My husband is a huge gigantic Beatles fan. That’s where the name of the post came from.
They’ve got a song (and an album too, I think) called “Magical Mystery Tour.” I’ve always known my farm is magical, ever since I first stepped a foot on it. Cluttered and messy and over-grown, but magical.
But mystery has become a large part of me living here as well. Mystery in the sense of these words coming out of my mouth A LOT: “Hmmm, gosh, I don’t know…it’s a mystery to me!”
Shall we begin?
Here’s the first mystery.
What is this?? I found it in the barn and think I’ll hang it on my wall. But what in the world is it??
I want to hang it on this wall, along with that tobacco basket that is leaning against the wall. I also found that my barn. We’ve been working on this room. Killer light fixture, huh. It’s mason jars. I just love it.
Here’s an un-mystery. Those flowers are “Queen Anne’s Lace.” We have them growing all over the place. I picked some and popped them in a vase. Hard to believe these are “WEEDS” to a lot of folks. So delicate and pretty. And yes, that’s the bean jar beside the flowers, where we are counting foggy days in August so we’ll know how many snow events we’ll get this winter.
Which brings me to a MYSTERY: what’s the difference in low clouds and fog? Just the other day I saw “fog” on the mountains and cheerfully put a bean in the jar. Yay! Later I reconsidered. No, that wasn’t fog this morning, it was a cloud on the mountains I see from my farmhouse. I took that bean back out. un-yay. Anybody know the difference?
Wait. Before we get into any more mysteries. I’ve got to tell you where I am writing this. I’m usually at my computer in the office or at the kitchen table. But we got a MYSTERIOUS piece of technology that is some kind of signal booster. It gives me a signal further out from the house. So, how could I be inside when I could be outside on a day such as this?
Let me see if I can figure out the webcam on this computer (it is also a MYSTERY to me).
Photobomb~!
hahaha, my face is behind him. This is “Hey Jude.” He is assigned to snake patrol and doing very well, I tell you. I named him “Hey Jude” because my husband doesn’t like cats, but LOVES the Beatles. “Hey Jude” is the name of a Beatles song. The other cat on snake patrol is named “Sgt. Pepper.” “Sgt. Pepper” is the name of another Beatles song. You see my plan? Guess what? It’s working. My husband is actually warming up to cats.
Okay, let me webcam again.
Here we go. Got it.
Yep, we’re laying on the hammock with my computer in my lap.
How awesome are THESE working conditions!
I’m under a large oak tree. Here, let me point my computer upwards:
There is a cool breeze blowing. Beautiful. Feels like autumn today.
Ask me again if I miss Atlanta.
Earlier today, this little guy came to see us.
No mystery there. That’s a deer, with cute little fuzzy antlers. He is right out in front of our house, by the red round pen.
Okay, let’s head to the garden for some MYSTERIES.
What is this? Squash? Watermelon? My planting was haphazard this year. 
And this. What about this?
Could that be a watermelon?
Wow, I have lots of mysteries in the garden. Here’s another:
And another:
The problem with not being able to identify these veggies is that I don’t know when to pick them because I don’t know when they are ripe…
I have learned my lesson BIG time. Next year, I will make markers for my garden. I obviously can’t assume I’ll know what they are once they come up.
And this? Is this WHEAT???? I didn’t plant any, but I kinda think it is. Or I guess it could be just a weed?
Oh, looky there. We’ve got company! Merlin is watching us from his barn. Hey Merlin! He’s a big part of the “Magical” aspect of our farm. One day I’m going to be able to ride that boy. One day….one day. (Am I being delusional? Maybe…)
What is this?? It is growing in my garden and has a lovely flower on it. It looks like something out of a science fiction movie.
If anybody knows the answers to any of these mysteries, please let me know.
In other news, I planted my turnip greens and lettuce this past weekend. I know what THOSE look like, so I’m good.
Hey, I’ve got another MYSTERIOUS visitor. Let me web-cam again.
