Family Microfarm

Loads of Tomatoes

2011-06-13T20:27:00.004-05:00

Our harvest the day after we returned from vacation. Tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, green beans, and blueberries.

Ava helped shuck the corn.

Coring the tomatoes and slicing the opposite end. This helps the skin peel away after blanching.

When we came back from vacation, we had 22 lbs of ripe tomatoes waiting for us to pick. (Even with my youngest brother picking 10 lbs of tomatoes for his family while we were away). Since then, I have picked another 27 lbs. And they aren't done yet!!

With the first 22 lbs, I made marinara sauce. The 27 lbs. I cored, blanched, and skinned; tossing them in the freezer until I am ready to make my next batch of sauce.

Also waiting when we came back were 15 lbs of corn and a little over a pound of blueberries. We have picked over 7 lbs of blueberries over the past month. Some I have made into jam, others I have frozen. Most of them were eaten fresh.

Get your harvest on!

2011-05-21T07:30:00.005-05:00

Ava with some blueberries we picked.

Yay! I am having so much fun this spring. I have harvested something from my garden every single day since May 6. For the month of May, so far, I have harvested over 33 lbs of fruits and veggies!!! This total includes blueberries, strawberries, baby corn, cucumbers, squash, green beans, and onions. You could probably throw in an extra couple of pounds for all the stuff I've eaten before weighing during my garden walks. The lack of rain has been both a curse and a blessing. While disease among my plants has been reduced, I have had to water. I usually water everything really deep on Sat/Sun and sometimes again on Wed/Thurs.

My onion crop: from start to finish.

19 lbs of onions!

TOMATOES AND SQUASH

2011-04-29T18:35:00.003-05:00

This year, I have focused on trying to grow as many food quality tomatoes as possible. In past years I have had fun experimenting with many different heirloom breeds. However, they tend to not be as hardy and reliable as the hybrids. Many purists will argue differently, blah, blah, blah. Every year I have grown tomatoes, the hybrids have outperformed the heirlooms by leaps and bounds. I went with mostly determinate varieties. These set the tomatoes all at once which is more convenient for canning and drying.

I planted a few varieties of summer squash this year. It was basically a hodgepodge of squash seeds I had left over from several seed packets. In this photo, my squash have just began forming flower buds. Most of the buds right are male flowers. The female flowers really start coming up a week or so after the male flowers have made their first appearance. After that each plant will have a healthy ratio of female to male flowers. Even an untrained eye can easily discern male from female flowers. Female flowers will have a little immature squash fruit at the base, where as males will not. Then there's the morphological difference between the stigma and the stamen which is slightly less obvious.

Strawberries, Arugula, Hatching Eggs

2011-03-27T10:26:00.004-05:00

Bowl of strawberries from my garden

One of my 50 strawberry plants

In the past week I have harvested 2 lbs. of strawberries. We pretty much eat them immediately. It takes all of my will power to weigh them first for record keeping purposes. Weighing the produce that comes out of my garden may seem extremely dorky, but it's the only way to know if my methods are effective. Also, I can tell if my costs are offset by the harvest, which is very important to me.

Flowering Arugula

Arugula is really delicious and super easy to grow. I harvested greens from this patch when they were small and tender. As the plants mature, they are tougher and less flavorful. That is when I let them grow out and go to seed. This patch will make more than enough seed to last me for the next several years. The last time I saved seed from arugula was two years ago, and it was only from 3 plants.

Eggs in an incubator with egg turner.

I found this incubator on craigslist last year for half of the original purchase price. If I have a good hatch, I may sell some. I also plan to start two more consecutive batches that I will sell this spring.

Berries a Bloomin'

2011-03-03T19:05:00.003-06:00

A bumble bee pollinating some blooms on one of my blueberry bushes.

Ahh.....spring. Everything is in bloom! Well, not everything......but a lot of stuff for sure! While my nose and sinuses are enduring the torture, my eyes delight to see all of the blooms everywhere. Usually I pull up any blooming weeds immediately before they can set seed. This year I have decided to leave some to bloom to attract pollinators into my garden. We had a cold winter and any pollinators coming out of hibernation are going to need all the nectar/pollen they can get. My strawberries and blueberries are blooming like crazy. The girls are going to loooove all of the berries. One of their favorite things to do in the garden is pick the berries and eat them right off the plant. I am not too particular about them washing the berries, since I don't use chemicals on or near these plants. There is no need; they grow so well.

Perennial Food Plant Care

(I use this for all of my perennial food plants including the berries)

I fertilize with a side dressing of compost once in the fall and once right before spring. I water throughout the year when necessary and sometimes fertilize with fish emulsion diluted in water. I weed several times throughout the year when needed. It's well worth the effort!

Strawberry plant with blooms and immature fruit.

Sweet Winter Treats

2011-02-19T10:12:00.003-06:00

Yummy Carrots.

Onions, Shallots, and Nappa Cabbage

Radishes and Greens

2010-11-09T11:31:00.002-06:00

Novah helped me pick some french breakfast radishes. This type of radish is fairly mild; I find I can eat it right out of the ground (after rubbing away the dirt). Novah's favorite way to eat these radishes is sliced and smothered in ranch dressing.

Here is Novah in action, pulling radishes.

Shown are more greens; this post is a little late. I picked these sometime between my initial harvest and Halloween. The greens are just about ready to harvest again.

Going with the Flow

2010-10-24T12:40:00.007-05:00

Tomato seedling growing in my wheat bed.

One of my favorite benefits of the no till garden regimen that I follow are the edible plants that pop up without me ever lifting a finger. For the past several years, in the fall, I have found one or more types of seedlings growing in my garden that I did not directly plant. These seedlings are a result of past plantings going to seed. The seed falls from the plant and is deposited and later germinates. This year was the best year so far for the number and variety of these effortless treasures. I have found tomato seedlings, endive seedlings, and fennel seedlings that I did not plant. I dug up a few of the stray tomatoes, putting them in pots that I can move into the green house. The fennel and endive was left as is since the weather is just perfect for these guys.

Fennel seedlings amongst some weeds along the edge of a bed. They are the 'feathery' ones.

Make Your Own Potting Soil: Leaf Mold

2010-10-24T11:54:00.005-05:00

Leaves I gathered today to make next year's batch of leaf mold.

I got the idea of making my own leaf mold from an article in the December 08/January 09 issue of Mother Earth News magazine (http://www.motherearthnews.com/). I have always traditionally used peat in my potting/seed starting mixes, but was inspired to make my own leaf mold as a more sustainable, local replacement. I spent about two hours today collecting materials for a new batch and processing a nearly finished batch that I made up last year. Everything I have read says it takes around 2 years to make a batch of slowly composted leaf mold. This seems about right, as my batch from last year was not totally decomposed.

Here I dumped my old leaf mold from one container to another container atop freshly gathered leaves.

Partially decomposed leaf mold prior to sifting.

My sifting set up includes an old bee box with hardware cloth stapled to one side, a wheelbarrow, and several buckets. The method below can be used to sift any kind of compost.

Dump a manageable amount into the sifter.
Tousle the leaf mold to scare up any worms. Remove the worms and put them into one of your buckets. You can later add these to your new leaf mold pile or use them for fishing.
Rake your fingers and palm across the compost alternating with a circular motion to force the small bits through the sieve.
When there are only twigs and large chunks left in the sieve, dump it out into one of your buckets. This can be added back to your fresh batch of leaves to inoculate it.
Collect finished, sifted leaf mold in a separate bucket for use in potting mixes.
Repeat until all of the leaf mold has been processed.

Finished, sifted Leaf Mold

Fig Nutrigrain bars, pickled peppers, and greens

2010-10-18T10:19:00.011-05:00

I had a happy harvest week. I had some late figs ripen up, which I used to make fig jam. I then used the fig jam to make homemade 'nutrigrain' bars. There are several recipes online for homemade 'nutrigrain' bars. The one I used had whole wheat flour and oats, but it also had 2 sticks of butter and a cup of brown sugar in it. Holy diabetic angina! They were really yummy.

Hasty work shirt harvest.

Here is the method I use for making jam: it is my own.

-wash figs and remove stems
-puree the figs in a blender or food processor
-bring the fig puree to a boil, stirring/whisking constantly
-add a 1/2 part of sugar to the figs (ex 2 cups figs = 1 cup sugar)
-add enough pectin to achieve the desired set ( I always end up using more pectin than recommended; no body likes soupy jam, yuck!)
-bring to a boil
-ladle into a container and put in the fridge

I did not 'can' this batch because there was only enough for my fig 'nutrigrain' bars and a little to give to my mother. Just keep it in the fridge. :)

Fig puree after the sugar has been added.

The peppers just keep on coming. After a season of full out neglect, my peppers still loyally produce loads of fruit for me, the undeserving. I was able to pickle half of these last night. I'll try to finish the rest this evening. I used apple cider vinegar, salt, garlic and peppers. Hubby is going to love these peppers and the spicy juice to put on his greens. OK, he doesn't actually like the greens so I'm guessing he'll want to drown them in pepper sauce, which he does like. :)

Pepperoncini Peppers

Mustard and Turnip Greens: I like to 'sustainably harvest' my greens. Rather than brutally strip the tender parts from the rest of the plant, yanking and wrenching as I go (the traditional method of green picking) I like to use a method I learned on youtube from some fellow named John at growingyourgreens.com. The photo on top is prior to harvest and on bottom is after harvest. You can hardly tell that I removed 1/2 of a grocery bag of greens from the area shown in the photos. I clip 1 or 2 leaves from the outside of the plant. If there is some overcrowding, I may pick a whole plant to allow for more optimal spacing of what remains. When all was said and done, I picked 2 grocery bags full of greens from about 100 ft2. I can come back and pick more greens in a few weeks.

Turnip greens before 'sustainable' harvest.

Turnip greens after 'sustainable' harvest.

Mini Blocker

2010-10-08T19:30:00.013-05:00

In the forefront: carrots germinating. I have already forgotten what kind. ;-)

I used my mini blocker last weekend so I could start some finicky seeds indoors. I started seeds that typically hate transplantation: carrots, fennel, dill, and several others.

During the spring I had great results with starting corn inside in regular sized soil blocks and moving them out as soon as they sprouted. Corn is traditionally a crop that needs to be sown directly into the soil where it will grow. One of the tricks to success with plants such as this in soil blocks is to get them outside immediately after germination. This way, they don't get acclimated to the 'indoors'. That would necessitate hardening off, traumatizing the delicate taproot.

I have read online of people hardening off corn in soil blocks for a week. I feel this is too long and unnecessary if the plants are transplanted within a day of germination. Hardening off is definitely important in most cases, but not here.

