The Incredible Edible Egg

Look at that: Doesn't it make you feel for the chicken that laid it?

Calling all Cans

Hey world,

Anybody have any canning supplies that you can lend me? Or, maybe some canning jars that we may have?

I am sponsoring a canning class at the Columbus Catholic Worker and would like to keep costs down. The class will be on August 12th, so I would need to collect supplies before then.

Later in the season, we will be "processing" veggies at harvest to put in the house pantry for the winter. Any assistance you may want to offer is appreciated.

Let me know if you can help in any of these ways-- it is greatly appreciated!! E

Introducing the Girls

Two of the three hens living in our coop

Our first egg

Shot of the coop with a metal door for a roof

Well, here is a dream realized. How lucky am I? A friend gave me the coop, another the hens while others gave much help with coop maintenance and materials. Thank you.

Aren't they beautiful creatures?

Best Day

Today, I think, was one of the best days ever. Interestingly enough, it was not because it was a perfect day-- for perfection was not achieved, but the day held many pleasures for me. These pleasures were not thwarted by the late arrival to church, the bickering of children, the mower cutting out several times, an acquaintance calling for help when I did not want to leave my garden, or the shower head spraying water all over the bathroom floor as I attempted to enter the stall. I still remain blissful as I recount the day's events. I will try to share them here even though, you may not be able to relate to the wonderousness of it all.

1. Slept in today. I woke around 9:00 am. The sun was shining in the window and by some miracle, the kids decided to not awaken me. The kids surprise me at times at how they believe you are always alert and accessible. I don't get that. It is quite often that one of them will come in and start talking as if I am conscious and fully expect a lucid response.

2. Went to church (albeit late) and grooved to the music, listened to a homily about love, received hugs and kisses at peace time and shed a tear at "Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed". A church lady came up to us after the Mass and gave us the inside scoop that she made sandwiches to eat, next door. She knows I love her cooking and even though I know those sandwiches were for everyone, I could not help that she felt she was sharing a prize secret with me.

3. Went to Oakland Park Nursery. Purchased plants for a gift basket, a few vegetable plants and a couple of seed packets. One of the packets was a splurge-- a mixture of seeds to grow flowers that will pop up all growing season long. I say it is a splurge because it does not involve vegetables.

4. Put laundry on the line outside. Nothing better than the fresh feeling from line dried clothes. It saves energy and I get in a meditative state when I do this task. It is a relatively quiet time, my hands are busy and I can set my mind at ease.

5. Mowed the lawn. Quinn did the bulk of it, I raked up the grass clippings. My yard looks so good when the grass is short. It also feels rugged and unruly even when the grass is cut-- I am trying to think of ways to tame it a bit. I have ivy and brush piles and weeds gone wild in places. Even so, some of the weeds are gorgeous as they bloom.

6. Gardening. Put in cukes, onions and weeded around the broccoli, lettuce, peas and tomatoes. Added manure to the soil to add nutrients. Still a lot to do, but my garden is beginning to look like a real garden.

7. Fire. Burned brush that was in the back half of the yard; left by city workers who cut a couple of trees to clear the alley and wires on telephone poles. A mess was remained there and it made it hard to mow around. We started a fire and chipped away at the pile. The ashes from the fire make excellent compost. We probably burned through about 2/3rds of the pile. The day was crisp and a little chill was in the air, the fire was a nice addition both physically and mentally.

8. Linner. In between tasks, I stopped to make a meal. As I peeked in the refrigerator, I saw that I needed to cook up some pork chops that were waiting to be eaten. I debated whether to spend the time cooking and was tempted to eat out, when I just decided to go for it (knowing going out would cost more and would take time too). I poured a little olive oil in the pan, cut up some sweet onions and peppered the chops. I scrounged around a bit more for added sides and found some pesto pasta in the freezer and some green beans. Within 15 minutes we had a whole meal and to my surprise, the kids kept coming back for more- they can be finicky. So, I earned points for cooking, fixing something the kids would eat and eating the chops before they went bad.

There was much more that made my day great, but I will end with the fact that it is ending with a perfect cup of tea. I try often to achieve tea greatness and often fall short. Tonight, the tea is hot, just enough sugar, a dash of milk and goes down just right.

I hope you will have many a day like this, filled with simple joys and pleasures. Sometimes, I think it is just as important to experience a day like today as to reflect upon it. Many days get passed over in a rush or because we are too preoccupied with other thoughts to truly appreciate what is going well.

I think another reason today was special is that even though I was multitasking, I was able to stay very present with each task.

I'm a Snapdragon!

Found this little tidbit at a blog I follow called: This Garden is Illegal a Cleveland blogger who loves to garden.

