"Science is like a miracle"

My chickens haven't been laying.  Oh, they've molted, yes.  I saw that.  I gave them protein to speed that along.  Even so, I haven't seen an egg in the nesting box since September.  Ug!  I hate freeloaders. 

I was just about to make myself a nice Coq au Vin, when I decided I should email my friend (and local poultry farmer) for some advice.  He reminded me that egg production is related to length of light and recommended I put a light in the coop.  Brilliant!  My husband hung a strand of Christmas lights in the coop and set it up with a timer.  The lights come on at 4pm and shut off at 9pm.  We set this up about a week ago, and today we got our first egg in months. 

I emailed my buddy to thank him for the advice.  "Science is like a miracle," he said.  Deep thoughts!  And wise words.

Dear Sitter...

It's been pretty blog silent around these parts, and for that I apologize.  My little babe, Elliott, has become my life.  As my baby's vision develops, my vision becomes more nearsighted.  I cannot see beyond his little face.  I hold him close, and TRY to get him to stare into my eyes.  The poor little wiggle worm just wants to squirm away, though, because the world is oh so amazing and interesting.  The more he wants to explore and see new things, the more I want just him.  Yes, I have a terrible, middle-school crush on my son.  I love him so very much.

 So, I think Dear Sitter will be a series on this blog, since I have many things to say to a potential babysitter.  I have had my parents, sister, and friends watch Elliott, and I even interviewed a stranger to sit, but I have yet to hire someone to take care of him.  Elliott is almost 8 months old, and I am not against hiring someone to sit for him at all, but nothing seems that important.  But tonight I left a holiday party just to come home and put Elliott to bed.  He needed sleep, but I would have loved to mingle with other adults.  And I was thinking, what would I tell a babysitter on a night like this?  Just off the cuff, I think it might go something like this...

Dear Sitter,
Don't get stressed out about putting Elliott to bed.  I used to worry so much when I was a new mom.  Putting my baby to bed seemed so mysterious and impossible.  But Elliott is easy.  He will go to sleep when he is tired.  How will you know he is tired?  He starts wiggling in your arms and rubbing his eyes.  He might yawn.  When you see any two of these signs, hold him and rock him.  Don't worry about giving him a bottle; he hates bottles.  I fed him before I left, so he is not hungry.  Just rock him a bit, and if he gets more wiggly, put him down in the crib.  When you put him down, help him to roll over onto his tummy because he only sleeps on his tummy.  I know about "back to sleep," but our Elliott is a roller and will get onto his tummy on his own even without out help. (He will cry and cry if you don't help him roll over.)  If he doesn't get more wiggly, he will fall asleep in your arms.  Bliss!  When this happens, put him in the crib and help him onto his belly.  Before you leave his room, make sure he can breathe easily, and put a light blanket on him.  Congratulations and thank you!  Please have some chocolate and relax.  That's what I do every night after he falls asleep.


And that is what I will tell him/her.  Someday.  Soon.

Problem Solved!

My hive robbery has slowed down and may have even stopped completely.  The solution was the wet sheet I draped over the hive yesterday afternoon.  Just hours after I applied the sheet, I could see activity at the front of the hive slowing down.  I didn't observe any more wasps entering through the crack where the cover meets the super (since the wet towel was in the way).  I took the sheet off in the evening to allow for night time ventilation, and this morning, activity looked normal.  It's about noon now, and the entrance has a bit of activity.  I saw some wasps in the grass in front of the hive, so I replaced the sheet. 

All in all, a wet sheet is a great strategy to stop hive robbing.  It seemed to help the bees get a leg up on their enemies, and it may have prevented a colony loss later on if the honey robbing perpetuated.  I hope the bees have enough honey left to make it through the winter, and I hope that not too many of the actual bees were killed in this epic skirmish.

Help! I'm being robbed!

