Round Two

 

 Our second round of chicks are here. I'm so excited for these guys. I love the heritage breeds and these ones came from a farm a good hour from us. We got a few blue laced red Wynadottes and a couple Silver Sussex. We got them when they were just 24 hours old. They are probably the smallest chicks we've ever had. Both kids were instantly obsessed. They were constantly checking on them, asking to feed them, hold them and name them (we don't name any of our chickens. They are difficult to tell apart and it makes it hard to say goodbye when it's their time). They aren't old enough for us to sex them, we aren't sure if we have any roosters in the bunch yet. We are just so excited to have them here.

Round one chickens are getting big! They are big enough now to go outside during the day. I can't wait until they are bit enough to go in their coop. They are getting smelly and are starting to dig around in their cage. These two are supposed to be females but I'm noticing differences in their head feathers so I'm wondering if we might have a male. Only time will tell.

Garden Joy

The weather has been nothing short of perfect for planting. The sun keeps the soil warm but it's not so hot that I want to pass out after 20 minutes. We still have a lot of work to finish up the big garden overhaul. All the raised beds are built and most have soil. I've been waiting since October for this!

The radishes are planted and sprouting. So are the cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, swiss chard and lettuce. I've been having really excellent luck so far with my indoor seedlings. I decided to use a small heat mat to keep the roots warm this year. My celery, jalapenos and tomatoes are all very happy.

I'm very excited about my herb bed. I've transplanted several of my perennial herbs and started many from seed. I used stones and driftwood to separate everything until they are fully grown. I'm looking forward to making my own tinctures, salves and teas. I decided though not to plant my mint and oregano in the bed since they are so vigorous (they tend to take over). They are very happy in their pots, even this early in the growing season.

I had really hoped we would have a new colony of bees by the time our fruit trees bloomed but we haven't had any luck finding bees yet. So we got a small box of mason bee cocoons. The sun and warmth has hatched them all and it's wonderful to watch them work. They are such hard workers and actually quite beautiful. It's easy to appreciate these bees for all they do for us.

We spend most of our days outside planting, weeding, watering and playing but even when we are inside, we are talking about seeds, plants and flowers. We recently got a beautiful painting of an Linnaeus clock that we often look to for flower inspiration. I avoid cutting flowers because I believe bees and other insects need them outside but from time to time we bring in a few flowers. They are such a joyful thing for us all, it's hard to resist when A asks for some.

Round One

This weekend we brought home our first pair of chicks. We are planning to get a couple different breeds this year so we have to pick them up from different farms. These are a pair of Columbia Rock chicks. Needless to say, they were instantly adored. We don't have a lot of space for a cage of chicks, especially a place where small hands can't grab at them, so our chicks call the laundry room home. It's warm and it's the only room in the house with a gate. Little F likes to just sit with by their cage. I'm really proud of how gentle he is. He can be really rough with the grown chickens but he's been very sweet to the chicks.

Beginnings

The weather is getting warmer by the day. We are having more sunny days and are going with out jackets more often. The buds are on the trees and bulbs are blooming. It's time to begin the garden. We have major changes in the works so I can't dive right in yet but I can do starts. After many an incident with our starts inside our house I made plans to raise my transplants in the garage. We have a south facing window that would work for seedlings but I decided this year to give the seeds a boost with a warming mat and a grow light. I started four tomato varieties, asparagus and echinacea. None have sprouted yet so I can't say yet if the warming mat and light has made a difference.

I have a confession to make. We lost our bees. Our hives were lost to American Foulbrood. It was crushing. It still breaks my heart. We worked so hard to protect them from pesticide poisoning and wasp predation that when it took hold I couldn't stand the idea that we couldn't help them. It was fast and bad. I've missed my many winged friends. I found a complete hive in our garage that we had been saving for a swarm. Foulbrood is so deadly to bees that the hive needs to be burned. Luckily this single hive was completely unaffected by the disease. It did however fall victim to wax moth so the frames need to be replaced. I gave the hive a new coat of paint and we are going to assemble frames in preparation for a new colony. I'm so excited, it's been too long without the buzz of bees.

