Welcome June!

A photo of our first true harvest of the year. 2lbs 5oz of shiny, freshly picked tart cherries. We went out early this morning to gather them before the temperature began to climb to high. Tristan has a skinned knee (which necessitates being carried as much as possible and dramatically hobbling when forced to walk) from a riding tumble so he sat on the bench, an old church pew, and watched as Shannon and I worked our way around the 6 1/2' tall tree. We picked one ... yes one, single, little strawberry this year. Our black-eyed susans have spread like crazy and choked them out. So, this is our first real harvest.

June is here. I don't know where you live but, as much as I love the Summer Solstice, it does NOT mark the beginning of Summer for me. Not when we have several days of temperatures in the 90's. Nope. Summer began a while back. Whenever it got hot enough for me to crave a pool. Which, amazingly enough, we got this year. Every year we've had some form of kiddie pool and this year is only a slight exception. We've been able to move out of the driveway and into the backyard where there now sits a 15' round above ground pool. Justin's parents had an extra one and so, viola, now we have a pool. Sure, I can sit on the bottom and the water comes up to my chin but, ya know what?? I don't care!!! Because it is nice and cool!! It's a friggin' tropical paradise in my mind! I would seriously spend the majority of my time there lately if I could. Of course, once Tristan decides he routinely likes getting in the pool that'll just make the experience even better. Right now it's a battle that involves lots of tears and screaming and forcing him into a swimsuit, then sometimes literally plopping him down in the pool. He cries for a minute or so then remembers that he really LOVES playing in the pool and happily does so for a couple of hours.

The chickens aren't too thrilled about this heat though I am sure they're at least happy that we decided (wisely it seems given the heat) that after last year's HOT HOT Summer they needed more shade and so their 'winter chalet' has become their permanent home. Plus, the tractor needs rebuilding and I don't think it would've survived being hauled around the yard much longer.
But since they still aren't so happy about the heat they aren't laying quite as productively as they had been. We've had a couple of no-egg days. Though, when I went out to gather yesterday's eggs this morning (yea, I forgot yesterday, it happens) I found Patti nesting on the floor of the coop. I leaned in there and forced her off. She was sitting on 3 eggs. I am hoping they are not that old. I don't think they are, and I know they're fine outside the fridge for quite a while on their own anyways.
So .. it's Tally Time!!

May Egg Tally: 79 eggs (only three less than in April)
Year To Date Egg Tally: 349

Still pretty sweet!!

Also going on around here ... hmm, let's see. Shannon is in the process of doing his first year of end of the year testing required for homeschooling. Justin is the one handling this as I have a lot of issues with the whole thing. Plus, it allows him to have some more direct involvement with their schooling and that is good.
Tristan just finished up Story Time at the local library for the year and this Summer we'll be sending in his first NOI for kindergarten.
We've finally got a logo for our brewery, which is pretty sweet. If you want, take a second and go check it out http://soulonebrewery.blogspot.com. We've even been able to get some merchandise for it already which is really cool. I'll post the photos of that stuff on that blog as soon as I can.
You may have noticed the profile photo change on here. Finally a photo of me with dreads!! My dreads are already 6 months old now. Yes, people with dreads talk about "how old their dreads are." Dreads are an on-going thing. They change as they age. It's cool. Except in Summer, when your dreads reach down the middle of your back. Then it's pretty darn hot. High ponytails have become a staple for me. But, again, here is where dreads can be fun. You can wrap up a pretty massive bun if you've got the length for it (I do!). You can tie your hair up in an updo using one or two of your dreads ~ try that with a pencil!! I have been known to wear mine up in high pigtails using only the dreads themselves to secure them. Plus there are wraps and bandanas and etc to wrap them up with. That's always really fun.
And, finally, a reason why I haven't been posting on here as much. I've taken on more work with the Main Street Newspapers. I now do at least a feature a week for The Vinton Messenger and the Cave Spring Connection papers. I also do here & there stuff for The Salem Times Register. ALSO - I'm now doing a lot of online stuff for them. You can check them out at http://www.ourvalley.org
It's really, really cool and something I love doing. I finally am getting paid to write. Very cool. However, it is also a huge adjustment period for me. Being able to work from home means I can work whenever, but it also means I need to learn to decided when exactly that whenever might be, and (very importantly) when it isn't.
So, to try and implement this, this morning here is what I've done: picked cherries, weighed cherries, gotten sourdough bread going, fed the sourdough starter, fed the kefir, got the dishes going, fed dogs, gathered eggs, done the tallies, BLOGGED!, sent kids to their rooms for fighting, and then let them play outside once they've decided their done fighting. No, I haven't gotten my shower yet (be glad you can't smell me through the computer I suppose), but I'll get to that shortly. And I've only checked work email through the phone, where I haven't replied, just looked at one email. :)

And there is the beginning of our Summer here. How is your's going?

Roller-Coaster Spring

It's been a little while, my apologies. Spring is a roller-coaster for everyone I think. When the rain stops we make mad dashes out the door to try and get everything done and accomplished: both things we WANT to do and things we really NEED to do.
On top of that, our neighbor has started back up complaining about us. It is really quite laughable (you know, the complaint because we had a hay bale), but it is also quite emotionally draining. I'm a "why can't we all just get along and if you don't like it piss off" type of mama, but when someone is hell-bent on making your life miserable .. ESPECIALLY when all you're trying to do is live the green life, well, it can drain you.
But, on to the fun stuff:

There's the potato garden, in the process of getting some more straw put on it. We were blessed to be given all the potato seedlings from friends who had extra. They're coming up like mad and will be very grateful for the forecasted rain.