'Fall' Plants I would like to pre-germinate indoors:

Some of the plants I am trying out in the soil blocks this year are carrots, dill, spinach, lettuce, and, peas. I will try the mini blockers with these this year. I always have mixed results with the above seeds. The carrots, dill, fennel and spinach can take up to a month to germinate (during which time the soil must ALWAYS be kept moist). The carrots and dill hate being transplanted via typical transplant means. The peas and lettuce don't take long, but they either all germinate really well, or germination is entirely dismal.

'Fall' Plants I always direct sow:

Some of the plants I always direct sow are mustard and turnip greens, radishes, and arugula. These never give me any trouble, usually germinating within 2-5 days.

See my post this past spring showing the difference between an eggplant seedling started in soil blocks (with homemade 'soil') vs in a peat pot with commercial seed starter mix.

http://gillfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/04/soil-blocks-are-awesome.html

Garbage Monsters

2010-10-02T16:18:00.016-05:00

I know some of you think this is yucky.....but I love it! My worms are doing really well. In fact, I think they thrive on precisely timed neglect, the way honey bee hives do. :) Back in February , I started a worm bin.

failed attempt:
http://gillfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/02/worm-bin-attempt-take-2.html

Successful attempt:
http://gillfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/02/worm-farm-take-3.html
Since then, I have only harvested the castings twice. That first time was a huge pain in the a$$.

This second time around, I tried a different method and it work squirmingly.

Basic setup description:

My worm bin has two levels: top and bottom. The bottom level has an overturned coffee can in it to prevent the weight of the top bin and its contents from squashing my little buddies into a worm-cake. The bottom bin is the 'old bin' and is no longer receiving any scraps. The top bin is the 'new bin'.

Easy 'mess free' harvest:

After about 2 months the bottom old bin has been totally digested by the worms. The poor guys are hungry and ready for fresh bedding and food. They are basically writhing around in their own castings. To harvest the castings without harvesting the worms push everything to one side of the container. Turn the container sideways to keep the castings/worms in place and add fresh bedding to the rest of the container. Then, right the container. Add 'ripe' scraps to the center of the fresh bedding. Set this container aside. Your bin should now look like this:

Next, turn your attention to the top bin. You have been adding scraps to this bin for a month or more, and it needs a rest. If you haven't added any scraps in several weeks, now is the time. This will be the worms' last meal. Don't worry, it will feed them for a month or two. :) Try to split the contents of the container straight down the middle. This part is a little tricky and you'll definitely get your hands dirty (unless you are wearing gloves). Take the coffee can that was in the other container and place it toward the center of the bin. Try not to apply too much pressure to the bedding; you don't want to squash your worms. If the coffee can is a bit off to the side that is OK. This container should now look like this:

Now for the switch a roo. The top becomes the bottom and the bottom becomes the top.

Wait one week before opening the new top bin. This bin has the finished vermicompost on one side and the fresh bedding on the other. You should be able to remove the top 1-2 inches of the vermicompost. It will be relatively worm free. Almost all of the worms will have moved to the fresh bedding and food.

It may seem like a ton of steps, but it is way easier than dumping the whole lot on a garbage bag and trying to sift out the living worms and egg cases from the compost. :\ That sucked, and I lost a lot of worms, and only got half finished compost out of the deal.

BTW, I keep this next to my kitchen garbage in the pantry. Surprisingly, I swear, it does not stink at all. The trick is keeping dairy and meat out of the bin and thoroughly burying the scraps with an inch of bedding. If you notice an odor, you have done something wrong. Address the problem and set your bin outside until the smell subsides. This has only happened once to me in 7 months. After a night out side, the bin no longer had any smell to it. Now, if you unbury your scraps and shove your head in the bin, YES; you are likely to get a wiff of funk in your nostrils. Then again if you are putting your face into rotting garbage, you're kinda dumb anyway.

Asparagus

2010-09-25T12:48:00.006-05:00

After some trial and error, I found a place in my yard that asparagus does well. These plants are on their third year. According to information, they should all have been ready to pick this past spring. However, they were not happy in their home the first year (a bathtub planter) so I moved them. In retrospect, a planter, no matter how large is a dumb place to plant asparagus. The root system of an asparagus plant can spread 6' in any direction away from the plant. The asparagus plant shown in the photos above is my best plant. I did pick one shoot and eat it straightaway. It was absolutely delectable! I promised myself (and the plant) that I wouldn't pick any more until next year. By then the plants should be well established and I will be able to harvest spears over an 8 - 10 week period before allowing the plant to rest. Resting the asparagus is important, because the spears turn into large frond like leaves. Just like the leaves in other plants, they are responsible for manufacturing energy which strengthens the plant. Asparagus plants are members of the family Liliaceae (lily family) and just like their cousins, they are capable of storing energy in their root mass.

Asparagus planting and harvest tips (taken from 'The Gardeners A-Z Guide to Growing Food' and my own experience)

plant asparagus in well amended soil where there is plenty of room for root expansion

water needs: heavy

time to harvest 2-3 years (depending on environmental factors)

do not harvest until the plant consistently produces many spears that 3/8" thick

in the deep south compost with 1 inch of compost in the spring AND in the fall

stop harvesting when the plant consistently produces many spears that are LESS THAN 3/8" thick (usually after harvesting over a period of 4-10 weeks)

Ya'll have fun!

Suzanne ;-)

Wheat Planting

2010-09-11T09:48:00.004-05:00

I was so excited when I got home Friday to find that my husband had my future wheat field tilled up and ready to go, that I didn't bother changing into crap clothes to do the planting. I am trying out Red Winter Hard Wheat this year. I hope it does well. After it becomes established in the fall, it goes dormant in the winter. When spring comes, the wheat once again begins growing, producing a wheat crop.

I had asked Brandon to take some photos of me for the blog. Being the red blooded American man he is, only 2 of the 10 photos he took were actually of me planting. The others were either pictures of my rear end or of my cleavage! Hahaha!

We had a curious onlooker during the planting.

For the sake of humility, I have also posted a pic of what I usually wear to garden... a wife beater and an old pair of jeans.

Extraordinary Tomatoes

2010-06-22T16:24:00.006-05:00

I have been harvesting and putting up tomatoes for about 2 weeks. I had a few stragglers roll in before that, but the bulk of my tomatoes have ripened together. This is because I always plant some determinate tomatoes to facilitate preservation. The determinate tomatoes are a flash in the pan, setting all of their fruit over a short period. I grow paste varieties that are determinate because these are the best for thick delicious sauces and drying. The indeterminate tomatoes go slow and steady all summer long (if you can keep them alive through the bugs, fungus, and heat).

The determinate varieties I planted this year were the classic Roma VFN and White Paste. I called the Roma 'classic' because I always have it in my summer garden. It's yields are predictably high and it's fairly disease resistant. White Paste is a variety I have never tried before. While it produces very unique white oma shaped tomatoes, it gave me only about 2-3 lbs per plant. The stack of tomatoes in the picture is my White Paste harvest with a Roma tomato stacked atop for contrast. I have made spaghetti sauce, white pizza sauce, and salsa with all of my paste tomatoes. The second photo is my white pizza sauce in action.

Big Zucchini

2010-06-10T10:13:00.003-05:00

I usually don't let my zucchini get this big, but this one got away from me. It wasn't totally inedible (it was still soft, but seeds had started forming), but it wasn't up to my culinary standards so I gave it to the chickens.

2010-06-03T18:45:00.004-05:00

My garden on June 2, 2010. To the right are indeterminate tomatoes; to the left are my Romas which are absolutely humongous this year! The photo to the right is of the same garden path in April 2010.

New Kids on the Block

2010-06-02T14:26:00.003-05:00

Here is a pic of the new goat kids. They were born on Monday, May 25. They are so cute. I was relieved to find that the birthing process had been completed by the time I came home from work. Sky did a good job growing these babies. I can't wait to see how much milk she makes this year!!

Last Week's Harvest

2010-05-31T14:13:00.003-05:00

Clockwise from top left: squash, blueberries, potatoes, eggs, green beans, baby corn, sweet corn.

Asian Baby Corn

2010-05-27T15:33:00.008-05:00

This year I tried a new hybrid corn in addition to the sweet corn that I usually grow. It's called 'Bonus Hybrid.' Each corn stalk grows four baby corns that do not have to be fertilized. This corn is so yummy that I'll grow it every year from now on. I bought the seeds from Kitazawa Seed Company online. Ava was out of town this week with her dad, but Novah was home to taste test the new corn. It made such a good impression on her that she can now identify a corn plant in a picture. She says, "torn!"

Garden Progression: April to May

2010-05-14T20:19:00.007-05:00

Squash; 1st week April 2010 ; May 10, 2010

Sunflowers: 1st week of April 2010 ; May 10, 2010

Tomatoes; 1st week of April 2010 ; May 10, 2010

Carrot Harvest

2010-04-03T21:00:00.006-05:00

I harvested all of these carrots and then some from only 8 square feet. All in all, I was able to get around 4 lbs of carrots over the entire season from that tiny space. Carrots are one of the least worrisome crops that I grow. I have never had a pest problem. The biggest chores with carrots are getting the soil cultivated deep enough and getting the seeds to germinate. When I say 'cultivate' I don't mean to just till. I mean amending the soil with composted materials and other necessary components. Where I live, the soil is mostly clay, so I like to incorporate a little bit of sand into new beds in addition to the compost. The sand helps to break up the clay particles and allows for better drainage. Compost should be applied at least once every season, but sand doesn't really go anywhere, so you should really only need to apply it once. Now I have to decide what to do with all of these carrots.

Soil Blocks are Awesome!

2010-04-03T20:42:00.005-05:00

OK, so I couldn't resist posting a picture of the difference that soil blocks make. Both photos are of eggplant seedlings. The seedling on the left is typical of the results I had this year with peat pots.....now I remember why I hate them. The seedling on the right was started and grown in a soil block that I made with my brand-spankin-new soil blocker.

In the past, I have stuck with peat pellets. They work OK, but there is not a lot of space for the seedlings roots to spread. I ordered them in bulk by the thousands several years ago, and I finally ran out late last year. Since peat pots were readily available everywhere I went, I decided to use them this year. Maybe I learned my lesson this time. From now on, I'll be using my soil blocker and my own homemade soil blocker mix. Just look at how healthy the seedling on the right is! Wow! The amazing thing is that the seedling on the right is 2 weeks younger than the one on the left!

Baskets of Salad

2010-03-20T10:29:00.008-05:00

The girls helped me pick the last bit of salad greens before preparing the beds for this season. I like to let them help me with the fun stuff - harvesting and eating!

Lettuce tastes best when it's harvested early in the morning before the sun has fully risen: that's why the kids have on their night clothes.

Worm Bin Update: The worms are still alive and I found my first cocoon this morning! Yay! I tried photographing the cocoon, but I couldn't get it to focus properly. The worm cocoon looked like a tiny little pearl onion. The worms have already finished their first meal from a few weeks back. Their diet consists mostly of egg shells and coffee grinds. Sometimes I give them fruit peels, but usually all of my veggie scraps go to the chickens.

