For my latest project, I have decided to try and cobble together an informational website about foraging in Western Washington. I'm eyeball-deep in research at the moment, reading scads of field guides and encyclopedias of edible plants and fungi, and pumping friends, family & neighbors for information on their picking & fishing hotspots.
However, a larger task looms - settling on a proper domain name for this proposed project's website. So far I've purchased two, but I'm not super in love with either one, and therefore thought I'd ask y'all for your two cents on the matter. Here are your choices -
A) easypickins.info
B) millionsofpeaches.info (a tip of the hat to the Presidents of the United States of America's song "Peaches")
C) Something else altogether - but probably still a .info, because they are by far the cheapest, and I'm all about frugality. ;)
Kindly cast your vote and feel free to offer suggestions, please and thank you.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sacré Bleu!
Things have been a little slow around here, so the excitement surrounding the discovery of our first blue egg this morning can scarcely be overstated. My husband came in from letting the hens out of the coop and like a goofy magician turned over his opened palms to reveal two fresh eggs - one brown and one blue.
Needless to say, the girls were equally delighted, and briefly debated which of our Americaunas was the likely mama, before somehow deciding that this must surely be Strawberry's egg.
We aren't sure how much longer we'll be getting eggs, as according to Yahoo Weather, sunrise and sunset are now just over 9 1/2 hours apart, with the folk wisdom of chicken-rearing stating that hens must have at least 10 hours of light per day to continue laying. We could throw a blue light in the coop to keep the girls cranking away, buuuut....
a) The idea behind this whole raising chickens thing was to simplify life and consume less. Having a light burning in the coop 14+ hours per day kind of defeats the purpose.
b) My feminist credo is not reserved exclusively for the human female. These girls deserve to take a break, if they so choose. I won't love paying for eggs and feeding non-laying hens at the same time, but fair is fair - this is not a sweatshop.
c) Not knowing if we'll get more, and if so, how many more before the chickies decide to take their break makes every single egg that much more precious - and worth using well.
When all four hennies finally start giving us an egg each per day, we, not being major egg consumers, will likely be looking to share our wealth. Check in once in a while on my GGG facebook page where I will post about extra eggs and any other garden goodies that we have to share or trade.
Needless to say, the girls were equally delighted, and briefly debated which of our Americaunas was the likely mama, before somehow deciding that this must surely be Strawberry's egg.
We aren't sure how much longer we'll be getting eggs, as according to Yahoo Weather, sunrise and sunset are now just over 9 1/2 hours apart, with the folk wisdom of chicken-rearing stating that hens must have at least 10 hours of light per day to continue laying. We could throw a blue light in the coop to keep the girls cranking away, buuuut....
a) The idea behind this whole raising chickens thing was to simplify life and consume less. Having a light burning in the coop 14+ hours per day kind of defeats the purpose.
b) My feminist credo is not reserved exclusively for the human female. These girls deserve to take a break, if they so choose. I won't love paying for eggs and feeding non-laying hens at the same time, but fair is fair - this is not a sweatshop.
c) Not knowing if we'll get more, and if so, how many more before the chickies decide to take their break makes every single egg that much more precious - and worth using well.
When all four hennies finally start giving us an egg each per day, we, not being major egg consumers, will likely be looking to share our wealth. Check in once in a while on my GGG facebook page where I will post about extra eggs and any other garden goodies that we have to share or trade.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Rosemary, Baby!
Free to a good home, my ginormous rosemary bush/tree -
This is a "u-dig" adventure, with the prize being what is easily a lifetime supply of beautiful rosemary. We are making way for more raspberry canes, so old rosey has to go.
This is a "u-dig" adventure, with the prize being what is easily a lifetime supply of beautiful rosemary. We are making way for more raspberry canes, so old rosey has to go.
Total Laziness Sauce
Bill & I finally cleaned out the tomato and squash beds today, and in so doing, grabbed up the last of the tomatoes, ripe or not, and tomatillos. We also discovered our first chili pepper and one scraggling onion. I figured that I might as well just chop it all up and cook it down, since I didn't have the quantity or inclination to try and make a proper salsa out of it, and so I did just that. Viola! Total Laziness Sauce (aka End of the Garden Sauce).
I basically just roughly chopped everything, threw it in the pot and seasoned the bejeezus out of it - cumin, red pepper flakes, sea salt, chipotle, etc. After it cooked down, I took the ol' immersion blender to the whole mess, then poured the sauce through a mesh sieve and that was that. It came out very much like an enchilada sauce, but Bill has visions of dressing some pulled pork with it. Whatever - I'm just glad that we were able to eek one last batch of tomatoey goodness out of the garden before putting it to sleep, and with a minimum of effort on my part.
I basically just roughly chopped everything, threw it in the pot and seasoned the bejeezus out of it - cumin, red pepper flakes, sea salt, chipotle, etc. After it cooked down, I took the ol' immersion blender to the whole mess, then poured the sauce through a mesh sieve and that was that. It came out very much like an enchilada sauce, but Bill has visions of dressing some pulled pork with it. Whatever - I'm just glad that we were able to eek one last batch of tomatoey goodness out of the garden before putting it to sleep, and with a minimum of effort on my part.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sauerkraut Update
As a first time sauerkraut maker, and someone who does not personally appreciate the flavor of sauerkraut, it is up to my husband to sample ours to determine it's progress. In Bill's own words - "It smells like death, but it tastes awesome!" I'm going to go ahead an consider that a positive review.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Getting Sauced with my Mom
Believe it or not, Mom & I managed to use up our all of our apples in just one day of industrious peeling, simmering & canning. Approximately 35 pounds of apples yielded just over 25 pints of applesauce for us, and could have made more, had we opted to add sugar, which, in spite of my daughters persistent pro-sugar lobbying, we did not.
We were fortunate to have willing and energetic helpers in my girls, who had great fun using our apple peeler, then feeding the resulting yards-long, skinny apple peels to our chickens. I would love to have documented our three-generation applesauce making effort in pictures, but unfortunately, my darling husband hijacked our camera for a hunting trip and it has not been seen since. :(
Despite a few technical difficulties and a cranky, arthritic knee that makes such long days on my feet somewhat punishing, the process was relatively easy and the sauce turned out delicious. The best part of the day, of course, was the experience of making food the old-fashioned way with my Mom and my girls. Pictures or no pictures, I have a feeling that my girls will remember this day for a long time, and hopefully, will someday make applesauce with their grandchildren too.
We were fortunate to have willing and energetic helpers in my girls, who had great fun using our apple peeler, then feeding the resulting yards-long, skinny apple peels to our chickens. I would love to have documented our three-generation applesauce making effort in pictures, but unfortunately, my darling husband hijacked our camera for a hunting trip and it has not been seen since. :(
Despite a few technical difficulties and a cranky, arthritic knee that makes such long days on my feet somewhat punishing, the process was relatively easy and the sauce turned out delicious. The best part of the day, of course, was the experience of making food the old-fashioned way with my Mom and my girls. Pictures or no pictures, I have a feeling that my girls will remember this day for a long time, and hopefully, will someday make applesauce with their grandchildren too.
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