An Accidental Food Freegan

There's an organic grocer in town that daily gives away bags of free vegetable & fruit trimmings, first-come first-served, from a bin out back. Ostensibly, these trimmings are meant for composting. I started picking up one or two bags during the once-a-week trip into town for supplementing our chicken, duck & goose feed. The birds have many likes (lettuces of all kinds, Lacinto kale, watermelon rinds, etc.), and some dislikes (curly kale, some cabbages, carrot peels). I set aside for compost the things they won't eat or aren't good for them, like raw onions, or things that would require too much processing to make chewable, such as broccoli stalks. These free trimmings are well worth the effort to sort and are a boon to the animal feed budget, not to mention the compost pile. The fact the majority of the trimmings are organic is a huge plus as well.

Not from the compost bag, but were leftover
from a recent recipe: Organic Meyer Lemon rinds
being made into limoncello, a lemon liquore. 

Many times I've looked at a bag's contents and thought "dang, that looks good enough for human consumption". Then I started reading "An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace" by Tamar Adler. In one part of the book, she talks about using parts of the vegetables most folks throw away, such as broccoli and cauliflower leaves and stalks. Radish greens. Heck, the castoff parts of almost all vegetables. Her book, and a recent gift from the produce guy, is making me eye all of our "compost" produce a little differently.

The other day, the produce guy was taking a break out back where the compost bag bin is located. I pulled up to load the back of the car, and he offered to help lift the bag (bless him and gratefully accepted, sometimes a bag can weight over 50 lbs). He then says "hey, you like bananas, right?" He grabs a box of slightly overripe bananas off the dock and puts it into my arms, telling me how people won't buy bananas once they start getting dark spots. I thank him profusely - while silently wondering what bleep I was gonna do with all those bananas - and put the case in the car. I gave away as many bunches as I could to people I ran across during the remainder of errand running - strangers and friends alike - then came home and started researching what to do with the half case of bananas still remaining. Goodness knows I wasn't gonna cook them all in one evening, and although I subsequently discovered our chickens also like bananas, they weren't gonna put a dent in them very quickly either. Found out what many folks already know: bananas can be frozen with no ill effects. There's now five gallon-sized zip-bags of sliced and whole peeled bananas in the deep freeze. Some will go into breads, some into smoothies, and some will end up as chicken treats.

Some beneficiaries of the grocery store's largesse.

A second trip into town this week, and stopped by the store once more. Besides a goodly bunch of lettuce (and the ubiquitous onion and carrot peels), there were also tied bunches of daikon and red radish tops, recently divested of their roots. Once home, I carefully washed the tops and ate a leaf of each. The daikon greens were mild and crunchy. The red radish had a slightly spicy bite, but still tasty. I gave a bunch of both to the geese to try, and unfortunately for me, they chomped down with relish. Next time, the birds & I will split the radish greens - I can see using these in a fresh salad, or lightly sauteed with some poached eggs on top. There were also a couple of bunches of spearmint - some bunches had a few wilted stems, probably from the bottoms not touching water in the produce storage case. Washed, trimmed up the ends and placed into a cup of water to rehydrate (just like reviving wilted cut flowers). Once it's obvious which leaves are still good to use, I'm thinking about chopping and freezing in ice cube trays to later put into iced tea.

More goodies in the bag: celery bottoms & leaves, which have been washed, peeled & frozen for soup stock. Habañero peppers that were just starting to spot - threw them into the compost bin a little too quickly, have since found out that chickens can eat hot peppers with none of the problems we mammals have, and are reputed to be a vermifuge to boot. Cabbage leaves, also washed and will be sauteed for dinner tonight. Broccoli and cauliflower stalks, which I didn't process this time, but for sure next time. One of Ms. Adler's suggestions for stalks are peeling & boiling until tender then, processing in a food grinder. Use the results like a tapenade on bread or stir into soup.

Experimenting with food "castoffs" - either from the grocery store giveaway, or from re-examining my own habitual shopping & cooking - is exciting, and will be a continuing adventure. I do promise, however, to Spouse, friends and family members that I will not feed them "found food" without prior notification and consent. Scout's honor.

