Market Day 7.7.07

It was another great market day. We had plenty of fresh flowers, carrots, potatoes and beets to sell. We picked up a fat chicken for later in the week, as well as green and yellow wax beans.

Hydrate locally

This past Tuesday I listened to a discussion on Public Radio regarding this article and it really got me thinking. I thought I'd share. Where does your water come from?

Weekly Gardening 101

Every gardener needs a helper

Better People Through Better Food. Liz mentioned in a comment for an earlier post the need to encourage more people to get out and plant a garden. I've been mulling over the comment and have decided to address that issue every Friday. I love gardening almost more than eating the things I grow. I may be a little odd that way. If you are new to gardening, or have been gardening a long time, but are stuck in a rut; perhaps this will help. I've found a lot of inspiring stories and information on various blogs and I'd love it if others would share their thoughts. So let's start with some of the basics.

YOU, THE GARDENER

Many people are totally in awe of the ability to grow anything. It's my belief that anyone can garden. It's a matter of knowing needs and limitations - both the plant's and the gardener's. We'll start with the gardener. What are your needs? What are your capabilities? What are your limitations? How much time do you want to spend in the garden? How much time can you realistically and honestly spend in the garden? The last two questions often have very different answers. Discovering a little bit about what kind of gardener you are will help determine what kind of garden you will need.

BUT WHERE? A FEW IDEAS...

Many a gardener, myself included, has been overwhelmed by too big a task. Decide what you are truly capable of doing and plan accordingly. It is much easier to start small and grow than to be overextended and feel defeat with too large a garden. A large garden takes a lot of time to prepare and plant. A small garden can take an afternoon to prepare and a few minutes a day to maintain. If you have no garden, but would like to start one, look for the future location now at the peak of the growing season. Pay attention to where the sun is during the day. Vegetables are generally not shade plants and need full sun for at least 6 hours a day. We'll talk more about preparing a bed later. For now, if you have no garden space you can still, even this late in the summer growing season plant things to enjoy. Check your local garden center for plants or buy a pack of fast growing seeds. Soon, in many regions, you can plant for cool weather fall crops (they are often the same crops that are ready early in the spring).

Vegetables can be stuck almost anywhere you can find a space. When we were the uber-urbanites, living in the city (our total lot size was close to the size of my current vegetable garden) we grew tomatoes and peppers on the south side of our porch where the sun managed to squeeze through the mature trees. Lettuce and radishes was planted in the spring intermingled with pansies and impatiens. It was ornamental as well as tasty. I have a friend who lives in a rather restrictive community. The homeowners' association tells people what color they can paint their front doors and how high their grass can be. She's rather stealthfully planted her yard with fruit trees and artfully arranged a garden that feeds her family for most of the summer and beyond. Charlie even had a design client in Kansas City who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a very classic, formal landscape and managed to have a spot to grow her own tomatoes each summer.

No space to plant? Find a few 5 gallon or larger black plastic pots. These are used for shrubs, and small trees. Your local garden center may have a few they'd toss your way. Fill them with potting mix (preferably organic) and you have instant garden space. Tomatoes thrive in pots and are less likely exposed to ground-born diseases. My back patio is filled with them right now.

As you start your garden, read. There are many gardening books available. One of my favorites is The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, by Edward C. Smith. It's full of easy to read, practical information. Check your local Agricultural Extension - they aren't just for farmers! They can often give very practical advice for your area.

And my last word of advice this week is "have no fear". Plants are actually quite easy once you know what they need. Generally they just need the right amount of water, nutrients and sunlight. Finding that out is often as easy as looking in a book or asking a friend. Sometimes a little experimentation is needed, but that can be part of the fun.

Next Week: An easy, almost no sweat way to prepare a garden bed!

One Local Summer - Week Two

We shared our meal with Chef Boots and Dr. E, who came up for the day from Winston-Salem. Chef Boots didn't bring bread or dessert, which made me slightly sad, but he made up for it with the wine. Sorry, it wasn't local - on bottle was from California though! We chatted and relaxed and put together an impromptu afternoon feast. A few non-local ingredients were used, but they were already open in the fridge (and just where am I supposed to find North Carolina olives???) It may seem like we're in a rut, but it's a tasty one. Here's the Independence Day menu chez Little Creek.

Grilled Steak - from Virginia (which falls into our "traveling" category of local - it's grown in the county where we spend about a week a month working) - pastured about 5 miles from the worksite.

Cole Slaw - made with cabbage, onion and parsley from The Garden - 0 miles. (The oil, salt, pepper and celery seed were not local, but the vinegar is from NC)

Roasted Potatoes - The Garden - 0 miles.

Carrot Salad - made with carrots, shallots and parsley from The Garden - 0 miles. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar (Italy), calamata olives (Greece), salt and pepper were not local.

The carrot salad was amazing - beautiful, simple, satisfying and intense. I plan on making a lunch of the leftovers today. The carrots were so sweet that the last thing they needed were traditional raisins (or as Chef Boots likes to add, dried cherries) We tried some calamata olives and a savory basalmic viniagrette, which Charlie remembered from somewhere, and it was perfect. Since the baby carrots were really too small to shred like in a traditional carrot salad, Dr. E sliced them up, which left them crunchy and showed off their color. The viniagrette I made was simply a little organic olive oil, equal parts baslamic and white basalmic vinegars, sea salt and pepper. Mixed bites with the cole slaw were quite tasty and we thought next time we might combine the two.

We finished off the day watching fireworks in Black Mountain from the school's playground, with friends; our friend, Dave, picking the Star Spangled Banner on his guitar. Perfect.

Celebrating Local

The updates of week one of One Local Summer are up. It's so exciting to see everyone's meals from all over the country (and out of the country too). I spent last evening perusing various entries. I'm getting lots of ideas. It looks like I'll have new blogs to read. Now I just have to find the time.

In the garden I've pulled out the onions. They are small this year, but have good flavor. They are curing now. Charlie has bought lumber to start construction on the root cellar under the porch. This year we won't have to store potatoes under our bed! I've planted more haricot verts, golden wax and Roma beans. I like the Romas for canning. I've also started to fill in where we've dug potatoes. I'm planting cow peas and black eyed peas in those spots. I may not get much of a later crop, but they make a good cover crop and can be left on top of the row over the winter. I've somehow managed to squeeze in lots of garden work in lately. Now if only we'd get some real rain...

Eating locally and gardening go hand in hand. We are finally getting to the time of year when we can go out to the garden and pick dinner. The tailgate market has been a giant boon to the whole process. We've met neighbors that we haven't had a chance to meet in the three years we've lived here. There are many more like-minded people in this valley than I expected and it makes me hopeful that we'll never have subdivisions popping up. There's seems to be a genuine concern to keep this area agricultural and natural. We've also found lots of things we can't grow ourselves - beef, pork, sweet corn. Last night Monkey and I (Charlie was up in Virginia) ate an almost entirely local veggie meal of black-eyed peas and rice, early sweet (very sweet) corn from the co-op in Old Fort, and salad from the garden. The only non-local items were salad dressing, butter and the rice. That's not our "official" OLS meal this week, mind you. We're planning that for later in the week...

Tailgate Market 6.30

Another busy market day...

Gigi guards the carrots. Good dog.

Dichotomies

Living on a farm, even a small one like ours, is a life filled with dichotomies. There's the joy of catching fireflies each evening. Monkey runs across the lawn squealing with joy as she captures floating balls of light. She is allowed to keep the jar overnight. It sits on a shelf in her room, nature's nightlight. When she wakes up, she runs outside barefoot on the dew-soaked lawn and opens the lid to free her source of joy. It's a summer cycle that starts over each evening as the sun drops behind the mountain and edges of the forest grow dark.

There's joy in harvest; in finding the first tomato of summer - a small round Stupice - a perfect little fruit.

