Next week the chicks should be ready at the hatchery! It's a "straight run", meaning they are not sexed. Knowing my luck I'll pick out mostly roos... again, so we're getting 26, That's the plan anyways. In the mix this time, we will be adding 10 Ameraucanas, 10 Buff Orpingtons and 6 Golden Lace Wyandottes.
Waiting for Spring has triggered a cooking/baking mania in me. (That always seems to happen right after cleaning out and organizing a space.) The abundance of eggs has me making a lot of baked goods and pastas at the moment.
I'm keeping on top of the butternut squash from last summer, a little over 20 are left. If you are looking for ideas on how to use squash in different ways, and right now this is our favorite pumpkin bread (the kids love it plain or with cream cheese frosting.) In the pumpkin bread recipe, I've been swapping out my homemade unsweetened cinnamon applesauce for the oil. It works really well and helps cut down the calories.
We go through food phases pretty hard. Not too much of a problem when it is something coming out of the garden.. but the pantry is another deal.
I'm trying to get some things done now, so that I have more time later. I've been making stock and reducing it down so it is pretty rich. I then am able to can it in smaller jars, or freeze in smaller containers. Quick breads, loaves of garlic bread, pastas, cookie (dough), potstickers, calzones, pastys, hamburger buns, rolls.. these are some of the things I make ahead and freeze.
This town doesn't have fast food joints, or a grocery store. It has made me really have to stay on track with planning meals, keeping track, and cooking. I love it and hate it at the same time. The concept of going out to eat is lovely.. the reality is I don't know everything they are putting in my food, and to stay off meds, that's a problem.
I've started flats of seeds. We haven't fully set in place exactly what we are planting and where, but that's ok. I'm starting a bunch of pretty much everything anyways! I'm hoping that by this weekend enough has thawed out for me to see if the seed crop of leek survived, and if there was any ground heaving issues in the garlic and perennial onion patch.
Possibly.. a few twigs from some favorite apple trees may just disappear and find their way into my fridge..
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
waiting for spring
Yesterday and today we actually got into the low 40's! After so many sub-zero days, it's like a heat wave. Just warm enough to make me stir crazy and not warm enough to get going. A big sloppy mess outside, but the monster snowdrifts are going to need a lot more to melt away.
The Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red hens started laying back in January. My blue egg layers just started last week. So far so good and I've been able to keep up with using them.
I made lemon curd and a pound cake the other day. That was the first time my husband had lemon curd, and he's hooked. I mean he's really hooked. He had a taste and then had dessert before dinner.. and then had dessert again. It took only 3 days and he's basically polished it off almost entirely by himself. I'm getting ready to make a double batch so we can take some in to the neighbor (and the nurses) at the hospital, and he can take some in to work. Curd freezes really well, so I will be making several different flavors they can have it later. (I'm diabetic, so while I love making all these things... I can't actually have any of it!)
Next month we will be getting 26 more chicks. Keep your fingers crossed I don't pick out 80% roos again. We are going for 10 Ameraucanas, 10 Buff Orpingtons, and 6 Golden Lace Wyandottes... or that's the plan. I've been known to set limits and then completely blow them off.
The 2 bunnies are now fryer size. Like I thought, my husband and daughter caved. They are claiming they are holding out just to make sure neither is a doe.
My husband built me a potting bench out of reclaimed wood and some scrap countertop. I've already put it to use starting peppers, asparagus, apple pips.. and if I can find my seeds- leek is another that needs an early start.
Very soon it will be time to start the cold season transplants. It will go so much faster and easier with this new bench!
This year we are scaling back to just our backyard garden. The nextdoor neighbor is in the hospital and he's in rough shape. We'll be helping the Church group with getting their gardens going, but I don't want to extend too far until I know the neighbor is ok. I may be cooking and cleaning for him if he does get out. He's been falling a lot. If he can't keep his balance, he's going to need a lot of help or assisted living arrangements. I'm selfish.. I'd like to keep this neighbor.
This year we need to tackle the ancient rhubarb bed. Last year I separated out one of the groups of rhubarb. The one clump divided out into 18 plants+, all of which took. These are the backups. The old bed is incredibly overcrowded, the soil is compacted, bad drainage and the result is severely reduced production, thin stems, fungus, and crown rot. The whole area will be reworked. The other neighbor would like some, so just as soon as he picks where he wants it.. we'll dig up and put in a rhubarb bed for him. Juuuust waiting for him to show us where... still.
By doing it in sections like this, I can still have some plants I can harvest while the others recover from being transplanted.
I'm so ready for spring to come..
The Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red hens started laying back in January. My blue egg layers just started last week. So far so good and I've been able to keep up with using them.
I made lemon curd and a pound cake the other day. That was the first time my husband had lemon curd, and he's hooked. I mean he's really hooked. He had a taste and then had dessert before dinner.. and then had dessert again. It took only 3 days and he's basically polished it off almost entirely by himself. I'm getting ready to make a double batch so we can take some in to the neighbor (and the nurses) at the hospital, and he can take some in to work. Curd freezes really well, so I will be making several different flavors they can have it later. (I'm diabetic, so while I love making all these things... I can't actually have any of it!)
Next month we will be getting 26 more chicks. Keep your fingers crossed I don't pick out 80% roos again. We are going for 10 Ameraucanas, 10 Buff Orpingtons, and 6 Golden Lace Wyandottes... or that's the plan. I've been known to set limits and then completely blow them off.
The 2 bunnies are now fryer size. Like I thought, my husband and daughter caved. They are claiming they are holding out just to make sure neither is a doe.
My husband built me a potting bench out of reclaimed wood and some scrap countertop. I've already put it to use starting peppers, asparagus, apple pips.. and if I can find my seeds- leek is another that needs an early start.
Very soon it will be time to start the cold season transplants. It will go so much faster and easier with this new bench!
This year we are scaling back to just our backyard garden. The nextdoor neighbor is in the hospital and he's in rough shape. We'll be helping the Church group with getting their gardens going, but I don't want to extend too far until I know the neighbor is ok. I may be cooking and cleaning for him if he does get out. He's been falling a lot. If he can't keep his balance, he's going to need a lot of help or assisted living arrangements. I'm selfish.. I'd like to keep this neighbor.
This year we need to tackle the ancient rhubarb bed. Last year I separated out one of the groups of rhubarb. The one clump divided out into 18 plants+, all of which took. These are the backups. The old bed is incredibly overcrowded, the soil is compacted, bad drainage and the result is severely reduced production, thin stems, fungus, and crown rot. The whole area will be reworked. The other neighbor would like some, so just as soon as he picks where he wants it.. we'll dig up and put in a rhubarb bed for him. Juuuust waiting for him to show us where... still.
By doing it in sections like this, I can still have some plants I can harvest while the others recover from being transplanted.
I'm so ready for spring to come..
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Busy year!
2013 we added rabbits to the mix. Above is our doe. She was a little tweaky (like her Mom) when we first got her. Actually the 3 we got looked like this when we first got them..
The hutches are outside in a sheltered location, but my husband still made them all bunny huts. They had been seperated for a little while by that point. The broken bunny (black & white) is mellow but attention crazy. (He is the first to run up when the door is opened and ready to get out. They're spoiled rotten.) My husband wasn't thinking and put him in the doe's cage for a quick moment so he could get the box in without worring about squishing or the buck escaping. Less than 30 seconds and Quick Draw was done.
He thought they were too young yet, but still marked that calendar just in case. Sure enough- sub zero weather set in when she was due. He felt around in the box and found.... nothing. Breathed a sigh of relief and then confessed.
Then there was the ice storm almost 2 weeks later. The hutch was covered so they were dry and tons of straw in their cage. All 3 snuggled into their bunny huts at night. When morning came.. he found 3 tiny dead bunnies in front of her nestbox. We moved the doe and her box inside asap. It seems she had them buried so far under the straw they were really hard to find. 1 passed shortly after bring them in. Now there are just 2. They grow so fast that these little goobers doubled in size in a week. They are really chubby bunnies that are eating hay and bouncing around all night long.
The chubby brown (agouti?) bunny has Dad's personality. Loving to be petted until it falls asleep.
The doe has calmed down too and now also demands to be petted. Put your hand in her cage and she runs up, then shoves her head into your hand. While she lost most of her litter, she still did amazing considering the weather. Many around here lost all of their litters. In the meantime we have a full house. These 2 may go to a local breeder who got us our original 3 and join his breeding stock. (Or we may just end up building a ton more hutches.)
Before the bunny surprise.. Roy got injured. Doing the head count we realized one was missing. We searched for an hour before my husband found him... limp. He bundled him up and home we raced. Honestly didn't think he would make it through the night, he was a bloody mess. He did. It was hard to judge what was wrong at first.. he was moving so oddly- or rather not moving. He wouldn't eat pellets.. he wouldn't drink water.
The week before we had helped out a local farmer with harvesting their vineyard. We did it just for fun. After picking the wine grapes, they offered up as many Concord grapes as anyone wanted. We loaded up several 5 gallon buckets and barely made a dent.
It seems Roy... goes absolutely insane for Concord grapes. As his injury went right down to the bone on his leg, and within hours of getting him home we realized it was infected.. We dosed his grapes with antibiotics. Easiest way ever to medicate that bird. Just getting him to eat anything was a challenge- so I pulled out all of his favorites that he just couldn't resist (melons, grapes, tomatoes, applesauce).. anything juicy just to make sure he was hydrated and got some nutrients.
3 months he was in our HOUSE. The first few weeks he couldn't move- so I would carry him to the yard and herd cricket at him.
40 years old- I'm on my hands and knees crawling across the lawn herding crickets at a disabled rooster. When you are living in rural nowhere- that right there is how you know you are having a mid-life crisis. The neighbors don't say much- just look at you sad and send over a casserole.
He slowly... slowly...became more and more mobile. Then at some point he was mobile enough to start stalking me in the house.
When he started hopping on to my nightstand so he could crow as close as possible to my face at 5am.. it was time to get this gimp back to the coop. You can see a little part of his injury in the picture above.
He's used to foraging so I put a few things out for him to discover. His radish seed stash.. cranberries nearby. He hopped into my seed bin and had a field day- I about had an aneurysm with that catastrophe. Next year will be interesting as most of the tomato seeds are now jumbled as all are the Brassicas (kale, broccoli, mustard, cabbage, kohlrabi, turnip, etc.) They all look the fricken same.
I made big salads and a roast one night. My husband had a rough day and was exhausted. He fell asleep sitting on the couch with the salad in his lap. He woke up to Roy on the couch next to him.. completely wound up and happy making a racket. He was eating my husband's salad- in particular he was sooo excited over the shredded cheese on it. It's really hard to be irritated when something funny is happening at the same time.
Sanity eluding our sleep deprived selves- it got to the point where Roy would sit on the couch next to my husband watching tv and eating dinner. Yeah.. Roy got his own bowl of people food.
He's back in the coop. Back to running around with the girls. He crows a lot less now, and is very content. He still has a bit of a limp, but can run, scratch, jump pretty well. Well enough that the girls think he is hot stuff.
Hope everyone is doing well. Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Strawberries, garlics, and walking onions
Couldn't ask for better weather!
We're about to take off to put in a strawberry patch in at one of the other gardens we work. The area has already been prepped. Lots of compost turned in to fluff up the soil and add nutrients, stones that have surfaced have been removed.. all set and ready to go!
We're relocating some everbearing strawberries. Dug up so that we could retain as much of the root system as possible.. even keeping the runners attached. Keeping a rootball on it makes it easier for me to transplant. Strawberries do best when planted at the proper depth. They also just love a surge in nutrients that well made compost provides, which results in larger more robust plants producing larger more robust berries.
Also going in is garlic and some perennial onion sets. I was hoping to get several heads of some locally grown hardneck strains, but I didn't get there in time and it was sold out. So softnecks and the few hardnecks I have from the farmer's market are going in. No doubt I'll wish we planted more! (Isn't that always the case every year?)
The bed that is getting garlic is also heavily amended with compost but will get a little extra by way of bone meal. Cold temperatures triggers garlic to break dormancy. The first thing it does is start laying down the root structure. In areas with really wet, really cold winters.. heaving is an issue. Waterlogged soil that freezes hard can break the roots and basically eject the garlic. Putting in a lot of well aged compost helps provide drainage but some areas may need to go a step further and mulch. We're not mulching. We're about as rebellious as Captain Kangaroo. Oh yeah. Gardening on the wild side.
