Chickens, gardening,chicken business and berries

The warmest April I can remember...ever... inspired Jimmy and I to  get our garden in early.   I wasn't sure what would happen because a few years ago we were also inspired to  put in our garden early and then it snowed on us.  Not this year.  Over the last week  pretty little greens popped up in every bed and  all the beans  broke through the soil. We should have snow peas by the end of May. 
I spent one of our sunny April days  with a pitchfork doubling the size of the  squash bed and moving all the sod to a different location. (it hasn't died yet so I have a hopeful heart) We will be putting the squash and tomatoes in in about two weeks. 
The biggest challenge as always is keeping the chickens and wild rabbits out of the newly planted beds so everything is netted and safe. Just in time too as a whole warren of bunnies has been running through the yard. We have also had deer sightings this  year and  we have been adopted by a mated pair of mallards. Those two are something else. I first met them when they came to the kitchen door a couple of weeks ago quacking  and demanding to be fed. They were almost in the kitchen proper  before I figured out what they were doing.
We are crawling with critters around here. The new chicks are doing well...all except one.  Little tiny Charlotte  was not developing as well or growing as fast as the others and then she started limping so  we brought her back inside and put her back in the brooder with special feed and a lamp. She is alert and she looks like she is growing a bit but her limp isn't any better.  I don't want to lose her, she is the sweetest and tamest of the run.  Her run mates are beginning to look and sound like  grown chickens  so I hope she catches up. Her run mates are also enjoying the feeder. When I first put it in I had my doubts but this week it seems to be coming together.  All the chickens have learned  that that is where food comes from. Instead of disappearing when someone walks by they now run up to the fence and  give strangers  their best hungry orphan  look. I'm not sure yet but I think they have a  guard rotation going on. One of them is always  in the area of the feeder and  when someone comes along the  one watching gives a squawk and they all come running.  The best thing about the feeder is that it keeps the chickens off the front porch and out of the garden.      So far we have two toddlers as  regular customers. They come by with their dads and  gleefully shout bock bock  and clap their hands as dads pour quarters into the machine. Best customers EVER!    There is a real difference in the way Moms and Dads  treat the kids at the feeder. Dads shovel in quarters until they are all gone, filling up cupped hands  to overflowing each time.  Moms put in one quarter and  meet out tiny handfuls of feed to the single child. If mom has more than one kid they each get a quarter (or maybe two)  and then mom says "That's enough for today. We will come back again".  Dad's (and granddads) appear to be one-time big spenders but Mom's make for  good repeat customers.   So, the Mystic Cedars chicken business is off to a good start.
With the garden in and the feeder taking care of itself, I feel like I can get some artwork done.  I needed the break anyway because I had a  studio full of wet oil paintings that I kept bumping into .
Maybe next blog I will report on the massive amount of berries  we are seeing bloom this year.  The storms took down low hanging branches and Jimmy cleared a ton of brush when he cleaned up the debris. It opened up hawthorn, elderberry and currants that hadn't seen sun in years. Cant wait to see what wine and jelly making season  bring this year!

Research excitement, gardening, winemaking, henna barter.