Then there's heartache. Lots of heartache. Two freezes in spring destroyed the fruit crops. Drought has hindered the blackberry and raspberry crop (although the smaller fruits that are ripening are quite sweet). Losing an animal is the roughest. We've lost so many this spring - over 20, to predators. There's the financial loss, the promise of eggs and meat lost and the loss of hours of care put into raising them. Anyone who's raised chicks from hatch or day-old chicks will know what I mean.

So, I should feel joy when I catch the predators, right? For an instant yesterday morning there was elation when I saw the two live traps had caught a full-grown racoon and a juvenile possum and then this morning an adult possum. But then there's the need to "dispose" of those wild creatures and it's heartache time again. I know the necessity of the action, but it still doesn't stop me from regretting the act. I cried yesterday morning and today. Tonight the poultry will be locked up safe and tight, but the traps will not be set. My soul needs a break.

One Local Summer 16.24.07

Liz's One Local Summer Challenge has started. Here's our first meal:

Grilled Filet Mignon - Foothills Family Farms, Old Fort, NC - 23 miles

Fire-Roasted Potatoes (All Blue and Green Mountain), Carrots (Cosmic Purple, Amarillo Yellow, Atomic Red and Thumbelina), Onions, Chiogga Beets - The Garden - 0 mile

Shiva I.P.A.- Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company, Asheville, NC - 10 miles

A perfect meal to end a day of work in the garden and yard.

Tailgate Market

Our little local tailgate market is booming. It's so much fun to pack everything up and head down to the fire station on Saturday morning. Local small and hobby farmers are selling their produce and wares. People are stopping by and buying things. We've developed a following for eggs and late arrivals were sad to find we were sold out.

We sold out of everything but a pound of white potatoes yesterday. The exciting part was that we had a couple of chefs and caterers seperately stop by and they loved our market and, in particular, our produce. Two are supposed to call and talk about growing for or selling to them. I think for that to happen though we'd need more land.

In the garden, everything is growing despite the drought. We have been carefully watering. I need to get in there today and attack the potato beetles. The Japanese beetles have arrived and I'll have to set up a few traps. The chickens will love that!

Speaking of traps. The first night of trapping - nothing. Last night one bantam hen and two guinea keets would not come in despite our best efforts (when they fly high up in the beech or crawl under the chicken coop, it's impossible to lure them or catch them). There was only one keet outside this morning. She had flown high up in the beech. I'm so frustrated I could scream. The bait had been eaten out of the trap. So again tonight we'll be setting traps and locking up birds. The geese are not very happy with having to spend the night with the chickens. I've been telling them that once the new goat barn is built, they can have a fancy stall next to the goats.

I'm mad, I'm sad, I vow revenge!

We've lost quite a few chickens to a night-time maruader. Everyone that was taken was outside of a pen at night. Last night the mangler got crafty. We lost one of the guinea cocks, who was in the large enclosed pen and two lavender guinea keets and Lazarus in their own enclosed pen. The large pen is attached to the chicken house with the door open. No one in the chicken house was injured or killed. My guess is 3 geese guarding the door would make it hard for anyone to get in. While there is a spot on top of the large pen where an animal might get in, the little coop is completely enclosed with 2-inch woven fencing. I have no idea what got them. I'm extremely sad about Lazarus - she had survived so much. This morning I was so disgusted and discouraged, that I wanted to get rid of them all. I feel like I've let them down. I thought they were all safe in their pens. Raising animals is painful sometimes.

Here's what my conversation at Tractor Supply sounded like today:
Me: "Excuse me, could you help me get that live trap down off the top shelf?"
Harry, the sales clerk: "Sure. Do you have a critter problem?"
Me: "Yes. Something's been getting my chickens."
Here's where we go in to long discussion of fencing, what the kill looks like, where we live...
Harry: "It could be a skunk or coon. I've had the same problem. I set out a trap.
First night - nothing, second night - all the bait was gone, third night there was
a big racoon." And then he added, "It's better to find a coon than a skunk in a trap." (I'm not looking forward to either...)

I'll keep you posted on what, if anything, turns up in the trap. I don't particularly like the idea of a trap. I've lost a few chickens in the past to predators, (mostly neighbor dogs) and figure that's just what will happen from time to time. But now I'm at close to a 20 animal loss and I don't want to lose anymore. Tonight all feathered creatures will be locked in the chicken house and the traps will be set. The wild beasty must go!

One Local Summer

This coming Sunday marks the beginning of Liz's One Local Summer. Interest has grown so much since it's creation last year that she had to close off the participants at 100. Way to go Liz! I'm making our local area the Carolina's - both North and South, but I'm hoping to keep it pretty close to home. I'm very excited with the market and all this year. I've found a lot of local sources in the last year.

We will be traveling some during the challenge this year, so wherever we go I'm going to try to have one local meal per place. Last year, that seemed to work well. There was a Missouri meal and a Carolina Coast meal.

Participating in OLS and in the Eat Local Challenge has helped open my eyes to all the wonderful things grown in my area. I've also made a lot of friends along the way in my journey to self-sufficiency and protection of local small farms. This Saturday is the tailgate market's Summer Celebration. I hope to have a lovely meal next week prepared with ingredients from our own garden and the gardens and farms of our neighbors and friends.

Keets gone wild

The keets enjoy some sunshine on their first day out of their pen. Like good little birds they went back into their pen at night.





Lazarus, the miracle chicken thinks she is a guinea hen. She's almost all grown up. I keep hoping she's a she. I promise I will tell her story one day soon.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

It's off to the new job today. This will be day two. Yesterday was quite entertaining. I've gone to work for Charlie. When he started his own consulting and design firm last September, the last thing I thought I would do is go to work for him. But really it only makes some sense, as my name is on all the bank papers; it's my company too!

So, here's the backstory: Charlie left the design/build world of landscaping and went off to consult with and design for the big, bad wolf developers. His goal was to convince them that sustainable development was not only good for the environment, but good for their pocket books (that's how you convince them that limiting the amount of disturbance to the land is good for them). Luckily he came across several clients that were like-minded. He's pushing organic methods for home-sites and vast tracks of undisturbed land for the enjoyment of all. He now has projects in Virginia and North Carolina, working mainly with preserve and resort developments. We have upcoming projects in New Hampshire, the NC Coast and Florida. He had asked several times this past winter if I wanted to come work for him and I always said "no", fearing I would become an office manager or secretary. While I hold no disdain for these jobs, I think I've made it clear over the last several months that I cannot sit in an office or at a desk all day. So when Charlie proposed that I take over a lot of the field work, I thought, "Yes, I can do and would enjoy doing that!"

Yesterday I spent my day on site, meeting the managers of vast acreages, driving over very scary roads up and down mountains, and talking to a couple of guys from the NC Wildlife Commission about reestablishing and protecting native brook trout. Today I'm off to look at more property holdings and meet more people. I'm sort of hitting the ground running and it's very exciting.

The perks of this job are that I only have to work three days a week (which gives me lots of time in the garden), I get a hip office downtown and the work environment is ever-changing. I also get to buy a bunch of new clothes! My summer wardrobe has been limited to dirty, torn shorts and old t-shirts. Now I need nice, neat outdoorsy clothes. All those cute skirts for school are just going to have to hang in the closet.

It's good to be home

A week away from home is difficult. It's extremely difficult with 38 chickens, 3 geese, 4 ducks, 3 turkeys, 11 guinea hens, 2 goats, 2 dogs, a cat and a fish. Oh, and don't forget the garden and all the new shrubbery we've planted.