You see that cat with a mustache back there behind me?! It’s the feral cat! The one I saved from death row! I had him locked up, but he escaped a while back. I was so sad and disappointed. Epic failure, I thought. I also thought he was a goner around here. Animals have to be locked up at night in order to live through the night. I was so upset.
BUT THEN. One day, he started showing up again. And now he’s warming up to us ever since we got Sgt. Pepper and Hey Jude. Look at that! He’s only about 3 or 4 feet from me. Now that’s VICTORY. We still can’t touch him, but maybe one day!
Okay, here’s the final MYSTERY. Why is it not so good to be laying on a hammock under an oak tree on a breezy day in late summer? Anybody know the answer to that MYSTERY?
Until next time, Friends, savor the flavor of life!
Lots of Love, The City Farmgirl, Rebekah
Snakes fall out of trees?
Hi Rebekah,
I think first picture of your mystery garden veggies is going to be a pumpkin??? It kind of looks like one before it ripens.
I just LOVE mysteries. Perhaps channeling Sherlock Holmes will help you with your detective work.
Have fun,
Lisa
We have several strays they always
know when to be here when the food
is out. Some cats we had to trap them to spayed them. They are happier after and some have become nicer. But some are still wild. It takes time.
That spikes looking thing is a thistle and they are bad. Any time you see one try to remove it at the ground.
The first item looks like a stoneboat.
Under our oak tree you will be bombed with acorns when the breezes blow swiftly. I don’t think your computer screen will like that!
Enjoyed your post immensely.
I absolutely love your posts! So much fun, and though I have no answers to any of your mysteries, I’m thrilled to “visit” your paradise! Just love your kitties, and how clever of you to name them after the Beatles….for your hubby! I believe it’s working! A lot of people THINK they don’t like kitties, until they have an opportunity to get to know them! Kitties just have a different story to tell than dogs. Thank you!
I’m as mystified as you are about your vegetables, but the spiky plant in an an Angel Trumpet. Big white flower, right? Or in some places they’re called jimson weeds. I like Angel Trumpet better.
I’m seeing a watermelon (long & striped green), a spaghetti squash (yellow-next pic) and maybe a couple of different kinds of pumpkins. The prickly guy looks like a horse chestnut (tree), to me. The pods dry out and pop open to the most beautiful seeds. I’m thinking you have an adult tree in your neighborhood…
So glad to see Mr. Feral wanting to join you!
Fun post! Not being originally from the South and now owning a farm in Tennessee, it seems like we have lot of mysteries too! 🙂 When I plant my garden I make a “map” on paper because I’ve found that even when I put markers in the soil they end up getting taken over by the plant, washed away in the rain, etc! I know the feeling of having veggies that make no sense. As far as when to pick…. I kind of follow the rule of thumb on things like pumpkins and melons… when I pick them up to sort of rotate them a bit and they fall off the vine… they are ripe! (Or when I discover that the ‘coons beat me to them… they are ripe! Ha!) How fun that your barn came with “mysteries” in it. That has got to be the coolest thing ever. – Dori –
the first picture looks like some sort of a grain sifter or grain sorting sifter that would separate seeds from grain. Its hard to tell from the angle of the picture. The first pic of fruit looks like squash, the second looks like watermelon, the third and fourth looks like butternut squash, the fifth one looks like wild wheat or some sort of wild grain. That last one that looks like a sort of prickly fruit is most like milk weed. Monarch butterfly’s love milk weed. So if you have a lot of caterpillars or Monarchs around those- its most likely mild weed. As for the tuxedo kitty who is shy and feral. Its common for kitties to make your farm it’s home- but not make you it’s owner. Keep feeding him and caring for him. he will always love your barn 😉
The first veggie looks like an immature pumpkin. The first yellow ones look like spaghetti squash. They look ready, and they are yummy.
If those flowers are white and appear at night, I believe you have moon flowers. The prickly pods actually are seeds.
First one is a pumpkin, the second is a watermelon and the next ones are squash? I think! I am so happy to see Mr. Mustache hanging around still. Let me guess that you are getting bombarded with acorns. Love your posts…keep them coming.
