It's back!!!

Me at the top of the Rocky Mountains!

Well, It's really about time to restart the blog. We've been really busy this summer with all our eco travels, but we still have the backyard funny farm. The chickens have gone from single, lonely Henrietta to a coop full of six, the B girls: Bunny, Basket (both of whom are Easter Eggers, laying beautiful pastel colored eggs). Bumble, Bee (both of whom are Americunas, laying blue green eggs) Blush (a very smart and super friendly red x-linked, laying brown eggs) and Buffy the Bug Slayer (a buff orpington. laying brown speckled eggs). The future farmers raised the chicks from a week old, and they are all super tame. We love them all (Except for when they spot a rummaging raccoon at 5 am and begin to squack at the top of their little birdie lungs!)

The Future Farmers at Snake River Canyon, Idaho

The backyard farm patch is bigger than ever this year, probably due to the extremely warm weather we've had. Today, I harvested a 20 pound pumpkin! And it's only August! We've also already had corn, lots of other squashes, and bean. The kitchen table has it annual bounty of tomatoes, currently amounting to seven bowls worth, and this seems to be the year of the prolific cucumbers. We've had 43 English cucumbers so far, and 17 lemon ones. Ah, I love cuke sarnies!

The Future Farmers and myself at Cliff Palace, 

Mesa Verde, Colorado.

How high up the cliff we were standing!!!

More tomorrow! Until then, keep on farming!

The blog is back!

Julie Ann at the beginning of the 2012 garden season.

Well, it's about time! I know, I know, the blog has been missing in action. But, we do have a pile of good excuses. I've been really busy working on a new story. Ari and David are crazy with their college schedules, and Alex and Ari are in the full swing of summer vacation. Now, that my first draft is nearly complete, (thank all and everywhere), the blog is back!

Today was a busy one in the 2012 garden. I harvested a whole bucket worth of herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage, tarragon, oregano, three varieties of mint, chives, Italian parsley, and summer savory) to hang and dry. We also processed a full gallon jar of sweet melissa (lemon balm) for evening tea. Then it was time to transplant, 100 basil seedlings and a dozen Canterbury bell plants. Finally, I sowed a planter box full of lettuce seeds and potted pumpkins, sunflowers, and beans. Phew!

The 2012 garden is a big one! We just keep on expanding it. This year, we've had a bumper crop of all of our berries: strawberries, black currants, jostaberries, raspberries, Marionberries, Loganberries, blueberries, and we still have blackberries are yet to turn. We also have 29 tomato plants of various types, lemon, Persian, and English cucumbers, leeks, onions, chives, 5 varieties of lettuce, 2 types of corn, radishes, 3 types of carrots, Russian kale, cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, pumpkins, mustard greens, lemon balm, 3 types of mint, 3 varieties of potato, rhubarb, garden and sugar peas, two types of thyme, rosemary, 3 types of sage, tarragon, Italian parsley, summer savory, tomatillos, lavender, 4 types of beans, two types of basil, eggplant, and a few I'm sure I've forgotten.

 This year, I decided to make the garden really beautiful by planting lots and lots of flowers throughout the garden. I added lots of our favorite varieties like snap dragons, lupines, pansies, calendula, nasturtium, daisies, and marigolds. As an added bonus, many of the flowers are either edible or protective or in some cases, both!

The chickens are still with us and casing lots of fun and shenanigans. They earn their keep with all the delicious brown eggs.  And also, by tracking down buglies in the garden patch. We love Henrietta and Claudette, except when they wake up early and cackle at 5 am.

In other news, we are all in a baking jag right now, largely to keep up with all the produce. Yesterday, I baked 3 dozen very, very berry muffins. Today, it was 4 loaves of apple pie bread and a dozen oregano rolls.

As a family, we trying to squeeze in 20 hikes over the summer. So far, we've done six. This past weekend,  we trekked around the Ballard Locks and botanical garden and also went out to Flaming Geyser State Parks. The geyser was more a flickering, than a flaming, but the scenery along the Green River Gorge was beautiful.

Until tomorrow, happy farming!

Pineapple Street

Today's dinner is brought to you by the letter P for Pineapple fruit. Why the pineapple? Because they're in season (from Hawaii), and we had a very ripe one sitting on the kitchen counter, just begging to be used.

So, every dish we had for dinner used, you guessed it, fresh pineapple. Hmm, how to plan the menu. I know Hawaiian sliders (mini burgers) with fresh green pepper, onion, and pineapple worked into the patty, served up with tropical breeze rice (rice with coconut and pineapple), and veggie kabobs (featuring fresh peppers, onion, zucchini, and pineapple). Now what did we have for dessert? You guessed it! A truly decadent pineapple upside-down cake. Absolutely delish! And we used the whole pineapple!

We said a sad goodbye to Waltzing Maltilda this weekend. She danced her last dance on Saturday after a brief illness. She is buried under the pine tree next to Dusty Cat. Speaking of germy things, Anni and I have both been battling wicked lack-of-spring colds. Pass the kleenex. And a heaping dose of sunny!

The rainy season is just refusing to let up here in the Seattle area. My warm weather plants (tomatoes, cukes, squashes, pumpkins, peppers, eggplants) are growing like crazy in the greenhouse, but it's too cold and wet to set them out in the garden. Meanwhile down in the garden, the rhubarb, peas, spinach, and strawberries are loving life.

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Ari had a work training which I needed to take her to; so I caught a movie and had sushi with my friend Lisa. The future farmers came through with flowers (my whole house smells like roses and lilies), chocolates, and a venti coffee as soon as my eyes pried themselves opened in the morning.