What I am also excited about (and it's making me wish spring was already here!!) is that I get to do some guerilla grafting. The apples we gleaned this fall we kept track of to figure out what we liked about them, early/mid/late production, size, storage qualities, uses. The owners of several exceptional apple trees have said I can collect some scions (cuttings) this coming spring so I can do some grafting. I'll be spreading it out quite a bit (with luck).. by grafting them on to some wild apple and crabapple trees.
Well, time is flying by and days are so short. Good luck to you all!
We're about to take off to put in a strawberry patch in at one of the other gardens we work. The area has already been prepped. Lots of compost turned in to fluff up the soil and add nutrients, stones that have surfaced have been removed.. all set and ready to go!
We're relocating some everbearing strawberries. Dug up so that we could retain as much of the root system as possible.. even keeping the runners attached. Keeping a rootball on it makes it easier for me to transplant. Strawberries do best when planted at the proper depth. They also just love a surge in nutrients that well made compost provides, which results in larger more robust plants producing larger more robust berries.
Also going in is garlic and some perennial onion sets. I was hoping to get several heads of some locally grown hardneck strains, but I didn't get there in time and it was sold out. So softnecks and the few hardnecks I have from the farmer's market are going in. No doubt I'll wish we planted more! (Isn't that always the case every year?)
The bed that is getting garlic is also heavily amended with compost but will get a little extra by way of bone meal. Cold temperatures triggers garlic to break dormancy. The first thing it does is start laying down the root structure. In areas with really wet, really cold winters.. heaving is an issue. Waterlogged soil that freezes hard can break the roots and basically eject the garlic. Putting in a lot of well aged compost helps provide drainage but some areas may need to go a step further and mulch. We're not mulching. We're about as rebellious as Captain Kangaroo. Oh yeah. Gardening on the wild side.
What I am also excited about (and it's making me wish spring was already here!!) is that I get to do some guerilla grafting. The apples we gleaned this fall we kept track of to figure out what we liked about them, early/mid/late production, size, storage qualities, uses. The owners of several exceptional apple trees have said I can collect some scions (cuttings) this coming spring so I can do some grafting. I'll be spreading it out quite a bit (with luck).. by grafting them on to some wild apple and crabapple trees.
Well, time is flying by and days are so short. Good luck to you all!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Murphy's law and the tasty cableboy
Not long after the last post.. Murphy's law activated.
The sewer line is old terra cotta pipe that tree roots have been invading. A problem we have been having to deal with repeatedly. Add to that water weeping in after a decent rain. YAY! So the house settled just enough that the sewer line was utterly kaput in several locations.
Hundreds of pounds of produce in my house..... and no plumbing!!!!!!
Our neighbors came to the rescue and for the next 2 weeks they opened their homes to us.
Luck is that during this time our one elderly neighbor threw out his back and my husband found him not long after he was incapacitated. My husband carried our neighbor down the stairs and all the way to the car... then off to the doctor. I cooked for him and as well other neighbors would check in to make sure he was ok. A week of rest, several more trips to the doctor, and some industrial strength pain meds he was good to go.
The concrete guys who came to redo the line were wonderful. I sent them off with tomatoes, eggs, melons, peppers, squash, apples, and an assortment of my jars. It was better to give away what I could than let it spoil. They accidently hit the water main and flooded the yard.. which created a massive mudslide that covered the neighbor's driveway as he is downhill from us. Then nailed the cable line which was barely 2 inches underground when they refilled the 8 foot deep trench. They kept the work site clean, even cleaning up the sidewalk and our neighbor's driveway. They also neatly piled the old copper pipes and solid lead pipe in the basement. This was particularly lovely of them. Often if you don't specify you want that metal.. it has a way of magically disappearing from a site.
The cablelife line snapped and I rather enjoyed it. I ended up meeting yet another neighbor (Julie) while I was raking leaves. She's also into gardening (flowers).. but is working 3 jobs so she can't get to it like she wants. Even better.. she is as well a seed thief.. with connections! She needed a hand moving, so I helped her. She's just outside of town at a place that she can garden as much as she wants. The hitch.. cattle. There is no fence keeping the bovine away from the house. The house is in a pasture. Come this spring.. we'll be helping her put in some fencing. Until then, we get to hear tales about the cow that was on the patio.. and calling in late to work as 3 young bulls were between her and getting to her car. Clanging pots & pans no longer scary enough to convince them to move.
The cable line was finally replaced... yesterday. They've dinked around in my house trying everything, except fixing the obvious cable wires sticking out from the middle of the lawn like a pulled thread. (The cute cable guy is in his early 20's.. and many years ago when I was single.. I'd be inviting a few girl friends over and breaking the cable darn near daily. Although back in those days.. it was a fireman in his boxers.. but that is another tale.) The dog loves Cableboy. As he busily swaps equipment and types on his laptop.. our dog stares adoringly and randomly licks. The first time.. the guy was wedged behind the entertainment center as he was stretching to get at the cords. The dog licked his arm..the flailing was just 1 indicator that he was caught off guard. I don't know what it is about this kid.. but my dog finds him tasty.
Things are finally in working order.
Some of the construction guys are friends with Buddy across the street. They were wondering if I have a farmstand and hoping to get more jarred goods. Next year... hopefully.
Next year is going to be insanely busy. Right now is still super busy. I'm actually looking forward to when things slow down... Just not yet. Not until I finish planting more garlic, moving these strawberry plants and dividing the hostas.
The sewer line is old terra cotta pipe that tree roots have been invading. A problem we have been having to deal with repeatedly. Add to that water weeping in after a decent rain. YAY! So the house settled just enough that the sewer line was utterly kaput in several locations.
Hundreds of pounds of produce in my house..... and no plumbing!!!!!!
Our neighbors came to the rescue and for the next 2 weeks they opened their homes to us.
Luck is that during this time our one elderly neighbor threw out his back and my husband found him not long after he was incapacitated. My husband carried our neighbor down the stairs and all the way to the car... then off to the doctor. I cooked for him and as well other neighbors would check in to make sure he was ok. A week of rest, several more trips to the doctor, and some industrial strength pain meds he was good to go.
The concrete guys who came to redo the line were wonderful. I sent them off with tomatoes, eggs, melons, peppers, squash, apples, and an assortment of my jars. It was better to give away what I could than let it spoil. They accidently hit the water main and flooded the yard.. which created a massive mudslide that covered the neighbor's driveway as he is downhill from us. Then nailed the cable line which was barely 2 inches underground when they refilled the 8 foot deep trench. They kept the work site clean, even cleaning up the sidewalk and our neighbor's driveway. They also neatly piled the old copper pipes and solid lead pipe in the basement. This was particularly lovely of them. Often if you don't specify you want that metal.. it has a way of magically disappearing from a site.
The cable
The cable line was finally replaced... yesterday. They've dinked around in my house trying everything, except fixing the obvious cable wires sticking out from the middle of the lawn like a pulled thread. (The cute cable guy is in his early 20's.. and many years ago when I was single.. I'd be inviting a few girl friends over and breaking the cable darn near daily. Although back in those days.. it was a fireman in his boxers.. but that is another tale.) The dog loves Cableboy. As he busily swaps equipment and types on his laptop.. our dog stares adoringly and randomly licks. The first time.. the guy was wedged behind the entertainment center as he was stretching to get at the cords. The dog licked his arm..the flailing was just 1 indicator that he was caught off guard. I don't know what it is about this kid.. but my dog finds him tasty.
Things are finally in working order.
Some of the construction guys are friends with Buddy across the street. They were wondering if I have a farmstand and hoping to get more jarred goods. Next year... hopefully.
Next year is going to be insanely busy. Right now is still super busy. I'm actually looking forward to when things slow down... Just not yet. Not until I finish planting more garlic, moving these strawberry plants and dividing the hostas.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Apples & Organization
New shelves of the first section are up and getting filled.
I have 2 binders that I am using to try and keep my recipes organized. The lids are labeled with batch numbers, content, and date. I'm doing this because I have a lot of different variations and I'm trying to hone it down to the ones we like best.
The binders will let me rearrange the recipes later so that I can have them divided up by the primary ingredient. One I will keep in the kitchen, and the other will stay by the jars. The one downstairs has additional pages so I can keep track of how much I have made, so I know how much I have used.
Having an idea of what we consume will help me gauge my garden plantings. I'll know what types we like best and how much I need to plant. It will also help me with some things like jam combinations. I know that next year I need to have at least 4 pounds of raspberries and black raspberries frozen to make my daughter's favorite jam combo later.
All of these butternut squash, came off of 2 hills that combined had a total of 5 plants. We'll be eating it at least once a week for a year. By "we" I mean my family and my birds. The lowest level is a bench that spans the wall which is roughly 18 feet and it's almost completely full.
I finally cried "Uncle" and said we have enough apples. We're using king size pillow cases for them. Each holds over 50 pounds of apples. Just as I tackle 1 bag, my husband would wander home with more. That void in the shelf of quarts will be filled just as soon as the latest jars of applesauce have cooled. I will finally be under 400 pounds of apples today. We've been snacking on apples constantly.. the birds get some every day.. even the dog gets a cored apple. (One of the apples is everyone's favorite.. it's yellow with a red blush at the stem end. Crisp wonderful texture and tastes like a really sweet pear! An old lost tree that no one knows what kind it is. I HAVE to get scions!!)
This is my apple crumb cake..
To those that let us glean apples from their trees, I made them one of these, fresh warm rolls, a pint of applebutter, and also some quarts of applesauce as a thank you. They've all offered up an open invite so we can pick next year too. The assortment is nice because I have different kinds that can be used different ways.
None of these trees are sprayed, pruned, or bothered with in any way. The spring flowers are nice, but the apples are seen more of as a nuisance that have to pick up each fall before they mow the lawn. It makes me smile when they say "Oh wow! You made this from my apples?"
I did... now appreciate that damn tree ya lucky bastard!
We have more apple trees planted, but they need a few years yet to produce. The old orchard at the big farm seems to be nailed by a blight. It's hard to tell as it has been swallowed up by the encroaching forest and now is almost impossible to get to on foot. All the more reason to plant more.. and more varieties!
Maybe I should gather a few more just in case..
I have 2 binders that I am using to try and keep my recipes organized. The lids are labeled with batch numbers, content, and date. I'm doing this because I have a lot of different variations and I'm trying to hone it down to the ones we like best.
The binders will let me rearrange the recipes later so that I can have them divided up by the primary ingredient. One I will keep in the kitchen, and the other will stay by the jars. The one downstairs has additional pages so I can keep track of how much I have made, so I know how much I have used.
Having an idea of what we consume will help me gauge my garden plantings. I'll know what types we like best and how much I need to plant. It will also help me with some things like jam combinations. I know that next year I need to have at least 4 pounds of raspberries and black raspberries frozen to make my daughter's favorite jam combo later.
All of these butternut squash, came off of 2 hills that combined had a total of 5 plants. We'll be eating it at least once a week for a year. By "we" I mean my family and my birds. The lowest level is a bench that spans the wall which is roughly 18 feet and it's almost completely full.
I finally cried "Uncle" and said we have enough apples. We're using king size pillow cases for them. Each holds over 50 pounds of apples. Just as I tackle 1 bag, my husband would wander home with more. That void in the shelf of quarts will be filled just as soon as the latest jars of applesauce have cooled. I will finally be under 400 pounds of apples today. We've been snacking on apples constantly.. the birds get some every day.. even the dog gets a cored apple. (One of the apples is everyone's favorite.. it's yellow with a red blush at the stem end. Crisp wonderful texture and tastes like a really sweet pear! An old lost tree that no one knows what kind it is. I HAVE to get scions!!)
This is my apple crumb cake..
To those that let us glean apples from their trees, I made them one of these, fresh warm rolls, a pint of applebutter, and also some quarts of applesauce as a thank you. They've all offered up an open invite so we can pick next year too. The assortment is nice because I have different kinds that can be used different ways.
None of these trees are sprayed, pruned, or bothered with in any way. The spring flowers are nice, but the apples are seen more of as a nuisance that have to pick up each fall before they mow the lawn. It makes me smile when they say "Oh wow! You made this from my apples?"
I did... now appreciate that damn tree ya lucky bastard!
We have more apple trees planted, but they need a few years yet to produce. The old orchard at the big farm seems to be nailed by a blight. It's hard to tell as it has been swallowed up by the encroaching forest and now is almost impossible to get to on foot. All the more reason to plant more.. and more varieties!