Most of you know that I have been working on a research project for a one woman show.  Up until now the research has all been computer assisted.  Pretty much anything you want to research is online these days. But now I am to the point in my research where I need documents to prove what I am saying. They are all down at the king county archives...on microfiche.   I'm old enough to remember when microfiche was   a really great tool  that helped speed  the research process .  Now , it is slow and labor intensive.   I realized last week that even  though Jimmy and  I are neo luddites  that we have been spoiled when it comes to getting the information we want. We think any and all information should be at our fingertips just  a second or two away.   Ask a question....get an instant answer.   I made one trip to the king county archives so far. Everything I need is there. I just need to get to it.  The archivists at King County are information badasses!   I walked up to counter on my first visit and  babbled a bunch of disorganized   word salad at the poor guy manning the desk.  He took a few seconds, organized everything I told him ..in his head.... and gave me a place to begin.  He even explained to me how to read the  bureau of land management maps that I have been staring at, for the last two years, with glazed over eyes.  I have a new hero and a random thought crossed my mind  while he was being  both patient and genius... I need to get him and Feral Jane together in the same room.  They would be perfect for each other.  I haven't  tried to match make for FJ since jr. high school  so, this truly was a random thought in the process. I  retrieved enough info from the archive indexes to be able to put together a four page outline.  I read it to  jimmy and he said it sounded like a deposition.  That's a good thing , I think.  Its means the information is there.  Now I just have to build a show around it.  An interesting show.   In the meantime life goes on at Mystic Cedars.   My poor sad garden perked up significantly after  last Fridays deluge.   We may even get a few solid meals out of it before the weather turns cold.  It hasn't all been bad though.   My home canned goods cabinet is getting full. Tons of Jelly and I have my second  huge jar of cucumbers brining right now.  I'm hoping to get at least one more batch of pickling cucumbers  out of the garden before the season ends.
The second planting of the garden is doing so much better than the  first.  The new pole beans I  planted are shooting up and we should get a really good crop from them as long as it doesn't snow in September.  
Here is an FYI for Baby Sis. The Blackberry wine is in the first  ferment and  is bubbling vigorously.  We should be getting a minimum of five gallons out of it. Now I just need to keep it warm.  When I put it in the glass carboy, I am going to put one of the  planting start mats under it.  I used to use classic heating pads, but mine all  burned out and the new ones all have  timers in them now that shut off after two hours.  Useless!
Jimmys Mom is coming in for a few days this week,  so the guest room continues to be a guest room for a while longer.  After she heads back home though it will once again become the  'textile' room.  Sewing machine, rug  frame, giant yarn depository, random baskets full of projects.  I will also be going through my bins of costumes and  rehoming  many of them.  I would love to  keep them all but to do that I would need to rent a  storage  room somewhere. Not going to do that.  And here is something I have been meaning to do.  I stopped using henna on my hair.  I now have a drawer full of henna and henna products in my bathroom that needs to go.  If you want them give me a call.   They are free.  Unless  you are in a bartering mood (cuz some people  are suspicious of free).  In that case, I am looking for  a couple of  good condition,  classic picnic baskets,  more yarn, really big baskets,  plant pots and that sort of thing.   

Urban farming,weaving,crochet,cooking, gardening, backyard chickens, tiger woods golf

Busy, busy,busy! The problem with having lots of things to blog about? No time to do it. Between tons of company,  my new Kitchen aid, getting the garden in, working in the studio, Making the studio work (we have an electrical problem that yesterday was finally traced  back to a bad switch) And twisting my leg so everything took longer .......and oh........ hurt........ AND many smaller projects which include crocheting pretty little baby blankets and a rug for the kitchen......  I haven't been able to get near the computer.  OH yeah and tiger woods golf came out a week ago so I've been  building my golfer for a week. Jimmy has been spent more time on his golfer than I have so he is beating me right now.  But I'm not worried cuz once I get to legend I will take him down.  He chokes on the back nine .
I got  a great deal on a BOLT of 100% cotton  large gauge yarn last summer and just now got around to using it.   You can tell I'm a beginner at this cuz my rug looks like its going to be about 8 feet long.  Its looks really cool but is waaaaay to long. Jimmy thinks I should dye it and use it in the living room.  But no. I will stubbornly persist! And sometime in May I will be spilling  coffee and god knows what else, on a handmade carpet that would sell for $300  on etsy. I have no shame.  While I was  buying yarn at weaving works http://www.weavingworks.com/knitting_weaving_yarns.html I ran across a  full size loom.  I want it. I have visions of spending next winter weaving by the fire.  Jimmy says he thinks I should finish my printmaking class before I start something new.  I think maybe he has already tallied the price tag for all the new printmaking materials I am going to  'need' after I take the  class.   I'm still looking for a high MP SLR camera to photograph the stuff I've already completed. I never really thought of myself as an expensive woman. I don't spend money on fashion or getting my nails done and I drive a 10 year old car by choice. (ya just cant do the things I do to a car in something brand new and shiny.  The back seat is speckled with  oil paint from the  'i could have sworn it was dry enough to move" paintings ,the trunk full of splinters from all the wood I haul, and it still smells a little like chickens and peaches from the last trip we took to the east side of the mountains)  But I spend more on my  'projects' than any person in history ever spent on vanity.  Jimmy  mostly just  sighs heavily   as the cash is passed over the counter, only occasionally   verbalizing discontent at the high cost of  living with me.  Fortunate for me he likes the result..... usually ( he hated the wind chimes).    And sometimes I think he is ok with paying for  a laugh.  Like right now when I have an out of control crochet project. or when I  accidentally left the back door open and the chickens invited themselves into the living room for a  little  'leave it to beaver' and  a snack. But I digress.
The garden is all in except for the  hot weather stuff like tomatoes and cucumbers and they are all sitting pretty in the shuttle enjoying the light and ambient 78 degree days.  Jimmy has everything he needs for the cold frames for them and we are just waiting til the time is right to put them in the ground.  I saw itty bitty baby lettuce  popping up through the soil yesterday and the snow peas I put in the  planting bags are beginning  to  show movement. 
Yesterday we let the girls into the grassy run for the first time. They were so happy!.  After a week in chicken prison they were so glad to be out in the grass they were silent all day.  Elphie of course was only happy for about 10 minutes then spent all her time  pacing the fence trying to escape.  The reds watched her with amusement as they grazed happily and occasionally gave each other the 'she just doesn't get it' look  before snacking  on an unsuspecting beetle.
So, that's it pretty much for today. Things are serenely busy at Frankie and Jimmy's  urban backyard farm.  Right now I need to head out to the garage and count canning jars so I know how many I need to collect over the summer. Then I gotta ............

