farm Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Summer gardening with nice weather and good soil…

Every year, we travel to Indiana to visit Jeff’s family. About an hour north of Indianapolis in farm country, it’s like a breath of fresh air.

The weather is cooler, the soil is blacker, the life is simpler. I feel the stress of life back home drift away as we whiz by field after field of corn and soybeans. Each visit includes some exploration into native plants and unfamiliar gardens filled with peonies, lilacs, conifers and other plants that would turn to toast in Central Texas.

My mother-in-law’s planters are always stunning. The feathery grass between my toes provides a sharp contrast between the no-bare-feet-ever policy I adhere to at home to protect myself from biting fire ants.

And then there are the tomatoes. Oh my. Seriously delicious. Real seasons, rich soil, cooler summer nights … I don’t know why, but Eleanor’s tomatoes seem better than any others here on earth. And we ate them, along with fresh sweet corn, morning, noon and night. Yumm-o.

Jeff’s family also raises Belgian draft horses – gentle giants that punctuate the landscape. Four mares are making their home there this summer, but 20 years ago there were 28 in the lots and barns around the farm. One of the highlights of our summer visit, the Indiana State Fair Draft Horse Show has been run and worked by Ellers for four generations now.

Jeff, his sister, Lisa, and nephew, Ashton.

I’m also a junk food junkie, and I avail myself of every opportunity to eat something fried, greasy, or sugary. This year, I had a beef sundae for breakfast at the beef producers’ tent. Tender, pull apart roast beef, covered with mashed potatoes, corn and gravy. Mmmmmm. So good. My nephew, Ashton, who is on the State Fair Board, took us to breakfast in his golf cart and then we toured the Agriculture and Horticulture building, which he helps oversee and run. He opted for a hotdog — the $2 Tuesday special that day. Two lemonade/iced tea shake-ups and some cheese fries found their way into me before we left for the day.

My favorite in the Ag/Hort Building? The giant cheese sculpture! How. I could really make some queso with that!

Can’t forget the midway.

Look at that HAIR!!!!

Our last event of the day — the dog show. These wonderful rescue pups performed daring feats of acrobatic skill and delighted the crowd. And the cute factor was off of the charts!

One morning we woke to a cool, damp 57 degrees, with a whisper of fog settling over the fields. This photo captures the peaceful, picturesque countryside of Indiana farmland.

Back home in Indiana, 2015.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:01-06:00August 22nd, 2015|2015, Blog, container gardening, containers, fair, farm, Indiana, planters, Sharing Nature's Garden, State Fair|0 Comments

How to cool off in the heat wave…

The Texas heat has followed us to Indiana. The big heat wave of the Midwest has seen uncharacteristic heat indices of 105-110.

While we’re avoiding actual temps of 100 in Austin, it feels that hot or more here. But after we leave, the heat wave is expected to break and temperatures here will be in the upper 80s.

Sadly, we’ll be gone by then.

Everything is looking for a way to cool off. Yesterday we watched as hundreds of beautiful butterflies found their way to the creek to get a drink. I wish I knew what kind of butterflies these were – they were all over the white and red clover in the pasture.
These swallowtails loved wallowing in the mud.
And Ed the dog went to lie down in the creek, lapping up a nice drink of water while he cooled off.
He’s in the creek about 3-4 times a day – smart enough to know when to cool down in the heat. He showed up at the farm after a long journey last May when we were here. He was lost or abandoned. I believe he was sent as a gift — at a time when the love and companionship of a wonderful dog was the answer to a prayer.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:40:14-05:00August 11th, 2010|Blog, butterflies, creek, dogs, Ed, farm, Indiana, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Touring the neighbor’s garden

Yesterday brought me a delightful garden treat. We’re visiting family in Indiana, and one of the neighbors down the road is an avid gardener, and works at a local nursery. He was kind enough to offer me a private tour last year (See Hoods Gardens) , and yesterday I got a tour of his personal garden just down the road.
This is farm country — rows and rows of cornfields and soybeans as far as the eye can see. But going to Ed’s house was like going to a garden paradise. Because we are far, far away from my Zone 8b-9 home, it was fascinating to see all the different plants he can grow here in Indiana in Zone 5.
Ed has a wonderful collection of chickens and roosters, too, and I got to meet most of them while I was there. They seemed curious about having a visitor, but they didn’t get too close, as they were much too busy pecking for bugs.
I fell in love with this iris, as it is the same colors that my Ocelot at home was supposed to be and wasn’t. Most of his irises were done blooming, but I did get to see a few stragglers. Not sure of the name of this one, he’s dubbed it his ‘hound dog iris!’
Now I can’t remember the name of this, but it sure looks like something in the salvia family to me.
His gardens surround an amazing and historic farm house, complete with big porch and unique architectural touches. And his gardens are also little vignettes with interesting focal points to draw the eye, like this old metal spoked wheel next to a pot of succulents.
A few day lilies and Easter lilies were still happily blooming, adding splashes of color to the garden.
And imagine my delight to see this old stock trough filled with Amaranth, Cleomes and a few other plants.
Not sure of the botanical name of this bright patch of yellow, Ed likes to call them butter cups.
And this old garden was also full of Valerian, which is a hardy perennial here with pink or white flowers. It self-seeds freely and used to be used a a perfume in the sixteenth century and is still used to make a potion to aid in sleeping.

These sweet, ripe cherries called to me and I had a taste of them as we passed under this cherry tree, heavy with fruit.
And I can’t think of anything more appropriate to adorn the side of this wonderful farmhouse than this giant snowball bush, full of vintage blooms harkening to times past.

It was a wonderful afternoon in the garden with a dear friend. Thank you, Ed.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:26-06:00June 6th, 2010|Blog, Ed's Garden, farm, Indiana, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

farm

Summer gardening with nice weather and good soil…

How to cool off in the heat wave…

Touring the neighbor’s garden

Escape in the garden