Week 10 "Drona" at work on the farm

I was fortunate to be gifted a drone by my husband this past Christmas. What a surprise! This week's blog has a few photos that involved Drona's help.

Above the raised beds at the farm.

Looking down the zinnia rows. Anna is picking the zucchinis on the left.

Drona flew out to where Anna was picking. She is quite the little flying machine. Thanks Anna for smiling at her!

Down the zinnia rows and closer to the sunflower planting.

At the north end of the rows looking south.

Sunflowers facing the sun. Many different colors of "yellow" in our sunflowers this year.

Looking down on the purple cauliflower and a row of potatoes near the sunflowers.

Tall and short sunflowers. Some have dark centers, some have pale centers.

Our western most field. From right to left: corn, beans, Sweet Annie, carrots, purple cabbage, hot and mild peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, tomatillos, more cabbage. Chris is out picking beans.

Drona sneaking up on Chris. Anna has come out to start picking peppers.

From above the orchard looking east.

We plant our tomatoes through red plastic to enhance production. They are watered from below with drip irrigation. There are peppers planted through olive colored plastic next to the tomatoes. The tall yellow and orange marigolds denote a change in variety of peppers and summer squash.

I'm trying to fly Drona straight down our golf cart path. Our helpers are hoping I can drive straight and know how to stop! I am at the far end by the right car looking down at Drona's controls.

Our dahlia garden. We have them in large, black plastic pots to help them warm up sooner and produce sooner. They overwinter in a greenhouse so they don't freeze and die.

Another overhead of what we refer to as the "OSU Quad" flower beds.

This machine in the near bed, was used for many years. Lisa, Angie and I have memories of planting strawberries while riding behind while a tractor pulled it down the rows. Hours and hours and thousands and thousands of strawberries. For a few years we had upwards of 22 acres of strawberries growing here on Shady Maple Farm. And we planted, hoed and either picked or supervised the picking of them all. Whew!

From a higher vantage point.

A different angle.

Back to earth with my regular camera. The Black Eyed Susans are beautiful.

Crocosmia nearly glow as they open from the tips downward.

Light pink morning glories open each morning and then close late in the day.

Here are some dark purple ones with stripes.

The purple cauliflower is so tender.

These tend to make large heads.

This one has a hint of purple down inside.

A few apples for the boxes today.

And what is he up to while sitting among the plants in flats???

Hmmmm, he's looking suspicious.

He was pulling these tall, spindly marigolds out of their flat. One by one... He thought he was pretty clever. And then he had to put them back!

Sorting radishes by color and bundling.

Swiss chard is also sorted by color.

I am always intrigued by the vibrant colors of fruits and vegetables.

Slender green beans. These need to be bagged before they are put in the boxes.

A few varieties of kale.

Some of today's beautiful bouquets.

Chris has come in from picking beans to helping build bouquets with Lisa.

Lisa selecting what beauty goes into her next creation.

Bryan is bagging beans.

Levi sitting on the log stool with his back drop of pretty flowers.

He spotted the camera so now he is being shy. :)

He's getting used to the idea of the camera.

And now he almost went over backwards!

He recovered nicely. What a cutie!

The contents of today's box. 

Apparently the golf cart needs to be washed today.

Hope to see you next time on the blog.