[Related: the other week watched an interesting documentary entitled "Dive! Living Off America's Waste". You can view it online at Netflix. Will also make you look at food differently.]

Links & Pics

Sharon Astyk may be restarting her Independence Days Challenge, which is a public challenge to perform and report back a weekly check-in on the following:

• Plant something
• Harvest something
• Preserve something
• Waste not
• Want not
• Eat the food
• Build community food systems

The point of the challenge is to encourage folks to keep up with their homesteading skills, whether one lives in the country or in the city. I did it for awhile (see/click "independence days" tag on lower right), and am considering doing it again.
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Oh, and the SOPA and PIPA bills have been temporarily shelved! Hopefully the bills will be re-tooled in such a way that artists will be fairly compensated for their work while also protecting Fair Use and access to the Internet. Profile pic text courtesy of http://www.blackoutsopa.org

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A disturbing development, and if the theory is true, our climate is in for a world of hurt. Basically, "global dimming" (from the way pollution particles interact with moisture in the atmosphere, reflecting "out" a percentage of solar energy) may be not only temporarily holding back some of the worse effects of global climate change, but also diverting weather patterns. A one-hour documentary from the BBC, available for viewing via YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8RyNSzQDaU
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Okay, now we need something to smile about. The other week, one of the geese let me pick her up, so I brought her inside the house for a quick photo shoot. Here's me and "Dr. Girlfriend" (so named due to her honk). I've been using this pic as a new avatar/profile pic on Twitter and Google+.

Dr. Girlfriend nibbled on the keyboard while I was mousing open the PhotoBooth app. Didn't crap on me at all. A very calm goose. They usually are when you can get them away from the rest of the gaggle...
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A girlfriend who got to know Miss Cecily while Miss C was convalescing in our house was so touched by the goose's personality, she commissioned a painting by an award-winning folk artist to commemorate Miss C's (aka Squeezlegoose) life. Yes, I cried when I saw the artwork. Thank you Ms. Katie, from the bottom of my heart.

Anti-SOPA & PIPA Blackout Starts Now

No chickens, geese, ducks or dogs: today's farm post is blacked out in protest of the current SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP) bills that are currently being considered in Congress.

SOPA: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show
PIPA: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/show

Fixed: Project: 2x4 Basics "Easy-Up Enclosure" - Greenhouse Version

When I last wrote about putting together this small greenhouse project in early December 2011, an important piece had busted in the process, leaving me flummoxed as to how to repair or salvage the project. Spouse to the rescue! While I was out running errands one day last week, he put on his thinking cap and fabricated a part to replace the busted piece. He used a scrap of flashing, duct tape, some screws, and mitred two of the 2"x2" boards to align with the roof peak board (I know there's got to be an official name for this part of a roof - I'll figure it out someday). He then planed down some of the other 2"x2"s so that he wouldn't bust any of the other pieces like I did. Smart. He put it all together, and it was waiting for me when I got home. *swoon* I think I'll keep him.

The metal part, with screws and duct-tape (duct-tape holds the universe together):

The actual greenhouse roof connectors. The plastic connecters allow you to use un-mitred boards, just put the square boards into the square plastic openings. There are screws underneath to hold 2x2's in place. Easy peasy (if the wood is sized properly. Hmph.)

 The side roof-to-wall connector:

Tough to see, but the bottom connector is down there. 

The greenhouse cover is zippered on both sides, and the material is fairly sturdy. I don't know what percentage of light it lets through, however, so when I start seeds I may install a full-spectrum bulb to ensure proper germination. If you're interested in putting together one of these structures, you can find the kit and the greenhouse cover online (nope, I don't get paid for this review or for the link). Do some shopping around, as price varies. Amazon still has the greenhouse cover at a discounted price, but no longer appears to carry the connector kit at this time. And remember to factor in that you'll need to purchase the lumber. I think it's a good deal for the size of the structure (8' high x 8' long x 6 1/2' wide), but you could probably find a smaller greenhouse that's sturdier for the same amount of money. I also like that this structure is moveable (Spouse and I carried it with relative ease), and we can re-use it for different purposes in the Summer. 

