May gets underway ..

This is a photo of the guys beginning to clear out the potato garden area. We were really blessed to have friends who shared extra organic seed potatoes with us, enough to fill the area!! WOW!! We put in 5 "long" rows and 3 "short" ones. While we aren't tilling at all this year, this particular area hadn't been touched by anything other than a lawnmower in a couple years, so it did need clearing out. We dug small trenches for the potatoes, put in a layer of compost, set in the cut up seed potatoes and then topped them with a nice layer of straw.
Though I had been beginning to worry about them not coming up, I just looked out and saw one row sprouting up nicely with more sprouts starting to peek through in other rows. Once the sprouts start really coming in we'll add more straw as mulch.

The front gardens are starting to do well, especially the greens. For some reason, our carrot seeds aren't wanting to sprout. Late last week I resowed some as I thought perhaps we set them out to early. Nothing really coming up yet, but we'll give it a little longer before we toss in the towel. The beds really need weeding thanks to all the rain, but I'm surely not going to complain about the rain! I have noticed that we have one strawberry that has turned red, so that is really exciting!!! The cherry tree looks to be full of berries too, so that is another very big excitement.
The onions we planted in the bed under the boys window seem to be doing well. Though since this is our first year growing I have to admit to not really knowing what is proper growth for them. We'll see. The Blue Hubbard squash plant's leaves are turning yellow. That's a head-scratcher. There is only one plant in there, it has gotten plenty of rain, and is in a nice mixture of aged compost and dirt so I have no idea what's up. Gonna go with the theory, for now anyway, about plants just following their own rules and guidelines, not ours!

Yesterday we worked on the back garden, which still doesn't yet have plants actually planted in it! A friend delivered us some old pallets which we used to temporarily patch the holes in the fence. We're planning on putting a picket fence in, but funds are an issue, so we're making due with pallets (which can then be re-used again to build another compost bin!). While Justin messed with that, I worked on emptying out the old compost bin. I have to admit that it hadn't fully composted. I think we need to turn it more often. Anyway, it took 5 or 6 wheelbarrow-fulls, but all the compost is now spread around the garden. I was then able to get one wheelbarrow-full (VERY FULL!) of wet, spoiled hay into the garden before we had to call it an evening.
Things we have learned: 1) When planning compost piles, make sure to take into account how you plan to empty them. Currently ours our too close, making emptying out the old one a true pain. Luckily, it is getting tossed since it didn't keep dogs out. But lesson was still learned!
2) We were lucky to get a big, round bale of spoiled hay delivered to us. Unfortunately, there was no way to drop it off in or near the garden. It went in the driveway. We tried getting it up over the fence (a seperate blog that I promise I will post soon!), which ... well I don't want to ruin the suprise, but it didn't work. ---- LESSON LEARNED: We're planning on putting in a new fence and gate at the end of the driveway anyway, but now we know to plan to make sure that the entry there is at least 6' wide. This way we can at least roll a hay bale through the gates.
While we haven't finished spreading mulch or hay, the garden IS ready for plants to be put in it. We plan to get out there and do that as soon as we have a good evening (or weekend day) where the weather is good and we aren't swamped with other "must-do's".

ALSO ~ APRIL'S EGG TALLY: 119 Eggs -- Year to Date (as of April 31st) 379 Eggs ~ YAY!!

Finally, this morning I wondered down to our Farmer's Market. I've been really excited about it since they've begun allowing meat & dairy to be sold! WOO HOO!!! I picked up some plants for the garden, since we've had bum-luck with some of the seeds. Got some Black Beauty Zucchini, some straight yellow summer squash, and then 8 red bell pepper plants. Let's REALLY keep our fingers crossed that these babies transplant well into the garden and take off. It will be our first year really attempting zucchini and summer squash too, so lots of excitement there.

How's your garden growin'??