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

She says that, "Mischief is my middle name, but my first is friend. I am quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

Zucchini in the Garden

Picked my first zucchini from the garden and have been wondering what to do with it. Squash is not my favorite veggie, but I know it is good stuff nutritionally.

I came upon a blog today that talks about fried battered squash. I must admit it looks good. See for yourself here.

I also have made zuccanoes in the past with a recipe doctored up from the Moosewood Cookbook- very yummy, but the kids are not as fond of it and it requires baking, which in an un-airconditioned house does not appeal to me.

So, I will try this fried squash recipe and see how that goes over. By the way, I tried fried cheese at the North Market today- fantastic! That topped off with a smoothie from Bubbles and we were all set- a real treat.

To Weed or Not to Weed that is the Question...

Before I left for Iowa I spent some quality time in my garden. Everywhere I looked, I had what are called volunteer tomatoes. Volunteer tomatoes are the ones that grow up from last year's rotten ones. We have many and they are popping up all over the yard. This is because we have been faithfully composting all year and as we prepared to plant the garden we spread the compost around. I have tomato plants in every nook and cranny of the garden.

This is a blessing to be sure. Our seedlings this year were started late and are much smaller than these volunteers. In addition, the variety of last year was unparalleled. I think we had 11 varieties in all. Now, I believe we may be at 15 varieties or so (traditional red, pink, cherry, grape, purple, white, yellow, orange, striped etc)- depending on what volunteer tomatoes grow.

But, I have a problem. There are probably 100+ volunteer tomatoes all growing in planted sections of the garden. One particularly strong one is in the broccoli. And, knowing last year's crop, this plant will probably be about 5 ft tall and 3 feet wide- quite a space grabber. I begrudgingly acknowledged that I needed to remove these plants- breaking my heart though it did.

So, I began the pulling process. Tomato after tomato plant, set aside, ready for composting.

As I did this I remembered a friend's words saying that a weed is any plant that you don't want. She, Charity, said this as we took a tour of my back yard trying to identify plants. This is my first year at the house so my yard is filled with surprises. I could see what she meant- I was looking at the violets that carpet certain sections of the garden as beautiful and I think she saw them as something she could do without- if it were her choice.

So, I pulled and pulled these tomato weeds.

It made me think that there are times when we all feel like weeds- unwanted, untapped potential.......... The difference though is that we can replant ourselves and begin again.

And sometimes, we have to weed out persons, feelings or circumstances in order to breathe or increase our potential to grow. This does not mean that these circumstances are not in thier own right good things, but just like these tomatoes of mine, they may not be right for the garden at hand.

Well, I came back from Iowa and after all that pulling, 50 more tomato plants grew up in the other's place. I suppose I know what I will be doing tomorrow. I guess it may take time and several tries to get things just so to grow my garden well. I look forward to the harvest! I wonder what varieties will greet me then?

By the way, in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, they celebrate the almightly tomato in true fashion. In September, they will host the tomato festival. I hope to be one of the many that partake in the food, music and fun.

Garden Mapping

Yes, that is right, we have a garden map-- and it makes me happy. Not only am I happy knowing where things are, but I love thinking about what else can be put in the garden. A certain joy comes about when I venture to think about it.

I have had a desire for a garden map for some time now. I actually bought the house for the opportunity to experience the garden (no kidding) and I have waited with anticipation for the chance to get my hands in the dirt. Anticipation grew with each compost load we dumped over the winter, imagining nutrients going right into the soil; now as I crumble the deep, dark soil between my fingertips I just know it is teeming with goodness.

Last year, our first year here, was an experimental garden- a lovely garden to be sure - a garden dug on the fly (we moved in to the house in June and started digging late in the season). Much of the food we produced held some mystery for us. Is this a parsnip, or a turnip? Are these greens for eating or greens that support a root plant? Not sure, well let's eat it all. We also experimented with seeds from an heirloom seed company that came in a variety pack. The seeds overall were great- there were just a few that did not quite meet our discriminating tastes.

This year, however, we had the advantage of starting early, knowing what to expect from the seeds and had rich composted soil to work with. We started by planting a cool weather garden and have had lettuce now for about 4 weeks. And, the lettuce we planted, tastes great. Frank planted a second round of lettuce in another section of the garden, so we will probably benefit from lettuce all summer long. Actually, thanks to his passion for gardening and his initiative we should have many things early in the fall season to eat.

We have done a little better with labeling and no need to mention: WE HAVE A GARDEN MAP! So, we actually know that this particular plant is arugula and this one is kohlrabi, and that one is carrots planted with spinach. All good. Now all we have to do is to figure out how to cook/eat kohlrabi and other interesting varieties.

Soon, I can turn my attention to the other areas of the yard and start dreaming (and planning for) harvest. There will be canning and freezing and saucing and blending and ............... EATING!