D and E brought our first chicks home last night. There are 16: 4 buckeyes, 4 buff orpingtons, 4 black barred rocks, 4 australorps (these last are 3 weeks old instead of 1 week old). D got them at Naomi's and was very happy with the interaction there (even though they were busy again).
I can tell the breeds apart, but I can't tell the chicks apart yet. I hope that will come.
I had never held a bird before last night.
Tomorrow, if it's warm enough, we might let the older australorps spend some time on the grass. Take a look at this picture of E sprawled out on the grass (I think she looks like an Easter egg):
I wonder if I'll let her do that once the chickens start ranging?
We are broker than broke, but I feel so blessed by the life, love, and potential right here at home. Spring has sprung, man. I have sap running all through my veins. I want to plant every single happy, hopeful feeling I have so that I can grow more.
From now on, I'll probably post more about the chickens at Curious Farm. They belong to the farm, not to me. But I wanted you all to know that they're here, peeping away in the brooder just a few steps from my computer.
I really like the first batch of beet kvass. What's most interesting to me is how the flavor keeps developing in the fridge, after its room-temperature fermentation. My pickles and kimchi retain their flavor, oomph, and cruchiness in the fridge, but the kvass keeps getting better. I like it more and more each day.
I used one of the Harsch crocks to ferment this batch, but I'm understanding how unnecessary that might have been considering the kvass only ferments on the kitchen counter for 3 - 7 days. As most people do, I'm sure it's easy to make it in a canning jar and just crack the lid a couple of times to allow gas to escape.
I'm not Sally Fallon . Here is my recipe:
Cathy's Beet Kvass (made with Harsch crock)
For the quantities in this recipe, many people would use a half-gallon canning jar. Fill the jar with the cubed beets, whey (strain some plain yogurt you like in cheesecloth or a strainer over a bowl, and the whey will collect in the bowl), salt, ginger, and water.
If using Harsch crock, do the above, place the weights on top of the beets, seal the crock properly so that gasses escape on their own.
If using a canning jar, put a lid on it but release the lid a couple of times during fermentation so that gasses escape.
Ferment on the kitchen counter for 3 - 7 days (my first batch went five days). Strain and refrigerate the liquid. Drink some every day. Start your next batch.
This is the view from our porch in Maui:
I swam a lot right out there. In the afternoons, the wind picked up and made the water a little more rough. In the mornings, it was very calm. I also spent a lot of time reading out on this porch, enjoying the view and the breeze.
When we came home, after just a week, we found all of this in the garden:
When E and I picked up our dog from the kennel on Sauvie Island, we stopped into Kruger's for these:
They should be ready on Sunday or Monday. I'm thrilled that my last batch of pickles turned out so well and still are receiving rave reviews. I probably will get two more batches in before cucumbers are done for the season, and then I'll start another batch of kimchi.
Three or four people are waiting to come to my house the next time I make kimchi... I keep trying to figure out how to make a living teaching and doing this fermenting, but I also want to just share. I guess I'll figure it out in the next few months. Today D, E and I passed a boutique catering kitchen, and I thought again about the process of getting a food handler's license and of finding commercial kitchen space. I don't know how to begin those projects until E is in first grade so that I have full mornings free.
My early morning meditations in the garden are going swimmingly. This morning I noticed that a few of the Desert King figs were drooping in that very sensual way that they droop when they're heavy and ripe. These plopped into my palm just as I reached for each of them. Thump. Thump. Thump. They make a gentle smacking sound on my palm that sounds like the pat-pat-pat I used to give E on her bottom when she was a babe.
The Desert Kings are funny because they're still green when ripe. You have to look carefully to notice how they're hanging there. Another day in the hot sun, and these would have fallen to the ground on their own.
I ate all of these by myself because I am the only one who likes figs here. E thinks they're too weird. D thinks they're too ummm... sensual, I guess.
Also sweet today: our wonderful neighbors brought over a berry pie to thank me for inviting their granddaughter over to play two late afternoons and a dinner time this week. She's just a year or so older than E, very sweet, and they play nicely together so it was great for me all around. But a berry pie?!? Yes, please!
This deer ate some dandelions, yarrow, and flowering cherry leaves. This last photo shows the deer watching D and E arrive home in the driveway.
Because our backyard is fenced and our front yard is close to the street (hence the densely planted berm), we don't often see deer at our place. My brother lives down the street on forested property, and he says that some of them live close to his house.
I'm always surprised by how dog-like deer seem sometimes.
Our ducks are back again. It's so re-assuring to see them each year. I'm not sure if they're a week late this time or if I'm just noticing them at the tail end of their visit down by the creek.
I was looking out the window just before dawn and saw shimmering duck-shaped silhouettes swoop down right in front of me on the way to the creek. They looked like ghosts or some magical bird because of the way they glowed. As the sun rose, I kept looking out there, hoping to see them. I didn't want to assume they were really there (because it means so so so much to me when they visit). Finally I saw them when our dog chased them over to the neighbors' yard.
How long do wild ducks live? Our neighbor has a pet duck she's had for more than ten years. Every year for the last five years, a mallard couple come to visit. Is it the same two birds?
So overcome with happiness was I that I spent my whole free morning going here and there, trying to find a little stuffed duck friend for E. I thought it would be easy to find one since it is almost Easter. Not so. I did find a paperback copy of Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings... it's my night to read... goody. In the end, I found a little stuffed baby mallard at the Audubon Society shop.
We got a lot of snow here at 500 feet -- more than a foot, and then there were gnarley snow drifts.
D made a "plow" out of big broomheads that he attached to his tractor. He used this to push the snow up into banks, and this snow cave happened in the bank of snow closest to our front door.
D is a really, really great dad.
In case you can't see these photos, here is the blow-by-blow:
picture #1: E entering the mouth of the snowcave. (E is wearing a rainbow wool hat, purple vest and purple snow boots... she contrasts sharply with the snow.)
picture #2: E scraping away the sides of the cave with a garden tool.
picture #3: E peeking out of a window at the back of the cave.
picture #4: she's made the window larger.
picture #5: she's made the window large enough so that you can see most of her smile.
picture #6: she's smoothing the walls of the cave on the way out.
picture #7: leaving the cave.
I went on a short walk this morning and saw my neighbor's Granny Smith apple tree. She gave us 60 pounds of apples from this tree, and they used much more themselves, but -- as you can see in the photo -- it's still loaded with pretty green orbs. (Forgive my photography.)
What you can't see from this photo is that the tree is filled with about 20 happy red-breasted robins who are eating the apples and having a raucus holiday party. I just stood there in the snow and watched them for the longest time. The whole area smells like apple pie because the the apples froze during the snow, expanded, and split their skin.
Last week when I walked by, I squeezed one of the apples left on the tree and felt bad that they were "ruined" from the ice. This morning I realized that the freezing, expansion, and decay of the apples softened them up enough so that today the birds can perch on ice-covered branches and gorge out on the fruit. The world is a wonder, and I need to keep my heart open to all of the different ways the Earth provides.
Here is a close-up of my teacher-friend, the Evereste crabapple outside the creating room. It's in its second year here and grew hundreds of cheery little crabapples. They're pretty in the snow.
I'm going to continue focusing my plant studies on apples, roses, hawthorn, and yarrow this coming year. I'm still very drawn to all of them and feel there's still so much to learn from them. Other herbalists change focus plants each year, but these four teachers have told me I'm not ready to graduate yet. Lucky me!
Merry green and red apples to you!
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