The honey harvest is being postponed or cancelled.  There has been an attack on the hive.  I went out to check on the bees the other day, and I notice a great amount of activity at the entrance to the hive and on the front of the hive.  Upon closer inspection I saw that bees were fighting at the entrance and in the grass in front of the hive.  I also saw some wasps in the fray.  Hive robbing!  I put an entrance reducer on when I saw this, and the robbing continued but slowed.  Today I put a wet sheet over the hive.  I suspected that some of the robbers were getting in through a crack on the top of the hive.  The sheet leaves the entrance exposed and will hopefully block the "backdoor".

I'll keep you posted on the activity!

Harvest Honey, Honey

I plan on harvesting some honey in the next couple of weeks.  Not much, perhaps just a frame or two.  I want to compare this season's honey to last season's, of which I still have several pounds.  I don't have an extractor (yet), so I plan on uncapping the frame and letting the honey drip out.  I know this might take a while, but it's more of an experiment than a full-on harvest.

Did I tell you that I'm making mead with some of last year's honey?  I have a three gallon carboy bubbling quietly in the basement.  Mead takes several months to ferment, so I am patiently waiting on this project, watching the magic happen.  It's golden and cloudy with tiny bubbles rising to the surface.  (Oh, and since I love me a good fermentation project I am also making some stout.  I'll be bottling that this weekend!)

Cloth diapering

It may seem extreme to many people, but cloth diapering is alive and well!  Even in these modern times of ours filled with convenience items and speed.  Yes, cloth diapering can slow one down a bit, but for me, I like a little forced slowing once and a while.  I, like so many mamas out there, spend so much time tending to my little baby, and the extra seconds snapping on a diaper cover just roll into that. Oh, the days filled with soothing and napping and feeding and strolling...and laundry!  What did I do before my little one?

But I digress.  I am using both cloth diapers and disposable diapers.  I've found that the cloth diapers are great for those long days at home when I can spend all the time in the world changing Baby.  I use Cloth-Eez prefolds and MotherEase diapers mostly.  I love the prefolds- so classic and absorbent!  The MotherEase diapers are on loan from a friend and have lots of snaps for the growing babe.  Hubs loves these because they have a utilitarian feel.  And he doesn't mess with the Snapeez on the prefolds.  I have some BumGenius all-in-one diapers, too (liner and cover in one) and these are great for quick cloth diapering.  When I go out and want to show off my cloth diapering skills, I bring these along.  See?!  It's easy!

The disposables have been great for trips and over night.  Baby had a diaper rash for a while, and I think it had to do with the cloth getting wet at night and sitting on his skin.  The disposables were nice for keeping him drier while the rash healed.

More on cleaning the diapers later, but I've found the best way to get out poop stains!  I'll leave you with one word-SUN.

Maine vacation

There's nothing more restorative and refreshing than a week in Maine.  This year we stayed on Great Pond, one of the Belgrade Lakes.  It was a real family affair, with 18 of us total.  These were lazy days, folks.  Fishing during the cool mornings, swimming during the hot afternoons, and eating themed dinners cooked by a different family each night.  The food, oh the food.  We sure do know how to cook.  Lobster, London broil, tacos, gourmet pizzas, ahhh...  It was the first vacation for my new little 3 month old baby, too.  Oh, yes.  More on him in another post! 

Spay and Neuter Propaganda

This little picture is hanging up at my work, and I just can't keep from giggling every time I see it. 

Bee Update

I checked on the bees only a few short weeks ago, but the snow and some windy weather has since wiped out my colony.  I discovered this last week, and have been on damage control ever since.  I realized there were three things that I must do to continue being a beekeeper, and to grow and learn from the situation. 

1. Call someone more experienced for advice.  I rang up a local expert, and made a plan for her to come over and do an impromptu colony autopsy.  She was very obliging, and came over the day after I called.  Her determination was that the bees died from the cold.  They were close to their honey stores, but not close enough.  The cold immobilized them and they couldn't get to their food.  So, really, they died from cold and starvation.  Poor buggers.  Some were dead with their heads in the cells.

