7 Eggs on December 7

I haven't picked up 7 eggs in one day since the middle of October.  I don't know what got into the ladies.  The really cool thing?  Four of them were blue!

All four of our Ameraucanas may have been laying blue eggs for a while, but today is the first day I've seen four blue eggs in one day's clutch.  Now there's no doubt ... they all have the blue egg gene!

Fall Greens

We are starting to really enjoy the fall garden.  I'm cutting small heads of cabbage and incorporating them into the weekly menu plan.  The heads have been perfectly formed, with tightly packed, moist leaves. They look like giant brussel sprouts, and I guess that's sort of what they are!  I've been slicing or chopping or shredding cabbage, adding it to tossed salads and soups, concocting new varieties of slaw, and steaming it up over cooked potatoes and sausage.

We've eaten broccoli twice in the past week.  The flower stalks are maturing sequentially, which makes it easy to spread the goodness over time.  No danger of being overloaded with broccoli ... unlikely to happen in this household, no matter what!  It looks as if we'll have a good harvest of side-shoots, too.

The collards are looking robust and delicious.  I'm holding back on cutting them until everyone's home for Christmas.  Then we'll cook up a big mess o' collard greens!

Since Thanksgiving we've been enjoying a nice mixture of green leafy lettuces, arugula, baby kale, sorrel, and a few spinach leaves.  Soon we'll be adding more spinach, baby mustard, and spicy mesclin mix to the salad bowl.

Indian Summer in December?

We're having unseasonably warm weather this week, and are expecting rain.  High temperatures are expected to be in the 60's, and may hit 70 by mid-week.  The overnight lows are expected to be in the 50's.  It's feeling downright balmy!  Tomorrow I plan to remove the fabric row covers that have been protecting my fall crops from pests and severe weather in order to take full advantage of Mother Nature's sprinkler system.

Cutting my first bunches of broccoli today!

The Day After Thanksgiving

Happy day!  The salad greens are big enough to cut for tossed salad or turkey sandwiches. I just love crispy green lettuce or peppery arugula piled high on slices of left-over turkey, slathered with a generous helping of mayonaise, and pressed between two slices of whole grain bread! And there's nothing like a fresh chiffonade to lighten up a plate full of stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

R.I.P. Barack O. Rooster

I found Barack dead in the hen house when I went out to pick up eggs this evening.

Rouse said he forgot to tell me, but Barack didn't look so good last night when he opened up the chickens to free-range. He was a little "hunch-shouldered". In fact, as he thought about it Rouse recalled that the rooster was a bit lethargic coming out of the hen house on Sunday morning as well. So he was definitely showing signs of illness yesterday.

Personally, I was in a big hurry this morning. I had to get to my 8:15 yoga class. I ran out to the chicken yard, dumped the yuck-bucket (aka kitchen scraps), broadcast a good helping of two-grain scratch, and was surprised that the chickens weren't piling out of the coop as usual to get at all those goodies. It was a cold morning. Maybe they were reluctant to jump out into freezing temperatures?

But something else did get my attention. It was uncharacteristically quiet in the hen house. I heard some movement, but there was no cock crowing. I thought I'd better check in case some predator had created mayhem in the chicken house overnight. I cracked the door and looked in. I saw most of the chickens sitting quietly on the perches against the back wall and figured all was well. I didn't bother to actually account for each one of them, nor did I check the shelf where Barack and several of his ladies prefer to roost. What can I say? I was in a hurry. I suspect that Barack was either dead or dying at that point. That's where I found him later in the day ... in his favorite spot on the ledge in front of the window.

Barack took good care of his flock. We will miss his leadership in the chicken yard.

Another Type of Cabbage Worm Found

First it was invasion of the cross-striped cabbage worm. Then I find this lone pest on one of my cabbage plants.  At least I hope he's a loner!  He's a Cabbage Looper, another common enemy of the brassica plant family.

I have a special name for his type ... Chicken Feed!

Gallery of Autumn Crops

Cabbage Heading Up

Baby Red Russian Kale

Tender Black-Seeded Green Leaf Lettuce

Butternut Squash Ripening

The Leveling of the Garden

I hate to admit it, but summer is over.  Out with the old, in with the new.  The garden is becoming a lot less vertical.

Yesterday I harvested the Sweet Basil for the last time this year.  Everyone in the house enjoyed the aromatic scent while I processed it into pesto to be frozen for use this winter.  I will miss that heady smell of summer!  The plants are still growing in the garden and will be good until frost, so fresh cuttings of basil are still possible.