Cloche Experiment Results

2010-03-17T12:18:00.005-05:00

First Photo: No significant damage

Second Photo: Frost damage

I promised an update on the home made cloches. I made them from milk and water jugs and 2L soda bottles. Success was very limited. A recap on how they were made: I cut the bottom 1/2 inch off and removed the caps. Voila!! Homemade cloches!

Background: I performed my experiment using a 'far from' scientific method. There was no control. I just did this for kicks to see what would happen. The experiment was performed during a series of freezes ranging from 29 to 32 degrees. I used flying saucer squash and black zucchini squash. I didn't calculate standard deviation, or whether there was a significant difference between cold tolerance of the zucchini and the flying saucer. Remember - this was just for my own amusement.

Results of my experiment:

-with the caps removed, the cloches only protected to 32 degrees.

-with paper towels stuffed slightly in the top and dirt built up slightly around the lower edge of the cloche, protection up to 30 degrees is provided with only minimal frost damage to outer edges of leaves.

Note: The caps must be removed when the temperatures during the day are in excess of 50 degrees Fahrenheit to keep the tender young seedlings from frying. Since I work and must leave the house prior to this warming, I need a cloche that can be left on its own with no modifications for a straight 24 hours. That's where the paper towel came in. I figured that by stuffing the paper towel partially in the opening, some heat would be able to escape during the day, but enough heat would be held in at night. This worked pretty good, I guess.

Results: plastic cloches probably aren't the best method of protection for tender seedlings during a mild frost. A better option would likely be a frost blanket. I have used them in the past and they work pretty good. A frost blanket can be draped over an entire planting bed, so it's more convenient. GLASS cloches may work better than plastic cloches - but who wants to spend $20 on a cloche that can only be used to protect one plant at a time? Hmmm....not me.

The Fugitives and the Little Bowl of Weird Carrots

2010-03-04T21:29:00.003-06:00

I had a wonderful evening. I was picking my Victoria's Purple carrots and feeling really pleased with myself when I saw something that was not good. S#!+, the goats were loose. How the heck did that happen? After I managed to wrestle three goats back into my yard with a toddler firmly glued to my hip, I found the escape hatch. Just like the prisoners in movies, Dolce (the family mutt), had been steadily working on his escape to freedom. He had been digging a hole in a concealed area and chewing on the privacy fence there. Not only did he manage to free himself, he also made the hole large enough for 3, 140 lb dairy goats to squeeze through. Dumb dog.....but I love him.

Anyway, here is a picture of the purple carrots that I picked today. I left some in the garden to get a bit bigger. The chubby orange carrot was supposed to be either danver's half long or red core chateney - it doesn't actually look like either.

Worm Bin Take 3

2010-02-26T17:57:00.005-06:00

OK.....The third time is the charm right? After conducting some research, I discovered that my yard worms would not do a very efficient job of composting kitchen garbage. What's worse is that they'd likely die within the confines of a worm bin. I needed red wigglers. So I dumped my yard worms back in my yard and ordered some red wigglers. I ordered them last Wednesday evening and they were in my mailbox yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, I got home late last night and forgot to check the mail. Whoops...I remembered this morning as I was pulling away from the drive and decided to check the mail. Crud - there was the box of worms - they had spent all night in the mailbox in freezing temperatures. I was so annoyed with myself that I didn't completely close the mailbox. As I pulled away, the flap came back down and put a huge scratch in my car. Double crud. I gathered my senses, turned the car around, went back down my driveway, and took the worms inside for my husband to deal with. Surprisingly when he opened up the package, he did not find a worm-sickle. They were pretty much alive. I'll update with their progress.

Spring Fever...Whoops

2010-02-26T17:41:00.002-06:00

Certainly I should know better by now. But clearly, I don't. I started my cucurbits way too early. Even though the last average frost date in my area is February 28, I usually like to wait until the end of March or the first week of April to do my plantings. While this is all fine and dandy for the tomato and eggplant seedlings (they grow slow), some of my cucurbits have reached the edge of the containers. The spaghetti squash were the worst, and they probably should be planted immediately. Postponing planting will stunt the growth of my cucurbits. Unfortunately I have to harden them off first and there will likely be several of temperature dips and one or two frosts. I plan on using cloches to protect them. If they die, that's OK. I'll just start some more. I have plenty of time. I will harden them off a little tonight in the open cold air. I plan on moving them to my husband's heated green house around 9 p.m. when it starts to get too cold. They'll spend tomorrow in my unheated green house, which is cooler. They'll probably spend tomorrow night in my husband's greenhouse again, then I'll plant them on Sunday and cover them with home made cloches. I'll update with photos of the cloches when I set them up.

A Worm Bin Attempt (Take 2)

2010-02-17T08:41:00.004-06:00

I tried a while back to make a very inexpensive indoor worm bin. The worms (night crawlers purchased from Wal-Mart - MISTAKE #1) died within a week. I used the design from a book about composting. The design had no drainage - MISTAKE #2.

The design shown above is my second attempt. I got it from http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/easywormbin.htm. I scavenged some worms from under my rabbit cages. It's very cold right now, so they weren't very active. A 30 minute scavenging expedition resulted in only a few adult worms, and 20 or so juvenile worms, probably around a week old (second photo). The website above tells me I need 1 pound of worms (that's 250 adult worms) to compost a family of four's veggie and coffee scraps. I'll probably just buy a pound of worms online within the next week or so. I was able to fit the worm bin neatly and conveniently next to my kitchen trash. I'll post later about whether I think the bin works or not.

Sunchokes

2010-02-17T08:28:00.006-06:00

Above is a photo of some sun chokes that have been thoroughly cleaned (quite a task) and boiled. While there is more prep time involved with sun chokes than traditional potatoes, the growth and maintenance of the plants is almost completely negligible. I never need to treat the plants with any chemicals and I haven't had, nor do I anticipate, any pest problems. The above ground portions of the plants are beautiful. They are related to sunflowers; they make tall bushy sunflower like plants with yellow flowers approximately 2-3 inches in diameter (the seeds are very tiny and wouldn't make 'good eatin'. I leave a few tubers in the ground and they come back every year. I don't see any fast growth from them til' around July. I wait for the stalks to die in the winter before I harvest.

After boiling the chokes in the photo above, I ran them through the food mill attachment of my kitchen aid mixer. Then I mixed them with shredded cheddar, Parmesan, and butter, and baked them in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

A Collection of Oddeties - January Delights!

2010-02-17T08:21:00.004-06:00

This, IMHO, is the best thing about growing your own food!!!! You get to experience the strange and delicious. From left to right: Romanesco Italiano Broccoli, Purple Broccoli, and a double yolked egg. All of these things were super tasty! Yum, Yum, Yummy!!

I started the broccoli in the fall from seed that I bought from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds http://www.rareseeds.com/. The double yolked egg came from one of my Red Star Hens. She doesn't always lay double yolked eggs....she must have been in a really good mood!

Bad news and good news

2010-01-17T11:37:00.002-06:00

Bad News - Winter Losses

Homesteading isn't all gourmet meals and fresh sunshine. We had 10 consecutive days of freezing temps - a record since the 50's. We lost a litter of kits, a 2 month old chick, all of my fennel, all of my dill. Everything else got through the weather just fine.

Good News - Rabbit Burgers

I was able to use my Christmas present this morning to make some rabbit burgers. I used the meat grinder attachment on my kitchen aid stand mixer. I added some of my olive oil/dill cubes to the grinder during the process. After the grinding was done, I seasoned the mix with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and soy sauce. Mmmmmm...these were way better than any hamburger. Honestly, I don't understand why rabbit meat isn't more popular. It's not the cute factor - calves are cute as are lambs and people have ravenous appetites for these. This picture was taken after we had already eaten 2 of the burgers. They were so good, I almost forgot to photo document them.

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-03T13:57:00.010-06:00

I made this dress for Ava for this summer. Since she constantly grows, I made it a size big. Sewing is a great homesteading skill to practice.

The chicken coop has been moved to a fresh area.

The old chicken run area has been tilled and will be covered with hay. In the spring, I'll plant corn here.

Ava on her swingset.

Novah wants to take a picture too.

Winter Update

2009-12-23T17:21:00.004-06:00

The first photo is of the girls in front of a romanesco broccoli plant.

The next is of my lettuce bed. Since these lettuces were direct sown, they needed to be thinned out. I was able to break up some of the clumps to space the lettuces today. The properly spaced lettuces are in the blue box. I still need to space the lettuces in the red box. If they aren't thinned some or all of the lettuces in the clump will die.

2009-11-13 Weekend

2009-11-16T10:07:00.003-06:00

Some people get spring fever. I have a temperament more akin to that of a squirrel, so I get fall fever. My whirlwind of insanity continued this weekend; I present these photos as my evidence.

Smoked Rabbit: Positively delectable. I promise, if you had smell-o-picture, you're mouth would be watering. I butchered these rabbits on Sunday and smoked them a few hours later with apple wood. I marinated them for around an hour in 2 parts Worcestershire and 1 part soy sauce. Then I put them in the smoker and basted them with olive oil and garlic powder. I let them smoke for 3 hours, basting a total of 2 times with the o.o./garlic mixture. Then I put them in a larger roaster (shown in the pic) and baked them at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to bring the internal temp up to 160 as read on a meat thermometer. YUUMMY! This was the best rabbit i have ever cooked.

Soap: Saturday morning I made some peppermint soap with peppermint essential oil, coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, avocado oil, Shea butter, and of course.....Crisco. It will be ready to use in 2 months.

Preserves: I profess I will can NO more Satsumas for the season. Shown from left to right are Satumas peeled quartered and canned in a heavy syrup of honey/sugar syrup; Satsumas peeled quartered and canned in a light sugar syrup; Satsuma jam. I have already given away almost 20 jars of Satsuma jam and I still have this left over.

Amaryllis Weekend

2009-11-11T15:46:00.008-06:00

-------------This weekend Ava and I thinned out the Amaryllis plants that were taking over the side of the house. Those buggers were tough - I broke a shovel trying to excavate all of the bulbs. We left two clumps unthinned because the baby (Novah) woke up from her nap. I think I'll leave them alone until next fall.

30 or so bulbs resulted from this thinning. I kept some for myself and brought the rest to work for co-workers.

2009-11-02T10:06:00.004-06:00

Boy were we busy this weekend! Weather was beautiful and we definitely used it to our advantage. In addition to clipping hooves and wings and cleaning stalls, I also made time to clean out the green house. Brandon repaired the goat stanchion. It broke a month or so ago when Sudsy didn't want to take her wormer. She opted instead to fall on top of me breaking the stanchion. Brandon also made another nest box for the rabbits since we bred two does on the same day. They should have their kits some time at the end of this week.

The garden is still putting out little bits from summer and there are some new crops of arugula and radishes that we harvest regularly. Earlier last week I was pleasantly surprised to find some Shitake mushrooms growing on my Shitake mushroom logs.