2. Order up a new colony.  I called up my local supplier and placed an order for a new package of Italians and a queen.  Those bees should be here within a few weeks, so my hive won't be empty for long!

3. Clean out the hive and harvest the honey.  On a nice day, I opened up the hive and scraped out all the errant wax and some of the propolis.  The propolis is like glue, and very hard to clean.  I did the best I could with that.  I borrowed the honey extracting equipment from the Hampden County Beekeepers Association (they lend this equipment to members), and my husband and I took the better half of a day to extract the honey.  We uncapped the combs, put them in the spinner, spun the honey, and strained it into jars.  Here are some pics of the process.

Uncapping the comb with the hot knife

Ready to be spun, handcrank!

Straining the wax and debris from the honey

Final product!

Community Garden Plot Lottery

This was the view from my back porch just a few short days ago.  The March 1st snow storm brought about 10 inches of wet, heavy snow.  It was beautiful!  The type of snow that makes the pine boughs hang.  Almost a week later, the snow is still sticking to some of the trees.  I don't expect that will last long since temperatures are predicted to climb into the 60s by Thursday.  Oh, March!

Being 8 months pregnant, I didn't shovel this stuff.  It was strange to pass up the chore.  I have always been an avid shoveller (and leaf raker), the first one out of the house.  I like the crisp air and getting warm while throwing the snow.  But I didn't want to strain anything, so I stayed inside and made hot chocolate for my hard-working husband.  I was glad when I looked out the window and saw the neighbor helping him with the plowed in part of the driveway.  We have the best neighbors.

I am lucky enough to live in a small city that has a community garden.  Last night, the organizers of the garden held the lottery drawing to distribute empty plots to people who want to grow things.  All of us who are new to the garden filled out an application and paid a $20 fee (technically a mandatory donation).  Then our names were drawn at random from a box and we selected the plot we would like for the 2012 season.  There were 15 available plots and 5 new people, so no one was left out.  I chose a nice spot on the uphill side of the garden, close to the hose and away from the poison ivy.  I have visions of bringing the baby there and gardening in the rich soil.  Tomatoes, peppers, spinach, peas...  My yard is just too shady for these things.

Storm Coming

It was a gorgeous, sunny day today.  Highs were in the low 40s, but it felt warm.  That might change tomorrow, as a storm is predicted to move in.  Here in Western Massachusetts, we might get up to 12" of snow.  We'll see.  It's been such a mild winter that I can't really imagine a snow storm coming in. 

Since it was so mild today, I checked on the hive of honeybees in the backyard.  I had noticed some dead bees around the entrance, and I wanted to see how many corpses were really there and if there were any living bees left.  I broke off a stick and used it to swoop the dead bodies out of the hive.  Yep, there were a lot of dead bees.  I donned my hood and got out my hive tool to take a look in the supers.  The top super looked very quiet but when I lifted it, I could see a small cluster of bees near the center of the middle super.  Ah ha!  There are live bees.  I put everything together as quickly as I could, and felt assured that we might make it through the season.  I want my colony to survive!  Not only because they are little beings that I am managing, but because I don't want to shell out $90 for a package of bees.  Buying new bees every season is not sustainable.

Here are some pictures of the hive last summer.

If all goes well this season, I might get another hive next spring.  I really enjoy working with the bees, and I find it amazing that these little critters have such a complex social order.  The honey is divine.  The wax is useful.  If I hone my skills a bit, I can definitely see expanding my bee empire!

Bakery Dreams

Last weekend I traveled to Vermont to take a bread baking class with my family.  It was part of a Christmas gift that my sister and I gave to our parents.  We wanted to have an experience together and we all love baking, so this was perfect.  The class was at the King Arthur Flour Education Center in Norwich, VT.  While in nearby Hanover, NH we came across this snow/ice sculpture:

How appropriate!  I think it was part of Dartmouth's Winter Carnival, but I am not really sure. 