I spent some time cleaning up the garden today.  I removed the following plants:

• Thai Basil - lovely to look at this time of year with its long purple flower spikes, but very weedy once it goes to seed.
• Most of the pepper plants - leaving the cayenne peppers and the jalapenos until frost takes them out.
• Okra - the pods are no longer maturing.
• Rattlenake Pole Beans - I've been 'saving up' the beans this past week.  We have one more big pot of beans to look forward to.

I left the cherry tomatoes, even though I know the yield from here on out will be limited.  The fruit is still ripening, slowly but surely, but then falls easily off the plant.  I'm picking what's there every day to take advantage of the last few tasty snacking opportunities.

Great Green Globs of Cross-Striped Cabbageworm Guts

Where there's poop there're caterpillars, and caterpillars are very hungry little critters.  They can transform a healthy leaf into a leaf skeleton in no time.

This year I failed to cover my brassica plants with a lightweight row cover.  As a result, the cross-striped cabbageworm moths found the cabbage, the collards, the broccoli and laid eggs on the underside of the leaves, ensuring a good supply of tasty meals for their hungry hatchlings.  Now I'm having to make daily inspections of the plants to remove these pests by hand.  I have to admit, when I say "remove" I mean squish.  I've become jaded to the slimy mess that that makes.  My #1 concern is the health and well-being of my plants, which, of course, translates into the tasty food I plan to put on my table.

My efforts are paying off.  The plants are bouncing back nicely.  New growth is uneffected.  Collards are ready to cut.  Cabbage is starting to head up.  Broccoli is yet but a dream.

The official name of the cross-striped cabbageworm species is evergestis rimosalis.  Isn't he cute? This guy's looking pretty guilty, though, pictured here with tell-tale caterpillar dropping and worm-eaten leaf.

Surprise, surprise!  If left to feast in peace, the colorful caterpillar will eventually morph into a non-descript moth.  Not on my watch!

Worm-infested collard plant

Healthy collard leaves

2" rain last night + 4/10" today ...

... perfectly timed to soak my newly sown seeds.

More greens seeded ahead of expected rain ...

I need more greens in the garden.  As the summer crops play out I'm using up seed that I have on hand.

Added two more 12' rows of kale, my favorite cooking green - one row each of two varieties:

• Spring (smooth) Kale
• Red Russian Kale

Added two 12' rows of salad greens:

• Spicy Mesclun Mix
• Red Cardinal (smooth leaf) Spinach
• Spargo (savoyed leaf) Spinach

Three Blue Eggs!

We were beginning to think two of our four "ameraucanas" had missed out on the blue egg trait.  Come on #4 ... waiting for some product!

Overgrown Okra

Nobody cut the okra while I was away.  Too bad, because these overgrown pods will probably be the last we see this year.  The plants are still blooming, but past experience tells me that maturation of pods will slow considerably in early / mid October.  Why?  Because cool weather is okra's number one enemy.

Okra plants like it when nights are in the 60s and days are 85 degrees or warmer.  Our nights are dipping down into the lower 40's this week, with daytime temps in the 70's.  Very pleasant autumn weather, indeed, but surely the end of okra season.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly Caterpillar

a.k.a. Parsley Worm   So bright! So colorful! So ... hungry!!

Here's what a few can do to a healthy parsley plant in just one week:

BEFORE
Photo taken Sunday
October 9

AFTER
Photo taken Saturday
October 15



Yes, we have no more parsley!

Sue is NOT in the garden ...

... while attending a week-long hammered dulcimer workshop with 15 other advanced players and their guru, Ken Kolodner, at Sandbridge, VA.

www.KenKolodner.com
www.SueWilsonDulcimer.com

Saving Seeds

The Asian Long Beans are on the way out.  I'm still harvesting a big handful of tender green beans daily, but I'm allowing many of them to mature and dry on the plant. My original long bean seeds were given to me by my hairdresser, Lek, hence my name for them ... Lek's Long Beans.  I've saved seeds every year since, planting a new crop each year and sharing extras with friends and family.

The Rattlesnake Pole Beans are essentially finished.  The plants are losing leaves and looking pretty sparse. Many of the latecoming beans are deformed or shriveled. We loved this bean. Thinking about saving a few of these for next year ...

It's easy to save beans for planting in next year's garden. Beans rarely cross-pollinate, so seeds may be saved with confidence, knowing you'll be getting the same type of bean year after year. Just be sure you're growing a non-hybrid variety.