Luckily, we had the world's best pet sitter, who just happens to be one of Monkey's teachers. She is also 8 months pregnant. How she did it I'll never know, but almost everyone was healthy and happy when we returned. I say "almost everyone" because we had a mystery attack on the young cockerels and pullets. Out of 16, there is now only one Salmon Faverolle rooster. I think the youngsters must not have gone into the chicken coop at night and something (most likely a raccoon or possum) picked them off over several nights. We had planned on butchering the roosters when we got home. I don't have the heart to kill the survivor now. Carly had warned us that she had found one eaten chicken carcass; it turned out to be more than that. She felt terrible when she realized how many had disappeared, but there was really little she could have done. In fact, the first year we had chickens, I lost all but 8 when I went inside for a few minutes and left them unnattended in the yard. Birds can be hard...

Tonight I made sure everyone was in their respective coops and hopefully we won't lose anymore.

And in the garden...
Everything is growing! We've finally pulled out the last of the peas and put sweet potatoes in their place. It's the first year for sweet potatoes in the garden. Beans are coming up, as well as okra, cow peas and cucumbers. I was really jealous when I saw the size of my sister-in-law's tomatoes in Missouri. Of course, they've had rain and heat. Our last frost was mid-May and we finally had nights above 55 degrees in early June. And I would like a little rain please...

Oh, and I'm very excited to participate once again in Liz's One Local Summer!

On the road

We are on vacation. We've come to Mid-Missouri for my nephew's first birthday. I've been relaxing as much as possible with a five year old and her grandparents. It can be daunting. Tomorrow we are heading up to our old neighborhood to visit this. I can't wait to visit the new expansion. As a student, I spent many hours in the basement looking at paintings that the public rarely saw. There was no room to display all the work. I've waited a long time for this.
I also plan to chow on Vietnamese food. It's the single greatest thing that I miss from city-living (next to weekly visits to the art museum down the street, of course).
I'm planning on seeing to very close friends tonight and then my dear, dear friend is arriving from Switzerland tomorrow and another is coming in from New York. We are having a little reunion Friday night and I just can't wait.
I would be posting exciting photos, but I left my camera cord back in North Carolina. Oh well, now that I'm free from the daily desk job, I'll have more time to post things when I get home. I may just have a review from the museum tomorrow. It depends on how tired I am.
I hope the goats are behaving for their sitter!

How life should be

It is much more satisfying to go to bed physically exhausted than mentally and emotionally exhausted. I collapsed into bed last night, sore and happy. I spent the day in the garden. I finally got to weed and mulch three aisles that were out of control. That took most of the morning and my compost bin is filled with the weeds.

I despise untidiness in the garden. I love overabundant chaos, but the designer in me needs tidy aisles for plants to spill over. I prepared the remaining unplanted beds. I also planted roma beans, haricot verts, yellow wax beans, okra, crooked neck yellow squash and two types of zucchini (not to mention dozens of sunflowers and marigolds). I wish I had planted them two weeks ago, but my time was not under my control.

More cutting flowers and herb plants will go in this afternoon. I also h0pe to get the watermelon plants, pumpkin and vining squash in the ground today.

We've started planning the rebuilding of the greenhouse. This time instead of a kit, we are going to build it from scratch. We found a nice-looking design a couple of weeks ago. The materials should cost around the same as the kit Charlie got me for Christmas and it should be sturdier (besides, we can adjust it to suit our needs). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have time to build it before the end of summer. I want tomatoes through the fall. I want lettuce all winter. I want my greenhouse back!

Agatha Grunker is feeling much better. Her discomfort doesn't seem to have taught her anything. I caught her trying to find a way into the chicken house yesterday. She's a naughty goat.

Return to the land of the living

The last day of school was last Friday. I'm beginning to feel like a real person again. I've had time to drink coffee and linger in the garden in the morning. Feeding the animals is a time to relish, not to hurry. I also have time to plan for the market on Saturday. I'll be cutting flowers, pulling onions, clipping herbs and cleaning eggs on Friday instead of Saturday morning.

Agatha Grunker got her little goat-self into the chicken coop on Sunday and gorged herself on layer pellets. It's not an understatement to say that she's feeling well under the weather. She has perked up a little today. I'm limiting food to a nice hay and water. Keep your fingers crossed. I think she'll be o.k. in a day or two.

To market to market

Yesterday was the first day of our community's tailgate market. It was so much fun. There's not too much to sell just yet - lots of greens, lettuce, radishes and onions. There were a few beautiful beets. Our Little Creek Farm table sold out of spring onions and eggs. It was much busier than expected. All of the vendors had expected a very slow start, but word had gotten out and the neighbors turned out in force to by fresh produce. I can't wait until next week.

We finally have cooler temperatures and a little rain. I'm hoping to get some more things in the ground today. Something is eating my lettuce and the tops of radishes as they come up. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's rabbits. Dang them. I'm going to have to stake Biscuit the Wonder Dog out there to catch the varmits...

Simple Things

I have the belief that things can be improved through small, simple steps. Our newest small step has been to add a clothesline and limit use of the dryer. We serendipitously received the posts from a friend (I had been searching for months) and Charlie installed the line over the long weekend. Monkey even likes to help fold the clothes. We are constantly doing loads of laundry, so without doing any scientific research, I'm sure we'll save on electricity (and give a tiny little back to the environment).

We're already thinking of our next little step to make our home a better place to live.

Only three more days of school. I really can't wait.

I got the blues

This little bluebird house has been empty for 3 years. It sits on a post on the edge of the garden. Each spring birds come and check it out, get my hopes up, and never move in. This year they have. And last night, while thinning carrots I heard little peeps. Below is mother bird waiting for me to get myself out of her way so she can deliver the goods to the kids inside.

Just a short hiatus

Things are hectic with the end of school and all. The garden and chicks are growing. The ducks and geese are practically grown. And tomorrow is the Monkey's fifth birthday. We'll be back in full swing soon. Only 15 more school days and I'm a free woman! I'll be back soon.

A weekend of accomplishments, but don't thank the goats

This was a weekend of projects. Lots of projects were completed, and my aching back is proof. The garden is tidy. Tidy rows of seeds have been planted. The potato rows have been covered in layers of straw and dirt. The aisles have been weeded and mulched. Plants that weathered our last freeze (and most did it quite well) have been mulched and fed. The survivors of the great greenhouse destruction are lined out in a sheltered spot hardening off. Bare spots in the yard have been seeded.

While I struggled to bring order to the garden, Charlie wielded hammer and saw to build a second small pen for the poultry (that makes two) and build two new small houses. We now have room for the ducklings, goslings and the chicks. Everyone except the keets and Lazarus are now outside.

The goats tried to help, but really just got in Charlie's way. Charlie cursed. A word of advice - don't try to build with goats. Dulcinea was fascinated by the tape measure and managed to pull it out and drag it around. Her attention then focused on power cords. Agatha helped Charlie by picking up nails and tools, and knocking down boards. She took to hanging out inside the new houses. The goats were grounded. The girls ended up cloistered in their pen for a while, which meant they got in my way while I cleaned out the winter's deep litter in their shed. We finished up yesterday tired and dirty and smelling of goat. Good times, good times.

OK, now it's spring

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it is now spring. We spent the past weekend camping in Georgia. While the nights were chilly, the weather was warmer (and the pollen much worse).

While the cat's away, the mice (or in our case, chickens) will play. Several of the uppity chickens have been jumping over a section of fence into the garden and munched on the cabbage and radishes. I'm not too happy. There's going to be a lot of wing clipping this weekend and a second little pen built along that lower section of fence to block all entry to the garden.

What are they? And why are they so messy???

The ducklings and goslings have outgrown their brooder, so yesterday they went to live in their own pen. Agatha Grunker and Dulcinea were intrigued by them. The nights are finally warm enough for them. Soon the chicks will move out to the second little pen and I'll have my studio to myself again.

Oh, and in a sure sign of spring ~ the asparagus is poking out of the ground!

Goats do smile!