Looks like you have some squash, watermelon, and if the wood thing has screen, I think it is a sifter for grains; but for the life of me I cannot remember what to call it! Oh, I cannot think why in the world you don’t miss north Georgia! It has been so wonderfully(?) HOT this summer. Please send cool weather and rain to Kennesaw! Love reading your posts. I am a country girl at heart.
i do agree with Tina Hart the most with her answers to your mysteries. My dad had a wooden grain cleaner/sifter with different “trays” like you showed, with different-sized holes for the different grains. Your garden looks wonderful. Please enjoy every piece of produce therein!
Hey City Farm Girl! How are ya? I think the reason you should not lay under a hammock (or is it lye…or lie…I’m awful in the lay/lie area) on a fall, breezy day is because those cute little ‘oaknuts’ will be fallin’ from the sky right onto your cute little pumpkin-head! And that one flower with the prickly little ball is what us Northern folk call Moon flower. The plant has a big white flower that opens up in the evening and it’s beautiful..looks like a trumpet….but guess what. In about a month that ball will turn brown, then split open and spill it’s 1000 little seeds all over the ground. The fall breeze will blow them around and next year, you’ll have about 1000 moon flowers. My advice, neuter! We had a mystery item hanging on our wall on our patio as decoration. It’s still hanging there, but not longer a mystery. It’s what they would put on the truck to load piggies. They would walk on it to get into the truck. Maybe I’ll do a blog post on it someday. And how come you never update your other blog? Gotta go for a walk….in my pj’s because who is gonna see me out here…and see if my baby deer are in the ex-bee yard that we now call the ……what do we call it?…..I forget. It has a pole barn where the bees once were…..starts with an “s”….Oh well…gotta run.
Cindy Bee
PS – BLEH! on the beans….we’ve had NOTHING but FOG!
Hey Rebekah! Your first “garden mystery pic” looks just like the Tatume squash I have in my garden. They are a summer squash similar in taste to zucchini if picked young but can be a winter squash if left to ripen. I keep finding hidden ones that grow to be about the size you have in your picture. (My pumpkins never start out that oblique that’s why I think its a Tatume.) My Tatume squash starts out a lighter green but matures into a darker green with a harder skin. The flesh will be white when young growing to a pale/medium yellow when picked more mature. Otherwise I pick them the size of my hand, slice them up skin and all and fry them in a little butter or grill them with a bit of olive oil and garlic. They are hardy, prolific little buggers and fun to grow!
Great post!!!! I’m pretty sure the item you found is a sifter, usually hung on an A-frame on the center hook, then someone would shovel in whatever was to be sifted, grain, seeds, soil that might have something fun (kids mostly did the soil) and a person would be at the handle end shaking it back n forth. I think your vegies are pretty well covered and Love that Mr. Mustache is warming up and yes I will guess you are getting pelted by acorns but one other problem with laying in the hammock on such a beautiful day – I would be taking a nap and not getting done all that I should. But which ever, thanks again for sharing. God bless.
Fog… fog is low lying clouds you’re standing IN. Low lying clouds are ones that you can see above or even below you if you’re higher up the mountain.
Jimson weed used to be the bane of ranchers in the old west, and still may be today. it was said that it would make the animals more than a little nutty if they ate it. call your county extension office and ask for their thoughts on it before you let it live and procreate on your property.
the white squashes could be spaghetti squash, IF you planted those. LOL Thanks for the blog and photos. Kitty
I feel from the other ladies you have many of your questions answered as to your bountiful garden full of mysteries. The Queens Anne’s Lace flowers are just beautiful, and although I have seen them all my life I have just this summer learned their right name, and just last week I also learned that by tinting the vase water with food coloring of your choice will change their color, just a fun little tip. Love reading your posts, always puts a smile on my face. Also keep watch for your slithering farm animals, they seem to be out most in the early spring and fall I have found and like you I too have a huge phobia of them, and just whenever I have relaxed and let my guard down after having an encounter with one they seem to appear again and then the whole process starts all over! Your not alone when it comes to them and your stories let me know the same 🙂 Enjoy your fall days!