of these great honey bottles from our favorite bee supply company.

The final total for our bees was in excess of 50 pounds of honey. Not too bad for beginners!

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Tagged as Bees, Harvesting Honey, Kids

February 1, 2010 · 6:36 pm

Bees and Teens

The kids thought their dad was a little weird when he told them we were getting bees last spring. This came as no surprise to us because what kid doesn’t think their parents are weird at some point? Jesse originally thought he would focus on getting our youngest son involved with the bees as a special project they could do together. They checked on the hive together and Jesse shared with him all he was learning about bees through reading and talking with his bee mentor, Paul.

As the summer progressed, however, an interesting thing happened. The other two also became interested in working with the bees. Eventually, each time Jesse would say he was going out to check on the bees a discussion would ensue about whose turn it was to accompany him. We purchased a second beekeeper suit and they each took turns working the bees with their dad.

Smoking the bees encourages them to gorge on honey, which makes them calm. Calm bees are a good thing when you are pulling out frames to inspect.

Our youngest takes his turn.

Even our oldest, a genuine teenager and huge XBox 360 fan, wanted a turn working the bees. We couldn’t have been happier.

Brushing the bees off to get a better look at the frame. The bees are making good progress in capping the combs filled with honey.

And so the bees have turned into a family project. These amazing little creatures have attracted the interest of our teenagers enough to lure them outside and away from technology. For that, we are grateful.