All of the fresh sunshine and crisp air filled me with the energy to do some 'indoor' homesteading as well. I put up some Satsuma jam and some home made chicken broth.

Jam directions: cut Satsumas in half and remove the seeds. Run the Satsumas through a juicer, rind included. I used 5 cups of juice, 1.5 packs of Sure-Jell Pectin (no sugar needed), 3.5 cups of sugar.
1. boil the juice
2.mix1/2 of the sugar with the 1.5 packets of pectin
3. pour the above mixture into the juice and stir till dissolved
4.pour the rest of the sugar in and bring to a boil again.
5. follow basic instructions for canning with a hot water canner
6.process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
This is such a yummy jam. It tastes like marmalade, but the annoying rind chunks are pleasurably absent.

Broth recipe
*whole chicken, preferably freshly butchered layer over 1 year old. NOT JOKING - these are the hens traditionally used to make a healing broth for whatever ales you.
*French trilogy: onion, carrot, celery - use whatever proportions of this you like for your particular tastes. I used 1 large onion chopped, 6 large carrots peeled and cut into 2"lengths, and 2 bunches of celery cut into 2" lengths.
*salt and pepper ( i used 3tbs salt and 2tbs pepper)

Put the chicken in a large stockpot and cover with water. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 4 hours or longer. Drain the broth, straining out any solids including veggies. Follow the basic instructions for canning using a pressure canner. I canned my broth at 11 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes.

The last and least labor intensive thing I did was to brake into the wheel of goat cheddar that I made earlier this year. It is delicious, but very different from cow's cheddar.

Apparently everything I enjoy causes cancer.

2009-10-20T13:52:00.003-05:00

Time to get back to farming. I have been a bit lazy lately, but some recent research has rekindled my passion. Last week I decided to completely cut refined sugar from my diet. I still had 1/2 a piece of birthday cake over the weekend. Hey, I'm human too.
A conversation with my mom today led me to do some research on the top foods that cause cancer. I was blown away. Every site said the same thing.
#1Sugar and refined starches/flour.
#2trans fats (duh)
#3Sodium Nitrate, a preservative found in almost every processed meat including bacon (GASP!), lunch meat, hot dogs (duh), and also found in pickles and cheese.
So basically #3 reinforces the sad truth that anything that is prepackaged is laced with poison. Why? Because if they didn't put poison in it, microbes would grow on it. Meat is not supposed to last for months and months. Once something dies, it is supposed to decay unless it is frozen or dry. There are some microbes that can even grow on dried food which is why pre-packaged beef jerky is LOADED with sodium nitrate.
The lesson here: ANY food that has been pre-processed probably has poison in it. If it doesn't, it probably has a short shelf life.

I am not looking forward to making everything from scratch.....it's so time consuming. I'll keep you posted. I am going to give it the old "college try." I am going to transition slowly, so as not to cause mutiny in my home.

Gourds

2009-09-20T12:29:00.002-05:00

Yay! My gourds are ripening. Shown in the photo from left to right: green-cleaned gourd that has dried for about two weeks, green harvested gourd with skin intact (uncleaned), green cleaned gourd ~24 hours after skin removal (cleaned), and a naturally dried gourd (cleaned). Naturally dried gourds deveop mold. Even when the skin and mold is cleaned off, neat mottling is left behind due to the staining of the mold. I have several more outside on the vine that I can't wait to get my greedy mits on! I don't know what I'll have my husband make with these, but whatever he makes is sure to be breathtaking.

Pictures

2009-08-26T10:18:00.004-05:00

(1)Catfish (that Ava caught) and purple sweet potatoes from the garden (ftg), (2)Fish peppers ftg, (3)Ava fishing and (4) an Orangeglo watermelon ftg.

Novah Turns One!!

2009-08-04T08:56:00.004-05:00

My youngest child turned one year old on July 31st. To celebrate we had a party at our home. My husband did a fantastic job cleaning up our little farm and 'making it all look easy.' Everyone had a great time.

I have been weeding my veggie garden little by little over the past week or so. My husband was convinced he would have to till the whole thing this year. Most of the beds are the consistency of sifted flour so the weeds come up pretty easy. I have permanent beds that I NEVER step in. This keeps them lite and fluffy. I think there is only a little spot that he'll have to till.

Ava and Novah 'helped' me in the garden on Sunday. Ava's help consists of picking fruits/veggies and sometimes planting seeds/seedlings. Novah generally wanders around with a tomato or pepper hanging out of her mouth. We planted several types of radishes: french breakfast, round black, and green meat. We also planted a lettuce mix called 'Encore' from Johnny's Select Seeds, Arugula (from my own seed), parsnips, and vegetable amaranth.

Surprise!

2009-08-03T09:07:00.002-05:00

The breakout surprise of my garden this year is the eggplant. In past years I have achieved only dismal results because I have a pretty hefty flea beetle population. Since I have opted to use modern chemistry in my quest when necessary, I have been able to harvest a dozen eggplants so far with more to come. I only had to intervene chemically once a few months ago when the plants were really young. I haven't had to apply anything since the first fruit was set. I have been making a quick lasagna type casserole with all of my eggplants. First I slice the eggplants 1/4" thick and spread them on a silicone cookie mat on a baking sheet with some salt. I bake at 350 for 10 minutes while the lasagna noodles boil. Then I layer noodles, cooked eggplant, Parmesan cheese, Ragu spaghetti sauce, provolone/mozzarella in that order two or three times. I bake this (covered with aluminum foil) at 350 until it is bubbly throughout. Sooooo good.

The Easiest Cheapest Way to Slash Your Carbon Footprint.

2009-07-29T13:27:00.004-05:00

Since they have now blocked every mindless gossip website on the server where I work, I have been forced to read articles of substance in my 'spare' time. I read an interesting article in the Washington Post today (on-line membership is FREE) about meat. According to this article, a study out of Carnegie Mellon University found that a person would have a greater impact from eating vegetarian only one day per week than if that same person switched to a 100% local diet (locavore). Researchers at the university of Chicago estimated that becoming a vegan would have a greater impact than buying a Prius.
I was a vegetarian for 2 1/2 years before becoming pregnant with my first daughter. During this same time I was vegan at some points for short periods. Right now, I have no interest in becoming a total vegan again. For medical reasons (that are inappropriate for mixed conversation) I had already decided to cut most of the meat from my diet a few weeks ago. This article makes me feel even better about my decision.

July Goodies

2009-07-27T09:16:00.007-05:00

_______By the time July rolls around, most of my garden is covered in weeds. I love to garden, but when the heat index is over 100, you won't find me outside doing anything. Now that the temps are back into the high 80s low 90s, I have once again ventured into my garden to see what is left. The eggplants are doing great; shown here are pictures of 'Casper', 'Black Beauty', and 'Thai Panda'. I made a delicious eggplant lasagna Saturday evening with several baby 'Casper' eggplants. The weird lobey pumpkin is a specialty squash that hails from New Zealand. 'Triamble' squash is reportedly one of the most delicious of all the squashes. I can't wait to eat it, but it is so beautiful that I don't want to. Other things that are still thriving in my garden but aren't pictured here are sun chokes, long handled dipper gourds, birdhouse gourds, Bolivian sun root, watermelons, and a papaya tree that I started from seed from a grocery store papaya. Over the next month, I'll slowly weed out my garden and add compost to get the garden ready for fall.

Yummy Harvest

2009-07-01T08:25:00.003-05:00

Yesterday evening after my run I went out to begrudgingly pick tomatoes. It's usually around this time every year that I have picked so many tomatoes that I just let them rot on the vine. This year, I have vowed to have a more productive harvest and be more diligent about preserving the bounty. The easiest way for me to save tomatoes is just to blanch them and throw them in a Ziploc in a freezer. I could can them but that would take up a lot more time.

So I go out to pick the 'maters and happy joy! One of my banana cantaloupes is ripe!!! I would usually allow it to slip from the vine, but the color and heavenly aroma told me it was OK to go ahead and pick. Also any time the fruit in my garden begins to split, I pick it...even if it isn't ripe yet. It can finish ripening inside away from the hoards of bugs and pathogens. Pictured here clockwise from top right are Zapotec pleated tomatoes, banana peppers (and one pimento pepper in the middle), Roma tomatoes, and red and yellow cherry tomatoes. The banana cantaloupe is in the center of it all.

Red Things

2009-06-20T10:45:00.004-05:00

Pictured here are some dried tomatoes (yummy) and a waxed wheel of goat cheddar. To make dried tomatoes, I first slice them. This helps the water evaporate out faster. The cherry tomatoes get sliced in half and the Romas get sliced into quarters. Then I put them in my dehydrator for 8-12 hours.

The wheel of cheddar was made from 4 gallons of milk. Once the curds were placed in the mold, I pressed the cheddar for 24 hours, turning and redressing the wheel periodically. Then I allowed the wheel to ripen for 2 days, rubbing the wheel with salt twice a day. Then I melted some cheese wax and brushed several coats on the wheel.

Varments!!

2009-05-24T11:28:00.002-05:00

When I came home from work Friday, a rabbit ran from my corn patch through a weak spot in the fence. I covered the weak spot with an old board to prevent future intrusions and continued my garden walk. Then I found tobacco horn worms in my tomatoes (see picture). After picking them off and feeding them to the chickens, I discovered a baby rabbit hiding in my tomatoes. It ran to the weak spot in the fence only to discover that its exit was blocked. My husband captured the little guy and we put him in a cage. I might let him go on my parents property, or I might eat him. That might seem kind of cruel, but I figure....an eye for an eye.

Flowers and Ava

2009-05-15T19:07:00.009-05:00

I love wild flowers that re-seed themselves. My favorite (easiest to grow) are purple cone flowers, mexican hats, and black eyed susans. All of the flowers you see above were from only a dozen seedlings that I started from seed a few years back.

Waiting for the cheese to ripen

2009-05-15T14:14:00.004-05:00

The St. Maure that is aging in my cheese fridge has developed a beautiful white skin and should be ready to eat soon. I removed it from the fridge to illustrate the white mold that is beginning to grow on its surface (see picture). It's a little mishapen, but I am a novice. :>

Since the last photo I posted of the feta block hanging to drain, I have cut it into usable sized blocks, rubbed it with salt, and let it harden up for 2 days prior to putting it in brine to ripen. The flavor should continue to develop over the next several weeks. Yummy Yummy, can't wait.
Also, my friend Sheila (a.k.a. the goat lady) gave me a beautiful registered Saanen buckling to use as my herd sire. He is so handsome and cute. We will be keeping the bucks at my parents house since we really don't have the space for them in our yard.

Feta

2009-05-10T10:50:00.004-05:00

I made my first batch of Feta cheese last night. Pictured is the semi-finished product hanging to ripen and dry. Every time I pass by the sink I take in a big whiff of the delicious cheese. I can't wait until it's finished. Yummy. Tonight, I'll cut the curd mass into pieces and coat the pieces with salt. Then they ripen for two more days before they go into a brine solution in the fridge to continue ripening for at least a week.

