Party Hardy, Dude!

"But I always say one's company, two's a crowd, and three's a party"  Andy Warhol

"One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor!"  Unknown

I have a major birthday happening this week, and Nate and my friend, N., decided to throw me a party.  Unfortunately, I'm not a "sit back and watch while others plan things" kind of girl.  I'm a control freak and don't like to sit on the sidelines.  I freely admit it, and those who know me well may not like it, but they accept it and sometimes love me despite it.  I'm a Leo, after all.  Changing this part of my personality would be like trying to take the stripes off a zebra.  Nate just said, "Tell me what to do."  That makes me laugh.  N. said, "I can't wait to see the party I planned."  That makes me laugh too.  With that said, they have been great and have definitely participated in the party planning and preparation.  I have a wonderful friend and husband! 

In planning the menu, it was important to me to use as much from the homestead as possible, so the menu developed based on what I have this week in the garden.  Everything we're serving has at least one item that was either grown, foraged or produced by us.  I've been prepping each day so there won't be much to do on the day of the party.   

Party Menu:
Carrot Cake
Chips and Salsa
Jalapeno Dip
Brie with Fig Jam
Cubed Melon
Pasta Salad
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Eggplant Dip

That's it for today, folks.  I have stuff to do for the party, so until next time, I leave you with one of my favorite birthday songs by Cracker, "Happy Birthday to Me."   



Candace

Odds and Ends and a Wonderful Husband

Okay, here's the deal. I decided I wanted to track what we produce this year, and the best way to keep myself on task is to make myself accountable to someone. That someone is you. Hence, the Harvest Tally on the right. I'm sure updating the tally won't be daily, so I've devised a key that will help me tell when I last updated: Month (day of month): total for month. So, for January so far, it's January (1): 2 eggs. As I start to bring in produce, I plan to weigh it and post this as well.

We did some reconfiguring to the coop today and finally got rid of the floor boards and poop boards. I hated the poop boards, and the coop always looked dirty to me. Now I can throw down some bedding, rake and shovel when necessary, and practice the deep litter method. We also moved the nest box and reworked the roost to make it easier for Pearl to get on it. When you have a special needs chicken, you have to consider everything from her perspective.

We picked up shelving materials yesterday for the greenhouse. I am so excited to have it up and running, and the shelving will make things so much easier. I've already started some seeds in it. Various varieties of lettuce, broccoli, brussels sprouts and dwarf pak choy are on the way. I'm not the best with starting from seed, but I keep trying and am hoping the greenhouse environment will give me a leg up.

Lastly I wanted to say what a wonderful husband I have! He is patient, understanding, supportive, witty, appreciative, uber talented, loving, and overall, just a fabulous guy! My honey-do list never ends, and he is always willing to pitch a hand.

I have grand plans for 2011, so hang onto the oh-shit handle, this ride might be bumpy.

Until next post, happy homesteading,


Candace

Sometimes

While I would like to tell you growing your own food and trying to build an urban homestead is all peaches and cream, the truth of the matter is it's hard work and sometimes very frustrating and disappointing. Sometimes I wonder why I continue on this path, and then I see my chickens free ranging in the yard and I collect my eggs that weren't laid in a cage in a building with artificial lights, and I know for me, it's the right thing to do. I am determined to continue to grow and learn and take the good with the bad. However, sometimes we focus so much on our perceived disappointments and failures, we fail to see what we've accomplished and be thankful for it. So, I thought I would take a moment to look back on some things I'm proud to have accomplished this year. We added two new chickens to the flock, bringing it to four. We built the fabulous GA State Henitentiary, moving the girls from the chicken tractor to larger digs. We continue to get 1-2 eggs a day from Pearl and Vanilli and look forward to getting eggs from Thelma and Louise starting maybe the end of August. We started two bee hives, and while not a complete success, a valuable learning experience indeed. We added a rain barrel to the front of the house making it easier to water the veggies up front. We built and planted 7 raised beds in the front yard for vegetables. I have canned Fig Cognac Jam and Pepper Jelly. I have dried numerous trays of peppers, hot and sweet, and figs. Our blueberry bushes, planted last summer, gave us a decent harvest, enough to make some muffins and to throw some on cereal in the morning. I have frozen numerous cubes of basil from the garden, the wild blackberries we were able to pick in the spring and pureed figs. I've made and frozen several jars of jalapeno pepper sauce and bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapenos. Several jars of refrigerator pickles sit in the refrigerator as well.

By our standards, wow, what a list, with five months left to go in the year.

There are other non farm-related things for which I'm am thankful as well, but that's another post.

Happy homesteading,

Candace