1. A hybrid bean won't come true from seed, i.e. seedlings won't be exactly like the parent plant. If you want to get the exact same plant, make sure you're saving seed from a non-hybrid variety.
2. Let the beans dry completely on the vine. This is best done near the end of the growing season. Once the pods start to mature, growth of the bean stalk slows down quite a bit and bean production drops dramatically.
3. When the pod is completely dry, remove it from the plant and open it, revealing the dried beans inside.
4. Remove any chaff or pieces of pod. Discard beans that look moldy or have worm holes. Store your dried beans in a labeled envelope, inside a marked canning jar or other container in a cool, dry place.
5. Plant the beans next year. Share your seeds with a friend. Start a tradition!

Here's more information about seed saving:
http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenmaintenance/a/SeedSaving.htm

Fried Green Tomatoes

I wondered once, at the peak of tomato season, why anyone would sacrifice a perfectly good tomato by picking it green in order to make fried green tomatoes. Don't get me wrong. Fried green tomatoes are very tasty ... but an entirely different beast compared to juicy, red, ripe tomatoes fresh off the vine.

Maybe the invention of fried green tomatoes came about due to an abundance of fruit. Having lived through the seasons of a garden, however, I would find it more believable to discover that the idea of fried green tomatoes came about as a way to use up the stragglers at the end of the season ... those little green tomatoes that are as likely to rot as they are to ripen.  And if frost threatens, there's no choice.  Those tomatoes must be harvested.

Today, I cried, "Uncle!" I picked all the green tomatoes that linger on the remaining tomato plants. I uprooted the plants and pulled the stakes. It is the season. Fried green tomatoes will be on the menu this weekend. My favorite way to eat them?

• Slice the tomatoes - not too thick!
• Batter them as you like
• Fry them until golden brown
• Stack them ... alternating three tomato slices with two thin slices of smoked gouda cheese

That's gourmet!

Home Grown Chicken in the Pot

Chickens can provide:

• Healthy, home-grown eggs and meat
• Quality, nitrogen-rich fertilizer
• Effective pest control
• Pleasant companionship

Most folks can understand chickens as "pets". Getting some help ridding the yard and garden of ticks and Japanese beetles is considered a good thing. Natural fertilizer for the garden is a plus. "Free" eggs are a bonus. But many people would have to draw the line at eating their chickens for meat. We have crossed that line.


After allowing our recently harvested chicken to rest in the refrigerator for 48+ hours, I prepared it for the crock pot. The recipe?

• Stuff the bird with loads of fresh garlic cloves, onion quarters, celery stalks, and stems of rosemary
• shower with the juice of one lemon
• sprinkle with paprika, salt, and freshly ground pepper
• cook for two hours on high, then two hours on low in the crock pot. 

Mmmm ... mmmm ... mmmm! What a treat! Slow-cooked "made from scratch" good ol' yard-bird for dinner on a Monday night. It was delicious, if I say so myself.

We were afraid the meat of this older hen might be stringy or tough, but it wasn't. It did, however, taste different than grocery store chicken. There were four of us around the table - Rouse the Spouse; our daughter, Abi; my sister, Janet; and me. We were all trying to describe the difference ...  

• First, the fat was different. It was more yellow in color and more "gummy" in feel.  It reminded us of pork fat.
• The dark meat was darker in color and richer in flavor. At first we were laughing and said it tasted more "chicken-y", but then Janet said it sort of tasted like roast, and she was right! But not quite as strong as beef roast. We decided it was more like a pork tenderloin.
• Upon reflection, I think it tasted more the way chicken used to taste!

I cooked up the liver, gizzards, heart, and neck to make giblet gravy, which I served over rice. (Note: The neck is still on the uncooked chicken in the photo above. That's not a third leg!) After dinner, I removed the remaining meat and cooked the carcass overnight with onion, celery, and carrots covered with water in the slow cooker.

The resulting broth - plus leftover meat and rice - made a delicious batch of chicken and rice for supper the next night. The last bit of chicken breast went into a lovely mixed green salad of leaf lettuce and our own arugula - fresh out of the garden - enhanced with backyard green beans and potatoes, hard boiled happy chicken eggs, onions, and real bacon bits.

We provided for our chicken. In turn, our chicken provided for us. For that I am grateful.