I also made some dried onion slices from my harvest late last week. These are really handy when I am cooking a crock pot dish.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-05-07T14:15:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted in a while, but it is spring. Since the last post I have pulled weeds, made fresh Chevre (yum), pulled weeds, harvested and dried some garlic, and of course pulled weeds. For the past week or so I have milked my goats every morning. I am still getting used to waking up at 5 a.m. to milk them. :( I have saved the milk from the past several days in the freezer so I can make a huge batch of Feta cheese this weekend. I am so excited!!! Hard cheeses like Feta keep for months or even a year, so it makes since to make a big batch. I like to make the fresh goat cheese (Chevre) in small batches because it only keeps for about 2 weeks.

Goat Babies!

2009-04-29T09:29:00.003-05:00

The kids were born two weeks ago and they are doing great. It has been really fun - they are so cute running around the yard and being silly. Tomorrow I get to milk Sudsy! I can't wait to taste this year's first glass of fresh delicious milk. Some of the garlic was ready yesterday, so I harvested it. Several onions have bulbed out and bent over (meaning that they are ready) -I'll pull them tonight. The rest of my garden is well, but I will have to do a weeding marathon this weekend if I want to stay on top of things.

Et tu, Brute?

2009-04-07T13:14:00.005-05:00

The week before last, I discovered that something had started to eat many of my seedlings. The eggplants and peppers were affected the most. I sprayed with neem oil, but the next day there was even more damage. So I decided to venture out after dark to see what was going on. To my absolute disappointment, I discovered hoards (and I mean hoards) of rolly pollies ravaging my poor defenseless seedlings. My heart was broken. The rolly polly had been a cherished childhood 'bug' of mine. And besides, I thought they only ate detritus. I felt betrayed and then I became really angry. I stormed inside and poured over the Internet. I found out that once their population reaches a threshold, they also eat living organisms like young tender plants and insect eggs. The only organic solution I could find was to remove all damp areas, since that is where they breed. What??? OK, whoever is circulating this advice must not have a veggie patch because that is totally impractical. So....I snapped, and...I put ant poison in my veggie patch. It was the only pesticide I had on hand and the label included pill bugs (another common name for rolly pollies) as one of the target pests. I didn't put the poison on my plants. Instead, I lifted up clumps of mulch where the massive hoards resided and put it there. I took a deep breath - I felt better. So my garden isn't organic anymore. I'll just have to get over it.
I didn't kill all of the little boogers and that's OK. I don't mind sharing the garden with some of them. After all, it is their garden too. Since then, I have been using diatomaceous earth (organic) - sprinkled around the base of my seedlings. Since rolly pollies are actually crustaceans (not insects, crazy - huh) they have tiny gills and must have a moist environment to survive. Diatomaceous earth is a desiccant made from the 'skeletal' remains of microorganisms called diatoms. It sucks the moisture out of everything around it.
Take that you treacherous rollies!!!

Spring Peas

2009-03-31T08:41:00.004-05:00

I love to introduce my babies to gardening with snow peas. Here are pictures of Oregon sugar peas and of me and my youngest daughter, Novah. My oldest daughter, Ava was around the same age when I would bring her to the garden with me and give her a snow pea to keep her occupied while I gardened. She didn't feel like getting in this picture because she wanted to "play with her babies." I don't want her to feel like she is forced to garden; so for now she just joins me whenever she feels like it.

Rabbit-licious Weekend

2009-03-22T13:38:00.006-05:00

Wow! The rabbit definitely exceeded my expectations. I cooked the rabbit by braising it. Braising is a method where you first fry the meat and then bake it in liquid for several hours (I used white wine). It was sooo good. I was so enamored with this newly discovered family staple that I forgot to get a picture of the finished product. I saved the leftovers and diced the meat very finely and made some rabbit and cheddar stuffed beggars purses. I intended to make ravioli, but I became lazy and decided to make large beggars purses instead. They are in the fridge, and we will be eating them tonight for supper. The first photo is of some rabbit in the frying pan, and the second photo is of the finished beggars purses (un-cooked).

Farm Update

2009-03-16T08:55:00.004-05:00

There are so many things going on right now, I decided that it was time for a general farm update.

Bees: I have one new hive of bees that I made up with a locally caught swarm. They seem to be doing fairly well, but I had to remove the sugar syrup feeder that I had put in their hive, because it was attracting too many ants. My other bees seem well, and I have added honey supers to one of the hives. I am hoping for some comb honey this year.

Chickens: They have started laying really well (~5 to 6 eggs each per week), and we now have >4 dozen eggs stored up in the fridge. I have been giving some away and we still have a surplus. I guess I'll need to start making egg white breakfasts and boiled eggs to take to work for snacks during the day.

Goats: Our goats are doing great and they both have excellent appetites. Their bellies are growing and I have began reviewing kidding information in preparation for their births. I have ordered the essentials and have given both goats a "dairy clip" and hoof trim. I am debating on whether or not to get a wireless web cam so I can view them from my blackberry during the day if I am working in the field. Sudsy had a difficult birth last year, so I am worried about not being there to help her if she needs me.

Rabbits: The rabbits are ready to butcher and needless to say I am not looking forward to it. But I know they'll be yummy, so I can get over it. I always thank God and the animal for the life that I am taking to feed my family. I am not particularly religious, so it seems a bit weird at first - saying a blessing before taking a life - but it makes me feel better. Also I have set a dinner date with some old friends and promised them a taste of rabbit.... so there's no backing out.

Vegetables: Let the planting begin!!! It's past the last average frost date for my area, so I have been planting up a storm. Purple sweet potatoes, cucumbers, squash (triamble, white cushaw, black zuchinni, yellow crookneck) sweet corn, potatoes, American melons (banana cantaloupes, hearts of gold) chantereis melons, watermelons (white wonder, orangeglow, midget, sugar baby), and tomatoes (sungold, supersweet 100, zapotec pleated, roma, marvel striped). I have had some thrips attack my squash seedlings, but that has been eliminated by spraying with Neem Oil. In addition to newly planted things, I have been caring for the plants that I planted back in late 2008/early 2009. The garlic, onions, and snow peas are growing fantastically, but I fear that the English peas aren't going to make it before it heats up; I think I planted them too late.

Swarm Season

2009-03-11T10:49:00.004-05:00

I was called out to my second swarm of the season. The first swarm occurred last week, but it was so tiny that I didn't bother with it. Today's swarm was awesome and just the perfect size. I put them in a very large cardboard box in which Brandon had punched a hundred or so tiny holes. I had to come to work of course, so the bees are in my trunk. A guy at work said that I had put a new spin on the commercial about the "trunk monkey". Today is mild and partly cloudy so they should be fine with the back windows rolled partly down. When I get home this evening, I'll put them in their very own hive so they can make lots of honey for me.

Spring Fever

2009-03-07T05:39:00.009-06:00

These pictures are of some watermelon, pepper, eggplant, and cantaloupe seedlings that I have started in my house. Instead of the pricey grow stands (~$500), my husband bought me a metal shelf from Target (~50) and hung some shop lights from it (~$12/each). This $80 investment was much cheaper than the rip off pricing you'd find in garden catalogues. I keep the stand next to a south facing window so that my seedlings can get as much light as possible.

I use a combination of methods to germinate seeds. One method is to buy a bag of seed starting mix and place it in hand made newspaper pots, water, plant the seeds, and cover with Saran wrap. When the seeds begin to germinate, remove the Saran wrap immediately. Another way is to use rehydrated peat pellets (no pot needed) and follow all of the other steps above.

My tomato seedlings are already outside hardening off. It is important to harden off seedlings that you have started in your house. Think about it - they don't get as much light and there is virtually no air current (wind) in the home to challenge them as they grow. To harden off seedlings, you'll want to put them in a shady area outside at first, then move them every couple of days into progressively brighter spot. This should take around a week. If you push the process too fast, you get sun burned plants (the leaves will have clearish patches on them). Don't worry, they'll live; they'll just take a bit to recover.

100 foot diet challenge

2009-02-18T13:28:00.002-06:00

My family and I are going to participate in the '100ft Diet Challenge'. It's like a modern day version of the victory gardens in the 50s. The challenge is to eat one meal a week all grown in your back/front yard. We should easily be able to meet this challenge each week just by using the eggs from our chickens, mixed with some chives or dill from the garden. Once the garden gets into full swing and our goats are in milk, I'll up the anty to three meals a week. Yay!! I love a good challenge.

Ava's Turnip

2009-01-31T16:43:00.001-06:00

Ava pulled up a huge turnip today. She was anxious to show it off along with her new garden tool.

Kits at 10 days and 16 days

2009-01-30T17:39:00.003-06:00

Wow! The little bunnies are growing so fast. No more have died. They are all covered in fur and they are even hoping around. Some of them are pure white, and some have smokey points (feet, nose, tail, ears). I'll post an updated pick next week.

Kits!

2009-01-17T09:39:00.002-06:00

Yay! My rabbit had babies on Wednesday. Despite the really cold weather, the mom has done a good job and they are doing well. I counted at least 6. The picture above (taken Wednesday) only shows 4, because the others were burried beneath layers of the mothers fur. Just before kindling the mother rabbit pulls the fur from her belly and lines the nest with it. This keeps the babies warm and it makes it easier for them to nurse.

The farmer's dilemma.

2009-01-16T10:35:00.003-06:00

Owning livestock is always a joy, unless of course one has to head out doors to care for them during increment weather. When the weather is miserably rainy or cold, a farmer can think of a hundred excuses to 'wait awhile' to tend his wards. Growing up in Mobile, I am immune to rain. I have no problem planting/harvesting crops, going out to milk the goat, or feeding/watering the livestock in the rain. Cold weather is a much different story. Like kryptonite it renders me lethargic and catatonic in one fell swoop.
So last night I was faced with a dilemma:
A hard freeze was forecast for the 'evening' of January 15. The weather man always tells you the low for the evening, when in all actuality the low doesn't occur until just after the sun comes up. But wait...that makes no sense. How can such a notion be possible? I found the following explanation to be the most clear, thorough and to the point. It comes from meteorologist Keith Heidorn and can be found in its original content at http://www.weathernotebook.org/transcripts/2005/10/10.php.

"All objects gain heat from outside sources and radiate it away at the same time. When more radiant heat is lost than gained, the object cools. When more heat is gained than lost, it warms. If they are balanced, the temperature remains constant. Okay… that’s pretty basic.
Between sunset and sunrise, the Earth’s surface gathers no solar energy but continues to radiate away its stored heat. During the night, the surface also loses radiant heat faster than it steals heat from other sources, and thus its temperature, and that of the air in contact with it, drops steadily.
At dawn, when the first light beams across the landscape, the incoming solar radiation is very weak. It does not yet have enough strength to counter all the heat escaping from the surface. As a result, the surface continues to lose heat for some time following sunrise, and the air temperature continues to fall.
At some point, the solar rays shine strongly enough to counter the heat loss. The gain-loss balance is shifted, and the air finally begins to warm up. As a rule of thumb: the coldest temperature is about an hour after sunrise."