I have so many ideas and plans that I've decided to start a planner to keep them all together. Sketches of the garden, grow charts, seed lists, other notes all in one place. I hope that when planning the garden in future years that I can look back at these notes and use them to make the best garden possible.

The Best Kind of Bubbles

It all started with kombucha. I love kombucha and I was drinking a couple bottles a week. Well, at $5 per bottle it was really adding to our grocery bill. I had researched kombucha making before but it made me nervous. To be honest, all fermentation made me nervous. I made a few batches of sauerkraut a couple summers ago and they all developed mold. I felt like fermenting was not something to be done in my home.

Before venturing into fermentation any further I decided I needed to know more. I ordered The Art of Fermentation. It has just about anything you could want to know about fermenting in it.  Kombucha seemed like a really good place to start. I didn't need a fancy jar, weights or any special equipment, just tea, sugar and SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast). I was lucky to find a local pal willing to share a SCOBY so I jumped right in.

Kombucha making has been so easy and delicious. I've been experimenting with second ferments with my booch. So far, I'm head over heals for ginger lemon. Once I felt good about my kombucha I needed to explore this fermentation thing further. I got kefir grains from another local pal and started trying my hand at water kefir. I don't like it as much as kombucha but it's much faster. Again, second ferments are where I'm focusing right now. Pineapple water kefir was really tasty.

I had read in an issue of Taproot that many people ferment their condiments such as mustard and ketchup. I recently started sprouting seeds and with my starter kit I got a package of yellow mustard seeds. I decided to give grainy mustard a try. It's still not quite ready though I did add a couple tablespoons to our Sloppeh Joe mix the other night for some kick! I'm definitely making ketchup next. My kids love ketchup with everything so if they get a dose of probiotics with their ketchup all the better.

Early in my fermentation journey I started a sourdough starter. It seemed so simple; water and flour left out for several days to collect wild yeast. Needless to say, it was not nearly as simple as I imagined. It needed to be fed twice daily and mine just never seemed to have enough yeast for a good loaf of bread. Finally, I reached out for support and someone suggested using some kombucha in my start. That was exactly what it needed! Only two days later I was ready to make bread. I played around with the recipe a bit and found a long rising time made a lovely, light loaf. Oh boy it was tasty! Even the kids were reaching for more.

Next in my plan to add more probiotics to our diets is to ferment veggies. I think I will wait until summer though so I can use the vegetables from our garden. Fresh is key with pickling vegetables like cabbage, cucumbers and carrots. I tried pickling beets last month when they were on sale at the store but they did not turn out well. It's a learning process but it's fascinating and fun. I find myself very motivated to keep trying new things when I'm sitting sipping lemon water kefir and munching fresh sourdough.

The Flora and Fauna

For Christmas we got this wonderful window hummingbird feeder. It's been so amazing watching the hummingbirds that over winter here come by for a drink. We love watching their little tongues in the syrup. The other day I sat down at our table to pour over our West Coast Seeds catalog and make plans for my yard when I was blessed with the company of this lovely Anna's hummingbird. He sat there for a good 15 minutes while I contemplated the environment behind my house.

While I've been putting a lot of thought into the garden for our benefit, I was reminded by my little friend that many more things benefit from what's in our yard than just us. I do have a few bushes that the hummingbirds love and they often nest in our yard. However, the mason bees have been struggling. The mild weather throughout the winter with bursts of cold doesn't suit them well. I think this year I would like to add another mason bee house as well as purchase some mason bee cocoons.

Last summer I didn't notice many butterflies in our yard. Maybe it was the fact that the heat made for short or absent blooms on most of our flowers. I was thinking that I might buy a package of butterfly specific flowers and toss them in the bare patches around the yard. A is very much into the natural world so I thought she might really enjoy raising some butterfly larvae. I would like to research this more but I think it would be a wonderful learning experience and help the biological diversity in our yard.


Of course we can't have the beneficial without the problematic. I'm still trying to formulate a plan to keep the urban deer out of our yard. Last year they came and ate my tulips as well as my cabbage. I think the problem is going to be worse this year as I've noticed more of them in my area. I would like to find a way to keep both the deer and the starlings from causing chaos in my yard. So far, I think raised beds covered with netting will help protect my greens. We are also talking about raising the fence around our property to keep the deer out of the yard entirely, not just out of the garden.