Agatha Grunker and everyone else seems to have weathered the storm much better than the greenhouse (we're checking with the manufacturer and insurance to see what we can do to replace it). A few branches are down in the pasture and one metal panel was peeled back from the chicken house roof like a banana, but no one seems worse for the weather.

I let the girls out of their shed after the winds died down yesterday evening and they had a nice frolic. They are getting daily brushings to remove their winter shags and have had a spring hoof trim. Vaccinations are next week (they love that...). I think I can hold off on worming, but will keep an eye out as the weather gets warmer.

We may add an additional goat this spring. Nubian or Alpine? Kid or doe? Too many options really. As long as Agatha remains boss, I don't think she'll mind.

Go ahead, rub some more salt in my wounds

Spring continues to be exceptionally cruel. Yesterday wind gusts of up to 6o miles an hour ripped the greenhouse off of its foundation. Miraculously, no baby plants were destroyed. The wind literally lifted the greenhouse up and over all the plants. And then to add insult to injury, it started to snow. I hauled all 140 tomato plants, 30 peppers and various other seedling and tender plants into the garage. Charlie and the Monkey had gone swimming so it was up to me to save the gardens future...

The winds continued through the night. We could hear limbs cracking and trees groaning all around. All furniture on the back porch was pushed up against the house. We lost power once for a minute or two and I was sure I would have to bring all the ducklings, goslings and chicks inside to keep warm. Luckily it stayed on. It's now getting light enough to see if there is any further damage, so I'm off to check things out before I go to school. Ugh.

Heartbreak

The freezing temperatures over Easter weekend wreaked havoc around here. I think our blueberry crop is a complete loss. All the blossoms turned brown overnight. Our apples may be a wash too. I stopped pitying myself when I realized that my livelihood didn't rely on the success or failure of our little crop. Growers throughout the region are facing total devastation of their apple, peach and strawberry crops. Crop insurance will not cover much; and I hate to think of all the workers who will be without work at harvest time.

It wasn't just the plants around here that were breaking my heart. The little guinea keet didn't make it. I'm not sure what went wrong. It just never really thrived. There are still eight eggs under a very broody Australorp hen in the coop, so maybe we will get lucky with a few eggs. Marie, who had been patiently sitting on ten eggs of her own, mysteriously left them when the cold snap hit. So, no turkeys this year either. We've had a bummer of a time here at Little Creek Farm.

One bright spot occured Easter morning. Charlie came back from the chicken house with a perfect, fluffy, little black chick. She's very cute and her story a little miracle. Her story deserves an entry all by itself. So tune in tomorrow. As a teaser I'll tell you that we've named her Lazarus.

It's beginning to look a lot like Easter!

Eggs,

Cupcakes,

Obligatory morning snow storm,

and Agatha Grunker enjoys her new pasture!

One more day...

And it will be Spring Break. I'll have a whole week to hang out with this little guy - the only guinea hen that hatched in our school incubation project. He's very cute and very tiny.

As promised

Here are the first photos of the new chicks. They aren't even a day old yet. I've got some funny combos going and am going to have to credit Number Two, of the Great Rooster Swap, with adding a little something to the gene pool. He's been a very busy rooster by the look of things.

I'm worried about the effect of such fuzziness on the minds of our staff at school. One assistant proclaimed she wanted to marry the first chick. The other started crying when she first saw the wet, rather wretched looking thing in the incubator and said she hoped she loved her baby as much as she loved that chick. In her defense, she is 6 months pregnant with raging hormones.

I'm keeping them in my office until Friday when they can come home and join the writhing pit of free rooster chicks in my studio.

The dirt won't come out from under the fingernails

We spent the whole of the weekend in the garden. A second round of peas has been planted. All the rows are ready for seeds to be sown. Cabbage and brocolli plants have been set and are surrounded by radishes of several varieties - Cherry Belle, French Breakfast and the intriguing Purple Plum. Lettuce has been planted along the garlic. Beets and carrots also went in. I've still got shallots to set (and I'm trying some from seed). The leeks are ready to be set. Our new apples, plum and peach have all gone in the ground. Busy. Busy. Busy.

I spent a good part of a very hot afternoon in the greenhouse potting up all the tomato and pepper plants. They'll be ready to plant in the garden in a couple of weeks. No need to rush them when they have room and a warm spot to grow. I've also got fennel, basil and a bunch of flowers started. It all looks like so much.

As soon as school is out, I'll be able to concentrate on things around here. Chef Boots wants me to grow things for him and then there's the new tailgate market a mile from our house at the community center/fire station. I'm very excited about that. We had a formation meeting last week and that is going to be a fun way to spend my Saturday mornings. Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to fit everything in the garden and read the "egg laws" and try to anticipate what will sell well and drink more coffee...

Keep your fingers crossed for the eggs in the incubator. Today is the day they should start hatching and many eager children are counting on me to bring baby chicks to life (You probably didn't realize I had that super power...). If it should fail, I do have 10 chicks in the brooder already. Do you think they would notice??? I mean, how would they know those weren't the eggs??? No, I wouldn't do that - I promise. I know all won't hatch, but by the laws of probability, some should hatch. This whole hatching and brooding thing is such a fragile process. And the little things are so, well, little; you just don't know what went wrong when something goes wrong. We did lose one of the goslings the day they arrived. When that happens I always lose confidence in my ability to raise the little guys. So seriously, keep fingers crossed until I post a picture of fluffy little chicks that aren't all yellow and all roosters (Anyone need a Salmon Faverolle rooster chick? I have ten...).

New arrivals

5:54 a.m. - "Maggie, this is the post office. Your baby birds are here."

Three Tufted Roman Geese, Four Buff Ducks, and a dozen feather-footed mystery chicks are in the brooder. Spring has officially arrived at Little Creek Farm!

What's goin' on

Let's see...
Potatoes are in the ground - Green Mountain, Russian Banana Fingerling, and All-Blue
Peas are coming up
Garlic is growing
Shallots are growing
Green Onions are coming up
Slicing Onion sets have been planted
Snow peas in the greenhouse are almost up to the roof!
We've been munching on radishes, lettuce and spinach from the greenhouse (so has the goose - I spoil her!)

The goats escaped on Sunday, but ran up to the car like a couple of labradors when we pulled in the driveway. They crawled under the eight foot fence that surrounds their pen. The breach has been stopped and they seem content (for the moment) to be back where they belong. Soon, they will have a nice little pasture to share with the poultry and our garden and flower beds will be safe.

The eggs in the school incubator project have 5 more days to go. Only 3 out of 24 didn't develop (we call those yolkers!) We are waiting to see how many hatch. The guinea eggs will have one extra week to go.

The ducklings and goslings should be arriving today or tomorrow. Keep on the lookout for overly cute pictures soon!

Oh, and there's more good news, but I'll have to wait. I'm being naughty and writing from my "prison", OOPS! I mean "office."

Strolling around the farm

Today's walk found trout lilies beginning to bloom. I imagine if we get the rain that is forcasted more will start poking up all around. Normally around this time, the ground is covered with them by the creek. I also noticed maples, the slippery elm and spicebush are blooming. I love spring (even if it's not yet sprung).

Things are a popping

What's growing under lights:

• Sweet Dakota Rose Watermelon (that's it up there)


• Sugar Baby Watermelon


• Lots of Tomatoes (I've listed those)


• Long Island Brussel Sprouts


• Cheddar Cauliflower


• Florence Fennel


• Sweet Basil


• Candytuft (a nice groundcover perennial)

Then there's all the stuff I did on Saturday at the Organic Grower's School in the propagation workshop. Rhododendren, Azalea, Ninebark, Ivy, Buckeye, and Dogwood are all in flats or pots. I thought the propagation class would be on vegetables, but it dealt with woody ornamentals for the most part. That's fine, but that's what I know - trees and shrubs... My experience is mostly with tropical trees from my Peace Corps days, so it was a nice refresher course on propagation techniques. My afternoon class was on landscaping with edibles. I now have a giant list of proven varieties to plant. I was sad to hear that cherries are difficult to grow in our mountain climate, but not impossible. Luckily, it seems I innadvertently planted the varieties that do best here. How's that for dumb luck?