In another flash of brilliance, Spouse remembered that a dark barrel filled with water can act as a passive solar collector/heater (if it gets enough sunlight during the day). Picked up a used 55-gallon food-grade barrel at the local feed store, and filled it up. Bonus: this will also act as an emergency backup water supply. 

Next: moving all the over-wintering plants into the greenhouse. I can take down the rigged wood structure under which our plants currently reside, and put away the overnight tarp. Yay!!!

Project: Automatic Chicken Coop Door Opener (ongoing)

Spouse writes:

Getting up to “manage” the animals is a time-honored, if sleep-interrupting tradition. The usual time for this is the crack of dawn. Unfortunately our sleep habits make this too #$%^ early. The animals disagree but I firmly believe that if our animals had a snooze button they would be getting up at a civilized afternoon hour like the rest of us.

Letting the chickens out of the coop is the priority, since they fuss about knowing that the lazy geese and ducks are eating up nature's bounty that must have sprung up overnight while they were locked in their cell. In order to free them from their sleeping quarters (and allow me to stay in mine) I have tried several methods of automating the chicken coop door. The first was a process control system that was cool but expensive and rejected after an expensive part failed.

The cheaper alternative we used for several months was based on an inexpensive power screw driver and an outdoor timer. I modeled it on the one shown here. The screwdriver displayed is no longer available and I had to adapt it to the cheapest cordless screwdriver Harbor Freight had available. This solution worked well but would commit suicide unless we kept the area under the door free of debris. The chickens seem to sense this and deposited as much “debris” as possible. It would take a couple of hours to remove the burned-out relay and solder in another.

Finally I read about the drapery motor. Yup - d.a. re-decorated the coop with roman shades… uh no. There is a drapery motor that will run one way and then the other as power is applied. It is a little pricey but I was tired of inhaling solder fumes and it was worth a try. It worked great all summer, but when it got cold the rubber wheel that the rope travels on started to slip. I tried fixing it with a thinner, rougher twine. This worked for a few days until the twine got wrapped up in the roller and the motor fried itself. The replacement twine was too thin.

We ordered another motor. I changed the design to include some pulleys and a counterweight so the motor wasn’t doing all the hard work. The result is shown below. I have since added a sheet metal cover to keep the chickens from bombing the drapery motor with more “debris”.

Picture of mechanism:

Picture of timer.

Flash movie of the door in action:

stupendously huge skillet breakfast & a haircut: two bits!

pic: the stupendously huge skillet breakfast.

Fell asleep around 1:00AM, woke to the alarm at 3:00AM. Took Spouse to the airport so he could see his folks for a few days (we're down to one car at the moment). Stopped at Major Chain Diner after drop-off - was inexplicably ravenous at 4:30AM. Forgot how these diners serve stupendously huge entrees. The skillet breakfast was filling, and more than two-thirds was still on the plate when I finished. Boxed it up for the chickens.

Once home, briefly napped until dawn chores called. Gave the chickens the still-warm skillet breakfast (chopped up into smaller bits). The chickens couldn't finish the skillet breakfast either. The dogs selflessly worked cleanup detail.

Having had real caffeinated coffee with the stupendously huge breakfast ensured that a goodly nap would be elusive for the rest of the day. Decided to chance going into the city to get *cue dramatic music*: a haircut. Getting a haircut has become a Very Big Deal, full of Angstyness and Gnashing of Teeth. My local stylist left the area almost two years ago (d@mmit!), and every stylist since then has either given me a bubblehead cut or an 80's Rick Springfield 'do (not being as cute as '80's Rick Springfield, I can't carry that look). Summertime is no problem: give me a #6 guard on an electric hair trimmer and a pair of thinning shears, and I can wrangle a basic short style. It's the Fall and Winter where I run into trouble, letting the hair grow out for warmth. So I pulled up my Big Girl Britches, dusted off the credit card, and went back to Ritzy (Yet Still A Chain) Salon. It'd been what - over three years since I last went there? Since I last had a salaried IT job, anyways. Painfully expensive, but for reason - they give great cuts. They're now giving free trims between cuts, probably due to the economy but still, thank goodness - it makes their prices a bit easier to swallow. I've now a growing-it-out, grownup modern 'do that is presentable enough for upcoming client-facing work.

pic: Moe the Duck. She probably
designed the flag.