The bread baking class was a success.  We made a white sandwich bread, a braided bread, a Sicilian style artisan loaf, and a batch of scones.  All turned out delicious.  How could they not?  We had a wonderful teacher!  Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures, but here is what I made when I went for a class last year:

Delicious after a few minutes in a wood fired oven!  My sister and I are already planning our next trip.

Signs of Spring

We have not had a winter this year!  It is mid-February and we have barely had any snow.  Temperatures have been consistent with highs in the 30s or 40s and lows in the 20s at night.  I posted that I saw crocuses a few weeks ago, and today I see this outside my work.  I think these are early daffodils, but I am not entirely sure.  It won't be long until I find out!

Tonight I am making a simple and wonderful lentil soup.  It's a basic recipe, nothing fancy, but it will include carrots and onions from Mountainview Farm.  We have a winter share, which means that every month for four months, we get a load of seasonal produce.  At the last pick-up, I found myself loaded with carrots, parsnips, turnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and one head of greenhouse-raised bok choi (what a treat!).  The sweet potatoes are a bit of a challenge.  They are so filling, and the flavor is sweet and powerful.  It seems they take over every dish I put them in.  Oh well.  There are worse problems to have.

New Yarn

I've been busy at my spinning wheel lately, making some new worsted weight yarn. These beautiful hanks are 100% merino. Undyed, the color is a milky off-white. The texture is slightly bumpy with the little irregularities that make handspun so attractive. I love this yarn, but I might put it on Etsy. I don't actually have an Etsy shop yet, but I have enough handspun to start one. I love spinning, and I love the touch and sight of my yarn, but there's no sense in collecting it for myself. I don't have the space to store it, and I don't have the time to knit it all. Perhaps I can make a tiny income doing something I love. I will let you all know when I open the Etsy shop!

In other news, I signed up for a milk delivery service today. I am going to be getting my milk from Mapleline Farm in Hadley, MA. My neighbor gets the delivery, so the milk man can make two deliveries in one stop. The milk comes in glass bottles that are reused by the dairy, and many of the items for delivery are local. I say "items" because it's not just a milk delivery. This service delivers orange juice, butter, eggs, bacon, yogurt, frozen organic pizza, ice cream and a whole lot more. It's good food combined with supporting local businesses and being green. I am so excited!

Like Spring

Just went for a walk and saw crocuses blooming!  It's about 50 degrees out, and supposed to get even warmer tomorrow.  Last year at this time we were getting a two day storm.

Bulking Up

This morning, the hubs and I received big props at the coop for our bulk saviness, and I just wanted to share a little bit of my pride here.  Please pardon my patting myself on the back, but I think this is important.  Just to clarify, I'm talking about the bulk section of the market with the bags and pens, not the buying club markets (although those have some serious benefits).

The benefits of buying in bulk are numerous and tie together the personal and the environmental.  Everything we do impacts other beings on this planet, and every purchase is a vote for what we like and want.  When you buy in the bulk section you are usually buying healthy whole foods- dried fruit, nuts, grains, beans, etc.  I'm talking vitamins and fiber!  You might find processed snack foods and pastas in bulk, but most of the time even these are somewhat healthy.  Yum!  Ginger chews! 

Buying in bulk also means that you can use and reuse your own containers, which means you can get as much or as little as you want and have minimum environmental impact by eliminating disposable packaging.  Now this is where I sometimes feel like a bulk lunatic.  I show up at the store with empty jars and fabric bags, and leave the store with full containers.  My containers are all tare weighted (so I don't get charged for the weight of the jars), and I have stickers so I can write down what's in them and the PLU.  (Listen for cheers from the cashiers!)  I have a few large jars that are probably 2 gallons, but I mostly use mason jars.  Mason jars are ubiquitous in my house, especially now since I am eating a ton of pickles this winter.

I have yet to do a thorough cost analysis of buying in bulk versus buying packaged foods.  Prices fluctuate, but right now the spices are much cheaper when you buy bulk.  A tiny jar of cinnamon costs more than twice as much as the same volume of bulk cinnamon.  Shampoo costs about half as much money when you buy bulk.  However, I found the best deal on olive oil to be the large metal tins (a savings of about $15 dollars compared to the bulk).  That being said, my coop has a large variety of olive oil and in all the other comparisons the bulk wins out on price.