In the garden:

The garlic is thriving and the peas are starting to poke up. This week the cabbage and broccoli starts will go in the garden. Now I've got to head off to work. I'm counting down the days until my contract ends - May 31. I feel a little like a graduating senior... Soon I'll have all summer to spend in the garden (and blog).

Arrr! I'm a pirate

Marie goes from lap turkey to parrot...

Please ignore my pastiness. It's March and I've been under the weather for the last couple of weeks... Of course, while I've been sick and otherwise overwhelmed with work, discord has been brewing in the barnyard.

"That damn turkey gets all the attention!"

"We find it best just to ignore her, honking only encourages her..."

Actually no poultry feelings were hurt in the creating of this entry. We were all just enjoying a rather chilly, but sunny Sunday afternoon.

Anticipation

Today we are loading the incubator with two dozen eggs. In 21 days, hopefully, we'll have a new batch of chicks! A few days after that, the guinea keets (there are only a few eggs) will hatch. Keep your fingers crossed.

It's time to get growing

March 1st is the magic date for peas to go into the ground around here. Today Charlie put the first row of Wando peas in the ground. He also finally removed the tomato stakes and put them in new rows. We tossed some onion sets into the ground yesterday for green onions. I would have helped more outside today, but I'm a little under the weather with a respitory evil.

We also started flats of leeks - Giant Musselburgh, and tomatoes - Black Prince, Cherokee Purple, Kentucky Beefsteak, Principe Borghese, Roma, Spears Tennessee Green and Stupice, and peppers - Alma Paprika, Ancho/Poblano San Luis and Golden Marconi.

In the ground and growing already are winter-overed shallots and garlic.

I'm counting down the days until our last frost date.

Catching my breath

I've been up to my armpits with work (feeling under the weather hasn't helped either) and I'm sorry if you've been looking for farm updates or other things of interest. I've just been too overwhelmed with life in general to write a word.

In the middle of re-enrollments, faculty contracts, state inspections, testing, new student recruitment and all the other fun things that have been coming my way (like interviews for new jobs where I'm not the boss of everything...) I've had one excessively odd and fun job - the hunt for Sandy the Hamster. I'm not sure if I've mentioned Sandy before. She is Monkey's class hamster. She comes to stay at our house every school holiday and we are very fond of the fat little rodent.

Sandy has developed a rather annoying habit of late. She's become a successful escape artist. On past occasions it's been easy to track her. She leaves gaudy little piles of beads and seeds behind toilets or shelves. On her last escape at school (she doesn't escape at our house) I found her dozing behind a toilet plunger with a hoard of dried beans she pilfered from one of the pre-school rooms.

Sandy's latest escape has left us a little dumbfounded and frustrated. The teachers and students have been looking for her daily. She's managed to elude our searches. She escaped last Tuesday and we are saddened (no really, there has been weeping from the 4 year old quarter) that she's still on the loose. At first we found her normal piles of beads and a few marbles, not to mention hamster poop... But the trail grew cold last week and we thought all was lost. In our search for Sandy we've found lots of things we thought lost and gone forever, but no fat hamster.

On a more cheerful note, today I found a sign that she's been hanging out in one of the preschool rooms (a nice tidy pile of hamster poop and colored rice behind the math shelf). So my search continues with new zest; a welcome change from being chained to my desk. I am the official Montessori Hamster Hunter. I'll keep you posted.

Waiting for weather

As the person "in charge" at school I worry when a parent who happens to a meteorologist (married to a meteorologist) stops by my office and cheerfully says, "See you Monday!". That was yesterday. Today I'm waiting for a big ol' winter storm to arrive. The school day has been cancelled because the threat of a storm exists.

I grew up in the Midwest. Winter was the time for snow and ice. Here, in the South, winter weather is a major news event and all things shut down before the first flake falls. All schools are closed in anticipation of a storm. I will admit that I've seen the radar and listened to reports and this storm is big. Flights were cancelled in anticipation yesterday. The forecast is several inches of snow, followed by ice. Road crews, power crews and kids with sleds are ready. I'll keep you posted.

Oh and the bad thing about being the principal - it may be a snow day, but I still have to get up at 5:00 to check weather, cancel school and make sure everyone knows about it. Being the boss is not such fun...

Confessions of a Seed Catalog Junkie

I have stopped. I promise. No more ordering of seeds. I cannot promise that I won't pick up a few packets here and there, but no more ordering. I really don't know what gets into me. But, I need them, I want them, I can't refuse them a place in my garden. It's too much really. And there are seeds to use from last year! My garden will be overflowing. Good thing for me that I've made new beds...(I promise that I am not grinning maniacally and rubbing my hands together in an all-together much too crazy fashion. Really).

I'm quite ready for spring. I even braved cold temperatures yesterday to be outside working. Yesterday afternoon it started to snow and today we have a snow day. Monkey and I have been enjoying the day by painting together, making crepes, and keeping the fire going. I've also been working on my garden notebook for this year by creating the plant pages. I've come up with a general information sheet, which I then use to copy the seed packet onto using the color copier in my office. I have plenty of room to write notes and can keep a copy of the seed packet nice and clean for future reference.

I've already started leeks. I was hoping to start some shallots from seed, but was informed they won't show up until March. Now that the leeks are thin little slivers of green on a sunny shelf in my office, I want to start more seeds. But I will be patient and wait a little while longer. I have started more in the greenhouse - arugula, radishes, mache, and a few potatoes that sprouted in the cupboard. What I love best about my seed habit, is trying new varieties and keeping old favorites. I'm glad that I saved a few of the Kirby's Whippoorwill field peas from Bakers Creek because there were none to be had this year. I'll just have to save my own seeds to keep that one coming. So much promise in such a little thing. I'm an addict, all right.

Augustus/Augusta

It would seem that Augustus is really Augusta. I found the evidence tonight, ending weeks of speculation.

That's it, up there on the left. It's almost as big as my palm. Definitely a goose egg. The speckled one on the right is a turkey egg I believe.

And I promise, no more egg pictures! (Well, maybe one when the duck finally lays a egg).

And really, she's a beautiful girl. You can't really tell in the photo, but her eyes are the most beautiful blue!

I've marked my calendar

The Organic Growers School is March 10. I can't wait!

It's the little things

One of the things that makes gardening so enjoyable is taking time to notice the minute things that happen in a day. Take this snow pea. It poked its way out of the soil only a few days ago. It's growing and each day it will push a little farther. In no time with the help of a small trellis, it will reach up toward the ceiling of the greenhouse.

I spent a couple of hours in the greenhouse today. Outside the sun is shining, but the wind is quite cold. The sun warmed the interior of the greenhouse to a toasty 70 degrees. I moved and filled pots. The sun moved across the sky hanging behind the woods to the south. Long shadows from the bare trees criss-crossed the floor of the greenhouse. In a few short weeks it will shift far enough north to be over the trees. I watched the chickens scratch in the garden and around the lawn. The ducks and goose took a dip in the fish pond, then came down to see what I was up to. I tossed them the lettuce seedlings I had been thinning.

I generally cloister myself during the winter months. I venture out to take care of the animals, but don't want to spend too much time outside in the cold. My body doesn't really handle cold too well. I feel that I miss a lot in the winter. But no more! I soaked up sunshine alongside the peas and lettuce. I have to say that the greenhouse is the best gift I've ever received.

And in the greenhouse...

A mix of Asian greens.

Look what I found!