That being said, we can return to my dilemma. Should I feed/water the animals at night or in the morning? I already knew the answer, but I needed a little motivation to get outside at 9 p.m when I am already dressed for bed. So I logged on to the weather channel. The current temp. was 45 degrees. I checked the hourly forecast for 630 a.m.: it was 20 degrees. I happily put on my sweats and headed outside to do what needed to be done. I was oh so happy this morning when I realised that I didn't have to rinse and fill water bottles, buckets, and pans in 20 degree weather.

Chickens Make Great Pets.

2009-01-14T10:37:00.001-06:00

Are you looking for a new pet? Consider getting a few chickens. Now is a great time to do some research on what is required to keep a flock of backyard laying hens. The feed stores will start getting their chick orders in March.
Chickens have remained a popular pet throughout the world for centuries. They are economical and they can turn kitchen scraps into nutritious eggs. (I left out meat, b/c no meat animal should ever be considered a pet – one doesn’t eat one’s own pet.) If you live in a neighborhood, I would advise steering clear of roosters – unless of course you could care less what your neighbors think. A good laying hen will lay between 5 and 7 eggs a week during peak season. For more information, see our chicken page http://sites.google.com/site/gillfamilyfarm/chickens.

Article about Saanen Dairy Goats

2009-01-07T12:44:00.002-06:00

There is a brief article about Saanen dairy goats at http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/issues/87/87-1/saanens_the_great_white_goats.html. I raise Saanens and think they are a wonderful family addition. Compared with other goats they have a very laid back personality and they make a LOT of milk. I will be selling some Saanen kids in May, if anyone is interested.

It's Raining Onions

2009-01-05T08:43:00.003-06:00

I don't particularly mind planting seedlings in the rain. After all, it is a great way to keep cool. However, I am a very grumpy gardener when I have to prepare beds in the rain. Messing with the soil during or immediately after a rainfall is a recipe for compacted soils, particularly in my region where the predominate component is clay. There are times when it must be done. This year's onion crop planting was one of those times. Fortunately I already had one bed prepped and ready to go BEFORE the seedlings came in. The delicious little morsels arrived through FedEx Friday evening. I knew I had to get them in the ground that weekend for optimal results. I busted my tail on Saturday IN THE RAIN between attending to the needs of my four year old and my five month old infant. I managed to get half of the seedlings planted (roughly 150) and it wasn't all that bad. However, Sunday was to be the dreaded day of toil. I had another 200 or so seedlings AND I needed to prep their bed. Adding to my problems, it had rained all day Saturday which means I needed to be extra careful to not bear down on the soil too much. It took me around an hour to weed the bed. A task that my 5 month old watched with great enthusiasm as she sucked on her pacifier laying in her car seat an arm's length away. When she started getting grumpy, I had to take a break and go inside. As I got up a sharp painful twinge in my neck manifested itself...Ouch!!! After a couple hours of play and a long nursing session my little one was happily taking a nap. Then I made a "drink and snack" for Ava (4 yrs), put on some Sponge Bob and raced into the back yard to plant the seedlings. (I keep the baby monitor with me when I garden.) Sweet little Novah woke up from her nap just as I was planting the last few seedlings. Yeah - Victory. My neck still hurts though. :)

Happy new Year!

2008-12-31T10:04:00.002-06:00

Wow! The new year has really snuck up on me. By now, I usually have an array of weird things lined up for my garden. This year, I think I'll stick with things that I know will work. I ordered some onion sets from Brown of Omaha. I have ordered their onions every year for the past 3 yrs and they always do really well. In Mobile, onions need to be planted in January. I know it seems too cold, but onions are a cool season crop. Also, I plan to plant some snow peas and some English peas by the end of the month. Brandon has a couple of projects lined up as well. He plans on building a fenced in area for the chickens. When chickens are left to roam the farm, they are healthy and happy but they eventually become un-ruley and forget their place. Mine have started roosting in the goat's hay rack, pooping all over their hay - a condition that is both inconvenient and unsanitary for the goats. Due to the population boom of all those fall chicks, they have scratched several bare patches in the yard. We already gave over half of the chickens away, however we can't replant the bare patches with the chickens loose because they will just eat whatever grass seed we put down. Also, Dolce (FYI he was named prior to the popular Maria Sharapova commercials and to my knowledge several years before Maria's dog was even born), our faithful guard dog has been feasting on eggs that the chickens lay in the goat's stall on the ground. Fencing the chickens in for a while will allow the grass to recuperate and will retrain them to lay in the right spot and roost in the right spot. Chickens are creatures of habit. Once trained to sleep, eat, and lay eggs in certain areas, they will keep doing so for sometime (in my experience ~ 8 months) before they need to be caged and retrained.

Shitake!

2008-12-18T12:31:00.002-06:00

We had a cold snap that was accompanied by what seemed like a week straight of rain. Then, like is so often in my beloved home town on the bay, it warmed right back up. Yesterday morning was choked with fog. After I returned home from work, I stepped out of my car and was hit with a the same euphoric sense that I get when hiking in the mountains. The air had a texture and an aroma reminiscent of a walk through the forest just after a rain. And I knew - Shitake!! After settling the baby, I rushed outside to my shitake logs. These are oak logs that we inoculated last year with shitake mushroom spawn. We have gotten a few during the summer - but I almost felt like I had failed in this venture. When I got my first visual of the log - I saw a fruiting body the size of my palm. Yum, yummy. I sliced it up and put it on our otherwise boring frozen grocery store pizza. It was great and made the pizza seem like a special creation. Next time, I'll try to take a picture to post prior to devouring the wonderful delicacy.

Early winter update

2008-12-10T09:05:00.004-06:00

RABBITS: Unfortunately, my female rabbit did not get pregnant as I had hoped. Yesterday was day 31 and there were no babies. We'll try to re-breed her and wait to see what happens. I think she was probably just too young. I was not surprised, because I did not feel the tell-tell marble lumps in her abdomen that indicate that a rabbit is pregnant. I'm stubborn and rabbits are fertile, so I'm sure we'll eventually be successful.
CHICKENS: I gave over half of my laying flock, including the ducks, to one of my uncles. There were too many mouths to feed, and being winter, there weren't many eggs. During the winter, the grass does not grow resulting in a lower feed threshold for my yard. This unfortunately results to bare patches.
GOATS: The 21st day of both of the girls' cycles came and went with no signs of heat. This means that the breeding was successful!!! I'm so excited, but nervous too. Sudsy needed significant help from me during her last labor and she and her first born almost died during the process. Hopefully this time around will go much more smoothly. The due dates are April 14, 2008 for Sudsy and April 17, 2008 for Sky. I'll be ready to play midwife, just like last time. This time, I'll make sure I order the gloves that go to the elbow.
VEGETABLES: Ava and I harvested some carrots from our 'bathtub' garden. We purchased the bathtub from Lowe's in the dinged up section of appliances for $25 last year. This fall, Brandon put some aluminum cans in the bottom for drainage and left the drain hole open. (I'm too cheap to buy gravel when I have a plethora of recyclable aluminum cans) Then he filled it with potting soil. I planted the carrots in September. They were really yummy and Ava had a good time. The neighbors' children watched us so we gave them each a fresh carrot straight from the ground. They seemed to get a big kick out of it and ran off to show their mothers.

Paper or Plastic - Neither

2008-11-24T14:21:00.003-06:00

All right everyone. I have officially taken a trip to the grocery store and left with NO plastic bags. The is a first for me. With a family of four we would normally use a couple dozen grocery bags in one shopping trip. It felt so great to use all cloth bags. If we can do it so can you. You can buy canvas bags just about anywhere now that it's hip to be green. Buy a couple of cloth shopping bags every time you go to the store. Mobile public library sells canvas bags as a fundraiser. I made one of my bags from an old pair of blue jeans. You just gradually add bags to your stash until eventually you have enough for a full grocery trip. Good luck! ;)

Son of a Gun It's Cold

2008-11-21T08:26:00.003-06:00

Yep, we've officially had our first series of frosts. The frost came a bit early this year, stunting the broccoli seedlings that I planted way too late. I find that with brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, etc.) if I get them established in the ground early in the fall, they will weather the frosts well as long as they are 7-8 weeks old when the first frost hits. These guys tend to produce according to day length, so I won't get a broccoli florescence or a cabbage head until the days begin to lengthen sometime in February/March. Granted this is considerably longer than the average harvest date printed on the seed packet, but hey, it's winter. There isn't really anything else growing anyway. I will have lettuces, arugula, onions and garlic to plant/harvest throughout the winter, but I'll still have plenty of empty space waiting to receive plants. I'll pull up the broccoli seedlings and start some again in January. My Wakefield cabbages and purple cabbages are doing fine, although there are some thrips beginning to cause problems. I harvested all of my turnips because the leaves had extreme thrip damage. I also harvested every bok choy due to thrip infestation. I washed the thrips down the kitchen drain. I certainly didn't want to dispose of them outside - that would allow them to survive and reproduce. I have a parasitic nematode that I will spray my soil with this weekend. They'll bore into those nasty little thrips and secrete poisons - a far worse death than I could conjure for these garden thieves. The cold weather doesn't seem to thwart the thrips or the nematodes. I guess there is always life to be found in an organic garden.

I'll miss my crazy goat gals!

2008-11-11T08:56:00.002-06:00

Tonight we are taking our two dairy goats to Sheila's farm (www.sandrockacres.com) to be bred. Just like people, goats and cows have to have babies to make milk. The trick is to continue milking the animal at regular intervals after the babies are weaned. Eventually the milker will "dry up" and it is necessary to breed her again. Since goats are in heat for only 24 hours, we are taking both of our girls to Sheila's to stay until they are bred.
Depending on when they are bred, I'll be picking up the girls sometime next week. They will only be gone a week, but they are cute and silly - and I'll miss them.

SATSUMAS!!

2008-11-09T11:14:00.003-06:00

Satsumas are in season. Chances are, if you live in Mobile County you know someone who grows Satsumas. Satsumas are a type of mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) that grows extraordinarily well in our county. Unfortunately, satsumas begin to over-ripen after only 2 weeks. My parents have 6 Satsuma trees and for the past few years, they have had to give away literally thousands of Satsumas. Last year I tried making marmalade with some of the surplus, but the processing of the rinds took too long. This morning, I eyed a bowl of a couple dozen Satsumas that my mother had given me two weeks ago. They would be inedible in just a couple of days. We have eaten over half of them in the past two weeks, but I still hated to see so many of them wasted. Then it dawned on me: I decided to make Satsuma juice. It was a bit messy (if you zoom in on the picture you'll notice juice on the table); but it was a ton of fun. I strained the juice and put it into my milk jar. Deeeeeelicious!!!