Maybe I should gather a few more just in case..
Friday, September 28, 2012
When frost leaves you in a pickle..
If frost is forecasted and you're stuck having to put the garden to bed earlier than expected, it's time to buckle down an maximize your harvest.
If I have a few days warning, I start pulling tomatoes that have a decent blush on them to finish ripening on the counter. When tomatoes have a blush of color, it is called the breaker stage. Many of the "vine ripe" tomatoes at the store are actually harvested at this stage. Picking these gives the plants a chance to reroute their energy towards the younger fruit and the breaker tomatoes will still taste fine.
I pick all of the really immature winter squash. When they are very small they can be used like a summer squash. They are very delicate at this stage, so a fast wash and into the fridge. I use these up in the next few days. Care must be taken that they don't get dinged up as they are so fragile, and damage will make them spoil more quickly.
I also pick all of the squash flowers over the next few days. I have 2 containers that I keep in the fridge. One that is a filling for stuffed squash blossoms and another that is the batter that I dip them into. This way I can quickly wash the blossoms, stuff and fry them. Then off to the freezer they go on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Once frozen, I transfer them into a freezer container. They'll keep for 6 months.
Very immature melons are also picked. These fuzzy darlings I pickle. I've pickled quite a few of them this year already as the deer liked to play in the melon patch and obliterated many vines. When they are really young you don't need to peel them or do anything like that as the skins are tender. I make refrigerator pickles with them. The immature melons are very bland and not sweet, so they pick up the flavor of the pickling liquid very well.
If left to their own devices, my husband and daughter would eat pickles constantly. This year, they did. The entire middle shelf in my fridge is just pickles and I am constantly reloading the jars. Assorted veggies can be tossed into this like carrots cut into sticks, onions, radishes, peppers (needs at least 2 small slits so the liquid penetrates them), sugar snap peas (ends cut off.. also so liquid goes through), purslane stems, tiny green beans, kohlrabi.. pretty much anything.
More than a few zucchini were the size of my arm this year. These huge ones I process rather fast as the longer they sit, the tougher the seeds inside become. If the seeds are tender, I make zucchini parmesan and freeze them. Thick round are sliced, put into seasoned flour, then dipped into egg, and coated in seasoned breadcrumbs. A quick fry in a little olive oil to make them golden, on to a rack to cool, then on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper in a single row and into the freezer. Once frozen, they get put into freezer containers. I do the same with eggplant. It's a fast dinner later. Just pull out how many you need, lay them in a dish, top with tomato sauce, parmesan, and mozzarella, then bake.
Itty bitty green tomatoes are yet another thing I will pick. There's no hope for them to get of size, but they do have their uses! I've swapped these out in recipes that call for green tomatillos. I just made a green tomato relish (which is like a rather tasty sour salsa), the recipe I got from Farmgirl Fare. I left it chunky. (The flash is making it look rather pale too. This works out well for us as in my sauce making frenzy, I didn't jar up enough salsa. The recipe is super mild for our taste, so the next batches I will be using more jalapenos.)
We have yet to try them, but I also put up 28 quarts of 4 different pickled green tomatoes. The recipes for them are from Garden Betty.
For now fridge pickles remain the favorite. They are this simple to make.. (per quart)
The favorite here is garlic dill. I just pop in 6 whole black pepper corns, 4 cloves of peeled halved garlic and dill seeds or fronds. My husband likes them a little spicy, so I add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes to his. To go the sweet route.. you can add sugar to the saucepot.
Ideally you want to use whole spices, or slightly crushed ones. If you use powdered ones it looks like sediment (see pickled 1/2 tomatoes above. I ran out of garlic heads!)
DV doesn't much care for pickles, so his 1/2 gallon jar lasts him several months. We got as far as 4 weeks before they found the jar I hid in the back.
If you like it more sour.. use more vinegar. Roughly each quart jar you are looking to add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of spices. What kind is up to what you like. I suggest experimenting with different ones in jelly jars. Just make sure you tape the recipe to each jar (otherwise.. you'll have my mess!)
Best of luck to you all. I'm headed back to the kitchen!
If I have a few days warning, I start pulling tomatoes that have a decent blush on them to finish ripening on the counter. When tomatoes have a blush of color, it is called the breaker stage. Many of the "vine ripe" tomatoes at the store are actually harvested at this stage. Picking these gives the plants a chance to reroute their energy towards the younger fruit and the breaker tomatoes will still taste fine.
I pick all of the really immature winter squash. When they are very small they can be used like a summer squash. They are very delicate at this stage, so a fast wash and into the fridge. I use these up in the next few days. Care must be taken that they don't get dinged up as they are so fragile, and damage will make them spoil more quickly.
I also pick all of the squash flowers over the next few days. I have 2 containers that I keep in the fridge. One that is a filling for stuffed squash blossoms and another that is the batter that I dip them into. This way I can quickly wash the blossoms, stuff and fry them. Then off to the freezer they go on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Once frozen, I transfer them into a freezer container. They'll keep for 6 months.
Very immature melons are also picked. These fuzzy darlings I pickle. I've pickled quite a few of them this year already as the deer liked to play in the melon patch and obliterated many vines. When they are really young you don't need to peel them or do anything like that as the skins are tender. I make refrigerator pickles with them. The immature melons are very bland and not sweet, so they pick up the flavor of the pickling liquid very well.
If left to their own devices, my husband and daughter would eat pickles constantly. This year, they did. The entire middle shelf in my fridge is just pickles and I am constantly reloading the jars. Assorted veggies can be tossed into this like carrots cut into sticks, onions, radishes, peppers (needs at least 2 small slits so the liquid penetrates them), sugar snap peas (ends cut off.. also so liquid goes through), purslane stems, tiny green beans, kohlrabi.. pretty much anything.
More than a few zucchini were the size of my arm this year. These huge ones I process rather fast as the longer they sit, the tougher the seeds inside become. If the seeds are tender, I make zucchini parmesan and freeze them. Thick round are sliced, put into seasoned flour, then dipped into egg, and coated in seasoned breadcrumbs. A quick fry in a little olive oil to make them golden, on to a rack to cool, then on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper in a single row and into the freezer. Once frozen, they get put into freezer containers. I do the same with eggplant. It's a fast dinner later. Just pull out how many you need, lay them in a dish, top with tomato sauce, parmesan, and mozzarella, then bake.
Itty bitty green tomatoes are yet another thing I will pick. There's no hope for them to get of size, but they do have their uses! I've swapped these out in recipes that call for green tomatillos. I just made a green tomato relish (which is like a rather tasty sour salsa), the recipe I got from Farmgirl Fare. I left it chunky. (The flash is making it look rather pale too. This works out well for us as in my sauce making frenzy, I didn't jar up enough salsa. The recipe is super mild for our taste, so the next batches I will be using more jalapenos.)
We have yet to try them, but I also put up 28 quarts of 4 different pickled green tomatoes. The recipes for them are from Garden Betty.
For now fridge pickles remain the favorite. They are this simple to make.. (per quart)
- load up a clean jar with spices and an assortment of veggies to your liking (skip leafy greens. Cut slits in any small whole veggies -like peppers, beans, snap peas,etc. Cut the veggies so they are easy to handle, but also so the pickling liquid can permeate it well.)
- in a saucepot heat up to boiling 1 cup water, 1 cup vinegar, 1 tablespoon pickling salt
- pour pickling liquid over veggies and close up the jar. Once cooled, store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. (VERY helpful to write the date on them!)
The favorite here is garlic dill. I just pop in 6 whole black pepper corns, 4 cloves of peeled halved garlic and dill seeds or fronds. My husband likes them a little spicy, so I add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes to his. To go the sweet route.. you can add sugar to the saucepot.
Ideally you want to use whole spices, or slightly crushed ones. If you use powdered ones it looks like sediment (see pickled 1/2 tomatoes above. I ran out of garlic heads!)
DV doesn't much care for pickles, so his 1/2 gallon jar lasts him several months. We got as far as 4 weeks before they found the jar I hid in the back.
If you like it more sour.. use more vinegar. Roughly each quart jar you are looking to add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of spices. What kind is up to what you like. I suggest experimenting with different ones in jelly jars. Just make sure you tape the recipe to each jar (otherwise.. you'll have my mess!)
Best of luck to you all. I'm headed back to the kitchen!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Hunting Black Walnuts, Wild Apples, and Barbie's approval
In the forests, the trees have a thick layer of duff. Duff is decaying plant matter. Essentially the forest self mulches every fall. Despite the drought, it offered a bounty for the wildlife and for those that know where to look. The forests just happen to be really close to good disc golfing areas.
My husband and Buddy (my husband's clone across the street) have used "going out to get a look" as an excuse often. Amazing how their sight is dependent on how much disc golfing gear they bring with them. We "disc golf widows" tolerate it so long as they bring something back.
Buddy's interest in foraging has increased in direct relation to his carb crazed 4 year old daughter's (aka Pip) love of playing Barbies.
One of the boys' finds is a crisp, sweet and tart wild crabapple/ apple with pink flesh.
It is a smaller apple that cooks down to make a wonderful applesauce that needs no sweetening. As it is small, and a shade of pink her Barbie approves, Pip will eat it.
Yeah, you heard me. Barbie approved. Thankfully, Pip's Barbie is easily duped.
Some crazy lady may have told this youngster that fairies come out at night and look through the garden for flowers and leaves. (Barbie Fairytopia = fairies are cool. If You've not experience Fairytopia, consider yourself blessed.) Fairies are in Pip's garden. Flowers that they like get turned into dresses, put in their hair, and used in their houses. That when she finds a flower or a leaf she likes, she takes it and gives the plant a little magic so it can grow more. The magic can even be tasted as it makes things a little sweeter.
That one tale has spinned off into a lot more. She also thinks the wild fruit is coming from the fairy forest.The little pink fleshed apple is proof of fairy magic as no apple she's ever seen before was pink inside.
It gets worse. The kid is going to hate me when she grows up and figures it out. For now she thinks she has magic apples because the fairies are proud she's potty trained and didn't have any accidents at nursery school.
Bad Anne. Bad. (Although is it really any worse than Santa or the Easter bunny? At least my fairies pimp produce.)
Meanwhile.. black walnuts are dropping. I had gotten some from DV's stash and added them to zucchini bread and apple crisp. My husband loves them. So he's gathering them everyday on his way home from work. He stops off at the big farm and gets what he can.
Hulling them is difficult when they are green. Some run over them with their cars. If you find ones that have dark spots where the husk is soft.. get ready for maggots. There is a fly that lays it's eggs on the husk. The maggots eat the husk, but do not get past the shell of the nut. Totally disgusting if you have to hull a bunch that has this pest.
Gloves, dark towels, and crappy dark clothes are needed when dealing with these suckers. They stain the bejeebus out of whatever they touch. Good thick rubber gloves required! Go for those flimsy latex ones and you'll find out it takes weeks for it to all come off your hands. Even scrubbing your hands like crazy.. wiping them dry is a death sentence for any light colored towels you have. My husband has managed to ruin every single one of my light colored towels. (No surprise they used it as hair dye long ago!)
Once hulled, we toss them into a big plastic bucket with water and use a drill with a paddle attachment to finish cleaning them up. You want to get as much of the fleshy bits off as you can.
We toss ours into a milk crate and the next day they are out in the sun to dry. The drying process is otherwise known as "how to make squirrels really fricken happy." They will steal you blind if you don't keep an eye on the walnuts. Ours are set out for just one day and then placed into onion bags. We hang the bags so they can continue to cure for a few weeks.
If you're lucky to have black walnuts around and want to give them a try, this is a good link for more information.
We'll get some sleep at some point. Hopefully. Until then, the sound of power tools can be heard eminating from our basement at 2am.
My husband and Buddy (my husband's clone across the street) have used "going out to get a look" as an excuse often. Amazing how their sight is dependent on how much disc golfing gear they bring with them. We "disc golf widows" tolerate it so long as they bring something back.
Buddy's interest in foraging has increased in direct relation to his carb crazed 4 year old daughter's (aka Pip) love of playing Barbies.
One of the boys' finds is a crisp, sweet and tart wild crabapple/ apple with pink flesh.
Yeah, you heard me. Barbie approved. Thankfully, Pip's Barbie is easily duped.