Frustrations

I don't have a good photo for this. Sorry. Use your imagination and picture a photo of me banging my head against a wall. Or something like that. I'm going to go fix myself a drink.
We got our Utility Bill in the mail today. Where we live we get one bill for electricity, water, & sewer. Normally it, like all other bills, isn't something I'm excited about finding in the mailbox, much less eager to open. This past month, however, we've been on our "re-using water challenge" and so we've been eager to see the dent it made in our bill. (See the "Damn Spigot" post from March 30th if you are totally lost here)
Imagine my shock then when I opened the bill and found out that our water usage has gone UP! Not down but UP!!!! I called the City and they told me to give it another month before starting to worry that something is amiss. Maybe they should've told me that before I drank that huge cup of coffee.
I called them back and asked them to pull up & print out a compilation of our bills for the past year. As you will note if you look to the right of the blog, we've been keeping records of our energy usage over the years. I did do something different this year and note on here the dates I was starting and ending at - I can't remember what I did in previous years. So .. note to self for future years.
Since we moved in we've been able to see the usage drop from an average of 49 kwh a day to between 32 and 34 a day. Trying to figure out where we stand "on average" with other households in the area is pretty near impossible, but from what I've gathered we are on the low end, so that is good.
Justin and I talked about where we thought we were doing good, where we've maybe laxed in things (line-drying clothes), and other things that could help.
It is really frustrating though, and this is something I can't deny or gloss over. To some degree I don't want to even try and gloss over it, because that would take away the truthfulness of it all.

This is part of life. And it really is pretty much as simple as that. Sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you try. We KNOW we're saving water, we KNOW we've taken (important) steps to reduce our energy uses. Maybe those steps aren't big enough to show up on the bill and make us run around going "WOO HOO!!!" Apparently, we might not even be able to tell by looking at that piece of paper that we made a difference. I wonder if our generation hasn't almost been raised to expect, in this type of case, that if you do such good things that when you open your bill the next month it will be either 1)only for $5 or 2)contain a check made out to you for $200 in place of a bill. Wasn't there some vague monetary promise for every A, B, or C earned????

And now, with my Wonder Woman magic shield & bracelets being put firmly back on & in place, here is how I think it ought to be looked at:
You do the things you do because you KNOW them to be right. You reap benefits of your good actions and deeds, but not always in the way you want to. Part of our reward is our kids. Not in living our lives through them, but in seeing the things we've helped to show and teach them. Part of our reward is the way we begin to immediately see the world differently. The way our minds & actions don't immediately follow & fall into patterns we've been trying to get out of.
Those are the real rewards. Yes, a much smaller utility bill would've been a REALLY NICE "reward for good behavior" - but we know we're doing the right thing, that is good enough.

Of course .... the bill has only just come today. The check hasn't been written. The mantras of the above paragraph will need to surely be repeated many times between now and then. Many times.

I Am Wonder Woman

Ok, maybe not THAT Wonder Woman. But I AM still Wonder Woman!! For those who've known me any length of time I'm sure this comes as no suprise since you've been wondering about me all along. (sorry, bad pun, couldn't resist)
Here is why I am Wonder Woman:

I Wonder how people can freak out over the newest and latest food-borne illness, avian flu, or swine flu and not begin to see how it, on some level, relates to the inherent wrongs of industrial farming.
I Wonder how they can think the answer lies in more chemicals, pesticides, and poisons.
I Wonder how people can be so apathetic about the way things are around them. Common sense is practically extinct. When we have to put the most asinine warnings on things, so that people don't stupidly kill themselves, well ... what happened to the natural balance of nature? Have you seen the movie Idiocracy?? If you haven't, you should. You really only need to watch the first 1/2 hour of it, then walk outside and look around. It is happening, it is already here.
I Wonder how we can bail out big companies whose lack of morals make the Devil look like a Saint, how we reward those who "use the system" by not trying and instead making a living off of Social Services, but we punish those who are trying and don't actually do anything to help them out. --- Of course, we do keep calling them, emailing them, and so on asking them for more money. I realize my local fire/rescue/EMS/police services need support .. but I don't want a call from Texas (or some other state they've outsourced it to) asking me for money.

I could go on and on, but really .. I am beginning to depress myself here.

So, with my Wonder Woman powers I will: continue to use the light that naturally comes in the windows to see rather than turning on lights. I will continue to grow as much of our own food, in organic & sustainable methods, and then support local farmers, who grow the same way, for as much of the rest as possible. I will continue to encourage my children to think, to see the world as it is, and to realize that they can make positive impacts on it. I will NOT raise brain-dead zombies who live on video games. I will collect rain water to help water my plants, and continue to try and re-use grey-water from within the house. I will hold Seed Swaps and encourage more people to just TRY planting something that they can eventually eat.