Greater Gulf State Fair - Goat Show

2008-11-05T12:31:00.003-06:00

A couple of weekends ago, Ava and I helped my friend Sheila show her dairy goats. We had a great time and I think we might start showing goats next year. They gave Ava a huge purple ribbon for participating in the show. She is pictured above with Sheila's Toggenburg doeling. Ava wasn't shy at all and answered all of the judges goat questions. Of course she is only four, so the judge asked things like: "Do you know where the goat's ears are? How about her nose?" After her participation, Ava kept asking if it was her turn to show again. What a great kid.

Sun choke brunch

2008-11-01T08:58:00.005-05:00

This morning I dug up some sunchokes. Digging sunchokes is much easier than digging sweet potatoes and even potatoes. And unlike sweet potatoes and potatoes, the above ground portion of the plant is not poisonous. I was able to give the above ground portions of the plant that I dug up to my goats, and they loved it. I left three good sized tubers in the ground as a replant for next years crop. Also, I only dug up one plant. I have about seven more. Since the tubers are cold hardy in my area, there is no rush to get them out of the ground. I tasted a raw tuber. It tasted like a potato, but with the essence of sunflower seeds. The sunflower scent wasn't strong; it was just enough to make me say, "Hmm..What is that flavor?"

To cook, I peeled the tubers, sliced them thinly, and fried them. Let me just say, Wow!! These micro potato chips far surpassed my expectations. The flavor was like a potato chip, but again, it had the taste of a sunflower. It was kind of like eating a handful of shelled sunflower seeds, except with the texture of a french fry. The only downside was that this batch was tedious to make. The knotty tubers are difficult to peel. So, for the next batch I left the skin on. The little sun fries were still very delicious.

Fall Weeding

2008-10-24T08:08:00.003-05:00

I absolutely refuse to weed the garden in August. There are several reasons for this: it's hot, there are too many mosquitoes, it's hot, most of the plants have died of heatstroke, it's hot, and most importantly it's hot. However, once the cooler weather rolls in, I am relentless. I like to pull ALL of the weeds by hand. In past years, I have had two different neighbors offer the services of their tractor or tiller upon witnessing my relentless toil in the garden weekend after weekend. When I refused and told them that I actually had my own large tiller but preferred not to use it, they looked dumbfounded. Both neighbors then began to insist that I let them help me with their tools. I don't think they believed that anyone in their right mind would voluntarily choose to prepare their garden in such a manner. Eventually, I was able to convince them that I did indeed have a tiller, but the manual method was much better for the soil. You see, when you use a tiller or tractor, the ground is disturbed in such a violent manner that the populations of organisms that keep the soil healthy (worms, beneficial microorganisms, fungi) are seriously debilitated. Also, while you may be loosening the top four inches of soil, the weight of the machinery is actually compacting the sub-layers of the soil causing any deep set nutrients to be even more difficult for your veggie plants to reach. Weeding is not such a bad chore when there is a crisp fall breeze. I love to find that some of my plants have re-seeded themselves; I have found tomato seedlings, and Echinacea (purple cone flower) seedlings in this manner. It would have been a shame to mow over them never knowing that they were there. I also have a wonderful spade foot toad population. They make little burrows in my garden at dawn. Once dusk is evident they emerge searching for a meal. I love walking through my garden before the sun rises with a flashlight: their beady little eyes shine out from the tiny holes that they call home. If I were a tiller type of gall, my little companions would be chopped to smithereens.

Fall Garden

2008-10-10T05:02:00.010-05:00

The fall garden is by far my all time favorite. On the Gulf Coast, it is much more pleasant to work outdoors in the fall than in the summer. On the far left, there is a picture of a Pak Choi plant (Chinese cabbage) that is great in stir fry. This cabbage is fairly easy to find in supermarkets. For the past few years, I have grown a mini-version of the Pak Choi. However, since my family is growing, I decided it was probably a good time to switch to the full size kind. I highly recommend the dwarf Pak Choi (a.k.a. Bok Choy) to anyone, particularly those with a small amount of space. The dwarf Pak Choi is ready to eat just 30 days after planting. I have grown them in an old wheel barrow before, and they did great. The only place that I have been able to find seeds at is the Kitazawa Seed Co. (See the links to the right.) I like to plant the dwarf Pak Choi in succession planting, so I always have some fresh to eat. To do this, I plant 2 to 3 rows every 2 weeks. In Mobile, you can continue to do this throughout the fall, winter, and spring. The summer is much too hot for any type of cabbage on the Gulf Coast.

In the middle there is a picture of my Sun-choke bed. It is a relative of the sunflower. Sun-chokes grow 6 ft. tall and coolest part is..... they have edible tubers (underground storage roots). This is my first year growing these and I can't wait to try them. They are supposed to be similar in flavor to a potato and by some accounts water chestnuts. I've seen them in the Fresh Market in Mobile, AL before. Coincidentally they didn't look very "fresh", so I didn't buy them. On the far right is a mixed bed of young greens and cabbages.

Fromage Blanc

2008-10-05T05:47:00.007-05:00

I started some soft goat cheese yesterday. I woke up early this morning and decided it was time to drain the curds. As I ladeled the curds into the strainer, I added chives, oregano, basil, and salt in layers. It will be ready to eat today at lunch time today. This cheese is really simple to make. You can use grocery store milk and get a very similar cheese. Store bought milk should work out OK. Contrary to popular belief, grocery store milk does not contain antibiotics or added hormones - that would be illegal. All milk contains some hormones - this is a fact of all mammary systems and to change it would be unnatural. The non-organic status of this milk means that if the cows become sick, they are often treated and made well. Medications have withdrawal times for which the milk is not fit for human consumption. During this time, a dairyman must discard the milk produced by the treated cow. After this time, the cow's system has filtered out any medications (just like humans do) and the milk is once again fit for human consumption. Unfortunately, many times in organic milk production, if a cow becomes sick, it is culled (a.k.a. killed). In fact, the "regular" milk has an expiration date that is closer to fresh milk than the Horizon brand organic milk. You can buy Horizon milk at Wal-mart that doesn't expire for a month....this is not natural and makes me a little uneasy. The benefits of organic milk are more on the environmental side. The animals are fed organic feed which means that no pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers are used.

Homemade Rootbeer

2008-10-02T10:40:00.003-05:00

One of my daughters was sick today, so I stayed home from work. The morning was not wasted however. I made my first batch of homemade root beer. It's super easy. It only requires sugar, water, bakers' yeast, and root beer extract. I found my McCormick root beer extract at the Schillengers Rd. Wal-Mart. The root beer will be ready in 3 days and will have natural carbonation produced by the yeast as it consumes some of the sugar. Drinking this living root beer is undoubtedly better than consuming soda made with syrup and carbonated water. See this link for instructions. http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/ROOTBEER_Jn0.htm
We also picked some figs and gathered duck eggs.

A sign of the times

2008-10-01T09:30:00.002-05:00

When I first began farming in my backyard, I would get perplexed looks from family, friends, and colleagues. They were aghast if they found out that I plucked and cleaned my own chickens. I guess I don't look like the type that would farm. What should a farmer look like? Since I am educated and clean cut, farming should be a silly venture for me to delve into.
Fast Forward....I have had three people tell me in the past couple months that they wanted to come live with me and help out with my farming if the economy got "too bad". The first person was someone I hardly know, a colleague, the next person was a colleague/friend. The last person was my mother. Quite frankly, I was shocked. Has it gotten so bad that in a country where the poorest people are also the most obese, people have now began to worry about the security of one of the most basic needs - food? I guess it has. Granted all three of these people were mostly joking. The fact that they would even joke about being on the verge of starvation is definitely a sign of the times. My husband shrugs the comments off, noting that if we had to survive on what we grew in our backyard, we would surely starve to death. This is true. We only have a 1/2 acre, most of which we do not use to grow food. (We still have a front lawn - Ugh - but that is a blog for another time.) But we do have a growing knowledge base, as well as the building blocks to feed our family, if such a desperate occasion called for it.
I am an optimist by nature, and can't imagine that times could get so tough in the states that your average middle-classer can't afford food. I do believe that food might become as expensive here as it is everywhere else in the world. Backyard farms, like mine, could help lessen the burden on a family's bank account during tough times.
I never began farming for food security. I started farming because I wanted to know where my food came from and how it was produced. Food security just turned out to be a welcome byproduct.

Reuse Something

2008-09-19T09:16:00.004-05:00

I am constantly finding new ways to reuse things. I will try to avoid posting on common sense things like refilling a water bottle or using a Tupperware for your daily sandwich instead of a disposable plastic sandwich bag.

That being said, I would like to talk about reusing pet food bags and newspaper. The specific pet food bags that I am referring to would be the kind that dog and cat chow are packaged in. They are paper with an inner coating of wax to keep the oils from the dog/cat chow from soaking into the paper bag. These oils would otherwise ruin the bag and cause it to break open. It is the wax coating that makes the chow bags a perfect replacement for the plastic garbage bags in your kitchen trash can and the small bags for your office/bathroom trash can. When your pet food bag is empty, simply put it in the trash can as you would a plastic garbage bag and voila!

Now for newspaper. I like to use my newspaper to make little biodegradable paper seedling pots. This is a great free alternative to the peat pots that are found in home improvement stores. In order to make these paper pots, you can order a wooden paper pot mold like the one sold by Seeds of Change (see my links to the right). Or you can do what I do and make your pots free style. Remember, they are just going to break down in the soil anyway so they don't have to be pretty. First you need a salvaged plant flat or a shallow Tupperware tub. Next take a sheet of newspaper and fold it length wise twice so you get a narrow strip 2-3 inches wide (step 1 above). Roll the strip into a cylinder that is about the same size as a peat pot. Use two small pieces of tape to hold the cylinder together (Step 2). Slightly fold the bottom of the cylinder to the inside (optional). This will help hold the soil in place. Place your paper pot in the flat or Tupperware and fill with soil. It's OK that we leave the bottom of the pot mostly open; just don't remove the pot from the flat/tub until your seedling is several weeks old. Its roots will help hold the soil in place. Also when transplanting I like to tear the pot away a bit on one side to allow the roots to break free a little easier.

Say Cheese :)

2008-09-19T06:04:00.004-05:00

We finally got to dig into our goat cheddar. This wheel has been aging for five months in our fridge. It is absolutely delicious. We ate the other wheel after only 6 weeks of aging. I wouldn't be able to say how much of a taste difference there is, because it was too long ago for a comparison. I will be making some more fresh cheese in a few weeks, like the kind sold as Chevre in the supermarkets. We saved some goat milk in the freezer so we would have some for cheese making when our fresh dill is in full swing. I will use dill and chives from our garden to make a delicious herbed Chevre. I stopped milking Sudsy, our herd matriarch, a few months ago due to the extreme laziness brought on by my late pregnancy in the middle of the summer. ;) She is still nursing her doeling from her spring kidding, but is not really making enough milk worth the trouble of milking. We will be breeding Sudsy the next time she goes into heat, hopefully soon. We will also be breeding her doeling, Sky sometime in November/December.