Some crazy lady may have told this youngster that fairies come out at night and look through the garden for flowers and leaves. (Barbie Fairytopia = fairies are cool. If You've not experience Fairytopia, consider yourself blessed.) Fairies are in Pip's garden. Flowers that they like get turned into dresses, put in their hair, and used in their houses. That when she finds a flower or a leaf she likes, she takes it and gives the plant a little magic so it can grow more. The magic can even be tasted as it makes things a little sweeter.
That one tale has spinned off into a lot more. She also thinks the wild fruit is coming from the fairy forest.The little pink fleshed apple is proof of fairy magic as no apple she's ever seen before was pink inside.
It gets worse. The kid is going to hate me when she grows up and figures it out. For now she thinks she has magic apples because the fairies are proud she's potty trained and didn't have any accidents at nursery school.
Bad Anne. Bad. (Although is it really any worse than Santa or the Easter bunny? At least my fairies pimp produce.)
Meanwhile.. black walnuts are dropping. I had gotten some from DV's stash and added them to zucchini bread and apple crisp. My husband loves them. So he's gathering them everyday on his way home from work. He stops off at the big farm and gets what he can.
Hulling them is difficult when they are green. Some run over them with their cars. If you find ones that have dark spots where the husk is soft.. get ready for maggots. There is a fly that lays it's eggs on the husk. The maggots eat the husk, but do not get past the shell of the nut. Totally disgusting if you have to hull a bunch that has this pest.
Gloves, dark towels, and crappy dark clothes are needed when dealing with these suckers. They stain the bejeebus out of whatever they touch. Good thick rubber gloves required! Go for those flimsy latex ones and you'll find out it takes weeks for it to all come off your hands. Even scrubbing your hands like crazy.. wiping them dry is a death sentence for any light colored towels you have. My husband has managed to ruin every single one of my light colored towels. (No surprise they used it as hair dye long ago!)
Once hulled, we toss them into a big plastic bucket with water and use a drill with a paddle attachment to finish cleaning them up. You want to get as much of the fleshy bits off as you can.
We toss ours into a milk crate and the next day they are out in the sun to dry. The drying process is otherwise known as "how to make squirrels really fricken happy." They will steal you blind if you don't keep an eye on the walnuts. Ours are set out for just one day and then placed into onion bags. We hang the bags so they can continue to cure for a few weeks.
If you're lucky to have black walnuts around and want to give them a try, this is a good link for more information.
We'll get some sleep at some point. Hopefully. Until then, the sound of power tools can be heard eminating from our basement at 2am.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Harvesting- a ton of fun
The garden this year was a ton of fun. Hard work made even more challenging with the drought, but we still managed to grow a lot. We also managed to forage a lot of wonderful things. We managed to harvest over 2,000 pounds.
With a forecast of frost (which they then said would be a freeze), we scrambled on Friday and Saturday to pick as much as we could of the warm season crops. Every bowl, bin, bucket, bag, tote, and pot was filled. In desperation, folded laundry was dumped to use those baskets and total panic... a dozen pillowcases repurposed. (Lemme tell ya... I was really irked when it didn't really frost!! It was more of a glancing blow. Just enough to barely tinge a few super sensitive plants, but not enough to stop them.)
All surface areas are claimed save a 2 foot section in the kitchen where I prepare meals and do my canning.
Even the couch was not safe from the overflow. I'm amazed we got any zucchini and squash as the squash vine borers blew out the stems of everything except the butternuts. Squash bugs, and cucumber beetles in particular, were covering all the plants.
We still got some squash, melons, and cucumbers. Enough to share with neighbors, make pickles, and feed my almost featherless diva poultry (bad roosters!)
Due to the drought, we had to drag water in 5 gallon buckets to irrigate the plants every other day. The water source is a spring fed pond, so we had to perch on a stone to fill the buckets and then haul them all the way to the garden. I'd grab handfuls of Japanese beetles on the return trip to the pond to feed the fish. Feeding the fish was the fun part.
The water from the pond is like a mild fertilizer due to the nitrates from the fish. With a late start, it meant many of the plants went intohappy fun over obnoxious primarily foliar growth. Yellow pear tomatoes get overwhelming when exposed to this. They grew up and over the tomato cages, back down to the ground (where they set more roots), and did their best Kudzu impersonation. Rows vanished. The deer snacked away and barely made a dent. The chickens got 3 pounds everyday.. and I set out bowls for the chipmunks on the patio. One day, DV picked from just 1 yellow pear plant and had enough to make 8 quarts of venison chili.
He's now requested a limit on the yellow pears for next year's planting. lol I'll do a few less, but I like making sauce out of them.
Today I'm trying to reclaim surface space. Tomatoes are roasting to make sauce, the second batch of applebutter is cooking away, some chili peppers are in the dehydrator, and I'm waiting to hear the pings of the just pickled green tomatoes.
We yanked these pepper plants and hung them in the basement (ran out of time picking.) It'll buy me a little more time to process the other ripe veggies that can't wait. The same can be done to tomatoes and the fruit will get a little more time to ripen on the vine.
Suggestions of good canning recipes would be very appreciated. Especially for hot peppers (of which I have 100 pounds), green tomatoes, and apples!
With a forecast of frost (which they then said would be a freeze), we scrambled on Friday and Saturday to pick as much as we could of the warm season crops. Every bowl, bin, bucket, bag, tote, and pot was filled. In desperation, folded laundry was dumped to use those baskets and total panic... a dozen pillowcases repurposed. (Lemme tell ya... I was really irked when it didn't really frost!! It was more of a glancing blow. Just enough to barely tinge a few super sensitive plants, but not enough to stop them.)
All surface areas are claimed save a 2 foot section in the kitchen where I prepare meals and do my canning.
We still got some squash, melons, and cucumbers. Enough to share with neighbors, make pickles, and feed my almost featherless diva poultry (bad roosters!)
Due to the drought, we had to drag water in 5 gallon buckets to irrigate the plants every other day. The water source is a spring fed pond, so we had to perch on a stone to fill the buckets and then haul them all the way to the garden. I'd grab handfuls of Japanese beetles on the return trip to the pond to feed the fish. Feeding the fish was the fun part.
The water from the pond is like a mild fertilizer due to the nitrates from the fish. With a late start, it meant many of the plants went into
He's now requested a limit on the yellow pears for next year's planting. lol I'll do a few less, but I like making sauce out of them.
Today I'm trying to reclaim surface space. Tomatoes are roasting to make sauce, the second batch of applebutter is cooking away, some chili peppers are in the dehydrator, and I'm waiting to hear the pings of the just pickled green tomatoes.
Part of an average day's harvest once the gardens got going.
Just out of the waterbath canner. Spicy garlic & dill pickled green tomatoes.
We yanked these pepper plants and hung them in the basement (ran out of time picking.) It'll buy me a little more time to process the other ripe veggies that can't wait. The same can be done to tomatoes and the fruit will get a little more time to ripen on the vine.
Suggestions of good canning recipes would be very appreciated. Especially for hot peppers (of which I have 100 pounds), green tomatoes, and apples!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
A gadget to get
This is something I'd like to get.. the homestove version, but so far I only see the camp stove available. Thought Pioneer Preppy would be interested in it too..
It is a BioLite (camp/home) stove. Small, light, portable.. Frankly I'd love the homestove version as canning in this weather.. or just cooking anything is horrible with this heat and no AC.
It is a BioLite (camp/home) stove. Small, light, portable.. Frankly I'd love the homestove version as canning in this weather.. or just cooking anything is horrible with this heat and no AC.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Amquel kool-aid
You know what they say when you assume..
More than a few times I encounter situations, posts, concepts where the misguided thought seems to be that products produced for animals and pets are also automatically safe for people.
It's not.
They are not tested the same, there is less regard to quality, safety, allergic reaction, etc. An example is dog food, where cancerous and diseased meat not fit for human consumption is deemed just fine for Rover's dinner.
If the FDA declares something as "non-toxic" to people and as well says it is "not under their jurisdiction" when it comes to that compound's use on animals meant for consumption, that's not a declaration of support. That's saying a bit won't kill you, but no info on additional effects when misused.
The less subtle translation: Put down the farking water conditioner meant for use on fish.
It seems ridiculous to be all worried about chlorine and chloramine in your water.. and then add drops of Amquel into your soon to be fermenting batch of homemade fizzy fruit soda while touting how healthy it is.
Boil the water.. surprise, that will also get rid of chloramine. Vitamin C will also do the same trick. Option 3 is use distilled water. Need a multi-tasker just in case you also have to deal with a tear gas assault while you try to control quality of your brew? Grab some Campden tablets. (Why.. with all of those options.. would someone look for a solution in the pet aisle?)
Products on the market that are sold for use on non-humans are tested differently. Species react differently to the same substance. So while 1 product may not cause issues for Fido, it may be toxic to fish, amphibians, birds. Many companies may hide their formulas under proprietary laws. So while some ingredients are listed, rarely are all ingredients declared. Artistic licence in animal goods goes as far as announcing that cancerous mass derived from Bessie to be listed as a beef product.
If a product is not marketed for human use, and one uses/ consumes it with ill effects, the company producing this item is not liable. The FDA does not have your back as it is "out of their jurisdiction." The FDA can't keep up with lofty goals of inspecting major processing plants ONCE every FIVE years just for food intended for human consumption.
Roughly 2 months ago.. representatives for the EPA and the Army Corp of Engineers recently spoke at a local meeting on water quality... and they declared the Atrazine in the underground water to be at safe levels. Less than 1/2 of "safe" dosages of Atrazine have been known to cause birth defects and act as endocrine disruptors. Yay. Although this kool-aid is within "safe" Atrazine range, please limit yourself to 1 as higher doses are linked to prostate and breast cancer. By the way.. if you live in a location where they send you annual water quality reports..... Atrazine, among several other contaminants, is something they don't even check to see if it is present. Our water, deemed "safe" for for drinking.. yet Europe's standards forced Atrazine to be banned from use and considered the water as contaminated several years ago.
Still think the regulations are the same? Only a week ago Maryland became the first state to ban arsenic in chicken feed. It is marketed as 3-Nitro (Roxarsone) and one of the first FDA approved arsenic based animal feeds (aka.. medicated feed. The arsenic is to help prevent coccidiosis, improve weight gain, feed efficiency, etc. Except this is the INorganic arsenic.. which IS the carcinogenic and more toxic form of arsenic.)
Blind faith in an under-funded agency that panders to the mega-buck companies might not be the best idea (especially since they somehow find the funding to launch what amounts to repeated swat team style assaults on super small scale operations. I mean really.. I wonder what the price comparison is to set up safety protocol and means of pathogen testing raw milk vs the cost of these over the top raids.)
I don't think an individual has the time to research and vet out all the sources of health hazards we are now commonly exposed to even if they dedicate their entire life to it, but still, a bit of caution can go a long way.
***********************************************************************************
If Pfizer seems a bit shady to you... it may just be because you know it's agricultural division.. Monsanto.
More than a few times I encounter situations, posts, concepts where the misguided thought seems to be that products produced for animals and pets are also automatically safe for people.
It's not.
They are not tested the same, there is less regard to quality, safety, allergic reaction, etc. An example is dog food, where cancerous and diseased meat not fit for human consumption is deemed just fine for Rover's dinner.
If the FDA declares something as "non-toxic" to people and as well says it is "not under their jurisdiction" when it comes to that compound's use on animals meant for consumption, that's not a declaration of support. That's saying a bit won't kill you, but no info on additional effects when misused.
The less subtle translation: Put down the farking water conditioner meant for use on fish.
It seems ridiculous to be all worried about chlorine and chloramine in your water.. and then add drops of Amquel into your soon to be fermenting batch of homemade fizzy fruit soda while touting how healthy it is.
Boil the water.. surprise, that will also get rid of chloramine. Vitamin C will also do the same trick. Option 3 is use distilled water. Need a multi-tasker just in case you also have to deal with a tear gas assault while you try to control quality of your brew? Grab some Campden tablets. (Why.. with all of those options.. would someone look for a solution in the pet aisle?)
Products on the market that are sold for use on non-humans are tested differently. Species react differently to the same substance. So while 1 product may not cause issues for Fido, it may be toxic to fish, amphibians, birds. Many companies may hide their formulas under proprietary laws. So while some ingredients are listed, rarely are all ingredients declared. Artistic licence in animal goods goes as far as announcing that cancerous mass derived from Bessie to be listed as a beef product.