With my Wonder Woman shield I will magically deflect insults about: planting edible trees that might *gasp* produce fruit (aren't you worried about it hitting __X__ -- no); using good liquor in cooking (no, it isn't a waste of it, it is a USE of it); my poor homeschooled children's lack of socialization (this has to be one of the funniest things, especially if you've met my children); how do we think we're qualified to teach our children what they need to know (another insult that is only worthy of me trying not to pee my pants in laughter); using free wood-chips as mulch (saving them from the landfill in the process) rather than spending too much money on "pretty" (I think the wood chips ARE pretty) mulch that will disintegrate within months; not immediately using chemicals and poisons to kill anything that might be seen as negative; and so on.

See, I told you I was Wonder Woman.


... I don't Wonder who wrote the Book of Love though because isn't that the Kama Sutra?

Why Homeschooling is Fun

Several of you already know the answer to this, or at least you do for your family and lifestyle. This is why it is fun for ours.

Lesson 1: "B is for Bob"



This shirt was Shannon's and now has been passed down to Tristan. We got it from Soul Flower (www.soul-flower.com), a very cool website with some very cool clothes (though I do miss their lot clothing selections!). Tristan was wearing it the other day and I told him that Bob Marley was on his shirt, pointing to his belly where Bob was. Hearing a 2 1/2 year old say "Bob Marley" is about one of the cutest damn things in the world.
That day's lesson was "B is for Bob." We listened to his music, along with Ziggy's music, and learned a little bit about what they stood for, what they thought. We focused on peace and the healing, loving powers of music.
When I asked Shannon later what Ziggy Marley was about, he told me "flying a kite" ~ I asked why he wanted to fly a kite, and Shannon responded with "because he didn't want to fight." -- This is almost a direct quote from Ziggy's song "Love is My Religion" ~ a very groovy song. On an adult note, the line "let's go fly a kite" is cheesy and stupid and you just say "he couldn't think of any other rhyme there!?!?" ... but on a parental level, well, Shannon GOT it. He understood it, it was simple, and he got it. Maybe that is the point.
Everytime we get in the car now Shannon has asked if we could listen to Bob or Ziggy. I think I'm going to have to make a cd of all the really good songs from both of them so I don't have to keep switching discs back and forth constantly!

Lesson 2: Schoolhouse Rocks! http://www.school-house-rock.com/



I remember watching this a little when I was in school, and more I remember listening to the cd that came out in the 90's. I still LOVE Blind Melon's rendition of "3 is a magic number."
As much as I swore (as so many parents do) that MY kids would NEVER watch tv, there are many times where I plug it in (literally, it is unplugged right now) and let them watch something. I'll admit, sometimes it is just so that I can have a little time to myself to do whatever needs to be done.
We bought them the Schoolhouse Rocks dvd because it is fun, it is catchy, and it is educational. And, since as I type this I am singing the songs to myself, I think it even helps us re-learn forgotten facts!
The kids really aren't that into it yet, and that's ok. It isn't meant to be the main learning tool. But it is a fun one. And that I like. I like that learning can be fun, and I think that for the most part it should be.

These are just two reasons why homeschooling is fun for us. There are so many more. But these two I just wanted to share with you.

Confession

I'm not a girly-girl. Frou-frou would never come out of anyone's mouth when they are describing me. But I have a confession to make. I love, I mean really and truly LOVE watering my seedlings with my delicate teapot.



This teapot was given to me by a former boss, dear friend, and second mom. I love it. It isn't a porcelain teapot, more stoneware (proper term is escaping me at the moment, sorry), which means it holds heat better. I use it all fall and winter long for my tea.



You can see in the above photo the strawberries and flowers, the vines around the woody-esque parts. It is earthy, yet feminine.

When we started seedlings in trays this year, I needed a way to water them that didn't flood them. Something that would let the water go in between the small peat pellets. Looking quickly around the kitchen, I spied my teapot. It was only one tray of seeds, so the teapot was the perfect size. It's spout was perfect for pouring the water "just-so." I've been using it for watering those seedlings, and the ones that followed, ever since.

Tonight we transplanted some of the seedlings. Some of the Romanesco Broccoli went outside. Our tomato plants our growing amazingly quickly (while our peppers and celery lag woefully behind), so we set to work giving them more space. We were able to transplant almost all of our Cherokee Chocolate tomato plants into larger containers. The others will just have to hold on a little longer until we are able to transplant them.

When it came time to water the plants, all of which needed watering, I got Justin to fill up the teapot.

