Painted Ladies

 

For Christmas we got the boys a kit from Insect Lore.  They have lots of different insect hatching kits (I checked it out and they don't seem to be introducing any insects to areas that might be harmful) and we chose the Painted Ladies kit based on a friend's recommendation.  I was very tempted to get the preying mantis kit, since Eason was a mantis for Halloween this year, but maybe that will be our next insect hatching project.  

After several weeks of waiting (even more than anticipated when do to a communication break down we found the order form in a pile of papers when we thought it was well into the mail system) the caterpillars arrived on Monday.  We've been watching them and making observations and drawings in a journal.  We have been reading some great books that are very informative for kids and adults.  Family Butterfly Book and another one that I can't seem to find now which is disappointing because the photos were amazing.  I'll try to find it on the shelf at the library. 

Here is a fun caterpillar fact:  Caterpillar poop is called "frass."  

"Hey boys, don't forget to wipe your frass."

We're off to eat ice cream on the front porch.  The boys have gotten me hooked.  I've always been hooked on ice cream, but eating it in February on your front porch, basking in the sunlight in barefeet.  Hmmm.  I don't think I'll ever get used to that even if we live here the rest of our years. 

Piles

At the beginning of Fall we started a yard overhaul. We had a friend with a tractor and a landscaping degree come out and change the topography of our yard. We gained about twice as much space and are now working to shape that space.

This used to be overgrown with vegetation and weeds and quite a severe slop ie. we never ever used this part of the yard. NOW it's open and flat and will be our mini-orchard provided the trees survive (we are skeptics based on past failures). This last week we planted four different types of figs (Kadota, Black Mission, Brown Turkey and Violette de Bordeaux) three apples (Spitzenburg and Fuji), a pluot with three different grafts (names TBA) a Santa Rosa Plum and two Red Skin Elberta Peaches. I think that covers it. There is so much information out there about how to plant fruit trees it's a bit overwhelming. Much of it contradicts (like most of the parenting philosophy out there). I consulted the Dave Wilson site which has some great information and happens to be where are trees are from. We've tried a few of the multi-planting holes (where you plant 3-4 in one hole) and a few single plantings. We have an organic farmer friend here that seems to have the touch and we took some advice from him as well (in addition to him selling us some extra trees at his cost-Thank You). He plants his orchard and DOESN'T WATER AT ALL until May! It's a bit hard for us to do, but we're going to try it since he seems to have all the luck and us none and this is his career. Brian and I keep having to talk each down from watering with hose in hand. Once, I consulted our friend on how to deal with aphids in our garden. His reply "I've never had aphids." I think if you're going to take advice, this is the guy to take it from.

Here is our newly planted grass patch (all other grass from yard was removed but I was attached to having a bit to lounge on, it's under the straw) our retaining wall (this area was all sloped, now we have three tiers in the back and our pea gravel play area with sandbox, chairs and we're on the lookout for a used fire pit wok-style for marshmallow roasting) and some new soil laid down to create a planting bed around the perimeter of the grass. This will give us a lot more gardening space, allow us to plant some spreading plants and take advantage of the good sunlight here. I'm also very set on finally planting an asparagus bed this year since I've been putting it off and it takes three years to get a harvest.

Close up of retaining wall that Brian built from rock on our property and a work site down the street. Every time we drove by we'd throw a rock or two in the trunk.

The front we are converting to all native plants. The idea in the front is to have little maintenance and watering. Eason's design idea was to place these overturned pots behind our newly planted blue fescue. I like the zen balance to it.

Part of our landscape feature seems to be an ever-rotating pile of something next to the driveway. Redoing the yard is lots of wheel barrowing (with the extra weight of two boys on each trip).

View from front to back. We took out all of the grass that was here and covered it with FREE woodchips that were delivered to our house from a tree cutting job in our neighborhood. It had more greenery to begin with, but it's broken down quickly and we're not tracking a ton of mud inside anymore. Eventually we'll put a gate up at the back of the house that can open or close (to keep escapees out) but for now we just have to keep a vigilant eye on Eliot who likes to take off.