If a product is not marketed for human use, and one uses/ consumes it with ill effects, the company producing this item is not liable. The FDA does not have your back as it is "out of their jurisdiction." The FDA can't keep up with lofty goals of inspecting major processing plants ONCE every FIVE years just for food intended for human consumption.
Roughly 2 months ago.. representatives for the EPA and the Army Corp of Engineers recently spoke at a local meeting on water quality... and they declared the Atrazine in the underground water to be at safe levels. Less than 1/2 of "safe" dosages of Atrazine have been known to cause birth defects and act as endocrine disruptors. Yay. Although this kool-aid is within "safe" Atrazine range, please limit yourself to 1 as higher doses are linked to prostate and breast cancer. By the way.. if you live in a location where they send you annual water quality reports..... Atrazine, among several other contaminants, is something they don't even check to see if it is present. Our water, deemed "safe" for for drinking.. yet Europe's standards forced Atrazine to be banned from use and considered the water as contaminated several years ago.
Still think the regulations are the same? Only a week ago Maryland became the first state to ban arsenic in chicken feed. It is marketed as 3-Nitro (Roxarsone) and one of the first FDA approved arsenic based animal feeds (aka.. medicated feed. The arsenic is to help prevent coccidiosis, improve weight gain, feed efficiency, etc. Except this is the INorganic arsenic.. which IS the carcinogenic and more toxic form of arsenic.)
Whew! Well thank the lucky stars that the FDA finally completed testing in Dec. 2010 of something they have allowed to be used routinely since 1940, on an animal the average American consumes almost 60 pounds worth annually! The FDA has our back (sarcasm).. which is why they allowed the maker, AlPharma (subsidiary of Pfizer), to volunteer their assistance on hammering out a compromise. A reward for big AlPharma came not only in FDA praise, but as they opted to suspended sales of 3-Nitro all by themselves, the FDA let them continue selling other arsenic based medications meant for animals to be consumed by people. (feel free to wander the FDA site.)"How does FDA regulate carcinogenic compounds used in food-producing animals?
Under the Delaney Clause for new animal drugs of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, FDA cannot approve any compound for use in food-producing animals where the drug or its metabolites has been found to induce cancer. There is an exception, commonly referred to as the DES proviso. The DES proviso carves out an exception to the Delaney Clause allowing cancer-causing compounds (or compounds with cancer-causing metabolites) to be used in food-producing animals if 1) the drug does not harm the animal and 2) tests approved by FDA do not detect residues of the drug in any food from the animal. The Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act governs the withdrawal of approval of a new animal drug application, after due notice and an opportunity for hearing, where new evidence shows that the Delaney Clause applies."
Blind faith in an under-funded agency that panders to the mega-buck companies might not be the best idea (especially since they somehow find the funding to launch what amounts to repeated swat team style assaults on super small scale operations. I mean really.. I wonder what the price comparison is to set up safety protocol and means of pathogen testing raw milk vs the cost of these over the top raids.)
I don't think an individual has the time to research and vet out all the sources of health hazards we are now commonly exposed to even if they dedicate their entire life to it, but still, a bit of caution can go a long way.
***********************************************************************************
If Pfizer seems a bit shady to you... it may just be because you know it's agricultural division.. Monsanto.
Caped crusaders
My birds are nekked. I had to sew them some clothes. I'm not kidding. I can honestly say that my hens are equipped with a cloaking device (aka.. chicken saddles/ aprons.)
Too many boys makes for so much trouble and the last straw was when one of the little Ava's (the smallest Barred Rock hen... that's kinda like saying "the slender hippo") had her side completely ripped open by Dave (aka Tank.) With a lot of care, Ava amazingly healed up completely. It was a bad gash and there was not much hope she would survive at first.
We tried finding the boys homes, but had no luck. So, 4 more roosters were sent to freezer camp. It is a horrible thing, but we are not vegetarians. The process from start to finish, went as I wished it would go for the animals that are raised for meat.
Right now, we only have 2 guineas. We had sent 2 guinea cocks to freezer camp last fall. Earl Gray passed a few weeks ago. Frankly not something I can relay at the moment. Keep in mind my Mom is in her mid 70's and it was an accident.
Josette (guinea hen)... she got broody. The first night she was gone it was raining and we tromped through the fields and the woods for hours looking. She showed up in the morning to our relief. Dine and dash, she would eat really fast and disappear. I marked it on the calendar. It took almost 3 weeks of trying to follow them to see where she was hidden.. along a barbedwire fence in the neighbor's field. We set up the brooder for her, ran out and bought a cat carrier, grabbed egg cartons (hot water bottle in a cooler for the move).. and raced to the nest. We found Grace on the nest. Josette was nowhere to be found. The area was untrampled save for the little path the birds had carved to the nest (with the grass being so tall.. it was more of a tunnel.) Grace rejected the new nest that night. 40 eggs lost. They were so close. (The neighbor had adopted several new barn cats. His old one stayed close to home but these new ones wander over.. right up to the house! It is possible one of them may have gotten Josette. It is hard to tell as there was no mess at all.)
Zippy, the Rhode Island Red hen, thought the nest was amazing. She wants to be broody.. but then promptly forgets the moment she hears one of the roosters announce he has found a treat. All gluttony and no glory. She moves the eggs constantly. The clutch migrates around the brooder like little nomads. We just removed most of the guinea eggs a few days ago. Most.. as some seem to have rolled off into the sunset.
With the brooder open the girls have ditched the nestboxes completely. 5 of them at a time will occupy the brooder and have a laying party. I suppose this could be a good thing should any of them want to give Mommy-hood a go. Collecting the eggs is a little more difficult, but they are really enjoying the brooder.
To some this endeavor may seem silly, but even my birds' worst day is better than a typical broiler's best day. (Except maybe for Roy.. who still keeps trying to shag Keet. Keet liberated Roy of his tail as a result.)
So as I make my way out to the coop on sunny mornings.. and slather bullfrog sunblock on my rooster's butt so it doesn't get sunburned.. I am in awe at just how ridiculous life got while trying to regain control of what we eat.
****************************************************************************
Do the guineas help with ticks? Well, so far I have had only 1 tick this year. While mine are constantly bickering with the chickens, another farm (mainly raising grass fed beef) closer to our house in town has dozens of them that live peacefully with chickens, ducks, and turkey. It is mostly just Roy causing instigating trouble. (Hoping he figures this out at some point. More hens would keep him busy enough to leave the guineas alone.)
There is always feed available to them, which they nibble on, but all of the birds prefer to forage. Plain yogurt is one of their favorite treats. It is the one treat at the moment that the guineas go nuts about. We get little bowls.. my husband holds 2 and my daughter holds 2. I dispense the yogurt as the birds start literally jump at the bowls and loudly make their demand that we hurry. Stop.. drop.. and run. Delay for just a second and you'll be covered in yogurt. Hold the bowls too long... Izzy will hop on to your arm to help herself while unabashedly using you as a napkin to wipe off her beak.
I like their quirks. I like that my daughter has goofy childhood memories because of it. (While running away from a wasp.. the birds thought she had to have hit the big bug score. I looked up from my weeding and smiled.. at my daughter running around like a lunatic waving her arms and yelling.. a dozen birds chasing her in curiosity.)
Rain has thwarted by plans of planting today. So I'm digging around for light colored fabric to sew summer frocks for my hens. I really will be happy when they molt and get their feathers back.
Too many boys makes for so much trouble and the last straw was when one of the little Ava's (the smallest Barred Rock hen... that's kinda like saying "the slender hippo") had her side completely ripped open by Dave (aka Tank.) With a lot of care, Ava amazingly healed up completely. It was a bad gash and there was not much hope she would survive at first.
We tried finding the boys homes, but had no luck. So, 4 more roosters were sent to freezer camp. It is a horrible thing, but we are not vegetarians. The process from start to finish, went as I wished it would go for the animals that are raised for meat.
Right now, we only have 2 guineas. We had sent 2 guinea cocks to freezer camp last fall. Earl Gray passed a few weeks ago. Frankly not something I can relay at the moment. Keep in mind my Mom is in her mid 70's and it was an accident.
Josette (guinea hen)... she got broody. The first night she was gone it was raining and we tromped through the fields and the woods for hours looking. She showed up in the morning to our relief. Dine and dash, she would eat really fast and disappear. I marked it on the calendar. It took almost 3 weeks of trying to follow them to see where she was hidden.. along a barbedwire fence in the neighbor's field. We set up the brooder for her, ran out and bought a cat carrier, grabbed egg cartons (hot water bottle in a cooler for the move).. and raced to the nest. We found Grace on the nest. Josette was nowhere to be found. The area was untrampled save for the little path the birds had carved to the nest (with the grass being so tall.. it was more of a tunnel.) Grace rejected the new nest that night. 40 eggs lost. They were so close. (The neighbor had adopted several new barn cats. His old one stayed close to home but these new ones wander over.. right up to the house! It is possible one of them may have gotten Josette. It is hard to tell as there was no mess at all.)
Zippy, the Rhode Island Red hen, thought the nest was amazing. She wants to be broody.. but then promptly forgets the moment she hears one of the roosters announce he has found a treat. All gluttony and no glory. She moves the eggs constantly. The clutch migrates around the brooder like little nomads. We just removed most of the guinea eggs a few days ago. Most.. as some seem to have rolled off into the sunset.
With the brooder open the girls have ditched the nestboxes completely. 5 of them at a time will occupy the brooder and have a laying party. I suppose this could be a good thing should any of them want to give Mommy-hood a go. Collecting the eggs is a little more difficult, but they are really enjoying the brooder.
To some this endeavor may seem silly, but even my birds' worst day is better than a typical broiler's best day. (Except maybe for Roy.. who still keeps trying to shag Keet. Keet liberated Roy of his tail as a result.)
So as I make my way out to the coop on sunny mornings.. and slather bullfrog sunblock on my rooster's butt so it doesn't get sunburned.. I am in awe at just how ridiculous life got while trying to regain control of what we eat.
****************************************************************************
Do the guineas help with ticks? Well, so far I have had only 1 tick this year. While mine are constantly bickering with the chickens, another farm (mainly raising grass fed beef) closer to our house in town has dozens of them that live peacefully with chickens, ducks, and turkey. It is mostly just Roy causing instigating trouble. (Hoping he figures this out at some point. More hens would keep him busy enough to leave the guineas alone.)
There is always feed available to them, which they nibble on, but all of the birds prefer to forage. Plain yogurt is one of their favorite treats. It is the one treat at the moment that the guineas go nuts about. We get little bowls.. my husband holds 2 and my daughter holds 2. I dispense the yogurt as the birds start literally jump at the bowls and loudly make their demand that we hurry. Stop.. drop.. and run. Delay for just a second and you'll be covered in yogurt. Hold the bowls too long... Izzy will hop on to your arm to help herself while unabashedly using you as a napkin to wipe off her beak.
I like their quirks. I like that my daughter has goofy childhood memories because of it. (While running away from a wasp.. the birds thought she had to have hit the big bug score. I looked up from my weeding and smiled.. at my daughter running around like a lunatic waving her arms and yelling.. a dozen birds chasing her in curiosity.)
Rain has thwarted by plans of planting today. So I'm digging around for light colored fabric to sew summer frocks for my hens. I really will be happy when they molt and get their feathers back.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
I'm not Martha
Sorry for the silence! With a loud *POP* my computer declared it's decision to move on to the land of giant paperweights.
We've kept busy and there never seems to be enough time, but there always seems to be just 1 more thing to add to the list. I'm STILL potting up tomatoes for transplanting. Clearly there is such a thing as "too many", but not a concept I was embracing a few months ago as I was starting seeds in March. I have a lovely large addition of mystery tomatoes & peppers this year as our crazed canine tested the aerodynamics of tomato seeds. I was attempting to channel Martha Stewart's organizational prowess while watching TV. Last year's crazy weather weighing heavily on my mind, it seemed only logical to plant just a few extra of each.. just in case. I set out a cookie sheet with little ramikins that held the labels for the pots and the seeds ready to be dispensed. I remember looking at the tray and thinking "Finally! A use for these ramikins!" So orderly, so neat, so precise and measured! My folly to be realized minutes later..
Martha does not watch tv while planting.
Martha would never consider the coffee table in the living room a good stand-in for a potting shed.
Martha... is not a moron.
Our dog has been getting a lot of eggs in his diet, the result is this old man is acting like he's 2 years old again. (The membrane in eggs is a source of glucosamine, which seems to have helped his hips A LOT.) Across the street lives the most recent object of his adoration, a 3 year old girl ( I'll call her Pip) who loves to throw things. She calls for him, he lets out a loud AAAAAARRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOO, and then madly bounces around to be let out. The glorious tray didn't stand a chance.
