I’ve never had an organic garden before. I grew up in a house on an acre lot, and there was lots of nature going on… but the garden and the flowers were always sprayed with strong chemicals, and so there wasn’t much in the way of garden insect life. Here on the creek, and in […]
I’ve been busy with a lot of different things, and haven’t gotten around to posting about the gardens and the chickens and such. So, I’m going to do this in a couple of posts, breaking it up by theme. This is what the garden looks like now. Some of the parts are finally filling in […]
I sometimes stumble across an article or blog entry from months or even years ago, and wonder, “How did I miss this one?” So here, for your enjoyment: Maiwa’s multi-part adventure in visiting India to find the “wild” silks: testing the silks for weaving and dye Part One of the trip, outline Part Two, Tasar […]
Spot had a good night last night. First, he brought in this moth. Moth went back outside. Then, he brought in this cute, tiny frog. Frog went back outside. Then, he brought in this earthworm. I actually wondered, to start with, if he had gotten one of my composting worms… they do occasionally crawl up […]
I’m giving the chickens short, very supervised visits to the side yard – working to get them used to the idea of going back into the house, and also making sure that the dogs become acquainted with them as members of the family, rather than crunchy squeaky toys. This is Thing One. I keep getting […]
The coop in its new home in the side yard. The chickens are doing well. After a couple of days of not being able to figure out how to go up and down the plank, they’ve finally managed it, and they go back and forth easily. Their voices are changing; they are starting to make […]
Chris built a chicken coop this weekend. I helped some, screwing on the flashing and attaching some of the hardware cloth, but it’s really Chris’s baby. We decided on a design based on the A-frame “Ark” style of chicken coop, like the Wentworth Mountain Arks. This allows the coop to be moved from spot to […]
I had another nice visit with the bees. I’m getting much more of a handle on the process and the feel of working through the frames. Her Maj the Q continues to lay a lot of eggs. The bees are no longer taking the sugar syrup, so I hope they’re putting up some real honey. […]
The squashes are blooming like crazy. Unfortunately, today’s crop are all boys! I need to learn how to make the stuffed-and-fried version; I understand they’re quite a tasty treat. Looking closer, there’s something in them… the bees are still asleep this early in the morning, but the blossoms already have visitors. Ants. Tiny ants are […]
There was this story my Grandmother read to me… it was a kids book, and I think the title included a family’s name. This family moved to the country, and a dishonest man sold them a parcel of land that turned out to be a pond… and therefore useless. Something happened that drained the pond, […]