Home again home again, jiggity-jog, and look at the time: need to muck out the 4'x6' duck pond. [Funny, it used to be "the goose pond", then it became "the goose & duck pond", now it's "the duck pond". The ducks have definitively taken over. They have a flag.] The ducks vacate the duck pond by late afternoon for the pools on the other side of the house - they love their routine. Can almost set your watch by it, if your watch is a sundial. Anyhow, presented my new hairdo to the chickens, geese, ducks & dogs. They had no comment. I don't think the birds looked past my knees, to be honest. The dogs were probably hoping for more stupendously huge breakfast goodies. My, how one's ego gets checked on the farm! Clad my glamorous self in work clothes and rubber boots, and got to mucking.

Project: Ugly Drum Smoker (holiday blog bonus edition)

d.a. writes: I've been waiting for Spouse to write an article on how he made this amazing smoker. He finally did. Consider this a holiday gift to all of you, our half-dozen readers who make the time to grace this humble blog. Thank you!

Spouse writes:

Pic: racks of ribs

We have had a side firebox smoker that I have written about before. I have stopped using it for smoking except for Thanksgiving when there just isn’t enough room in my new smoker for two turkeys, a prime rib, and three racks of ribs. That is right: new smoker. I got tired of the side firebox because it used a lot of wood and needed to be watched constantly to keep the temperature right. I did a lot “research” (a.k.a. clicking links on the web that were sometimes tangentially related to what I was looking for). I stumbled upon a pre-made big drum smoker that looked right. It used very little wood, kept an even temperature and had great reviews. The price was a bit more than I wanted to spend but d.a. approved it, figuring she could not afford to buy any more ladders after my last repair of the side firebox smokers. [If you can’t make the connection then you must be new here.]

I did some more clicking, err... research and found this: the mother of all Ugly Drum Smoker threads. Ugly drum smokers are the DIY version of the Big Drum Smoker I posted above. The thread has been actively open for 4 years and there are thousands of posts. I read the whole thing over several weeks. I decided that this is what I wanted to do. In fact, I have done it three times, with the first two being given as gifts to family and friends. I love this smoker. Although the temperature inside is 225℉, the outside is not nearly as hot as the old side firebox. I have asbestos hands due to childhood labor issues (thanks Dad), and can move the grill even while it is running.

It makes good smoke on just a small amount of wood and does it for a long time. I can get 12 hours of smoking with just the initial load of wood (actually, the only load because I have never needed to smoke anything longer than 10 hours). I'll smoke two or three different things during the day. The first three hours I will smoke 5 to 10 lbs of beef teriyaki jerky. The next 6 hours are for three racks of baby back ribs. And if I time it right, I can put on chicken for dinner.

You can read the thread to get your own ideas but after the three different builds I have refined what works well for me. 

pic: firebox

• Take a 55-gallon food-grade steel drum - thoroughly cleaned using fire inside the barrel (a big fire), then steel discs and wire brushes.
• Build a firebox – something that holds the wood while still allowing air to circulate. Here is my current one made out of expanded steel and a Weber grill grate, bolted to an aluminum pan that catches the ash.
• Drill holes in the bottom to allow air into the smoker. Since all but one of these is closed after the smoker comes up to temp, I use press-in caps that fit the holes, but some people use flexible refrigerator magnets to cover the holes as needed.
• I also have a valve installed in one of the holes to regulate the air. You can see it at the bottom of the smoker below.

I also drill holes – lots of holes. You need holes for the screws that hold the grates, holes for the temperature gauge, holes for handles, holes in the lid to let the smoke out, etc. I found that a stepped drill bit was the best way to drill different sized holes in the thin metal walls of the barrel. I used to think these kinds of bits were a toy but they really work for this application.

pic: completed smoker

It just so happens that a Weber kettle grate fits perfectly inside the barrel, and if you have a full size weber kettle barbecue you might also find that that the lid fits your barrel (but your mileage may vary as it depends on the barrel you use). I use either the original lid to the barrel or a commercial wok I got at a restaurant supply store for $25.

