The Chicken Gang

Sometimes I love nothing more than sitting outside on the beautiful bench my fiance made and watching our flock of chickens. I sat with a notepad and pen to make a handy little to-do list for tomorrow (making and canning BBQ sauce, freezing herbs and lemongrass, potting some herbs to bring indoors for the colder weather, making kimchi with the cabbage and radishes from the CSA...). Our handsome little phoenix roo hopped up on the bench beside me. And I knew I had to get a camera.

Of course, when I came back out, he wasn't the only one interested in what was going on. 

Belina is a Rhode Island Red mix, and a gift from friends.

Wrex is our Easter Egger hen and part of our original shipment of chicks.

Minerva is a White Leghorn and Rhode Island Red mix - from Schreiber's.

Bubo is a Golden Sebright bantam. Behind her is Bandit. Both are from the original shipment.

Brave Little Toaster (BLT) is a Phoenix hen. From my aunt's farm.

Bubo and BLT.

BLT is curious.

Malai basks in attention. Not a chicken.

Bandit is an Easter Egger hen.

Camilla and Bandit.

Camilla is a Salmon Faverolle from the original shipment.

Bandit.

Camilla!

Bubo dashes by.

Bubo and Camilla are the same age. Bubo is a type of bantam, or "dwarf chicken."

Hangin' out!

Eventually Lover joined us, and he and Malai did some communing.

 Overall, the backyard flock is a hit with the whole family. Quadrapus didn't eat them when they were chicks, Malai is followed by the flock when we go out, and Lover sits out and "zens" with the chickens after he gets home from work.

Me, I just love 'em. How can you not?

Garden Workshop

 Garden author Margaret Roach brought garden author Gayla Trail to Copake Falls, NY for a special workshop on seed-saving and putting up the harvest.

Margaret Roach and Gayla Trail

 

Making an aromatic salt rub with sage, rosemary, and garlic. Mmm...

I chose nasturtium blossoms for my first infused vinegar.

I chose shiso leaves for my second infused vinegar.

The day was amazing. My friend Liz and I left bright and early to make it to the 9am workshop. We started with a lovely tour of Margaret's garden - it is extensive, and just exquisite! You can see some photos of her garden over at her blog.

We snatched some seeds here and there from her garden, and made lovely little origami packets to place them into and take home with us. I just love that there can be so much sharing when it comes to gardening!

And seriously, I have taken to thieving seed heads wherever I go now. Lover watches me as I move toward a clump of flowers and starts admonishing me before I've even taken my hand out of my pocket to pinch off the bounty. He kids, of course. I think.

For the afternoon in the workshop, we talked about drying and freezing our harvest. Then we made a salt rub and infused vinegars. So fantastic!

Liz and I walked out with bags of seeds, as Gayla did not want to bring any home with her! I also got all the books I have of hers signed. Check out her site at YouGrowGirl.com.

And on our way back, we stopped at a farm stand and bought a big box of plum tomatoes to do more canning.

We're addicted. It might become necessary to keep us chaperoned at all times.

;-)

Today's Tasks

Today was a day of tasks.

I started out with the 30 Day Shred. From there, I went out, bought canning jars and spices, raw and unfiltered apple cider, a notebook made from recycled paper for grad school, an organic and fair trade dark chocolate mint bar (this week's dessert), a flower bouquet from the farmer's market to spruce up the dining room table, and then several plants from the local nursery.

Two hibiscus plants and three mums now adorn the corner flowerbed. Already planted is the dwarf butterfly bush, pampas grass, sea oats, blue fescue, phlox, dianthus, stonecrop, hen & chicks, and gayflower.I get a lot of monarchs and bumble bees, and I've also seen hummingbird moths. Lover swears to me that he's seen actual hummingbirds, but I haven't seen any yet!

It was a hot day, but I pulled out the mulhy grass that had been underperforming, and put in the five new plants to add some color and interest.

I continued the tidying of the kitchen and living room, organized my jewelry, unpacked my bag from our last vacation, put in laundry, watered the cole crop seedlings under the grow light, brushed out Q's fur, trimmed Malai's nails, filled the birdfeeders, and began looking up recipes for fermentation. In the evening, we ordered pizza. After eating, I shredded the cabbage and smashed it into a big glass container, and covered it with a salty water combo. We'll see if it really becomes sauerkraut. :)

Tomorrow, my friend is coming over to make tomatoes into and can ketchup, red hot sauce, and paste. We're also going crush a bunch of them and can it to have for sauce. We bought 50 lbs of tomatoes from our CSA, plus extras from our own gardens. Yum. We're also pickling a half bushel of cucumbers, and I found a recipe for salt 'n' vinegar cucumber chips that I want to try.  I'm going to ferment the squash and eggplant that I have, and see if I like eggplant better when it's pickled.

So, a lot going on. I can't wait for Monday. I'm going to sleep in, treat myself to yoga and tea, and make art all day. Pretty sweet.

On a daily basis, I have been keeping up with my exercise, my morning pages, my yoga, and my gratitude journal.  I also have been sketching a lot, and I've outlined the first fourteen chapters of a book idea that has been percolating in the ol' brain.

Add to all this work and grad school, and I'm a busy bee. That's why a three day weekend is the best ever.