Big Step toward Conscientious Consumption

"To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of creation. When we do it knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, greedily, destructively, it is a desecration."    ~ Wendell Berry, from The Gift of Good Land

Today was a big day ... a rite of passage sort of day ... an "I know where my chicken comes from" kind of day.  Today I harvested one of my chickens.

My friend, Betsy, had offered to help a friend slaughter his three "extra" roosters.  She had two ducks herself that needed culling.  She invited me to bring a chicken or two and join the fun. 

I've never been against the idea of harvesting our chickens.  I do EAT chicken, after all.  Isn't it important to be fully aware of what eating chicken means?  Understanding that that drumstick or chicken breast was once part of a living animal?  I think so.  But I was a bit intimidated by the whole idea of slaughtering, de-feathering, cleaning.  It seemed like an overwhelming job.  Besides, I'd never seen anyone actually do it, let alone participate in the process.  Did I have what it takes?  This would be my moment of truth. I accepted the invitation.

I was glad to have Rouse along.  He was good support.  Plus, I'm counting on him to help me remember what to do next time.  We arrived at Betsy's house at 9:00am.  It was a beautiful, blustery, cool morning.  She had already assembled all the necessary supplies, including the following:

A small metal garbage can with a block of CO2 in the bottom.  Birds were moved one at a time from their respective holding cages to this can.  The lid was closed and the CO2 worked to render the bird temporarily unconscious, allowing time to place it head down in the killing cone and take the necessary action.  This may have been an unnecessary step, but it did make the slaughter more pleasant all around, serving to inhibit excessive struggle on the part of the bird which can lead to bruising of the meat.

Three homemade metal killing cones, nailed to an old playground structure.  Once a bird was positioned head down in the cone, head pulled through the opening at the bottom, two quick slices with a sharp knife opened up the main blood vessels on either side of the neck.  Death came quickly, and it didn't take long for most of the blood to drain into a bucket below.

A large pot of water heated to 140 +/- degrees, with a squirt of detergent added.  Once each bird had bled out, it was dipped up and down in scalding water to soften the attachment of feathers, then hung on a nail for plucking. It was surprisingly easy to remove the feathers after the hot water treatment.



Cooler of ice water slurry to chill the bird.  Briefly chilling the bird makes it easier to get a handle on the innards.  Leaving it in the icy water too long makes it stiff.

It was time to clean and eviscerate the bird.  Betsy taught us how to do each step safely and thoroughly:

• Remove head and feet.
• Remove oil gland at tail.
• Cut through skin and fascia to reveal abdominal cavity. Avoid nicking the intestines!
• Remove the internal organs. Save the liver, gizzard, and heart if desired. Don't nick the bile duct!  The gizzard must be cleaned separately.
• Remove lungs.

Last Steps:

• Wash the chicken, removing blood and other soil from the carcass.
• Weigh it if you wish. My prepped bird ended up weighing 3 pounds 5 ounces.
• Package it in a plastic bag.
• Chill to prevent bacterial spoilage.

This happy hen was apparently well fed.  She had an excessive amount of fat in the lower abdominal area.  It actually helped protect the intestines from my sharp knife, which made it a little easier to do preliminary cuts before gutting.

I have no way of knowing which chickens are laying in our hen house.  All the Dominiques look alike!  It turns out that this old girl was still laying well.  We removed the egg that she would have laid today.  Future yolks were lined up, large to small.

Now that the mystery has been removed, I'm ready to do it again.  I might even consider raising a small flock of  birds for meat ...  I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of myself for having done it.  The whole process made me feel strangely empowered and, as one might guess, connected to the great Circle of Life.  I am thankful for that.

Working alongside Betsy turned what could have been a grim chore into a celebration of friends working together to accomplish a shared goal. I'm grateful for her calm and patient guidance.

Another 0.4 " of rain ... to the detriment of the fava beans?

The tips of some of the fava bean leaves are turning black again.  Probably too much water.  After the drought this summer that hardly seems possible.

Some of the plants are blooming.  I certainly did not expect that so soon, but it turns out to be normal.  Plants started in the fall will bloom through cold weather, then produce fruit in the spring.  The flowers are lovely to look at, and fragrant, to boot!  I read that when one breaks open a bean pod it releases the same fragrance.  And guess what?  The foliage is also edible ... supposedly a nice addition to a mixed green salad.

First Day of Autumn

I don't like transition times in the garden. I mourn the end of tomato season. I long for one more fresh, crisp cucumber. I hate the sparseness of the bean plants as their leaves turn yellow and brown and fall to the ground.  I'm reluctant to clear out the old to make way for the new, so I allow tired plants to stay, coaxing out every last bit of vegetable goodness.