This is a shot of the Cascade Hop vine, reaching up into the sky, as it has already out-grown it's post (which is about 10' tall). We had planned to do a full hop garden this year, but much was needed to dog-proof it - which was the fatal flaw in last year's garden. Time and $$ never quite lined up. But we do have the Cascade back, now in it's 2nd year. And, as I always say, it's better to start with one small thing than not to start at all.


Here's a close-up of one the Cascade Hop Cones. These are the babies that we'll harvest and then put into our beer. If you've seen our brew-blog (www.soulonebrewery.blogspot.com) you'll know that brewing is a passion, one we intend to turn into a business in the near future. Growing our own for that is as important to us as it is for growing our own for our pantry.


Here's the back, main garden. Justin put up the picket fence this past weekend - it's been something we've wanted to do since Day 1, but again .. funds. As usual though, we never let that stop us from having a garden, but getting the picket fence in is definitely a proud moment!! You can see the tomatoes in the foreground. They're heirloom breeds from Victory Seeds: Cherokee Chocoalte and Sausage. We have the cherry tomato plants up front since they'll cross pollinate. Behind the tomatoes are the pepper plants: mainly red and yellow bells for now. We have more that need transplanting, more varieties. Next, going back, you can see the poles for the bean trellises. We have five different varieties of beans going: Mitla Black Tepary Bean (from Seeds of Change ~ certified organic), Boston Favorite Bean (Seed Savers Exchange), Hidatsa Red Bean (Seed Savers Exchange), Charlevoix Dark Red Kidney Bean (Seed Savers Exchange), and some Roma II Garden Bush that we picked up locally. Finally, in the very back of the garden, we have two Black Beauty Zucchini plants, and one Charleston Gray watermelon (that's in the far left corner of the photo, but you can't see it yet). We're REALLY excited to be adopting the Ruth Stout Method of gardening, and will let you know how it goes - so far so good though (aside from the complaint about the hay bale). All the junk behind the fence is now gone too. Yay!




The above three photos I took on June 1st. It is our cherry tree in the front yard, and this was our first time ever harvesting anything from it. That evening we collected 1lb. 4oz. of cherries. Standing out in the front yard, harvesting cherries, waving to neighbors and passers by .. it truly is a wonderful feeling.


Blue Cornflower, growing at the corner of the front fence, meeting with the gate.


Calendula, growing along the front gate as well. I do intend to harvest some of the flowers from this to use in my next batch of soap. Since these flowers run parralel to the road though, I may harvest from some growing in another bed, further away from the road.

And finally, Harvest Tallies:
Egg Tally For May = 112
Egg Tally For the Year = 491!
Garden Harvest (including strawberries from Scott's Farm & spring onions from the Farmer's Market)= 18 lbs 2 oz produce! YAY!! ~ we know it doesn't begin to Path to Freedom, or even other urban homesteads, but we're still very proud.

A Fun Poll

Ok, on our other blog, Soul One Brewery, we have a poll going. We're curious to know (because I have a wild theory in my head ... no suprise there, right? ha ha) what type of beer you like. We have one poll for the guys and one for the gals. In part, my theory is that, in general, women and men have very different taste preferences in beer. I won't tell you what my guess is, so I'll let the polls speak for themselves. You can even choose more than one style if you'd like when you vote! Check it out at: http://www.soulonebrewery.blogspot.com - scroll all the way to the bottom to find the polls ... and please make sure to only vote for YOUR gender!!!

School, fat, and more beer

It must be something about August. Or maybe I just really hate the heat. Either way, by this time of the year I'm done with summer and longing for fall. So, once again, we've begun some "school" exercises with Shannon. This is proving tricky with Tristan underfoot and other demands calling, but we're taking it a day at a time. One thing I am really trying to learn to balance is doing something "schooly" while realizing we're much more into unschool. Integrating the two is tricky, and getting into the routine of doing something is much harder.
On the topic of fat, I lucked out with a major haul of it on Monday. I had contacted the farm where we get our meat from and inquired about beef fat as well as leaf fat from pigs. The meat processor has to pay to get rid of fat, so having someone take it off there hands is something they get pretty happy about. I drove up there with two big coolers, got them both filled up and had an extra box of fat sitting beside them for the ride home. I'd say I probably got a good 75 lbs of pasture-raised fat. Yes, pasture-raised, meaning high in Omega-3 not Omega-6, nice old-fashioned fat the way it should be. I've rendered down a full skillet's worth of the leaf fat into lard and I didn't even make it through the entire package it was in! WOW!!! I will use the lard and tallow (rendered beef fat) for cooking, and also use the tallow in making soap and shampoo. To say I am excited is a complete understatement!! Nina Planck's book 'Real Food; What to Eat and Why' has changed our lives, and we couldn't be happier or more grateful. Take a moment and check her out at: http://www.ninaplanck.com/
Finally, and I know this really belongs on our Soul One blog, we're planning on entering an Organic Homebrew Competition this fall. It will be our first Homebrew Competition and we're really excited about it. We've ordered our organic ingredients, and are ready for them to get here so we can begin brewing. We're also beginning our plans for our winter beer this year. We're calling it 'Decadence' and it will be a strong stout (maybe an imperial? we'll see!) brewed with coffee, chocolate, and vanilla. My mouth is watering already.