The things to remember if you decide to do something crazy like this:

1. Wear the appropriate safety gear. I have been to the hospital several times in my life because I thought that safety goggles weren’t fashion-forward for the tragically (un)hip youngster I was. There are dangerous things involved with this project:

• Fire (a big one and possibly lots of little ones)
• Flying hot metal bits
• Power tools with sharp things attached
• And in our case – hormonal geese (which should always be treated with caution and a good pair of heavy welding gloves.)

2. Keep the distance from the food and the fire at least 24 inches. My firebox is a little tall so I actually have the grates within an inch of the lip of the barrel and have to use the domed lid.

pic: wok lid with holes

3. Clean the barrel very well. A lot of food grade barrels have a phenolic coating that has to be removed to prevent bad things getting into your food. You might be able to get a new steel barrel without any coating. If you have a local source that is what I would recommend. It takes a lot of work to prepare a 25-dollar used barrel and it might be worth the extra 40 for a new one.

4. Do not use galvanized metal in any of your internal fittings. Galvanized metal starts to off-gas once it reached 400℉. I use black iron or stainless steel in all the fittings.

5. Do some research: there are lots of web pages that show you how to make a ugly drum smoker for anyone at any skill level. Go learn from their mistakes and figure out ways to make new ones.  d.a. says I am the king of finding new mistakes. Did ya hear that? I am the KING…wait a minute. 

Project: Domestic Goose Nesting Boxes

Pic: these ain't "love" bites.

Soon it will be time to dust off the Kevlar arm braces and prep for egg gathering season! Depending on the weather, our geese start egg-laying anytime from Winter Solstice to late January, and will continue to lay eggs anywhere from April to late May. It's a dangerous time... if you're not a goose. The geese get wicked crabby, extremely territorial, and will gang-up, bite & wing-beat ANYTHING that gets anywhere near a nest. Our geese like to nest in areas they can defend from other animals (including each other), and wherever they're not supposed to be. We don't let this batch hatch little ones - too many genetic problems from the commercial breeder we bought them from - but we do gather and sell their fresh eggs. If Maggie didn't steal so many before we can get to them, one season's-worth of eggs would probably pay for their entire year of feed.

Pic: A-Frame nesting box.

Dave Holderread briefly discusses goose nesting options on pages 96-97 of his book "The Book of Geese". We decided to try out the A-frame nest box this year. The author also suggests setting the nesting boxes out several weeks early so the geese can get used to them - ahh, we may be cutting it a bit short. 

We put the new mitre saw to work on this project. Two pressure-treated 2"x4"s, cut 24" 30" long at the base and at a 30-degree angle. Two pieces of 24" 30" x 28(?)" outdoor plywood for the angled walls. We traced the outline of the back of the nesting box onto plywood to get the backing. A couple screws, some holes drilled into the backing for air flow, some caulking at the top to keep out water, and that was it. I staked down the front of the boxes with some bent rebar Spouse had laying around to keep any gusts of wind from tipping the shelter over. Dave Holderread suggested one box for every six to eight geese. We only have six females, but we went ahead and made four boxes - we've seen how our girls fight over nesting spots.

Pic: modified again goose shelter.

We also modified the big goose shelter (yet again). It's gone from having one opening, to three openings, to now having two openings. It is consistently ignored by the geese, although the chickens like huddle inside when it's raining. Spouse closed up the the middle opening and put in a divider wall down the center, so two geese can (hopefully) feel snug enough and private enough to nest in peace. Now there's six nice nesting boxes for them to use this year. Anyone care to take bets on whether they'll use these boxes or not? Anyone??

Guess What Mama Got For the Holidays?

Aww h3llz yeah!

The company I work for part-time asked Spouse what I wanted for Christmas. The company has a nice holiday dinner at a local restaurant, and hands out gifts to all their employees. I wasn't expecting anything because of my part-time status. "Well," Spouse said to his boss, "I'll tell you, but you're not gonna believe this...". He worried that the company would think it was actually for him. He said my reaction surely disabused any notion of that being the case. I think I actually yelped "Mama got a compound mitre saw!" Must have, as everyone was laughing... [Spouse made out well, no worries - they got him an XBox.]