New Projects

With a new year I don't make resolutions, I make plans. I plan to start new projects. The grey and cold of the island winter makes for great project planning. My notebook is full of ideas. I've even been able to get started on some.

I think we all know how important probiotics and healthy gut bacteria are. I try to include something fermented in our meals every day. I've always been nervous to ferment in my own home. I tried sauerkraut years ago but the mold got it. I've been sticking with Bubbies brand sauerkraut and fermented pickles (which luckily both my children love). We also drink kefir and kombucha. It's definitely adding to our grocery bill as we go through all these ferments so quickly. One of my new projects is the ferment for our health. I've already started a batch of kombucha and I have a sour bread start going. I have so many recipes to try!

Of course I have a long (very long) list of knits I was to get onto my needles. I've already finished this horse for A's upcoming birthday and I'm casting on this sweater for F's birthday. I'd love to find the time to finish the Tea Leaves sweater I started for myself years ago (yep, years). As I collect ideas for knitting I'm also keeping finger knitting ideas in mind for A when she asks to knit with me. If you have any to share please let me know.

I have already started prepping my garden for spring. I have so many plans. I want to build raised beds, potato barrels, more patio containers, just anything to get even more from our garden. The price of vegetables has been baffling. We haven't had cauliflower in months because it's out of our budget. So we will grow and preserve as much as possible. I'd love to find a way to grow year round. One step at a time though. I've started turning the garden so I can get a handle on the weeds early and add some soil amendments in a few months time. In the meantime, I've started growing sprouts in the house because I need to cultivate something.

A only has a few months left of preschool. Forest preschool has been such a wonderful environment for her, she just loves it. I'm at a bit of a loss as to where to go from here. She's so social I'm not sure homeschool would suit her but our public school system is so flawed I can't but feel it's more damaging than anything else. What I wouldn't give for a Waldorf school in the area! So research and pro/con lists about this issue are ongoing.

I have more plans and projects to share but I will share them another time. I'd love to hear what you are planning for and what projects are going for you.

Garden Blessings

It's been a difficult year in the garden. It's been hot and dry. The heat has benefited the pears and the tomatoes but other things are struggling. My zucchini has been rotting on the stem and my swiss chard is barely 4 inches tall. If that weren't enough the blight of urban deer has spread to my garden. More than one morning I've gone into the yard to find a handful of deer happily munching away. They ate all my beautiful cabbage.

The long hot summer seems to be making the grapes very happy. Almost every morning I collect handfuls of grapes for my children's snack. I've also been harvesting cherry tomatoes daily. It's been such a joy to eat from our garden. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than picking vegetables and then heading straight to my kitchen to make my family dinner. Just the other night we had herb mashed potatoes with roasted carrots, beets and squash all from our garden.

July Garden

July has already been so dry and hot I wasn't sure my garden would survive. We are facing drought conditions and are on water restrictions. Still, in many ways the garden seems to be benefiting from the heat. The raspberries have ripened and been eaten, the blueberries as well and we are already seeing blackberries on the bushes. Blackberries!! We don't see those until August. We've been steadily harvesting kale and zucchini. Then all of a sudden all the english peas were ready. I can hardly stand to be out in the heat picking them all. Good thing A is such a pea fan because I can always count on her for help.

The chickens and cat however, are not doing well in the heat. Zooey is desperate to find a cool place to rest. It seems almost impossible to find for cat or human. The chickens too. It's been so long since we've had rain. The earth is so dry and where the chickens once rolled in the cool earth, they now huddle in any small patch of shade they can find. Their water needs to be filled over and over every day. The long days mean lots of eggs though.

These drought conditions have led to many forest fires throughout the province. Fire crews are stretched as it is. It's to the point now that they can only tackle the most severe fires, not all the fires. Since Sunday the city has been blanketed in smoke. It's eerie, the colors are off. There is a film of ash on my car and I haven't seen the moon in several nights. It's been making my eyes burn and making me cough at night. So, the garden has been left behind. We have been spending our days indoors until the wind carries the smoke offshore. My thoughts are with all the firefighters and those whose homes lie in fires path. Mother Earth, we could use some (or a lot) of rain right now.