The first guinea egg! Now what?

Plotting the plots

Seed catalogs arrive in hordes each day. How can I say "no" to so many delicious possibilities? I've stopped the frenzied ordering. I'll just sit back (on my hands, so I can't order more) and await the arrival of seed packets.

I ordered most of my tomatoes from Baker Creek again this year. Last year they germinated so well and grew big and somehow managed to stay healthy. I've added Principe Borghesi, for sun-drying. Jamie inspired me. And speaking of inspiration - Liz's talk of growing her own paprika induced me to order not one, but two varieties of paprika for my own garden this year.

I've grown quite brave (foolish?). I'm trying several new things this year - leeks, kohlrabi, fennel and jicama for the sheer silly hell of it. I'm sticking with favorites in the tomato, potato, bean, pea, cucumber and carrot realms with a few new varieties thrown in for adventure - you know - red carrots, french cornichons, yellow mangel beets, russian banana fingerling potatoes...
Maybe I'll find a few new favorites.

Everything is up and growing in the greenhouse. I insulated the lower walls with bubble wrap. The spring-like, unnatural weather is helping to keep the heating bills down. Soon I'll be starting seeds and planting more pots to harvest early. We should have baby lettuce ready for harvesting in a week or two. I love to be inside where it smells of earth and damp. The goose and turkeys take turns posturing in front of their reflections. They must wonder why the birds in the greenhouse never come outside. Gigi sits outside the door with a ball in her mouth. It's torture for her.

The weather is torturing me because I know it will turn.

Home Again

We had a little holiday. Monkey and I went to the National Aquarium and enjoyed a day of fish watching. We then took off to the wilds of Virginia and enjoyed a weekend of doing absolutely nothing. Nothing is a good thing to do.

I've spent the last several weeks scouring seed catalogs and spent my first evening home ordering lots of promise for the spring and summer. More on that later.

She was a good dog

Chelsea, the Grande Dame of Little Creek Farm

1993-2007

photo by the monkey, Christmas 2006

Signs that I need a vacation...

I had a dream where I hired Dr. Who as our new kindergarten teacher. The field trips were fantastic.

Good thing we're off to Baltimore in a couple of days.

Duck, duck, goose! Gander? Goose? What?

The raising of ducks and geese has become a frustrating endevour for me. Last year - two rather expensive orders from hatcheries and one free donation from a kind stranger left me with one Buff Orpington duck, two Cayuga drakes, one Pekin drake and one Tufted Roman gander (or is it goose? - I just can't tell!). Poor Augustus/Augusta lost his/her mate. Drusilla/Drusus was lost in a mystery attack a couple of months ago. The out-of control drakes have been harrassing him/her and Buffy the Buff duck for the last several weeks. It's almost embarrasing, really. I mean, if they weren't water fowl and all...

I read this article yesterday, and it made me think about my lone goose, and the gang of young drakes... So tonight I placed an order for 2 Tufted Roman Geese and one Gander, and 3 Buff Orpington Hens and one Drake. I had promised myself that I would not order chickens this year. Geese and ducks don't count, do they? Besides, we need chicks of some sort for our Second Annual Chickfest/Chickapalooza party in April. Hopefully soon, with a little culling of the unwanted Cayuga drakes, we'll have happy flocks. Prophetically, the Cayugas never acquired names. The new residents should arrive around the first day of spring.

What's up in the new year

So, shortly after the last post, the skies opened up and the rain came down. It rained and it rained and things flooded and got quite damp. The next day - first of 2007, the sun came out. Temperatures soared and it felt like, well, April (or at least March...). I cleaned out the chicken coop and the goat shed, spread lots of mulch and pruned apple trees. Oh, and we also butchered all the young thug roosters, leaving only Rufus and Number Two. It's a lot quieter around the farm these days.

Life was good, then the winter break ended and it was back to school. Our fun ended.

For all of you who have asked (and thank you!). Louis and Marie are fine and dandy. I'm hoping for little Royal Palm turkey poults this spring. The guineas have settled in. I plan to let them out soon. They make noise, loud noise, but infrequently. Number Two has found a new home here with all these hens and has been, um, getting down to business. And for your viewing pleasure, here he is - chasing the ladies.

What to do on the last day of the year

Charlie finished the greenhouse yesterday. It took a little work to level out a spot. We've still got work to do. We need to gravel the inside. For now there's landscape fabric. We'll be building a low retaining wall and filling the newly created bed behind the greenhouse with low growing herbs, flowers and veggies.

I filled some 7-gallon containers with potting mixture and sowed seeds for the first greenhouse crops - rouge d'hiver lettuce, black-seeded simpson lettuce, a mesclun mix, a stir fry greens mix, catalina spinach and oregon giant snow peas. I have more containers to fill. I'm thinking of starting some carrots and radishes. For now everything will be in containers, but I'm planning on some raised beds this spring. Before we know it, it will be time to start seed for the garden. I've got to leave a little room for some shelves. The seed catalogs are arriving daily and I'm getting itchy to order way too much again this year. But I've got grand plans forming for 2007.

Roosters Swapped

I met up with Jamie on Thursday and it was a wonderful meeting. We met in a brewpub in downtown Greenville, SC and swapped roosters. It was an odd excuse for a meeting, but a worthwile one. She had an extra Speckled Sussex rooster (which I had been wanting, as I have four hens) and I had Lucky, the Barred Rock/Dominique - only named because he managed to escape not one, but two attempts at butchering. Good luck, Jamie - he's a handsome, yet crafty creature. The Sussex is now getting used to his new surroundings with one hen and will soon be joining the group.

I haven't been doing this whole blog thing quite as long as she, so it was nice to meet someone else doing what I'm doing. I liken it to meeting a pen pal. Do people still have pen pals? I had one from Japan and one from France (who at some point got tired of my poor French grammar, and stopped les lettres. Jamie was just as friendly and cool as I expected and surprisingly familiar. I suppose it helps that I've been reading her posts for almost two years... I even made the aquaintance of her car, Squeaky - which is blue, sort of.

Here is Number Two (her name for him, but it seems to be sticking) at the rooster swap high atop a parking garage in Greenville. He was quite perturbed when I brought him home and then he saw the Speckled Sussex hen in the pen next to him and he turned on the old rooster charm (they must be hardwired that way...). Way to go Number Two and welcome to Little Creek Farm.

Holiday Recovery

Finally, a time to relax. The Monkey has finally gone to bed after two days of hard partying. In case you're wondering, "hard partying" for a four year old (excuse me, four and a half year old) involves wearing a Tinkerbell constume, consuming vast quantities of sugar, jumping up and down frequently and non-stop verbalizing. The hardest part has been that the weather turned and our Christmas was rather wet. Nasty, cold wet. It has at least set in motion serious plans for revamping the critter area. Gravel - it's a novel concept. And it's much easier to walk on than soul-sucking mud



I hope everyone had a merry Christmas, or whatever it is you do at this time of year. We tried to have less present under the tree, but our families didn't quite cooperate. Monkey didn't mind. She got a Tinkerbell costume, a Hello Kitty boombox (for her collection of kindermusik and Suzuki violin cds) and lots of art supplies. Charlie received practical presents like new boots, two copies of the new edition of the Joy of Cooking, and a doormat made of recycled flip-flops (one of our favorites!).

My Christmas present didn't fit under the tree this year. It is still sitting in several large boxes on the screened porch (thanks to the rain). I got a greenhouse! I've begged Charlie for months to help me build a hoop house and had been rather dissapointed that he seemed to show no interest in the prospect of fresh vegetables year round. Little did I know he was plotting. It's the curse of living with a landscape designer... ...it all has to look good. So, as soon as the weather breaks, he'll be out assembling all those panels and soon I'll be planting radishes and lettuce!