Backyard chickens, fertilizer, organic weed control, Fresh free range eggs, gardening, composting, organic pest control, zombie cows

Its been a while since I waxed poetic about backyard chickens. But yesterday a friend  FB'd that she may be adopting a couple .  Then I remembered the excitement of our first flock. In the beginning it seemed like there was so much to learn and now its old hat.  Chickens integrated into our lives so easily I couldn't figure out why everyone doesn't have them..... especially gardeners. The benefits are many and the  drawbacks are few.   the first benefit of course is the eggs. Nothing tastes better than a fresh egg from a healthy free range  chicken and  the nutrition is very high. Grocery store eggs are an  average of 2 months old by the time you get them home. Many commercially produced eggs are as old as  four months before getting to your fridge. I don't want to eat old eggs. I'm not gonna. You cant make me.
Chickens are great gardeners. They forage through the yard and keep the bugs way down. They dig through garden beds all winter and keep the soil turned over looking for yummy things to snack on.
They dig up and eat your weeds. We have the most beautiful well fertilized lawn in our back yard. And all Jimmy does is mow. When we first moved in here the  lawn was a sea of  waving dandelions. Now after two wintered of free ranging the girls,  their scratching, aerating and pooing have left only the occasional weed popping  up.  And its all organic with no watershed damage. And we get eggs.
They love the compost pile. Year before last they took an  8 foot by 8 foot  area piled up 3 feet high  with organic materials and reduced it to  a stunning  rich garden bed ready for planting in 6 months. They did all the work between October and March while Jimmy and I were sitting warm and toasty in the house in front of a fire. And we get eggs.
They make great pets.  After a while they recognize you as one of their flock and treat you accordingly. They live well with cats. And as long as you have chickens.... crows and blue jays will avoid your yard and sparrows , hummingbirds and other songbirds will visit daily and play with the chickens. They  are a viable part of any backyard ecosystem.
And the poop. You will never buy fertilizer again and everything you pull out of the coop can be composted or used to make  'hot' beds for growing peppers and other vegetables that need warmer soil.

The drawbacks?  They get up at the crack of dawn.  They argue over the nests (even if you provide one nest per bird they will have a favorite and fight over it).  Any unprotected garden greens are just snacks to them. (we fence off the winter  beds when free ranging them.).  They will poop on the patio cuz they don't care. And they will hang out on the back porch  under the dryer vent in the winter to get warm.  And when it snows they will bitch at you like YOU did it to be mean. And when it rains hard they will give you dirty looks.   In the end they are delightful  creatures and provide a grounding  that one can only strive for in yoga class.
Now if I could just talk Jimmy into one of those miniature cows for the front yard! I just have to figure out a way that  mini cows could be useful during the zombie apocalypse