So that's it for now. We are slowly continuing to piece it together. It's a slow process, but we're getting there. AND, Brian's retaining wall stood up to a deluge, so at least we know we've done something right.

Sewing Project-Complete

One thing that I can never seem to find time for is sewing. I think because I don't have a lot of experience it takes more concentration, on the other hand I seem to be able to whip up food with chaos all around, but I've had more practice. But I did manage to put together this birthday crown, banner and bag (card will be framed) for a gift. All of the ideas are from Soule Mama's first book The Creative Family. I have a love/hate relationship with her blog (I'm probably committing a crime by stating that). It seems mathematically impossible to achieve everything she does in a day. She's got four kids and one on the way and it still seems like she's knit 28 sweaters already in 2011 not to mention publishing her third book, redoing a 200 year old farm house, homeschooling her kids, and keeping a daily blog. Hmmm, I think I'm missing something critical on how this is humanly possible. Maybe she doesn't sleep? Maybe her kids are very independent. I've thought it over a lot and I just don't get it. But, I'm happy to be achieving what I do I'm just a bit envious I can't fit a book deal into the mix.

A Rainbow of Eggs

We got our first ever white egg today, the first from our second flock. Pretty exciting stuff. I think we are going to be up to our elbows in eggs soon. We've got 14 chickens, and 9 of those will start to lay soon (we already get two or three a day). Maybe the granola stand will be replaced with an egg stand.

AND carrots! Our fall/winter garden has been pretty neglected this year so I was surprised to pull up these carrots today. Eliot was pretty shocked that at the end of that plant was a carrot.

We are off to Southern California for one of Brian's meetings that we turn into a trip. We're going to try to use 30 year old passes to Disneyland, only the Greenes would still have those around. I think taking into consideration rising entrance fees and inflation we might actually make money on this deal. The boys don't know we're going to the park, only that we're going on a trip. We're going to keep in quiet until we arrive that morning. Right now the highlight is the possibility of using the over-sized crocodile that Eason received as an incentive for not picking his nose and eating it for two weeks. It actually worked and my fears of Eason being one of the booger eater crew that we all remember in elementary school has now been diminished. We inquired of the hotel if they had a "floatie policy" and the woman was a bit thrown off. She looked in her policy book and couldn't find anything regarding "floatie protocol." I'm sure shortly after our visiting with an 8 foot inflatable ride-on crocodile for four "floatie policy" will be on the next meeting agenda.

Food Production

For several weeks Eason has been interested in making granola and selling it. This week was the big week. We made granola on Tuesday, he washed the bottles and packaged the granola, and he prepared his signage. Yesterday at 3:00 the sale began! It was a wild success. By the end of the sale all 6 jars were sold (half to Daddy).

It's been some time since I've blogged, but in the interim we got more baby chickens (15 to be exact). We've culled the flock by selling some young hens in the Bay Area and unfortunately, or fortunately, which ever way you see it, one of the hens was a rooster. We tried to find a home because we hated to eat such a beauty, but to no avail. Before we got complaints we had him for dinner. I was sort of dreading the process, but Brian and I were quit surprised at how easy it was to butcher and process the bird. Maybe it was beginners luck, but I think we'd consider getting some meat birds in the future. Especially considering how expensive organic chicken can be.

Back in the Apples

We got a call this week from Sierra Glen about the miraculous recovery of the Braeburns. They were hit with apple blight earlier in the season and that, coupled with a late frost, killed a lot of the blossoms. No thinning this year! But, they rebounded and we were called in to think about ten percent of the apples. It was a quick job. Of course I forgot my camera, again, but I got this shot of the apples we brought home to feed to the chickens.

Chicken update. Two are now broody and sitting on eggs. The first batch of fertile eggs was a bust and by this weekend we'll know if we get any action from the others. We aren't very optimistic.

For anyone who happens to be in our area and wants to adopt some apple trees, Sierra Glen is looking to expand the co-op program next year.