2 hours of tweezing seeds out of the carpet, my daughter casually commented "Too bad they aren't different colors so you could tell the difference." *Blink Dye the seeds!!!!!! That's brilliant!! It would be only 1 additional step when I process seeds! After fermenting and rinsing the seeds, a quick dip in food coloring before setting out to dry would put a potential end to my disorganizational gardening Anne-tics! 2013 already is looking even better!
We've planted some tomatoes and peppers, but not enough to make decent dent in my transplant stock. 36 eggplants that looked absolutely amazing this year. Seriously, the best I have ever grown, so robust and beautiful! They are currently lacy skeletons of what could have been. Flea beetles suck. Without floating row covers, this is one crop I have to give up. I gave half of them away and everyone is having the same troubles. Coffee grounds, diatomaceous earth, hot pepper wax, mild soapy spray.. nothing has stopped them or even slowed them down. I may just use eggplant as a trap crop.
Currently what is flowering and setting seed is parsley, kohlrabi, and turnips. Winter was very mild. These are biennial crops, so they flower and go to seed the second year. We didn't dig them up, but over-wintered them by mulching them heavily with shredded leaves. The trick is you have to get the leaves off as soon as possible in the spring and hope moles aren't an issue.
Pip's dad (I'll call him Buddy) and DV (small farm neighbor with the underground house) have doubled their garden size this year! Fantastic timing as we happily have been helping to fill them, the crop swapping continues! It was a bad year for morels, but we got a pound from DV. Our hens have been laying a lot more than we can ever consume. So far they are supplying not just us but DV and 4 other families. We've also been sharing bags of our lettuce, scallions, spinach, snow peas, and herbs (chives, oregano, basil, parsley.) We'll be picking shelling peas this week. Pip, much to her parents' joy, discovered that while she hates cooked peas, she loves them raw. Mulberries are almost ready!
Strawberries are doing great.... as chicken treats. We expanded the patch last fall into an area we amended well with compost made from weeds and coop contributions (the plants are huge and lush.. obviously appreciating the new area.) 4 of the girls will go into the garden with us.. braving my Mom's 2 wack-a-doodle dogs' terrifying excitement through the fence. They make working in the garden challenging. Bug crazy grub gluttons.. grabbing the tools creates an instant parade as they follow us. We spent loooooong days turning the soil by hand mixing in compost and pulling weeds. The girls constantly inspecting disturbed soil for treats. Planting the transplants took ages. Dig a hole and 4 hens are trying to get into it, dirt starts flying. Often they can refill the hole faster than you can dig it with a trowel. I put down newspaper weighed down with clumps of clay as a weed barrier. My husband.. bless that man... wanted to make it look nicer and put down mulch. I have no doubt it looked lovely, just he used straw and essentially created a chicken Disneyland. The big "ta-da" reveal looked less like garden paradise and a lot more like the crater pocked moon. That's when the strawberries, or rather the enjoyment of eating strawberries, was discovered by the girls. It is impossible to get mad about it.. even when they are doing their Godzilla impression while stomping through the snow peas. The transplants (so far) are unharmed, just the garden bears a similar post-apocalyptic flare as my daughter's room.
I'm a lot less stressed about the gardens this year. We've tabled the farmer's market idea for now which lets me focus more on building the soil. Some locals are in the process of trying to get a co-op going!
Many around here have gardens and it is for a reason.. Even though this is an agricultural driven location, we have quite possibly the worst quality produce ever offered in the grocery stores. The farmer's market and your own garden is really the only good sources of produce around. Out of need, pride, stubbornness we grew or traded for most of what we ate last summer and fall. My husband found work, so now we can continue because we WANT to and that change in perspective is a relief. This year is shaping up so far to be quite a bit more productive than last. Friends help lighten the load. DV declared he needs to can "more tomatoes than you can shake a stick at".. I'll be there to help! (Especially as I'm planting cukes, beans, squashes, 4 dozen tomatoes and 2 dozen peppers at his place tomorrow for the first of a couple planting sessions!)
Back to work. I need to get these plants separated and out of my light unit. I'm hoping I have enough planted to make regular contributions to the local food pantry this year. I hope everyone else has a good bounty as well!
We've kept busy and there never seems to be enough time, but there always seems to be just 1 more thing to add to the list. I'm STILL potting up tomatoes for transplanting. Clearly there is such a thing as "too many", but not a concept I was embracing a few months ago as I was starting seeds in March. I have a lovely large addition of mystery tomatoes & peppers this year as our crazed canine tested the aerodynamics of tomato seeds. I was attempting to channel Martha Stewart's organizational prowess while watching TV. Last year's crazy weather weighing heavily on my mind, it seemed only logical to plant just a few extra of each.. just in case. I set out a cookie sheet with little ramikins that held the labels for the pots and the seeds ready to be dispensed. I remember looking at the tray and thinking "Finally! A use for these ramikins!" So orderly, so neat, so precise and measured! My folly to be realized minutes later..
Martha does not watch tv while planting.
Martha would never consider the coffee table in the living room a good stand-in for a potting shed.
Martha... is not a moron.
Our dog has been getting a lot of eggs in his diet, the result is this old man is acting like he's 2 years old again. (The membrane in eggs is a source of glucosamine, which seems to have helped his hips A LOT.) Across the street lives the most recent object of his adoration, a 3 year old girl ( I'll call her Pip) who loves to throw things. She calls for him, he lets out a loud AAAAAARRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOO, and then madly bounces around to be let out. The glorious tray didn't stand a chance.
2 hours of tweezing seeds out of the carpet, my daughter casually commented "Too bad they aren't different colors so you could tell the difference." *Blink Dye the seeds!!!!!! That's brilliant!! It would be only 1 additional step when I process seeds! After fermenting and rinsing the seeds, a quick dip in food coloring before setting out to dry would put a potential end to my disorganizational gardening Anne-tics! 2013 already is looking even better!
We've planted some tomatoes and peppers, but not enough to make decent dent in my transplant stock. 36 eggplants that looked absolutely amazing this year. Seriously, the best I have ever grown, so robust and beautiful! They are currently lacy skeletons of what could have been. Flea beetles suck. Without floating row covers, this is one crop I have to give up. I gave half of them away and everyone is having the same troubles. Coffee grounds, diatomaceous earth, hot pepper wax, mild soapy spray.. nothing has stopped them or even slowed them down. I may just use eggplant as a trap crop.
Currently what is flowering and setting seed is parsley, kohlrabi, and turnips. Winter was very mild. These are biennial crops, so they flower and go to seed the second year. We didn't dig them up, but over-wintered them by mulching them heavily with shredded leaves. The trick is you have to get the leaves off as soon as possible in the spring and hope moles aren't an issue.
Pip's dad (I'll call him Buddy) and DV (small farm neighbor with the underground house) have doubled their garden size this year! Fantastic timing as we happily have been helping to fill them, the crop swapping continues! It was a bad year for morels, but we got a pound from DV. Our hens have been laying a lot more than we can ever consume. So far they are supplying not just us but DV and 4 other families. We've also been sharing bags of our lettuce, scallions, spinach, snow peas, and herbs (chives, oregano, basil, parsley.) We'll be picking shelling peas this week. Pip, much to her parents' joy, discovered that while she hates cooked peas, she loves them raw. Mulberries are almost ready!
Strawberries are doing great.... as chicken treats. We expanded the patch last fall into an area we amended well with compost made from weeds and coop contributions (the plants are huge and lush.. obviously appreciating the new area.) 4 of the girls will go into the garden with us.. braving my Mom's 2 wack-a-doodle dogs' terrifying excitement through the fence. They make working in the garden challenging. Bug crazy grub gluttons.. grabbing the tools creates an instant parade as they follow us. We spent loooooong days turning the soil by hand mixing in compost and pulling weeds. The girls constantly inspecting disturbed soil for treats. Planting the transplants took ages. Dig a hole and 4 hens are trying to get into it, dirt starts flying. Often they can refill the hole faster than you can dig it with a trowel. I put down newspaper weighed down with clumps of clay as a weed barrier. My husband.. bless that man... wanted to make it look nicer and put down mulch. I have no doubt it looked lovely, just he used straw and essentially created a chicken Disneyland. The big "ta-da" reveal looked less like garden paradise and a lot more like the crater pocked moon. That's when the strawberries, or rather the enjoyment of eating strawberries, was discovered by the girls. It is impossible to get mad about it.. even when they are doing their Godzilla impression while stomping through the snow peas. The transplants (so far) are unharmed, just the garden bears a similar post-apocalyptic flare as my daughter's room.
I'm a lot less stressed about the gardens this year. We've tabled the farmer's market idea for now which lets me focus more on building the soil. Some locals are in the process of trying to get a co-op going!
Many around here have gardens and it is for a reason.. Even though this is an agricultural driven location, we have quite possibly the worst quality produce ever offered in the grocery stores. The farmer's market and your own garden is really the only good sources of produce around. Out of need, pride, stubbornness we grew or traded for most of what we ate last summer and fall. My husband found work, so now we can continue because we WANT to and that change in perspective is a relief. This year is shaping up so far to be quite a bit more productive than last. Friends help lighten the load. DV declared he needs to can "more tomatoes than you can shake a stick at".. I'll be there to help! (Especially as I'm planting cukes, beans, squashes, 4 dozen tomatoes and 2 dozen peppers at his place tomorrow for the first of a couple planting sessions!)
Back to work. I need to get these plants separated and out of my light unit. I'm hoping I have enough planted to make regular contributions to the local food pantry this year. I hope everyone else has a good bounty as well!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Know your zone
I found this helpful link if you are curious to find out a little more information about your neck of the woods. Average first and last frost dates, plant hardiness zone, soil properties, plants and tree ranges, interactive maps, etc.
Just an interesting thing to check out.
Just an interesting thing to check out.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Silvopasture
Silvopasture is essentially multi-purposing land for both raising livestock and tree crops. It was and in some areas around here still is a technique used in this hilly locale. It is a method that some of the 80 acre farm's first farmers utilized.
The layout was determined by them, and it is quite logical. The "top" of the hills were cleared and somewhat flattened over time. These were the tilled plots for crops. The steep hill sides and valleys were pasture/orchard/ wildlife.
Tucked into the various wooded sections near the barn are also old overgrown ruins of what once were chicken coops and what looks like an area for pigs (just a guess. Either it was meant for pigs, or someone went a little crazy with the fencing.) Some of these wooded pastures are being swallowed up by nature as the landscape hasn't been grazed in many years. A lot of junk has been hidden in the woods by previous residents. In the U shaped pasture.. at the bottom of the "U" is a massive junkyard. Everything from glass bottles to an old dishwasher, and old furnace, right on to a burned out car. That is a clean up project we will tackle later.
The farm was primarily dairy cattle and black walnut lumber. The pastured areas were mainly cleared of black walnut (toxic to several livestock, but as well to fruit trees) and that is where the apple, pear, plum orchard was planted. Back in the day the fields were alternated of various crops. After a field was harvested or cut, the cattle were rotated to that field for grazing, which then gave the primary pastures time to recover. I don't know the accuracy of this as I do not have any dairy cattle experience, but the farmers around here move cattle out of pastures that have apples. I asked about this and was told that they believe cows will dry up if allowed to feast on fallen apples. Instead they leave it to lure yet another prize.. whitetailed deer and turkey.
This was just an example I wanted to show of old style silvopasturing. The concept can be scaled down significantly and altered to suit different needs. It is combining trees for various uses (lumber, fuel, fruit/nut crops, bee forage, wood working, fencing, etc.) with an understory crop and as well able to be used as a sheltered location for animals, a windbreak, and a means to help energy efficiency of a home.
Which trees to use? Several considerations need to be taken into account when selecting trees. Speed of growth, utilization properties, toxicity (if you are working with livestock), maturity size, compatability with surroundings, canopy spread/ density, invasive potential, soil condition, etc. Shade is also a big thing to take into consideration. Taking note of how much shade is cast and the effect on the surroundings. Some with a thinner canopy may let you get away with berries planted underneath, while others block out so much light that many plants could not produce a crop (unless you consider mushrooms!)