But Mother Nature and Father Time always win. Summer ends. Daylight dwindles. The autumnal equinox arrives. And with it ... a new crop to bring to the table! While the beans, peppers, and okra will likely produce until frost, the menu is about to change. Even as I drag my feet, the cool weather garden is taking shape.

The lettuce, spinach, and kale seeds have sprouted. The arugula is looking healthy and ready to cut. The broccoli, cabbage, and collards are growing well. The butternut squash (planted late) is plagued with a few squash bugs, but I'm hoping for a good harvest before insect damage takes its toll. The fava beans are doing their job as a cover crop. They will be ready to harvest in late winter / early spring.

So I will enjoy the trickle of cherry tomatoes and rejoice in the encore performance of the pink-eyed purple-hulled peas as I pile arugula on my sandwich and look forward to that first pot of collard greens!

Another 1/2-inch of rain ...

It's wet out there!

2.8 Inches of Rain Overnight

Temps in the mid 70's.
Humidity in the low 80's.
It's damp out there!

Weed-Free, Neat, and Tidy

Noah has been here since last Wednesday night.  We've enjoyed a nice visit and have gotten some work out of him, too!  He's been busy mowing, broadcasting grass seed and fertilizer, helping Rouse run wiring in the workshop, etc.  In between the chores, we did manage to get in that lesson on making okra pickles!

The number one item on my garden to-do list was to put down a layer of cardboard, then heavily mulch the pathways between the raised beds.  This very effectively controls weeds, cuts down on messy mud, and makes for an overall neat and tidy garden space.  It's a job that requires a lot of manual labor.  Three loads of mulch had to be purchased, picked up, and hauled home in the bed of the pickup,  then transferred to the wheelbarrow and spread throughout the garden.  I was happy to pass that off to Noah.  He did a great job.  Rouse says the garden is currently the most attractive place in our landscape!

Hericium in the chicken yard

We have an interesting and uncommon fungus growing naturally in our chicken yard on an old dead and down tree. One of its many common names is "lion's mane", otherwise known as hericium erinaceus. This is a highly prized edible mushroom. In fact, it has been described as one of America's best, safest edible mushrooms. Some folks describe its texture and taste as reminiscent of seafood. I think it tastes like whatever you cook it in!

Hericium is one of the 'tooth fungi' and is easily identified by its drooping spines, or teeth, which hang like little icicles. Many different types of mushrooms have teeth instead of a cap, but lion's mane and other members of the Hericium genus are some of the most recognizable. The purpose of these teeth is to manufacture and release spores, the "seeds" of a mushroom that allow the fungal organism to reproduce. Our hericium has shown up every year since we built the chicken yard. Of course, it may have been there before. We just didn't notice it!

We have several clumps growing on the log this year. Surprisingly, the chickens don't seem to mess with them, but these wild mushrooms do tend to harbor bugs, dirt, and bits of tree bark in their teeth. They're just about impossible to wash. For best results, pick them when they're fresh, i.e. still growing, and visibly clean.  Plan to eat them right away. Otherwise, you risk the disappointment of a tough and bitter tasting 'shroom.

Hericium is rich in protein, riboflavin, niacin, peptides, polysaccharides, and vitamins. So how do you eat it? Use it in your favorite mushroom recipe. It makes a great meat substitute for a vegetarian meal.  I searched for a recipe online to get inspired, tweaked it a bit to make it my own, and ended up with a thick stroganoff-like sauce that I served with crackers as an appetizer at Sunday dinner. It was a hit! Thinned down, it would make a delicious topping for pasta.

Lion's Mane Stroganoff

1/2 pound lion's mane mushroom, cleaned and thinly sliced

2 tablespoon olive oil (divided)

2 tablespoons butter (divided)

2 cups light cream (or combo cream / milk)

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons arrow root starch (may use flour or other thickener)

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Clean the mushrooms carefully; slice them thinly. Melt one tablespoon each of olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the mushrooms. Saute until they have given off most of their liquid and are golden brown. Do not overcrowd the pan!  It will cause the mushrooms to steam rather than fry. Reduce the heat to medium-low if mushrooms are browning too quickly. Remove from the pan.

. Melt remaining one tablespoon each olive oil and butter. Add the onions and garlic to the pan. Cook until the onions are soft. Return the mushrooms to the skillet.