EggsSeedingly

The chickens are earning their keep! Today, we hit the 1000 egg mark! Way to go, cluckers! This month we are making an effort to enjoy seasonal cuisine. Spring features eggs, poultry, early honeys, asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb, spring onions, chives, lamb, and lots of delicious greens and herbs. We are also making more of an effort to spend more time outside as the weather is becoming ever so slightly less soggy. And in other news, I'm learning to play the guitar. So far, I know three whole chords. Stay tuned for progress updates. At the local thrift store, we scored this old fashioned crank apple peeler, corer, and slicer. We used it to prepare a couple of apples for the filling in our breakfast crepes on Sunday morning. Delish! Later, we headed into Seattle to visit SAM, the Seattle Art Museum. We each had a different favorite piece of art. Alex liked the enormous coat of mail composed of military dog tags. David like a crystal sculpture and a moving leaf painting by an Australian Aboriginal artist. Ari liked an Asian moving water and goldfish painting best. I loved a very minimal abstract of Leda and the Swan. Anni's favorite? Going to the Irish pub for fish and chips for an early dinner after the museum. She was famished!

It's that seed planting time of year again. Here I am scrubbing trays and pots on Saturday afternoon.

"Hey Mom! Did you drop a seed?" Anni on her radical red trike. Matilda chicken on the loose, and the lower half of Alex.

Today we seeded: tomatoes, tomatillos, ground cherries, Serrano and jalapeno peppers, lemon cucumbers, Japanese eggplant, leeks, green onions, basil, cantaloupe, zucchini, pumpkins, lacinato kale, broccoli rabe, snow peas, and 3 kinds of lettuce.

Tonight's dinner menu? Chicken glazed with spiced honey, rice with chives, and asparagus with Meyer lemons. Yum!

Gardening Day!

Today, we officially began our gardening season. First, we weeded and replanted in strawberry patch, adding a handful of new strawberry plants, coplanted with spinach.

Then, it was time to transplant the cilantro from the green house to the garden.

Next, we moved the pea trellis to a different bed. This year, we are starting with shelling peas rather than sugar pea pods.

A happy little pea plant (happy after begin rescued from Waltzing Matilda, that greedy hen!). Matilda in her luxury accommodations in the green house. The other two hens are considerably bigger than her and decided to attack her awhile ago. We thought she was a goner, but she pulled through and now overnights in her own condo in the green house. She spends most of the day free foraging in the back yard, and we try to keep her out of the new plantings!

Heirloom lettuce starts in the green house. A row of Walla Wall sweet onions and chives, coplanted with marigolds.

We also harvested today; chives for culinary uses, thyme for soap and candle making and culinary use, and sage for smudge bundles.

Thanksgiving in the Great Northwest

Snow Day? Online programs don't have snow days. I'm so bummmmed!

Snow days? Every day's a fun day for me. Wheeeeeee!

Snow Day! Eek, my feet are cold! Back to the nesting boxes. Cluck, cluck!

It snowed again on Thanksgiving morning.

The cars got another good covering.Wednesday's farm box: satsumas, pears, pomegranate, apples, potatoes, green beans, broccoli, carrots, kale, celery, parsnips, and salad mix.
Thanksgiving dinner at the funny farm.

Wild organic rice with mushrooms, shallots, and herbs.

Wild sockeye salmon in a soy ginger butter sauce.

Fresh young asparagus with lemon butter.
Anni eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next course. Could it be...

Dessert; fresh pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream. Dinner was delish! Then we all needed a nap!

Our favorite post Thanksgiving events began today with the lighting of the Kirkland City Christmas tree down town, followed by our traditional homemade soup and bread supper. This year it was spicy pumpkin soup with cornbread. Yum!

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

"What's this cold white stuff? My tail is cold! And so are my paws! Woof!"

The green house. Plants inside are thinking (yes, you know they can), "It's cold, and who turned out the sun?"

The chicken coop. Henrietta, Claudette, and Waltzing Matilda are thinking, "Cold, cluck, cold! I need to go lay an egg. Race you to the nesting box."

The garden under a blanket of white.

The last of the garden veggies we harvested the evening BEFORE it snowed; carrots, celery, chives, and squash.

Making like the mustard and ketching up.

Okay, okay, it's been a few days since our last post. Here's the ketchup:

Anni continues cooking. Here she is measuring out the cream cheese for a pastry crust.
Anni graduates from Pasta and Pastry camp.

Anni continues to COOK, along with the rest of the family. Here's this week's cooperative farm dinner. Anni and mom made the desert - rustic plum and cherry tart with a hazelnut butter crust. Ari made the garlic tossed greens. Alex made the pesto sauce for the pesto chicken with tomato, and David made the roasted baby potatoes with rosemary.

Today's mini haul from the garden. Lettuce, tomatoes (both ended up in my lunch), sugar peas, green beans, chives, and a chard leaf (all ended up in Alex and Anni's lunch), and a handful of berries (which we ate for our morning snack). Hmmm.

Big green tomatoes on the vine. I did tons of garden work this weekend: trimming tomatoes, weeding, transplanting lettuces, weeding, deadheading the daisies, weeding, redirecting squash vines, weeding, and harvesting herbs. Did I mention weeding?

Our bed full of pollinator attracting flowers.

The Asiatic lily blooms!

Hens gone wild on their morning bug hunt.

A flicker visits the back yard.

Another view of this fine fellow. He was joined by two more flickers, right after I pocketed the camera.

The guys in action constructing the green house.

And engaging in a little construction ballet.

Dude duets even!

The green house is coming together (and hasn't fallen apart yet!)

You go construction crew!