Sunday on the Farm

 We've had such glorious weather! Cool, low humidity, breezy -- just absolutely perfect! After church Adam took his nice long nap, and I tootled in the greenhouse. On the way back across the pasture, I slowed and then stopped, wanting to absorb all the beauty of the pecan giants stretching into the sky.
I was pushing the wheelbarrow. Then Julia came along with dogs.

 

Remember volunteer tomatoes? They're everywhere. However ... one spot on the farm you'd never expect to find a volunteer tomato plant is the burn pile. Right? Yep ... there it is!

 

Yes, indeed. That's a tomato! How in the world?
Adam's tomato trellising is stupendous.

 Below is the second tomato bed. He just put up the posts with the cable strung along their tops.

 Here's a close-up of my tallest tomato, a beefsteak. Its cord is already well-wound around its stem. I think this method will work famously!

 And a couple of my beefsteak plants are already setting fruit.

 I have peas!! These are the Wando variety.

 

Around the little outbuilding Adam has been clearing the brush and weed trees. One tree had already fallen over, so he cut it off, leaving part of the leaning stump. It's right next to a pretty-shaped dwarf apple of some sort.

apple on the left, other tree on the right.

 Anyway, the stump sprouted green branches. I looked at it today and realized it's a willow tree!

 We're quite fond of willows. The friend who recently gave me two chickens also gave Adam a willow twig to put into some good soil, hoping for a new tree. The twig did take, and we have a tiny willow tree back in the greenhouse, which is lovely.

Adam plans to put it into a nice damp part of the pasture, as willows like soggy feet. But now we have a huge supply of green, supple willow branches! I'd love to learn to make willow baskets. Adam has plans for the willow too, I think involving wattle and daub construction. And we are now so much further on the way to that itty-bitty dream :) Ain't life grand? I'm looking at a ragged, fallen tree one afternoon, and tada!! I discover a gem I'd been wanting.
Oh - one more thing. Today Adam put up shade cloth on one end of the front porch for the summer.

 He ordered it online. From the outside, it's quite dark and gives more privacy while still allowing air circulation, but at a fraction of the cost of screen.

 But from the inside it's not dark at all.

Isn't that interesting? We're very pleased with it. We've saved the plastic sheeting and Adam will put it back up next winter. The wiggle-wire and channel remains on the house, and both the plastic and the shade cloth are attached using it. It's a great system. The only drawback is his having to fight off the rose bushes while he climbed the ladder, poor fellow! I heard him muttering, 

"I hate rose bushes!"