Where do plastics come from?

2008-09-17T09:12:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows that we should recycle plastics to cut down on the waste in our landfills. When I asked a few random people at work where they thought plastics came from some looked back with blank stares, absolutely clueless. One woman proposed that it probably took more fossil fuels to ship the recycled plastic and reform it into new usable product than it did to make it in the first place. Of course no one ever told her that plastics are made of fossil fuels.
Plastic is a generic term that refers to a wide range of synthetic organic materials that are usually polymers with a high molecular weight. Plastics can be made of plant products, silicone, and fossil fuels. The plastic used in disposable pens and in water and soda bottles is made from the type of plastics that are derived from fossil fuels. Polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene are all examples of plastic compounds that are derived from fossil fuels. According to an article published in Scientific America in August 2000, the manufacture of plastics worldwide consumes 270 million tons of oil and gas each year. This number has likely increased since the year 2000.
What worries me most is that there are certain things that MUST be made of plastics. Soda bottles and disposable plastic pens are not a MUST, but they sure do make life easier (I use them every day). What I mean by a "must" have item, would refer mostly to hospital products. What about IV bags, or the selectively permeable membranes in dialysis machines? What about disposable needles? I hardly think that anyone wants to go back to the days that reusable glass syringes were used at the end of needles. While I am sure that there is some way to properly sterilize this, I do not like the idea of sharing a needle with a stranger no matter how "sterile" it is.
Our dependence on fossil fuels is a problem that is not going away. We need to invest in other energy forms. At the same time it seems highly hypocritical that we encourage foreign countries to drill, drill, drill and sell us the oil, but we are too "good" to ruin our habitats by drilling for it on our own soil. I personally trust the scientists and regulatory agencies of my country more than I trust those in Africa or the middle east to ensure that the last remaining oil is removed in a manner that is the least environmentally invasive. Let's face it: we are going to use the oil whether it is ours or someone else's. Oil is going to run out on a planetary level in 60 years whether we use up theirs first or ours. We may as well rely on our own reserves while we simultaneously develop new energies.
References:
-Wikipedia
-Tillman U. Gerngross and Steven C. Slater (August 2000) Scientific America. How Green are Green Plastics? http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Biodegrade/Green-PlasticsAug00.htm

Yummmmm. Honey

2008-09-14T13:45:00.000-05:00

We harvested honey this morning. This year we harvested about 40 lbs. That is far less than our harvest last year (~100 lbs.) However, there were less hive beetles in the hive this year. Last year we meddled a lot with our bees and increased from 2 hives in January to 5 hives by June. I thought we were doing a great job. We got even more confident when we harvested honey last July. Reality sunk in when the three new hives crashed in late fall. They were all infested with every bee pest imaginable: hive beetles, varroa mites, and wax moths. The bees slowly died in two of the hives and absconded (flew away) in the other. We decided not to bother the bees as much this year. By the way, we use absolutely no chemicals on our hives, almost unheard of in the local beekeeping community. Because of this we do expect losses from time to time. We used a less invasive method to multiply our hives this year. We ordered 2 queens last fall, which came in the mail at the end of May '08. Yes, you have to order bees almost 9 months in advance if you expect to get any. We pulled a few frames of brood (bee babies) and honey/pollen stores from our two remaining hives and started two new hives with the brood and the new queens. All of the bees look healthy, but we won't know for sure until the winter has come and gone.

Green baby

2008-09-11T14:03:00.000-05:00

What are two ways that you can green your baby? Cloth diapering and breastfeeding. While I won't be showing pics of the latter topic for obvious reasons, I will update on my progress. For more information on breastfeeding, Google it.

I will show pics of my cloth diapers from time to time. Cloth diapering is not as difficult as it was for our parents. There are cool new diapers such as bum genius's all in one one size pictured here. This awesome diaper has an inner absorbent layer, and an outer breathable, waterproof layer; so it's just like a disposable but you can wash it! It also has Velcro tabs which work like a disposable. The most revolutionary thing about this diaper is it grows with your baby. It has snaps that adjust to fit babies from 8 - 35 lbs. The green diaper is expanded out to its max 35 lb weight limit, while the pink diaper is sized down to it's smallest weight range (this is the setting currently worn by my youngest daughter aged 6 weeks).

chicks update

2008-09-11T11:29:00.001-05:00

The marans hen has 6 chicks total with two more hatching as I write this. I have had to rescue several of her hatching chicks because of the ant problem in the part of the yard where she is kept. Ants descend upon each egg as they begin to hatch. I tried leaving one of the eggs, thinking that the chick would probably hatch out fine on its own since there were already two chicks hatched out at that time. A few hours later I checked on the egg to find that it was black with ants. I removed it from the nest and brought it inside under a light with a small dressing sized Tupperware full of water for humidity. I waited for the chick to hatch for an hour or so, but she made no progress. So I helped the chick hatch. She lay on the floor of the rigged up brooder almost entirely lifeless. After about two hours she began to move, but still was not as strong as a chick should be. I gave her some sugar water and she perked right up. After she was dry, I noticed that the skin/feathers around the eye that had faced the opening of the egg had been chewed excessively by the ants causing it to swell shut. I returned her to her mother and am happy to say that she is now doing very well. Since this time I have removed any eggs that were hatching, returning the chicks to the mother once they were dry.
Why are the ants such a problem for this particular nest? I don't use any pesticides because my vegetable garden is only a few yards away. Ants are not an issue where the bulk of our livestock is kept, because the chickens eat any moving object that they see and demolish any budding ant beds. This is where the other hen is being kept. Unfortunately, if a chick escapes in this part of the yard, the flock will make short work of it. This hen has already lost one chick in this manner.
A lot of people believe that chickens are vegetarians and that they should not have any meat included in their diet. My chickens are free range and I can tell you that they will mercilessly dispatch any moving object smaller than themselves. Aside from insects, I commonly see them fighting over large lizards and toads, which they eventually rip to shreds and devour.

Chicks man!

2008-09-05T20:07:00.000-05:00

Our eggs have started to hatch!!! We have two broody hens, a buff orpington and a marans. The two hens have been sitting on an assortment of eggs (americauna, buff, and marans) for around a month now. We only have one rooster, a mottled Houdan. His name is "Chicken Bowie" because he has a wild hairdo like David Bowie. All of the chicks that hatch will be Houdan crosses. The broody hens were sitting in the layer nest boxes, which tuns out is not the best place for them or their babies. These nests are on a shelf that was originally built to be a hay rack. However the hens loved jumping up and laying their eggs on the hay bale and the goats were easily able to reach the hay, knocking it to the ground. We solved both issues by using the rack to hold a nest box instead. This worked out great until a buff hen started hogging the nest box. She let the other hens lay in the box and she tended their eggs along with hers. Then the marans hen decided she would jump into the nest with the buff hen and help her. Before long there were two piles of eggs and two hens occupying one nest box. So, I added another nest box. The goofy buff hen decided that she wanted to now occupy the new box with fresh eggs leaving roughly 40 eggs for the marans hen to incubate by herself. This clearly would not work; the marans hen could not possibly cover that many eggs. I slid the new nest box with the buff hen over. Boy was she ticked off. She puffed up and growled at me and tried to peck my hand. Once this box was moved aside, I sneakily slipped 1/2 the eggs from under the marans (she was also ticked off) and put them under the buff hen. Within a few minutes she was arranging the eggs the way she wanted. Then I put a third box up for the other hens to use. I did this because the broody hens each had a full brood of eggs to tend and did not need any newbies, and more importantly so that I would be able to have a morning omelet without worrying how old the eggs were and whether or not they contained chick embryos.
When I saw that the chicks had started hatching, I let Brandon know. He made some repairs to two of our range cages. I moved each broody hen to her own cage along with their chicks/eggs. I tossed a towel over the hens before moving them so they would be a little calmer and so that I would not get pecked. I'll update as more chicks hatch.

Hurricane Gustav

2008-09-01T17:08:00.000-05:00

We have a little bit of cabin fever. We live in Mobile county, a coastal county in Alabama. We don't evacuate. There is a saying where we live: Run from the water and hide from the wind. Our home is not in the storm surge area nor is it low lying. We have not lost power yet, although it did flicker a bit around 2 p.m. All of our livestock and their homes are doing fine.
While I've never evacuated, my parents have taught me to always be prepared. We keep plywood in the shed that fits our windows exactly. That way when a storm is looming, we just pop them in our window frames. In addition, when hurricane season rolls around, we stock up on gasoline, charcoal for grilling, candles, water, non-perishable food, batteries, flashlights, etc. Usually these items aren't needed and we gradually use them up over the course of the year until the next season rolls around. We also have a generator and window unit AC (a necessity in the deeep, deep south). Growing up we never had a generator and we had to rough it with no AC after a hurricane. I have went up to two weeks without power. Where we live, temperatures in the 90s are not uncommon in September. After Katrina, a man shot his sister in the head, killing her over a bag of ice (in Mississippi).
Gustav has been kind to us so far; hopefully the spin off tornadoes don't harm anyone or cause too much damage. Now all eyes are on Hanna and Ike.

Introduction 8-31-08

2008-08-31T17:54:00.000-05:00

We live on .5 an acre in a semi-rural area off of a dirt road. Our family consists of myself, my husband (Brandon), and our two daughters (Ava age 4 and Novah age 1 month). Brandon and I both have full time jobs. Brandon is a fitter/welder at a local shipyard, and I am an Environmental Consultant.
It takes both Brandon and me to support our farming ventures: I read and make plans and Brandon makes the plans a reality. Ava chips in sometimes too. The structures on our half acre consist of a 1600 square foot home, a storage shed, a small stall, multiple smaller cages and shelters, and two greenhouses. We have a large vegetable garden at the back of our property and several smaller gardens containing flowers and herbs bordering our house. We have a small goldfish pond ~ 4 yards from our vegetable garden (VG) in order to create a beneficial environment for all sorts of "creepy" crawlies. The VG area is separated from the remainder of our garden by a fence.
Our livestock have 24 hour access to .1 acre. That doesn't sound like much, but they are never held in stalls or coops unless we are moving something around and must do so for their safety. The pasture area still has grass which leads me to believe that the number of animals that are grazing it are in balance with their environment.
Brandon and I are constantly experimenting with backyard food production. Our livestock consists of 2 dairy goats (both are does), chickens, ducks, and most recently rabbits. In addition we have 2 bee hives next to our vegetable garden and 2 for back up on my parents property several miles away. We have had quite an adventure since we began a few years ago. I won't recount these years, but instead pick up in the present and explain things as time passes.