On the way home, I received an email from MY Momma, who let me know that a mitre saw was going to be delivered for my Christmas gift from her... wow! I was bummed to tell her that I had just received one, but she laughed and graciously offered to send the receipt so I could exchange for another power tool of my choosing. Diggity! Looking at some table saws now...

Project: 2x4 Basics "Easy-Up Enclosure" - Greenhouse Version

It was a slow start to the temporary greenhouse project. First I moved the side yard 10'x20' shade structure over next to our shed, so Spouse and I could have a protected area to do our construction projects, rain or shine. That led to cleaning up and organizing the wood piles (they were in the way), adding more shelves to the temporary shed (to hold the tools and other stuff that was in the way), and carting off two bags of junk and detritus. It was a roundabout way of getting started on the greenhouse project, to be sure.

Here's the box that contains the Easy-Up Enclosure parts...

...and here are the parts. You provide the cut wood, and slide the parts into or through the various pieces, then screw the plastic parts to the wood to ensure a stable connection.

Goggles on, safety first!

The chopsaw Spouse modified to cut wood. He swapped out the metal cutting blade for a wood cutting blade. Probably not what the manufacturer intended, but don't laugh. It works. (Mama still wants that compound mitre saw for the holdiays, ya hear?)

The required wood, all cut to specification. 

The pieces would not easily slide onto the 2"x2"s, so I had to (gently, gently) tap with a rubber mallet to get the pieces onto the wood. See the groove marks the piece is scratching into the wood? Those are from little nubs on the inside that are supposed to help the plastic piece(s) grip the wood tightly. It's doing a dang fine job. 

Next? 

One of the pieces busted.  There are no spare parts. 

Even if I put together the rest of the enclosure, there'd be some serious weakness in the structure. I no longer have my receipt from Amazon, so I can't even return the box, nor the greenhouse cover (which was a separate purchase). 

I am flummoxed. 

Waiting for Spouse to get home to see if there's a way we can rig up a fix. Regardless, there's no guarantees that the other plastic pieces won't break as well. Aiiieeee!!!!

I get the hint

 - @dasparky Cleaning out the coop, a #hen let me know in no uncertain terms that a quiet nestbox was needed. Taking break while she lays her egg. 

The Barred Plymouth Rocks are bossy like that.

Cleaned out the duck & goose pond, too. More work on the pond is waiting, but am on an enforced break as the ducks are busy doing their own cleaning:

The geese, not wanting to be left out, have decided to clean themselves en masse as well. In every water container they can find.

Just too danged cute.

One of those days where one can't rush the river.

Holy Smokes, Thanksgiving Already?

Where has the time gone? Oh, now I remember: Section off a portion of property. Rake out dead grass and rocks. Lots of rocks. Scratch up soil. Seed. Scratch again to cover. Reseed. Cover with manured/rotted hay. Water. Watch it grow while I ice my back. I imagine it's similar to having a Chia Pet, but on a much larger scale. So far I've regrown five large sections of lawn. The poultry & waterfowl are so happy to have grass to graze upon once more. I've a few more sections to grow to ensure erosion control over the Winter, and the temperatures look like they're going to stay fairly warm at least through the end of December. Come Spring, I hope to develop larger sections of pasture bermuda & native grasses further down the hill.

Pic: a Thermo Cube

Other projects: we don't get alot of long-term freezing here during the Winter, but last season we had a week of below-freezing overnight temperatures, which were enough to freeze the well pump. Nothing will put you into a full-scale panic like having livestock and NO WATER for their needs. This year not only do we have a brand new 4'x3'x3' enclosure for the pump (nicely built this past week by Spouse), but we're also experimenting with heating it via a fairly low-cost method: a temperature-control plug (Thermo Cube) and a lightbulb. The cube will turn on the electricity to a 60-watt light located within the enclosure when the temperature dips below 35℉, and then will shut off the light when temps reach 45℉. Between the heated enclosure and the rainwater collection from the chicken coop roof (temporarily delayed due to other pressing projects, but hope to get to it next week), I'll feel much better about having accessible water available over the Winter.

Pic: Gertie bathing in a drinking bowl. The pond simply
isn't good enough for His Majesty. Pic has nothing to do
with this blog post. He's just cute.  

