Walter Family Farm

01/01/2022

Ignore the sevin dust, but we're still getting Thai and Habanero peppers in January...AND the plants have new growth!

10/09/2021

The other day someone asked how the baby chicks we took camping are doing...well, they're now 19 weeks old (tomorrow) and enjoying their first piece of pumpkin treat! 🎃

09/01/2021

*Announcement!!*

I've put it off long enough. It's September now, and I'm not waiting anymore. You will start to see pumpkins around here now, and I'm not sorry about it. 😁

I took this a few days ago, before Ida blew through. We have just a few more watermelon in the field, and a few more pumpkins too...I've already been harvesting for weeks! Wanna see my collection?

07/23/2021

Yesterday's haul. Hopefully I'll get around to making another batch of cowboy candy tomorrow with all the jalapeños! 🤠🍬

06/23/2021

This year I asked for hubby to til up a spot (read: begged until he finally gave in and did it) for me to plant a patch of wildflowers.

I'm so happy he did, because the bees are loving it!

06/21/2021

Our strawberries are basically done for the year, which makes me sad, and while we will still get a handful of strawberries here and there throughout the summer...its just not the same as getting a daily harvest like this. (Pic is from a few weeks ago)

BUT...this just means the plants are now starting to send out runners, which means...MORE STRAWBERRY PLANTS! 🍓 This year though, the goal is to move the strawberries to a new location in the fall (best time to transplant them) because they are completely taking over their current spot.

Strawberries are only good producers for a few years anyway, so it will be good for me to dig up some of the original plants and get rid of the great-grandma 👵 plants. Sorry, they just gotta go.

06/21/2021

Praying for a good pumpkin season this year! 🙏 We're hoping to use our pumpkins as a fundraiser for our kids program at church, and of course think it would be SO cute to see all the little ones selling them! 😊

P.S. How is it that we're already planting for fall? 😳

06/18/2021

Just a little 🐝 love and appreciation for all their hard work! 💛

06/18/2021

Our blueberry harvest has been less than stellar this year, for the same reason as our lack of peaches and nectarines...late freeze. A few of our varieties are more sensitive to the frost, so now I'm on the look out for bed sheets on clearance to drape over the bushes next time around! (Got that tip from a friend!)

Now we know better for next year, and also have taken some cuttings from our favorites to try and grow even more!

06/01/2021

Have you ever gone camping with 3 day old baby chicks? 😅

This is what happens when you decide to randomly hatch out chicks, and also forget their hatch date when you plan a camping trip. 🤦‍♀️

05/30/2021

Baby chicks! We have 5 out so far, and hopefully another 6 to go.

Do we need more chickens right now? No. But baby chicks are always fun.

05/29/2021

This little one landed on me as I was picking strawberries. So pretty! 😍 🐝

05/28/2021

3...2...1...Sunset!

05/26/2021

Rainbow over the property tonight! 🌈

05/25/2021

Remember to check your garden frequently for pests! These red aphids love tomatoes and will take over and devour a plant in a hot minute! We try really hard not to use any pesticides, and these are really easy to just squish between your fingers.

05/23/2021

We have water! 💦

We originally only had a hydrant in the middle of the back yard. For the last 4 years I've been doing the good ol' farmer's carry of jugs of water back and forth OR we've hooked up MULTIPLE hoses end to end and let me tell you, that gets HEAVY...with either option.

Now, I can water 2 of the garden areas with ease, and fill the chicken's water faster! We do still have a few areas that aren't as easy to water, but one project at a time!

Our neighbor ran the trencher for us and helped hook everything up. Darren did have to get out the excavator to break up a giant rock that was in the way, but everything else went smoothly with this project.

Next step: fill it all back in...in the 90° heat this week.

05/23/2021

Tis the season for fresh salads from the garden!

05/17/2021

"Mom, there's a cow in the yard!" Is not something you hear every day...especially when you don't own any cows. 😅

There's never a dull moment around here!

05/17/2021

Came home from a birthday party, to find a snake eating some of our eggs! I had 21 eggs marked under three broody hens starting on the 10th, and some had started going missing! Now we know why! We're down to 15 marked eggs...now to see how many hatch...