An example of this would be my ponderings of planting a black walnut grove. If I have the proper spacing I can also plant Black Locust. Black Locust grows rather fast, it is a very good rot resistant wood which makes it a good candidate for fence posts or even for constructing raised beds. It has a highly invasive property with the ability to send out many seed pods as well as suckers. However it is not resistant to juglone. So while it would encourage the black walnuts to grow upwards more quickly and more straight by competition, it would not be a long standing companion as the black walnut will essentially kill them off in about 2 decades. Black Locust is an excellent wood for fuel with a high BTU and good burn time. It is a nitrogen fixing tree and also produces a potential bee forage crop. It is toxic to many livestock however, so the placement would not be in a pasture (even though it has wicked thorns that would deter nibbling.)
Right now my Mom is getting some estimates on a few of her black walnuts. Value of the tree is determined by quality and size. To give a ballpark range on the value of these trees.. it can be a few hundred per tree on up to $2,000+. That is when someone else is coming in to cut and carry them away. Nut crop vs wood crop in this case. The methods for achieving the best lumber isn't the most ideal for nut harvest (shorter trees for harvesting and more spacing for heavier yields.)
The black walnut grove is only a concept right now. Reality is that it is a VERY long term crop and one that I quite frankly will doubtfully be alive to benefit. Unless I somehow live well into my 100's..lol. It would produce nuts well before that, but still well over 20 years from planting.
For now I am identifying what species I do have, what qualities they offer, and how they would fit best into overall land management.
I mean.. it was no small coincidence that the old timers situated the pig pen where the oak trees grow. (Acorns a bountiful and well loved crop that fattened up the pigs in the fall.)
The layout was determined by them, and it is quite logical. The "top" of the hills were cleared and somewhat flattened over time. These were the tilled plots for crops. The steep hill sides and valleys were pasture/orchard/ wildlife.
Tucked into the various wooded sections near the barn are also old overgrown ruins of what once were chicken coops and what looks like an area for pigs (just a guess. Either it was meant for pigs, or someone went a little crazy with the fencing.) Some of these wooded pastures are being swallowed up by nature as the landscape hasn't been grazed in many years. A lot of junk has been hidden in the woods by previous residents. In the U shaped pasture.. at the bottom of the "U" is a massive junkyard. Everything from glass bottles to an old dishwasher, and old furnace, right on to a burned out car. That is a clean up project we will tackle later.
The farm was primarily dairy cattle and black walnut lumber. The pastured areas were mainly cleared of black walnut (toxic to several livestock, but as well to fruit trees) and that is where the apple, pear, plum orchard was planted. Back in the day the fields were alternated of various crops. After a field was harvested or cut, the cattle were rotated to that field for grazing, which then gave the primary pastures time to recover. I don't know the accuracy of this as I do not have any dairy cattle experience, but the farmers around here move cattle out of pastures that have apples. I asked about this and was told that they believe cows will dry up if allowed to feast on fallen apples. Instead they leave it to lure yet another prize.. whitetailed deer and turkey.
This was just an example I wanted to show of old style silvopasturing. The concept can be scaled down significantly and altered to suit different needs. It is combining trees for various uses (lumber, fuel, fruit/nut crops, bee forage, wood working, fencing, etc.) with an understory crop and as well able to be used as a sheltered location for animals, a windbreak, and a means to help energy efficiency of a home.
Which trees to use? Several considerations need to be taken into account when selecting trees. Speed of growth, utilization properties, toxicity (if you are working with livestock), maturity size, compatability with surroundings, canopy spread/ density, invasive potential, soil condition, etc. Shade is also a big thing to take into consideration. Taking note of how much shade is cast and the effect on the surroundings. Some with a thinner canopy may let you get away with berries planted underneath, while others block out so much light that many plants could not produce a crop (unless you consider mushrooms!)
An example of this would be my ponderings of planting a black walnut grove. If I have the proper spacing I can also plant Black Locust. Black Locust grows rather fast, it is a very good rot resistant wood which makes it a good candidate for fence posts or even for constructing raised beds. It has a highly invasive property with the ability to send out many seed pods as well as suckers. However it is not resistant to juglone. So while it would encourage the black walnuts to grow upwards more quickly and more straight by competition, it would not be a long standing companion as the black walnut will essentially kill them off in about 2 decades. Black Locust is an excellent wood for fuel with a high BTU and good burn time. It is a nitrogen fixing tree and also produces a potential bee forage crop. It is toxic to many livestock however, so the placement would not be in a pasture (even though it has wicked thorns that would deter nibbling.)
Right now my Mom is getting some estimates on a few of her black walnuts. Value of the tree is determined by quality and size. To give a ballpark range on the value of these trees.. it can be a few hundred per tree on up to $2,000+. That is when someone else is coming in to cut and carry them away. Nut crop vs wood crop in this case. The methods for achieving the best lumber isn't the most ideal for nut harvest (shorter trees for harvesting and more spacing for heavier yields.)
The black walnut grove is only a concept right now. Reality is that it is a VERY long term crop and one that I quite frankly will doubtfully be alive to benefit. Unless I somehow live well into my 100's..lol. It would produce nuts well before that, but still well over 20 years from planting.
For now I am identifying what species I do have, what qualities they offer, and how they would fit best into overall land management.
I mean.. it was no small coincidence that the old timers situated the pig pen where the oak trees grow. (Acorns a bountiful and well loved crop that fattened up the pigs in the fall.)
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The Cuckoo's Nest
At some point in time many stop denying the insanity and just own it. In the case of my Mom.. she digs deep and gets in tune with her inner raging German and proclaims everyone else is out of their gourd.
Hast du einen vogel?!?
translation: Do you have a bird?
meaning: Are you nucking futz?
It asks if you have a bird (in your head).. the phrase is accompanied by a gesture pointing to the head. The American equivelent is asking one if they have a screw loose.
I am a master of miscommunication. Without the use of an outline, puppets, a cinematic trailer, and an interpreter.. conversations are dangerous with those to which they claim I am genetically linked. There is no room for forgiveness even with a language barrier. The language barrier.. oh the joy. Finding yourself so far up a creek without a paddle, that soon you discover you also have no floatation device to pilot in any case.
A prime example is this.. many years ago my Grandmother came for a visit. After several months of expected kowtowing from the younger generation, one snowy afternoon I made a catastrophic error. My lackluster grip of the German language sent me hurdling to the lowest peg of the family pecking order.
I had the heat cranked in the car and in 3 little words I managed to cement my familial ranking not just at the bottom of the barrel.. but under it.
I asked...
"Bist du warm?"
The simplistic translation in my mind I was asking "Are you warm?" As in.. the inside of the car is hotter than Vegas in July can I shut the farking heat off yet? But oh no... that was not what I had asked. It seems certain key slang phrases take many many many many years until they make they way to the Chicago suburban German weekender speaking handbook.
I had just asked the UMU (Uber Maternal Unit) if she was gay. (Takes a bow.)
Truly it is a gift. It's like the compulsion I develop in other countries to ressurect hand gestures I felt no need to do after 3rd grade.. only to my sisters' horror as it turns out I am giving the masses the bird.
Timing is everything. Leave it to me to have a moment of inspiration at the most inopportune time and announce my amusement without the tact of a verbal filter.
With the arrival of the Maternal Unit back to "home" came yet another flurry of work. A lot to do, little time to do it, none of it makes sense... and almost none of it is in any way productive. I mean we are getting a lot of things done, just almost nothing is being tackled on our "To Do" list.
When one door closes, sometimes it automatically locks. Her current battle is with doors. Frankly.. they are winning. No less than a half dozen times a week she is locked out, or locked in somewhere. Anyone and anything is also subject to finding themselves unwittingly imprisoned. I can now say my Mother has locked me in the basement for hours. She's also locked herself in the basement for hours. Did I mention there is no way out/in the basement except for the door? No phone either.
The furniture apparently is on a pilgrimage to destinations yet to be determined. I know I can't be the only person who is related to a chronic redecorator. Not long after her return, 9 very large solid wood bookcases were compelled to take residence in her living room. A flight of fancy as not long after they whispered to her their need to be moved yet again... and then again.. and then again. The only thing worse than indecisive bookcases may be the wanderlust found in couches, desks, buffet tables, etc.
The window to ideally work the soil has long passed, but the prospect of quickly turning in some compost into the heavy clay soil so it can breakdown over winter was so tempting. Double digging clay is back breaking work. My husband and his mechanical brilliance revived the old beast and got it roaring once more. Flea beetles and several other pests will overwinter in the debris, so getting the garden turned is a serious need just to help control their population next year.
The plan was to till the next day. The beast not only tills the soil, but as well puts you through the wringer as you try to control it. You essentially get twice the amount of work done for the same amount of physical discomfort. Compost in various stages was unloaded onto the garden and sorted. (My Mom tosses her compostable materials onto the pile.. still in whatever container it was collected.) Any movement near the compost pile instantly triggers a poultry party. The scramble is on to beat the birds to tidbits that should have never been in the pile.. like milk jug rings, rubber bands, twist ties. The inevitable chase as one snags such a treasure and runs off with the prize... and me right behind them attempting to reclaim the loot.
As if I didn't have enough action going on while chasing chickens all over the yard.. my Mom decides while someone is outside, it is a good time to let her dog run free for some fresh air and exercise.
Her dog is young, tall, untrained, able to CLIMB fences, and loves to chase anything. All hell broke loose. Now my husband and I are both running like a-holes saving chickens while trying to catch the dog. McGinty the Rhode Island Red rooster hopped the fence to hang in the backyard patio now that it was dog free. He pecked my Mom who was hanging ever menacing laundry on the line while wearing offending footwear. She promptly went inside and called a neighbor.
We caught the dog (he had roughed up a few chickens, but none were hurt.. just terrified), brought him back inside, got McGinty back to the coop, dealt with the compost, got the birds tucked in for the night... and then put the tiller away in the garage it was already dark.
The next day a panicked call from my Mom at 9am. Something about the dishwasher.. yelling... yelling... come quick.. then a click. Her kitchen was a bubbling mess. Seems she accidently put Palmolive dish soap in where the Jet Dry was supposed to go. Back to the house, get the shop vac and tools... back to the farm.. mop the mess. Mom decided now was a good time to go to the store.. on her way down the street she sees her dog tied up to a tree in the front yard of a farm several doors down. As she is getting him, animal control comes up. Fiasco follows. We still are working in the kitchen tackling the bubble trouble. When she finally returns she informs us..
"Oh the neighbor will be here in an hour to take the roosters."
Wait.. What?!?!? One of the larger farms was processing their birds as well as others that day. We already had arrangements set in place. I'll spare you that drama. My husband managed to fix her dishwasher the next day.
The garden is still untilled. Oh.. maybe now I should mention that she broke the tiller the same evening my husband finally got it working.
With our freezer now currently holding roosters, she kindly offered to hold the organically raised turkey in hers. She pulled it out yesterday to start thawing. Her dog got at the turkey.
So today I have to see about getting another turkey. I went over to the farm this morning to let out the birds, feed and water them. I brought in some eggs as the girls are offering 6+ now every day. My Mom was on the phone with my younger sister and said..
"Can you believe that they still don't have the garden tilled? They still haven't put in any garlic. I don't know what they do with their time."
I can still get a frozen turkey ready in time for tomorrow. I don't know why I am rather unphased by any of this right now. It does get to me sometimes... then my daughter asks me how our day was with unabashed glee. The worse it is the funnier she finds it.
Some families occasionally fly over the cuckoo's nest. My family owns it.
Hast du einen vogel?!?
translation: Do you have a bird?
meaning: Are you nucking futz?
It asks if you have a bird (in your head).. the phrase is accompanied by a gesture pointing to the head. The American equivelent is asking one if they have a screw loose.
I am a master of miscommunication. Without the use of an outline, puppets, a cinematic trailer, and an interpreter.. conversations are dangerous with those to which they claim I am genetically linked. There is no room for forgiveness even with a language barrier. The language barrier.. oh the joy. Finding yourself so far up a creek without a paddle, that soon you discover you also have no floatation device to pilot in any case.
A prime example is this.. many years ago my Grandmother came for a visit. After several months of expected kowtowing from the younger generation, one snowy afternoon I made a catastrophic error. My lackluster grip of the German language sent me hurdling to the lowest peg of the family pecking order.
I had the heat cranked in the car and in 3 little words I managed to cement my familial ranking not just at the bottom of the barrel.. but under it.
I asked...
"Bist du warm?"