While not a "present", so to speak, we do have new inhabitants here at Little Creek. Four Guinea Fowl - three lilac and one pearl, have joined the menagerie.

Two breeding pairs. I hoping for little guineas in the spring. From what I've read, they love to eat bugs and scratch less than the chickens - they may even get to go in the garden! I'm hoping to that they'll be rather self-sufficient. I know they are tasty! Although these four are just for breeding and increasing the screaming guinea horde. In case you aren't aware, Guineas can set up quite the racket when they want to set off an alarm. When they are just chatting, however, the sound quite pleasant with little chirps and such.

Tonight it's snowing and blowing and the temperatures have dropped. How do we keep warm around here? Let me share a favorite Christmas drink. I think Santa loves when I leave him one by the fireplace...

Aztec Sluggers from Gourmet, December 2005

Here's what you need...

1 cup freshly brewed strong coffee

1/4 cup bourbon

1/2 oz Kahlua

2 oz finely chopped bittersweet chocolate

6 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon sugar

Heat coffee, bourbon, Kahlua, chocolate, and 2 tablespoons cream in a heavy saucepan over low heat, whisking constantly, until the chocolate is melted. (Do not let it boil.)

Whisk remaining 1/4 cup cream with sugar until it holds soft peaks.

Divide drink between two large mugs, then top with whipped cream. Enjoy with your favorite jolly, old elf. I'm taking some down to the guineas right now as a house-warming gift.

Art - let's eat!

On Thursday afternoons I teach art to a group of home school children. They range in age from kindergarten through third grade. This whole "semester" we've been working with color and exploring lots of possibilities. For our last class of the year we made an edible color wheel.

Yummy. I only gave them frosting in the primary colors - red, blue and yellow. Their job was to create the color wheel. After much finger-licking and consumption of sugar, they went on their merry way. It was a very fun project. And I just have to say, I love teaching art this way - working with a handful of students over a protracted period of time. We really have been allowed to explore and learn. I just love hearing a kindergartner explain analgous colors to his mom.

I think I'm on my way to creating a little attelier! We meet in my studio and they get to see the paintings as I work on them. They ask questions and work at their own giant table. In January we move on to line, form and pattern. Soon I'll have them grinding colors and preparing canvases, while living in an indentured state in the garage... (not really - we can't go back to the renaissance, but a girl can dream).

One more day

One more day until Winter Break and I sure can use it! And tell me, how did I happen to not post anything here for two weeks (besides being a bad blogger?). Well, it could do with renegotiating my contract, writing a couple of grants and generally being exhausted.

It's not as if I didn't have anything to say... Everyday, something occured that was a little, if not exceedingly, "blog-worthy". I even created whole posts in my mind. I just didn't sit down at the computer to actually type.

So tomorrow starts 10 days of doing nothing work related. Which is not exactly true. The carpet cleaners are coming to school and I must be there to let them in and lock up afterward. But generally - I'm work free (well, besides a couple grants I want to polish off...).

Changes in the weather

Yesterday the temperature dropped by tens of degrees in a matter of hours. This morning all the water troughs were frozen solid. There is nothing more pathetic than a big white duck sitting on a frozen block of ice that the day before was a baby pool full of water. It was pathetic not in the attempt, but in the length of time - Ping sat, waiting for some sort of magical transformation of ice to water to occur, close to 10 minutes before he slid off in frustration.

It was 8 degrees here this morning. The water line to the coop was frozen. I had to carry buckets from the house to the coop and back five times. I've broken the ice for the birds and goats twice today. It's a good thing I got to use my executive powers and call a snow day today.

I'm sure that every teacher that enters administration experiences a shock of pleasure the first time she gets to cancel school due to weather. It is the ultimate power to posess the code needed to put your school's name on that cancellation list scrolling across the bottom of the television screen during the local morning news. What child wouldn't sell their soul for that code? Well, it's stuck to the side of my fridge kiddies, and I'm not sharing!

The down side of posessing that power is getting up at 5 a.m., checking to see if the public schools are cancelled, calling teachers to check the weather, calling the board chair to make sure you have the cancellation policy correct, and then knowing that some parent will still show up to an empty building at 8 a.m. and wonder what the hell is going on.

Did I mention that we only had about 1/2 an inch of snow?

Eggs up to my armpits

The chickens have finished molting and I've added extended hours of light with a timer and light bulb in the chicken house. Suddenly I'm up to my arm pits in eggs. Also, keeping them cooped up, so to speak, has finally triggered a desire to use the nest boxes. Yesterday there was a total of 23 eggs. I found a clutch of five beautiful blue eggs under the goat shed by accident. I caught my white ameraucana hen coming out from under the corner of the shed and viola! Cool weather has kept them all fresh. Now if only I can get her to lay where I want her to.

Oh, and while I can't quite knit as fabulously as Liz, here's the Monkey in her new favorite hat. Perhaps I'll have the scarf ready for Christmas. My plan was to have hats for my two nieces and nephew as well. I better get knitting.

It's not even technically winter...

And I'm dreaming of spring.

I turned another year older on Friday. That however had to take a back seat to everything else last week. My contract with the school as interim head ends December 31 and I had, until last night, not heard a word on whether I would be there for the second semester. Well last night I heard I would be. I found out today that I would be getting a raise, and that the Board would really like for me to apply for the permanent position. Gosh, I was just starting to look for a new job...

Anyway, let me describe briefly the typical day of last week. In briefest terms: Overflowing toilet, unannounced arrival of state inspector, pre-schooler with bloody nose, another overflowing toilet (inspector still there...), slightly insane intern overreacting to something that has nothing to do with her, odd parent questioning the validity of a field trip to see the Nutcracker (inspector still there...parent should be shot...), I forgot my lunch and then... projectile vomiting in the teachers' bathroom by elementary student (luckily inspector was gone by then because that bathroom is not covered by health inspections and student should not have been there). That was such a good day!

This weekend I ignored anything to do with education and took myself and Biscuit the Wonder Dog to a dog trial. We brought home two second places and a third place. Not bad for a soon-to-be nine year old dog.

Now I am going to peruse the first of the seed catalogs that arrived today and help myself to a beer...

Tomorrow's menu

The turkey will not fit in the oven. It weighs more than the Monkey. What to do? Well, we've decided to cut him into smaller parts and roast the dark meat seperately. I swear the legs are about as big as the average turkey breast. It's incomprehensable, really.

So here's the plan.

The world's largest turkey from right here at Little Creek Farm

Salad, made with lettuce from Weaverville - 20 miles by road (10, as the crow flies), goat cheese from Madison County - 25 miles, and walnuts from right beside the creek.

Mashed Potatoes from Madison County - 25 miles (our potatoes were consumed rather rapidly this year)

Carolina Rice (over 100 miles, but from the Carolinas) with locally grown oyster mushrooms.

This day requires lots of starch!

Green Beans and Beets from our garden and Brussel Sprouts from just down the road.

We were going to forget about the Cranberry Sauce, until Charlie's aunt, who will be visiting wanted to make it and then wonder of wonders, Charlie found Cranberries from the mountains of South Carolina - go figure

I hope there's room left in everyone's belly for the Apple/Blueberry Pie!

And now, I'm going to relax and do nothing. It is a holiday, after all.

42 pounds

That's the weight of our thanksgiving turkey - dressed. We need to invite more people for dinner...
It was a long ordeal to prep that bird. "Meatzilla" lived up to his name. Charlie did the actual butchering this time. We didn't have anything big enough to soak the turkey in after he was butchered. We had to use a big rubbermaid tub filled with water and ice. It's on the back screened porch with a drafting board and a load of wood on top to keep it safe from wild things (or border collies...). Keep your fingers crossed.

Tomorrow I'll fill you in on what will be accompanying that big, bad fowl.

