Fall Adventure

Today was exciting!  I started out looking for nuts. 

I found tons of Hickory nuts.

The husk (the green part) dries up and inside is the nut.  Then I will crack the hard shell open to get to the meat.

Wormfarm has Hazelnuts!  They grow 2-4 in a husk.

The husk dries up and out comes the hazelnut that also needs to be cracked to get to the meat.

I meant to look for many others kinds of nuts but then Crook came along and distracted me...

Crookshank underneath the Hazelnut trees.

Crook climbing an apple tree!

I swear he was trying to show off...he then started to freak out a bit because he could not figure out how to get down.  I had to guide him back to the ground.  If only he could have grabbed the last few apples on this tree.  They were the sweetest ones I have found.

I'd been told there were old apple trees on the Wormfarm property.  I looked out and saw the most beautiful apple tree I have ever seen!

Tree of Protection

The apples were gigantic and sweet!  Biggest I'd ever seen!  But they were all hard to reach and hardly any were on the ground...I quickly found out why.  I turned around and saw there was another apple tree....

...but this cow was guarding it.  The cows are eating all the apples that fall from the trees and any they can reach!  She eventually moved but the apples from this tree were sour...

...so I threw it towards here.

She was so happy eating apples that I went searching for all the rotten ones I could find and fed them to her.

I went back to the Narnia tree to read but she followed me.  I was too nervous to read with a thousand pound animal inching towards me for apples so I fed her a few more and went home.  I told her I'd bring her some more rotten ones from over the fence tomorrow!

Another beautiful fall day!

Second Page Complete!

I completed the second page of my 18 x 24 inch fabric book about the Feathery Ladies at the Wormfarm!

I made some Strawberry Jam for my Momma.  Naomi and I made Strawberry/Rhubarb jam as well. Yum!

Moo.

Work in Progress

Work in progress of page 2 of my little (big) fabric book.

Last Friday I deinstalled my work at the West Chicago City Museum for Earth to Table.  It was a great show and I was happy to be a part of it!

Garlic and Cows

Yesterday I cultivated the garlic, which means I broke up the soil. I brought the hoe through the rows to break up any roots of weeds. Hoeing also kills seedlings of weeds that have not appeared yet. The bed of garlic on the left has been cultivated. The bed on the right has not been.

Garlic cloves are planted in the late fall of the previous year. The hay is placed over the beds of garlic to keep them moist, protect them from the cold winter and moderate weeds. Garlic doesn't handle weeds well. We took the hay off the garlic to hoe the beds and to let the plants soak up a ton of sun. We will put the hay back over the soil of the garlic beds soon.

I can't wait for garlic scapes!

The cows came this weekend. Momma cows and their babies. They graze all day long and poop all day long nourishing the land.

Yesterday I caught this moment of a cow and a chicken contemplating one another's existence. They stood there looking at each other thoughtfully for about 5 minutes.

"You're really big..."

"You're really small..."

Harvesting Oregano

Here is something I am working on now.

Yesterday we harvested 50 bunches of oregano.  We left two inches so that more can grow back.  Oregano is a perennial plant, meaning it lives for more than two years.  Andrea said that it will begin to lose flavor after a while though.

We hung the oregano to dry.  Andrea said it will take about 2 weeks.

Peonies are growing near the Chicken coop!  They smell so wonderful.

The cows eat so much!  This grass was about 3 feet high before they got to it.  The dirt patch to the right of them was once grass as well!

First Day as an Artist in Residence at Wormfarm Institute!

My mom drove me to Wormfarm Institute yesterday morning.  We knew we were in the right place because a chicken was in the road...such pleasant way to be welcomed!  I had to get out of the car and let her know we needed the road for just a second.

It is beautiful here.  My mind is free so I can paint and sew.  I have never been to a place so green and open.  

These cows are here to graze and fertilize the land.  They rotate them across the land.  Staying in one place for a few days then moving them on to another.  

Toonces/Stuffy (I have heard two different names for him) the cat in front of my huge and bright studio!  What a friendly cat.  He runs around all day and pops out in unexpected places.  So do the two dogs, Mister and Trouser.

Barn Swallows fly around the basement of the barn.  They zip around my head.  Tiny little birds.