The simplistic translation in my mind I was asking "Are you warm?" As in.. the inside of the car is hotter than Vegas in July can I shut the farking heat off yet? But oh no... that was not what I had asked. It seems certain key slang phrases take many many many many years until they make they way to the Chicago suburban German weekender speaking handbook.
I had just asked the UMU (Uber Maternal Unit) if she was gay. (Takes a bow.)
Truly it is a gift. It's like the compulsion I develop in other countries to ressurect hand gestures I felt no need to do after 3rd grade.. only to my sisters' horror as it turns out I am giving the masses the bird.
Timing is everything. Leave it to me to have a moment of inspiration at the most inopportune time and announce my amusement without the tact of a verbal filter.
With the arrival of the Maternal Unit back to "home" came yet another flurry of work. A lot to do, little time to do it, none of it makes sense... and almost none of it is in any way productive. I mean we are getting a lot of things done, just almost nothing is being tackled on our "To Do" list.
When one door closes, sometimes it automatically locks. Her current battle is with doors. Frankly.. they are winning. No less than a half dozen times a week she is locked out, or locked in somewhere. Anyone and anything is also subject to finding themselves unwittingly imprisoned. I can now say my Mother has locked me in the basement for hours. She's also locked herself in the basement for hours. Did I mention there is no way out/in the basement except for the door? No phone either.
The furniture apparently is on a pilgrimage to destinations yet to be determined. I know I can't be the only person who is related to a chronic redecorator. Not long after her return, 9 very large solid wood bookcases were compelled to take residence in her living room. A flight of fancy as not long after they whispered to her their need to be moved yet again... and then again.. and then again. The only thing worse than indecisive bookcases may be the wanderlust found in couches, desks, buffet tables, etc.
The window to ideally work the soil has long passed, but the prospect of quickly turning in some compost into the heavy clay soil so it can breakdown over winter was so tempting. Double digging clay is back breaking work. My husband and his mechanical brilliance revived the old beast and got it roaring once more. Flea beetles and several other pests will overwinter in the debris, so getting the garden turned is a serious need just to help control their population next year.
The plan was to till the next day. The beast not only tills the soil, but as well puts you through the wringer as you try to control it. You essentially get twice the amount of work done for the same amount of physical discomfort. Compost in various stages was unloaded onto the garden and sorted. (My Mom tosses her compostable materials onto the pile.. still in whatever container it was collected.) Any movement near the compost pile instantly triggers a poultry party. The scramble is on to beat the birds to tidbits that should have never been in the pile.. like milk jug rings, rubber bands, twist ties. The inevitable chase as one snags such a treasure and runs off with the prize... and me right behind them attempting to reclaim the loot.
As if I didn't have enough action going on while chasing chickens all over the yard.. my Mom decides while someone is outside, it is a good time to let her dog run free for some fresh air and exercise.
Her dog is young, tall, untrained, able to CLIMB fences, and loves to chase anything. All hell broke loose. Now my husband and I are both running like a-holes saving chickens while trying to catch the dog. McGinty the Rhode Island Red rooster hopped the fence to hang in the backyard patio now that it was dog free. He pecked my Mom who was hanging ever menacing laundry on the line while wearing offending footwear. She promptly went inside and called a neighbor.
We caught the dog (he had roughed up a few chickens, but none were hurt.. just terrified), brought him back inside, got McGinty back to the coop, dealt with the compost, got the birds tucked in for the night... and then put the tiller away in the garage it was already dark.
The next day a panicked call from my Mom at 9am. Something about the dishwasher.. yelling... yelling... come quick.. then a click. Her kitchen was a bubbling mess. Seems she accidently put Palmolive dish soap in where the Jet Dry was supposed to go. Back to the house, get the shop vac and tools... back to the farm.. mop the mess. Mom decided now was a good time to go to the store.. on her way down the street she sees her dog tied up to a tree in the front yard of a farm several doors down. As she is getting him, animal control comes up. Fiasco follows. We still are working in the kitchen tackling the bubble trouble. When she finally returns she informs us..
"Oh the neighbor will be here in an hour to take the roosters."
Wait.. What?!?!? One of the larger farms was processing their birds as well as others that day. We already had arrangements set in place. I'll spare you that drama. My husband managed to fix her dishwasher the next day.
The garden is still untilled. Oh.. maybe now I should mention that she broke the tiller the same evening my husband finally got it working.
With our freezer now currently holding roosters, she kindly offered to hold the organically raised turkey in hers. She pulled it out yesterday to start thawing. Her dog got at the turkey.
So today I have to see about getting another turkey. I went over to the farm this morning to let out the birds, feed and water them. I brought in some eggs as the girls are offering 6+ now every day. My Mom was on the phone with my younger sister and said..
"Can you believe that they still don't have the garden tilled? They still haven't put in any garlic. I don't know what they do with their time."
I can still get a frozen turkey ready in time for tomorrow. I don't know why I am rather unphased by any of this right now. It does get to me sometimes... then my daughter asks me how our day was with unabashed glee. The worse it is the funnier she finds it.
Some families occasionally fly over the cuckoo's nest. My family owns it.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Big Agri-quagmire
Russell at his blog reflexiones finales posted an interesting video. It is regarding the farmer's perspective of what some are seeing in their fields and a little of the dilemma they face with the current availability and methods. The last farmer interviewed quickly gives a simplified insight as to how the markets were manipulated. That tactic is just one of the arsenal being employed globally.
The timing of it rather made me smile as yesterday my daughter got into a slightly heated debate with a small group of friends and the librarian about GMO crops and how safe are the chemicals. The librarian's main job is farming.. conventionally.
Frankly, I doubt much of this will even be glanced at by the general public until their plates are empty and are forced to look around. Hunger has a way to motivate people into making change, but frighteningly the opposite is true as well.
Big Pharma is Big Ag. The lovely way these corporations are subdivided is in such a way that one may think there is several Goliaths. Take DuPont as an example..
The rat race in food production has more than one motivator beyond feeding the population.. the weather and the effects of industry. Weather predictions for the future show many variations and until it happens all of it is theory, but a major concern is drought occurring globally on a much more frequent basis. Increase in the intensity of storms are expected.
The GMO focus on the future is aimed at mitigating drought situations. I think we have all seen how the effect of a bad wheat harvest in Russia impacts us just at the change in the grocery store prices. How much water is used for producing crops is often overlooked.
Change is inevitable. The natural state is one of fluctuation. That which fails to adapt fails to survive. Diversity is the means by which nature ensures survival. Even if the human element was completely removed from the equation... the climate, the environment, the ecology would still continue to change. We are just speeding it up but not wanting it to be changing this rapidly as currently this environment is more suitable for our exisitance.
The flaw I see in banking on GMO crops is beyond just the unkown potential health impacts. You can not sustain something indefinately that relies entirely on applications based from limited resources. For as advanced as science may be, it is child's play compared to the scope in which nature typically operates. Corporate ethics is one that wants you to have to need them.... always. The less options you have, the more it benefits them. Cleverly what looks like many different seed companies are actually the same entity or from the same source.
Like the meat in the store, where our seeds for our gardens come from is just as much of a mystery... even to many conventional farmers. Who grew them? When were they harvested? Were they treated? If you are intending to store the seeds for later use, these are crucial questions.
The disconnect is that we don't know anything more about what we grow, how long that strain is offered for sale and it's quality than what is printed on the package. Unless we save our own seeds and make the effort to support the ethical seed vendors.. the option of choice is nothing more than an advertising illusion.
The timing of it rather made me smile as yesterday my daughter got into a slightly heated debate with a small group of friends and the librarian about GMO crops and how safe are the chemicals. The librarian's main job is farming.. conventionally.
Frankly, I doubt much of this will even be glanced at by the general public until their plates are empty and are forced to look around. Hunger has a way to motivate people into making change, but frighteningly the opposite is true as well.
Big Pharma is Big Ag. The lovely way these corporations are subdivided is in such a way that one may think there is several Goliaths. Take DuPont as an example..
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont), incorporated in 1915, offers a range of products and services for markets, including agriculture and food, building and construction, electronics and communications, general industrial and transportation. The Company consists of 13 businesses, which consists of its segments. DuPont operates in seven segments: Agriculture & Nutrition, Electronics & Communications, Performance Chemicals, Performance Coatings, Performance Materials, Safety & Protection, and Pharmaceuticals. The Company includes certain embryonic businesses, such as Applied BioSciences and non-aligned businesses in Other. As of December 31, 2010, DuPont had operations in more than 90 countries worldwide and about 65% of net sales were made to customers outside the United States. In January 2011, DuPont and its wholly owned subsidiary, DuPont Denmark Holding ApS, entered into an agreement for the acquisition of Danisco A/S (Danisco). In 2010, the Company’s Safety & Protection's business completed the acquisition of MECS, Inc. In July 2011, the Company acquired Innovalight, Inc.
They are Pioneer brand seeds.. do you see the range that they cover? Like Corporate bindweed, you see 1 plant and don't realize the network unless you dig further. How often do they make the news? Well, when is the last time you realized the same company that creates your fire extinguisher and carpeting also makes the corn in your soda, cereal and ethanol enhanced gas in your tank?
You'd think they would be rivals with the other companies. Competition is not as profitable as cooperation. The push for yields, the myopic vision of agriculture being run like a factory withhout the realization that it is in essence an ecosystem. The funding of the wave of the future by those with little practice in the field... ahem... Bill Gates. Irony in that often those on the board of directors for agriculture colleges...... are not farmers or even gardeners.
If you listened.. you heard them say they patented the process of mixing in the tanks. The current approach is modifying genetics to resist more than 1 herbicide. Farmers now are under the gun of overwhelming overhead just to work.
There again is the lure, the siren call that is the normal mode of operation for most.. the cheap way out, the easy road, the shortcut. Farmers are in an occupation that is always a gamble. Weather, insects, disease, weeds... and the most fickle beast of them all... the market. The market pricing fluctuations can determine if you keep the farm or are forced to sell. The market prices determine how much or what crop is planted each year.
Yet another farmer rolling his eyes at the "buffer" zone. He's referring to cross pollination but it as well applies to the bugs. It is like releasing the helium from a balloon into a room. Contained in theory but not in reality with no way to be sure where or how much escaped.
In a short amount of time, crop diversity suffered. Control over what selections are available was quickly and expertly taken from our grasp.
It is unfolding in front of us, a scenario much like the Irish potato famine. Diversity was the old school crop insurance policy. The rat race in food production has more than one motivator beyond feeding the population.. the weather and the effects of industry. Weather predictions for the future show many variations and until it happens all of it is theory, but a major concern is drought occurring globally on a much more frequent basis. Increase in the intensity of storms are expected.
The GMO focus on the future is aimed at mitigating drought situations. I think we have all seen how the effect of a bad wheat harvest in Russia impacts us just at the change in the grocery store prices. How much water is used for producing crops is often overlooked.
In general, about 70% of the water withdrawn from freshwater sources globally supports agriculture, while about 20% supports industrial activities and 10% is used for municipal supplies. Water withdrawal and consumption are not the same metric and a much greater percentage of the water withdrawn for agriculture is actually consumed as irrigation water while a much smaller percentage of water withdrawn to support industrial and municipal supply is actually consumed and rendered unavailable for other uses. Worldwide, about 93% of the water consumed by humans goes to irrigated agriculture, while about 4% and 3%, respectively, are consumed by industry and municipal uses.
Change is inevitable. The natural state is one of fluctuation. That which fails to adapt fails to survive. Diversity is the means by which nature ensures survival. Even if the human element was completely removed from the equation... the climate, the environment, the ecology would still continue to change. We are just speeding it up but not wanting it to be changing this rapidly as currently this environment is more suitable for our exisitance.
The flaw I see in banking on GMO crops is beyond just the unkown potential health impacts. You can not sustain something indefinately that relies entirely on applications based from limited resources. For as advanced as science may be, it is child's play compared to the scope in which nature typically operates. Corporate ethics is one that wants you to have to need them.... always. The less options you have, the more it benefits them. Cleverly what looks like many different seed companies are actually the same entity or from the same source.
Like the meat in the store, where our seeds for our gardens come from is just as much of a mystery... even to many conventional farmers. Who grew them? When were they harvested? Were they treated? If you are intending to store the seeds for later use, these are crucial questions.
The disconnect is that we don't know anything more about what we grow, how long that strain is offered for sale and it's quality than what is printed on the package. Unless we save our own seeds and make the effort to support the ethical seed vendors.. the option of choice is nothing more than an advertising illusion.
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