Mr. Louis goes to school

On friday we had a Thanksgiving potluck feast at school. I was amazed at all the food made by the parents. There is something to say about a group of people in today's society who take the time to bake healthy goodness for their kids' school party. Only one thing on the whole table of food from over 40 families was store-bought. I was down-right impressed!

The children have spent the better part of November, learning about Thanksgiving and all things Thanksgivingy (it's a word, I swear...). So what better way to celebrate than to bring them a real live turkey. Louis strutted and gobbled to his heart's content for pre-kindergarteners and elementary students. He was serenaded by the little ones on several occasions that day with songs about turkeys. Everyone was happy to learn that he was a pet and wouldn't end up on the table.

It was incredible to see three and four year olds point out the snood and wattle to their parents. And for everyone to get excited every time Louis gobbled. I must be naive, but I couldn't believe how many people had never seen a turkey before. I guess, growing up in a farming area exposed me to my food, even though my family had nothing to do with farming (unless you count horses). I had a discussion with several vegans about my decision to "know" my meat (that doesn't sound to nasty does it?). And while, I don't think I converted any of them to carnivore status, one was very impressed with my philosophy. Again, everyone was quite glad that Louis was not food... I also got in a few discussions about local food and talked about the 100-mile Thanksgiving. People were all trying to figure out what foods they could make from local ingredients. I might have had a few converts there.

I'll be sharing our local menu today or tomorrow. Right now I have to get ready for school. Half the kids are taking off an extra two days, so it will be Montessori light today and tomorrow. Oh, and snow is forecasted for today, maybe I'll have my first chance to cancel school!

This is the November I remember

We've had several days of delicious weather with sunny days and temperatures in the 70's. But today we're back to clouds, rain and wind. It's a nice day to stay inside and do homey things. We've a big pot of red beans on. Charlie is making a breakfast of eggs and sausage.

Today's to do list:

• Spend time in studio working on Louis painting.


• Go buy bird seed and fill bird feeders.


• Set up lights in chicken house.


• Sit by fire and do absolutely nothing.

Good morning, starshine!

The earth says Hello!

Sorry, it's the Monkey's favorite movie line...

And this is her favorite meal. Monkey loves omelettes and she made this one herself from an Araucana egg (it was blue!). Her first self-made meal. The kid is a natural. I helped her with the whole pan thing, but she cracked the egg, whisked it up, and poured it in the pan. She even added some cheese near the end. The color of the omelette was actually more intense than the photo. That's what happens with healthy, happy hens!

I may be slightly skewed in my feelings, but that's pretty good for a four year old, don't you think?

What's in a name?

We have a big decision here at Little Creek Farm. Apparently according to county regulations, if there are three or more residences on one drive, that drive has to have a street name and new addresses must be assigned. Guess who has three residences on their drive? Yippee!!!
So our new neighbor and Charlie have decided to ignore the rental property and just go with coming up with a name. Only two have to agree. Our first two choices - Little Creek Lane and Bumpy Road were taken.

Our new neighbor loves our turkeys and thinks we should come up with a name revolving around them. However the word "turkey" turns up in plenty of place names around here. Charlie came up with "Royal Palm" after our beloved Louis, but I think it's a little too "coastal" for around here.

I hate to have to change checks, credit cards and all the other things that will need to be changed (although it means I can get a new driver's license photo!). I guess the good thing is that we will have the street number of "1". Sweet.

Why not suggest a name or two. Maybe you'll win and get a free jar of Little Creek apple jam!

Oh and one more thing. I stepped out of the shower this morning and Charlie said, "We won!". Let's hear it for a change in the political atmosphere!

Chicken Run

The battle for supremecy of Little Creek Farm continues. I'm in the lead at the moment, but I've noticed the turkeys conspiring. The chickens are acting a little more subdued and are starting to lay eggs in the nesting boxes, which is where they should be laying eggs. There are still a few at large, but one young black hen did surrender yesterday and run into the pen. The lure of cut apples, leftover spaghetti and fruit scraps was too much for her. Yes, little hen, domesticity is good!

The goats are getting rather fuzzy. Agatha Grunker looks even fatter than usual. After rather mild weather for the last several days, we are getting a taste of late fall and things to come. Yesterday was particularly blustery and I built a big roaring fire last night. This morning when I went to feed the multitude the duck pond, water troughs and chicken waterers were all frozen over. Brrr...

I had planned on making this month my back to consistent blogging month, however, phone service was out for two days. The lines were accidently cut when they put a new culvert in on our drive. This through a wrench in my plans, so I spent my evenings by the fire knitting (yes, I've been teaching myself to knit - photos soon!) instead of working. The lack of technology was rather nice. My plan for the winter is one night a week without electronics. We can read, play games or just relax and enjoy the quiet. Of course, I made this plan while Charlie was out of town and haven't told him yet - but I think I can win him over to the idea - he's easier to subdue than the chickens!

Oh and here's yesterday morning's blustery view...

Bad Blogger

Sign of the times

The world took over for the last couple of weeks and while I had many thoughts and clever anectdotes to write about, by the time I had a moment to sit I was completely and utterly exhausted. I'm such a bad blogger.

And while my life as the "boss" (or is that "bossy"?) has consumed much of my time of late, life at Little Creek Farm continues on in much the same way as it always does. The goats are fat and happy. With all the work I've been doing, I thought it wise to postpone breeding them this year. We'll hold off on the added chore of milking for a while longer.

I'm in a battle to reclaim my spot as boss of the chicken house. In my continued absence, the uppity chickens have been laying their eggs all over their free-range heaven. Yesterday I locked the majority of them in the chicken run and told them no one gets to come out to play until they start laying eggs where they are supposed to and start sleeping in the chicken house at night like proper hens. They are not happy with me.

The turkeys are, well, the turkeys. Louis, Marie and Sacre Bleu rule the farm. Meatzilla and Leroy remain blissfully unaware of their impending doom and continue to literally eat like horses.

This weekend I did manage to grab a few hours and spend them in the garden. I planted garlic and dug up the rest of the potatoes. Next, I plan to pull out the tomato plants and cover all the rows in a lovely layer of compost and straw. Then I'll remulch all the rows and hopefully get a jump on spring!

Happy All Hallows Eve everyone!

It's downright nippy!

This morning as I let the dogs out I glanced at the thermometer on the back porch. It was below 40 degrees. Has fall arrived? I hope so. The leaves have changed in just this last week. The color change started at the tops of the mountains and is working its way down to the valleys. A couple of breezy days have filled my yard with leaves and the school yard with golden pine needles.

I didn't get as much fall planting completed in the garden as I had hoped to. It looks like soon I'll be turning it over to the goats and chickens. The turkeys (those whose lack of bulk allows them to fly) have been helping themselves all summer. By next spring the fencing will be in place and wings may be clipped. I hate to do that to the turkeys because they roost so high in the beech by the chicken coop, but I'd like to be able to harvest lots of tomatoes next year.

I can't wait for daylight savings time to begin. It's almost 7 a.m. and still pitch dark outside (although I do see a little hint of light over the mountains to the east. I'm getting tired of walking down to the coop and goat shed with a flashlight every morning. Maybe I should put "electricity" on Charlie's to-do list...

Just call me Dr. Doolittle

It was a very long weekend for us. We left Thursday night for Indianapolis to attend the wedding of one of Charlie's cousins. It was a very long weekend. But we made it home in time for work and school on Monday.

As I was preparing for today's all-school field trip I heard a rather loud "thunk" on my office door (which is a big glass door to the playground). I looked out and saw a young cedar waxwing flopping on the landing. The afternoon sun had made the glass look just like the outside and it had flown right in to it. I picked it up and it seemed stunned. It sat on my lap for close to 30 minutes before flying up into the dogwood outside my office. Here the little fellow is all happy and well again. Glad I could be of service little guy.