Something struck me as I stood in our sunroom tonight. Here I am, a mess no matter how hard I try. My shirt (luckily a tie-dye) had been splattered with cherry juice while I was making cherry-lemonade earlier. My hands were filthy from digging up this, replanting that, and countless trips into the bag of potting soil. I've not only managed to spill dirt on my shorts, but earlier today I managed to dump parmesan cheese down the front and the INSIDE of my shirt!! Yet, in all my messiness, there was a delightful Zen in using this frilly, delicate little teapot to water those little plants. Something about the teapot itself being so dainty and the plants being rooted in soil. A very Yin-Yang balance if you will.

SO .. if you ever happen to pass by, or drop in for a visit, don't be surprised if you see me pittering about, watering plants from dainty teapots.

Chicken on TV

The Carless Brit, aka River Laker, is a chap living here in Roanoke who gave up his car 4 months ago and has been documenting his life since then.
He's hosting a Carless Roanoke Party and wanted a farm animal that he could hold and pet during the commercial for the party. I offered up one of our biddies, and he chose LadyBird, our Buff Orpington.

Shooting the commercial happened early last Friday morning. Unfortunately, we'd been having steady rain all of last week it seemed. Personally, I like the rain - good for gardens. But, when you've got a chicken who's been out in the rain all week, well ... a bedraggled chicken isn't the prettiest thing for the commercial, is it??
So, we brought her inside. We went out there after dark, in the misting rain, and scooped her out of the nest box. Even though it was dark LadyBird is our lightest bird, so it wasn't too difficult to spot her. We grabbed some straw and put it in Jomo's old puppy crate and put LadyBird to bed for the night. In Our Bedroom!
We were worried what the dogs might think of a chicken spending the night inside, and so felt it was just easier to leave the crate where it had been, in our room. We've since come to the conclusion that LadyBird has spared herself ever being put in the stock-pot. I just don't know that I could eat a chicken that I shared a room with one night.

Urban Heirloom Homestead

When I was younger, my mother used to breed and show dogs. Several years ago, I wanted to work with large breed dog rescue, something that still tugs at my heart strings. But, when we started getting into the world of urban homesteading, I found something that spoke to not only my work with rescue, but also to my love of history and culture. Heirloom plants were the start, with originating dates that dated back for sometimes a couple hundred years. Breeds that have been nearly lost in the mass hybridization and genetic engineering (thanks you evil bastards Monsanto!). Reclaiming our right to grow our own food, collect our own seeds, this isn't just something novel to us .. this is a nation-wide, a world-wide movement! Thanks to dedicated work from people such as the Dervaes family, there are now movements like this: http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/2009/02/03/freedom-harvest-challenge --- Truly, amazingly, and mind-blowingly inspiring!!!
When we got chickens, when we made the decision to get chickens, I started off in my usual fashion .. research, more research, and more research. Those who know me know I can and will dominate a conversationg about chickens! One of the things that really blew my mind was that there were breeds of chickens, as well as other traditional livestock animals, that are on the brink of going extinct. We knew about the importance of heirloom seeds, but somehow heirloom/heritage animals hadn't really entered our minds. After all, there is already the polar bears, panda bears, wolves, and several other highly publicized animals keeping our worry squarely (and justly!) focused!
Three breeds of our chickens are on the ALBC, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, watchlist. (http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html) Our Dark Brahma and Partridge Cochins are considered under watch; our Buff Orpington is considered a recovering breed; our Speckled Sussexes (which we ate for meat) were considered Threatened. We had intended to breed them, but that fell through.
I've been reading a fascinating book, Renewing America's Food Traditions by Gary Paul Nahan. Reading about not only grown foods that are endagered, but also raised foods and animals. Milking Devon Cattle, Silver Fox Rabbits, Tennessee Fainting Goats.
Mom may have bred dogs, I want to breed farm animals. I want to not only show the benefits of heirloom veggies, fruits, and herbs, but also the animals. Anyone who has raised chickens knows the shock registered by most people when they realize that eggs come in more shades than white and brown. Ours are two shades of brown - some that are speckled, pink, green, and blue. When we chose Speckled Sussex (with the hopes of breeding) as our meat birds, it was because over 100 years ago they were common table birds in England, renowned for their meat.
Intentionally or not, subconsciously or not, we have gone from being a nature and society over-flowing with diversity in foods, based on the seasons and the areas of the country they were originally from - representing the local peoples of those areas.
Until the fates change and we perhaps buy a farm where we're safe to raise agriculture of our choice, we're here. Living on our little plot of land, a block from Main Street. Doing what we can, when we can, living frugally, living consciously, teaching our children along the way. Small yes, bit by bit we'll grow and learn. The Blue Nymph .. our urban heirloom homestead.