(Speaking of the Thermo Cube - we also use it to power on/off an Eco-Heater in the chicken coop. Works nicely! If the light-bulb method doesn't work for the pump enclosure, we'll shell out the cash for another Eco-Heater.)

Then there was a rash of duck egg disappearances that needed solving. Maggie the dog, of course, was figured as the culprit. We found one way she was getting into the pen (using some hay bales to get over the fence), fixed that, then put up electric fence wire around the top of the pen. We got a full complement of eggs for two days, then the disappearances started again. Found that Maggie had been pushing up a section of the duck fence and going under. Secured the bottom of the fence, and set electric wire around the bottom of the pen. No more egg disappearances. I don't know who's more determined: Maggie for eggs, or the chickens for the compost pile.

Pic: Gertie again. Can anyone guess his breed?
I'm flummoxed, and really would like to
get more of his type - he's a sweet boy. 

And now that the cooler temperatures are in full swing, so are the container tomatoes. Tomatoes. In November. We could barely keep them alive over the summer, even with afternoon shade and regular watering. Now the cherry tomatoes are going nuts. I'm not complaining, I swear. I toss any bug-eaten fruits to the chickens, and toss the others into salads. The fig trees that we covered against the last two overnight freezes are putting out a few fruits as well, but I consider those bug treats at this point.

So, two pressing projects in the queue before Winter temperatures settle in for the season: install the rainwater collection system, and build the temporary greenhouse. These projects will have to wait just a few days, however, as we've got family coming into town and a whole lot of gratitude (and libations) to be had. Spouse is smoking two turkeys and a prime rib (I really need to get him to write a blog post on how he made his metal barrel smoker, and how he smokes meats). Me, I'll be drinking wine with Spouse's Italian father. Lots of wine. And icing my back. To those who celebrate, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Chicks Behind Bars

Pic: Maggie, the unrepentant egg-stealer.
At least she doesn't eat the hens. 

Over the Summer the chickens, one by one, started laying eggs in secret places outside of the coop. Maybe there were too many broody hens taking up the favorite laying boxes over the past few months. Maybe they started laying eggs elsewhere due to the stress of the heat. All I knew was there were less and less eggs to sell through the co-op, and Maggie's coat was getting softer and sleeker (she has a keen nose for finding errant eggs... and eating them). As of the past few weeks, I've been lucky to get three eggs a day from 25 laying hens, when closer to a dozen is the norm. Hrmm.

We've been waiting for the weather pattern to change to consistently cooler temps, and it's finally done so. At dusk last night, after the chickens were all snug roosting inside the coop, Spouse & I stealthily erected a temporary fence around the chicken coop. By fencing in the chickens for a few days, it should retrain the chickens to use the nesting boxes instead of their favorite hidey-holes.

This morning's reaction to the fence situation? Let the photo speak for itself:

Unamused, I think it may be safe to say. I'll let them out to run around after 2:00PM, so they won't be cooped up all day - just long enough so they'll have to uncross their legs and lay an egg in the proper location.

Stopgap Erosion Control

Summer lasted way too long, with sustained record-setting heat killing off all the grasses around the house. As we were in a drought anyways, watering seemed not only wasteful but useless to boot. The only survivors were a few tough weeds and wild salvias, which I refuse to dig up out of respect for their will to live. Bonus: they're still green! Anyhow, Fall has finally arrived, bringing cooler temperatures and (we hope!) seasonal rains. Now's the time to plant cool season grasses and nitrogen-fixing legumes and grains, especially before the seasonal rains start in earnest, else our downhill neighbor will receive even more of our soil...

Pic: Ducks at the buffet.

First planting test was around the young orchard trees. Grasses can be nutrient hogs, but the trees are close to going dormant for the season anyways, and the need for erosion control is paramount at this point. Rye grass was planted in a circumference around the base of the trees, then covered with old rotted/manured bedding hay. [I smelled reeeally special after spreading that stuff around.] The first week the areas received spot watering to keep the soil moist for germination. Then the trees received their usual scheduled watering - recycled duck/goose pool water - about every 5-7 days in rotation. The grass continued to grow, and is doing fine. The trees all have a wide circumference, short height wire fence around their bases to keep the geese from chewing on their trunks, but am now opening one tree-fence at a time to let the poultry & waterfowl graze.