05/14/2021

Today's victory harvest: eggs, radishes, green onions, cilantro, and almost three pounds of strawberries! 🍓🍓🍓

05/13/2021

The grapes and muscadines are starting to flower, and with the number of vines and fruit we're lookin' to have right now...🤯 if the deer don't get to them, we're going to be making a lot of jams and jellies later in the year!

Grape vines grow so fast, it's like you could almost sit there and watch them grow. So I'm also excited about when it's time to cut the vines back each year and I can get crafty and make more wreaths! Last year was a trial year, and I realized you need a lot more than you'd think!

Any favorite grape recipes or grapevine crafts you'd like to share? Let me know in the comments!

05/08/2021

05/08/2021

We started out four years ago with only 50 bare root strawberry starts. We now have probably over a thousand plants, and have given many away. This is what my daily harvest looks like for most of the month of May, and then we get a few here and there throughout the rest of the summer.

My goal is to double this next year. Shhh...don't tell hubby. 🤫😉😆

05/08/2021

If only smell-o-vision was a real thing!! Honeysuckle is one of my favorites, and I wish we had more of it on our property. 😍

Did you know the flowers are edible?

12/09/2020

2 years ago I walked out into this white mess to find the "roof" to our chicken run falling in from all the snow!

Its just as cold today, but thankfully no snow here.

How many of you have snow on the ground where you're at? Comment below where you're from!

12/08/2020

Still getting strawberries in December??? I guess anything really is possible in 2020!

11/17/2020

STILL. GETTING. PEPPERS...IN NOVEMBER!! 😆😅😂🤣🤯

This has absolutely been the craziest year. We were able to plant everything early, half of everything we planted was mixed up somehow and there was some transplanting and some "aw, screw it, it is what it is".

We were successful at our first attempt at corn, and we know how to do better next time.

It was our worst year EVER for cucumbers, and instead of putting up our yearly 30-40 jars of pickles, we got 11. 🤦‍♀️

Annnnd back to peppers...I have like 30 jars of peppers...and thats after eating them in sooo many meals too!

Ahh...2020. Hopefully 2021 will be better.

11/14/2020

One of our grape vines apparently hasn't received the notice that it's the middle of NOVEMBER...because its still producing! 👀

🤯 What?!?!

It STILL has yet to freeze! All the rest of our vines were done over a month ago...I have no idea what this one is thinking!

Anyone else still getting grapes or muscadines this late? This is just crazy!

11/04/2020

Just some pretty eye candy for your morning. 😍

10/26/2020

These girls are always in the garden with me, and there's always a frog, a beetle, or in this case, a grasshopper to "save".

Its probably better than freaking out over bugs and such, but not every thing needs "saving" and "needs help to find its mommy". They try really hard though. 😉

10/25/2020

It always amazes me how many people have never seen a blue or green or a crazy, speckled, egg before! Of course the brown and white eggs you see at the store tend to be most common, but that doesn't mean that's it!

Or there's other basics like, you don't have to have a rooster for the hens to lay eggs...that's always a fun one to explain. ☺

Or that chickens can run faster than humans! 😂

Or that chickens have a molting season. 🪶

Its important to know where your food comes from, and some basics about the product or process.

Whats a farm or garden product or process you'd like to know more about?

10/22/2020

*DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME*

Last two pics...That's what I imagine is going through that guy's head as he's standing on top of that machine...buuuut what do I know? 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, the soybean across the street was harvested yesterday, and the kids loved seeing all the giant tractors.

I'll take this view over living in a city any day!

10/22/2020

Apple. Pie. Caramel. Apples.

I had to share...I've been making these for years, and they just keep getting better and better.

Apples, caramel, white chocolate chips, cinnamon, and sugar. Yes it takes a little bit of work, but its worth it!

10/21/2020

Chickens are enjoying their treats. They LOVE pumpkins, soooo anyone local who doesn't know what to do with their pumpkins after Halloween...just drop em off here, and they will be well loved!