Buying in the bulk section is easy, and you don't have to look like a freaky hippie to do it.  Just stay organized.   Bring clean containers with labels.  Always record (on the container) the contents, the tare, and the PLU.  (Don't write it down as a list on a piece of paper and then dictate to the cashier.  This is bound to backfire-you'll lose the list or forget something and then your saviness flies out the window and you look flaky.)  Finish off the experience by being your own bagger.  Your cashier just did double duty by typing in all those numbers, so give her a hand with the bags.

Chickens, Joy, and Recycling

 

On mornings like this, I am so happy to have my chickens. I'm not just happy to have them because they give me healthy, fresh eggs or because they are fun to watch. I'm happy (and grateful) to have them because they give me an excuse to get out of the house for my morning chores. When I got out of bed this morning I had to bring out the water font (I bring it in at night so it doesn't freezy), let the girls out of their locked coop, and give them some kitchen scraps. The backyard was icy, especially the well-travelled path to the coop, but the air was mild and moist. Some mornings are cold and biting. Some are joyous and refreshing. This one is the latter. It made me want to strap on some hiking shoes and hit the mountains.

 

Inspired by Joel Salatin's book, I dumped some of my kitchen scraps in with the hens yesterday.  They LOVED them! I'm watching to see what they enjoy the most.  So far, it looks like the uncooked rice is the winner and the orange rinds are the losers.  They went right for the pile this morning, and I added some more on top. They eat more in the winter, and the pepper tops and garlic skins and moldy bread ends add diversity and calories to their winter diet.  This is healthy for them, and free for me.  Win, win. 

 

Joel Salatin inspired this little scrap experiment, but it's something I do in the summer.  Honestly, I haven't put out my kitchen scraps lately because there's snow on the ground, and the pile of compost stands out and looks bad.  I finally decided that my neighbors will understand.  I don't want to attract other animals that might be hungry in the winter, so the first sign of scavengers will have me cleaning up the little mess.  Such is life on half an acre in the city!

New Books!

I treated myself to a couple new books for the new year!

I have been a big fan of Jenna Woginrich ever since I took her Chickens 101 workshop at her farm in Jackson, NY last March.  She is inspiring.  A 20-something, single woman living the dream.   And who can resist a Joel Salatin book?

What books are you enjoying?

A Cold Night

As the sun was setting last night, I belatedly checked the weather forcast.  Temperatures were predicted to dip into the single digits.  Yikes!  Had I prepared the chickens for this cold snap?  To boost their chances of survival during the night, I put some fresh bedding in their small coop and gave them a fresh, warm piece of cornbread.  Then I stacked some thick blankets on top of the coop as a tiny bit of insulation. 

When I woke up this morning, the temperature was 9F.  Once the sun came up, I checked on the hens, and all four were alive and mobile. 

New Year!

Hello everyone, and welcome to 2012! 

My New Year's Eve celebration involved good food and great friends.  Specifically, I learned the fine art of sausage making, starting with the ground pork and spices.

I was surprised to learn that natural casings come packed in salt and refrigerated (usually with an ice pack in the package).  Before you use the casings, you must repeatedly soak and rinse them to make them more pliable and to rid them of the salt.



After the soaking, the casings get pushed onto a spout at the bottom of the sausage filling apparatus.  The apparatus is a cylindrical container with a press at the top and the spout at the bottom.  The filling gets scooped into the apparatus and pressed down and out into the casing.  So simple!

We ended up with about six feet of delicious pork sausage that was rolled nicely.

In the above picture, the sausage is getting poked with a toothpick to release some of the moisture in the filling. 

The sausage making process was fascinating, and something that I think most people could do at home.  Maybe I will get a sausage stuffer and some local pork from Mockingbird Farm and make my own!