Pic: Geese take a turn at the buffet table.

Next test: fenced off & seeded a 6' x 12' section of upper "lawn" with a combination of rye grass and bermuda. The bermuda grass is a warm weather grass, but it was leftover from previous plantings, so tossed it in with the rye seeds. Soil temperatures should sprout both. Recycled a rotted bale of hay, loosely covering over the seeds so the still-warm sun wouldn't fry their sprouting efforts. In two weeks time, there was a lovely patch of green. This patch should anchor the soil, and hopefully stop any runoff from sections that don't have grass yet. I'll only open the grassy area every other day or so, lest the birds eat the grass to the bare soil. They do receive regular greens - I feed them heads of romaine or other lettuces every morning - but it's not the same as grazing grasses on their own.

Pic: Now some of the chickens get their feed on. OMG, BUFFET!!!!

Yesterday I fenced off an 8' x 12' section (overlapping a small part of the original 6' x 12'), and have seeded it not only with annual rye grass, but with cereal rye, leftover bermuda, leftover native grasses, and a trio of clovers. Kitchen sink planting! Clover doesn't do well here in the summer - too hot & dry - but it just might be okay as a cool season annual.  I overseeded the rye grass by comparison to everything else, as that's the one thing most likely to sprout at this time. Plus, rye grass seed is cheap. The native grass seeds will hang out just fine until Spring.

Today I am working on seeding the slope in front of the house. Raked out the majority of the rocks and dead thatch, and am getting ready to fence off and start seeding once I finish typing this entry. [If I finish typing this entry. Strangely, my arms are kinda tired!] Come Spring 2012, will seed all these areas again for the warm season with bermuda, buffalo grass, and as much native seed as we can afford. What the heck, let's throw in some wildflower seeds too, I think there's some leftovers in the back closet...

Two Shelters, One Day

The winds can blow pretty hard up here in the Hill Country:

Both of these shelters - the first pic is the shade structure, the second, a temporary shed - were trashed in one single cold-front moving into the area yesterday. The shade structure got blown so hard it pulled metal fencing stakes - to which the shelter was anchored - right up out of the ground. I was able to put the shelter back together, but it took some duct tape on the pole joinings to keep the poles from twisting about. I'll have to drill holes through the joints and thread bolts through them if I want to continue using this structure for any length of time.

The temporary shed's roof split its entire length. Don't think duct tape is gonna fix that one! I had already purchased a big tarp to go over the shed to act as a secondary roof, as I'd seen some of the edges getting worn. Guess I'll be putting that tarp up sooner than anticipated...

[The entirety of my day was pretty much like those structures - twisty and blown about. Hope a good night's sleep will reboot Wednesday into a much better day.]

Plastic Zip Baggie Opener Holder Thingie

Spouse was eyeball-deep into some computer issue or another, and I needed to get the big vat of chicken stock put away stat. We had decided not to can this time, but to freeze instead. I pulled out a box of quart-sized freezer bags, and was stopped short - how the heck was I gonna get the stock into the baggies all by myself without a huge, complicated mess? I needed some way to keep the baggie open so I could pour the stock inside.

Not sure what exactly created the "Eureka!" moment, but here's the outcome: a 44-ounce plastic soda cup from the local gas station will quite handily hold open a quart-sized freezer baggie, without need for clips or other manipulation. The "how to":

1. Have the 44-ounce cup and quart-sized freezer baggies ready. Check!

2. With clean hand, push the bottom of the baggie into the cup.

3. Example of what the baggie will look like in the cup...

4. Fill with whatever you're processing. Here's a 16-ounce measure cup pouring stock, for a total of four cups of liquid.

Due to being made of thicker plastic, the freezer baggie held up easily without assistance, even while being filled with liquid. I don't know if a thinner sandwich baggie would hold up as well, but maybe one could try using a paper/binder clip of some sort to hold one side (or more) of a baggie to the rim of the cup. I could see this technique being used for any type of filling needs - liquids, solids, etc. Anyhow, though I'm sure someone on the interwebs has to have already thought of and posted this idea, this was the first time the idea occurred to me, and it worked so well I'm passing it on to you. Hope you find it useful, too!