Add the arrowroot starch (or other thickener), salt and pepper. Cook several more minutes, stirring frequently.

Slowly pour in the cream, stirring continuously. Turn down the heat and allow the mixture to simmer until it has reached desired consistency. Add sour cream and parmesan cheese. Adjust the seasonings. I like lots of black pepper.

Finished product. Serve on top of pasta, rice, or crackers.

Want more information about these mushrooms?

Check out these links:

http://americanmushrooms.com/edibles2.htm

http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/lions-mane.html

http://www.phillipsmushroomfarms.com/pcpompom.html

Dominique Hen

Pushing Back the Woods

The corner near the entrance to the chicken yard had turned into a jungle! A jumbled collection of sugarberry trees - top heavy with grape vines and surrounded by greenbriar - was shading out our young fig tree. Rouse and Noah worked together to cut it back.

But the vines were working against the guys, holding the trees up.  Noah climbed, clippers in hand, and released the vines at critical points. After that, the trees came right down - next to the fig tree (not on top of it) just as planned!

I'm lucky - I count on Rouse and our boys to do chopping and heavy chores. I don't "do" chainsaws or climb trees!

The wild grapes were plentiful!  The vines were thick and had totally covered the tops of the trees.  Now they were lying in a tangled heap upon the ground. Big bunches of tiny grapes were spread out in front of us. Of course Noah and I had to sample a few. The predominant taste was sour.  He suggested eating a mouthful at a time. When I did that - and used my imagination - I could almost make out a grape-y taste.  Almost.  I decided I didn't want to fool with trying to make jelly out of these wild grapes.  Later, I googled 'wild fox grapes', and found that people do make and enjoy wild grape jelly. Maybe cooking them down brings out the flavor?


Although I decided not to go the jelly route this time, the fox grapes were not wasted.  The chickens totally enjoyed them. Gather 'round, girls!

All clear, and the space feels very different ... spacious, open. The fig tree has good access to sunshine and plenty of room to grow. Bring on the figs!

Bye Bye Bush Beans

The jade bush beans are finished. I pulled up the plants, loosened the soil, and sowed two varieties of kale in the newly empty space:

• spring (or smooth) kale
• red russian kale

Temperature Shift

57 degrees at wake-up this morning, with an expected high of 65 degrees for the day. The sky is overcast, the breeze has a definite feeling of fall, and there's rain in the forecast. It's a good day to plant lettuce and spinach!

I pulled up the cucumber plants, cut the basil way back, cleaned up the peppers and cherry tomato plants (can't bear to pull them up yet ... still enjoying their fruit), and prepared two patches of soil for two rows each of:

• smooth leaf red cardinal spinach
• savoyed leaf spargo spinach
• black seeded green lettuce
• mesclin salad mix

The brown mulched areas shown in this photo will soon be filled with tasty salad greens. As the basil, peppers, and tomatoes play out I'll replace them with more varieties of lettuce, spinach, arugula, etc. When the transition is complete, the entire bed ... as well as my salad bowl ... will be full!

After finishing the outside garden chores, I headed indoors where I transformed the mound of fresh basil into fragrant pesto - a lush version loaded with garlic, walnuts, and parmesan cheese for immediate use and a more basic version sans cheese and nuts for the freezer.

Our son, Noah, is visiting this weekend. I gave him the job of layering cardboard, then mulch, in the paths between the raised beds. It's an effective way to control weeds and I've got a lot of weeds to control! Later, at his request, we'll have a lesson in making okra pickles.

Two Blue Eggs ...

... and counting!

First Blue Egg

The Ameraucanas are coming of age. Today Rouse picked up our first blue egg!

We currently have 14 hens ... four young Ameraucanas, four young Dominiques, one second-season Dominique, and five fourth-season Dominiques. This afternoon there were a total of seven eggs in the nest. The one small blue egg belongs unquestionably to one of the Ameraucanas. The four small brown eggs indicate that all four of the young Dominiques are laying. One of the large brown eggs most likely belongs to the 18-month old hen who should continue to lay well this year.

The remaining egg belongs to one of the more mature hens, who have shown a definite decline in egg production this year. In fact, at this point I'm pretty much running a retirement home for my old girls!

Canned Green Beans

My first time canning green beans.  I feel strangely mature.

Before:
Rattlesnake pole beans on the left.
Asian long beans on the right. 

After:
Four quarts of pole beans.
Three pints of long beans.

I know where my green beans come from, by golly!