Squirreling Away Summer's Bounty

My first trip to Europe a friend and I visited Granada, Spain. The entire trip was very magical (probably because it was the first real travel experience for both of us and we still had the suffix teen attached to our ages) but what made Granada very special was this amazing little vegetarian restaurant (and the Alhambra too) that was close to our pension. We had mint lemonade with our dinners and I've been recreating it ever since. This weekend I switched it up a bit and used honey to sweeten it instead of sugar and the results were fabulous. Here's the rough recipe.

water
5-6 lemons
a cup or so of honey
a big handful of mint leaves

Steep the mint leaves in hot water and then strain them. I used to just throw the mint in the lemonade, but it would turn brown after a bit and look a bit unpleasant. Add the honey to the minty water and heat to dissolve. Fill your container about half full with cold water, add the mixture, add more water to fill the container, chill and serve with a sprig of mint and ice. My favorite vessel for ice teas and lemonade is a Strauss Milk Bottle that I keep around for such occasions. We've also experimented with making pops out of the concoction.

This look pretty much sums up the way I felt when I woke in the morning, not feeling well at all, to a MOUND of blackberries and strawberries that needed to be turned into jam.

The jam making was a success, even though I wasn't feeling so up to it. I made 7 jars of blackberry jam and 7 jars of strawberry jam. The quickly turning plums were staring at me, but i didn't have it in me to cut them up. I used Pomona's Universal Pectin which allows you to use less sugar or honey (my choice). The results seemed good, but what really impressed me is that I called the JamLine to ask a questions. It was a Saturday, no one answered, so I just hung up. It was the business line, but also a personal line. About 3 minutes later Pomona herself (that's not really her name, but I'm pretending it is) called me back. Recall that I had not left a message at all. She asked if I had a jam question and we proceeded from there (answer: you will end up with a lot of left over calcium liquid). Very impressive customer service Pomona.

Last year a friend of mine and I made blackberry jam from a recipe she found using cranberries as a natural pectin. It was very tasty, so I hope I'm not disappointed. I liked the tartness. I didn't use this recipe this year because we couldn't find frozen cranberries in this small town and I was pressed for time and couldn't look any further. Here is the recipe though. Maybe next year.

strawberry (or whatever else) jam
makes 2 cups

4 cups strawberries, hulled, washed dried and sliced
1 cup frozen, unsweetened cranberries
1 1/4 cups honey
juice of 1/2 lemon

1. in a medium-sized pot over medium heat, bring the strawberries, cranberries, and honey to a boil.

2 stir and reduce the temperature to low. simmer for 20 minutes.

3. at the 20-minute mark, stir and break up the cranberries by mashing them against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon. this helps release all their pectin.

4. raise the temp. to medium and boil for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn't scorch.

5. after 10 minutes, if it is somewhat thick and no longer runny, turn off the heat. it will thicken as it cools. if it is not thick enough, lower the heat and continue cooking, checking every minute until it thickens.

6. squeeze the lemon over the warm jam in the pot and let it cool to room temp.

7. spoon the cool jam into glass jars and refrigerate. this jam can also be frozen.

We did the full on can for this and it lasted us all year.

Last item to comment on (can you tell the grandparents are visiting?). I was listening to the Splendid Table today because that's what I do when I get a "break" to clean the house. My treat is to crank up a podcast, clean like there is no tomorrow (or more accurately, like the house won't be clean again tomorrow) and usually cry (maybe it's the heartfelt NPR stories or maybe it's the emotions of finally getting a bit of time alone). I usually listen to This American Life or Radio Lab, but have recently added the Splendid Table to the mix. Anyhow, today her word of the day was Femivore: A woman who considers herself feminist, but also devotes a serious amount of time to the old-time woman's work of feeding her family the cleanest, freshest food — even if she has to grow it herself — is a femivore. Hmmm. So I did some poking around. Here's an article in the NYT.

Again, a long post. I'll be off for a few weeks and probably won't be doing any updating. But, if anyone is actually reading this, I'm sure you already know that. So, see you in a few days Dad.