Well today was an absolute great day and I feel compelled to share it with you all because it was so great. The entire family pitched in to clean up all the hedge apples in the back yard, one of the paddocks and the trail we use to get to the back of the farm. We gathered two garden wagons full of hedge apples.
The best way to get everyone to work; make a game out of it. I call this Hedge Apple Bowling. My wife is becoming a pro!!
We had one tinsy tiny accident during the ordeal. My middle daughter thought she could toss a huge hedge apple OVER the older sisters head...welllll she was a bit too low and beamed her older sister right in the noggin! We all learned, well the girls anyway that hedge apples hurt if you get hit by them! And situational awareness is a must on the farm!!
While there are some uses for the hedge apples; some use them for spider and insect deterrents, some use them for decorations, and some use them for...? Honestly I do not know what else people use them for. But I know we are using them to fill in a hole. There is a small washout area that would be a potential nightmare if left untreated or unattended to. So I have been filling the hole with anything I can find that will naturally decompose and turn into soil. I have been tossing in logs, branches, grass clippings, and now hedge apples.
Later on today I did come up with another way to use Hedge Apples. Preserve them and color them somehow and use them as Christmas decorations on our pine tree in the front yard when December rolls around. Soooo if anyone has a way to preserve them, please feel free to let me know.
After clearing up all the hedge apples it was not quite noon yet and my wife asked me if we should gather walnuts. "That is a fantastic idea" I told her. So off we went to gather Black Walnuts. We went along the trail and then to a spot located in the back of the property. We were tossing the walnuts into the wagon and when we were finished we probably had about 3 or 4 five gallon buckets full of them.
When we thought we were through picking walnuts I figured this would be the best time and place to teach my oldest daughter how to drive the garden tractor. We have a long way to go before she starts helping me cut grass in the spring but I know after some quality periods of instruction she will be there in no time at all.
I cannot thank the good Lord enough for this beautiful treasure he has given to us that we call our home, our farm, and our new way of life. To be able to build lasting memories while teaching our children about life, nature and what God has provided for us. We are truly blessed. I pray that there are many more days like today that we are able to work together in the field, the paddocks with animals and our future garden to continue educating our children, provide for us all and all the while having fun doing it.
Oh as for the walnuts, tomorrow after church and we go to the pumpkin patch we will husk them and wash them. Then the husks will be crushed up a bit more and made into a slurry and I want to pour it on the crushed rock driveway to kill the grass growing in the center of the lane.
I hope you all enjoyed this and hope you have great days like this on your farm, homestead, or back yards.
Kenny