Make Way for Ducklings

Hello, sun in my face.

Hello, you who made the morning

 and spread it over the fields...

watch now how I start the day in happiness,

 In kindness.

-Mary Oliver

The ducklings are getting bigger so quickly.  They really have a collective personality and are super entertaining.  Somehow they must think that we are all their mother because they tend to follow us around.  We have not yet built a structure for them to live in, still trying to figure our where poultry should permanently reside.  Here is a clip of the hilarious scene every morning getting them from the barn, where they sleep, to the chicken tractor where they spend the day. 

We also have 4 new chicks.  I know I said no more this season but I just couldn't resist.  Two Americaunas and two Wellsummers, hoping for more green and dark brown eggs to come!

Adventures in Grainland, part one

Certain things catch your eye,
But pursue only those
that capture your heart.
-old Native American saying

 

organic heirloom seed packets from Bakercreek

We are embarking on a collaborative effort with our neighbor of villa sobrante to grow some larger crops of heirloom grains.  How to prepare the soil was the first question to come up since we wanted to prepare several 5' x 20' beds and didn't want to break our backs double digging in the process.  So we have had a few sessions working on the beds, mowing the waist high grass, tilling the soil with a rototiller, spreading horse manure over the beds, watering heavily, and then letting it sit for a few days. We went back to turn the manure under and found that the soil looks really good.  Using a rototiller is something new for us since we have thus far prepared our beds by hand, either double digging or sheet mulching, it's definitely a big experiment.  We ended up planting quinoa, red, green, and orange amaranth, black beans, and chickpeas in one area. Nearby we will plant sweet and popping corn.  I was extremely excited at the prospect of growing sorghum for pressing and making syrup but that quickly faded when I found out it takes 50 gallons of pressed juice from the stalks to make 5 gallons of syrup (100 plants make only 6.5 gallons of juice).  Anyhow we may try growing the grain sorghum which has a much higher yield. 



three smaller beds freshly double dug for black beans and chickpeas

 





Flight of the Humble Bee

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and

the winds long to play with your hair.

-Khalil Gibran

For the last two weeks it has been honey bee central around here.  Over the winter we put our names on a local swarm list and all of a sudden the phone has been ringing non-stop.  We got six calls to retrieve swarms in a little over a week and with only a couple of empty hives ready for the bees that meant a lot of last minute woodworking.  Fortunately that is a strong point and an enjoyable father son activity for our family.  We had already been planning to change our hive design after reading the book, Beekeeping for All, by Emile Warré, a french monk living in the late 1800's-mid 1900's who kept bees.  Warré developed what he called the People’s Hive after experimenting with over 350 hives of various designs and types. It was his goal to find a hive system that was simple, natural, economical, and bee-friendly.  Not to mention sustainable, right up our alley!  So after catching all those swarms our order of 3 hives came in from up north....more bees. 

one of three packaged hives we picked up this weekend

placing a small piece of foundation wax on each top bar for the bees to build on

up in the wee hours of the night assembling the top bars into place

Here are our three new Warre hives after painting and before the bees moved in.  Not quite sure about the colors but it's all about recycling all the old paint in the garage.  

Creativity in the Garden

One of the ways we love to brighten up our planted areas is with hand painted signs.  They are easy, fun, and make the garden way more child friendly (for the little ones you love or for the kids at heart).  Just use your old wood scraps and some nails long enough to hold the signs together, recycle those used gallons of house paint in the garage, or use acrylic paint for more color!



our son's garden where he grows a variety of vegis and herbs

yarrow blooming in the medicine wheel

newly planted squash patch

Thinking Things Through

The whole process of mental, spiritual, and material riches
     may be summed up in one word - gratitude.

Being new farmers our level of enthusiasm is quite fervent.  Almost everyday has been filled with working on projects around the garden, animals, soil and compost, etc.  We have been acquiring new plants and trees I  guess animals too), not to mention the huge supply of building materials.  Lately however we are slowing down and beginning to be more thoughtful of the "bigger picture", the plan for our farm.   Not that we weren't thoughtful before, but I think we are realizing that there is wisdom in starting small, getting organized, settling in, and observing all that is around us, including the seasonal changes and the elements.  Creating a vision takes time, just as much time as manifesting the dream.  So as we dream and plan, our roots grow downward and begin to take hold.  This little piece of land is starting to feel like home.

Pictures of Spring



tulip bulb in the garden



lettuce seedling



potato patch

pumpkin seedlings

wooden seed flats

daffodils in the garden

sheet mulched spinach bed

banana tree

artichokes forming their heads

vibrant mint

Learning Something New

"Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in life has purpose.  There are no mistakes and no coincidences, all events are blessings given to us to learn from."
-Elisabeth Kubler Ross

Experimenting with fermentation has become a regular pastime around here, both for the beneficial bacteria and for the sake of knowing how to preserve our own food.  Recently my neighbor came over and taught me how to make miso from scratch.  It was very simple and fun.  Here's how we did it. 
We followed the recipe for red miso from Wild Fermentation, by Sandor Ellix Katz.

Red Miso
Equipment:

-ceramic crock or food grade plastic bucket, at least 1 gallon

-lid that fits snugly inside crock (plate or hardwood disc)

-heavy weight

-cloth or plastic

Ingredients:

4 cups dried beans (we used organic soy)

1 cup sea salt and more for the crock

2 tbls. unpasteurized mature miso

5 cups koji

Directions:

1.  Soak beans overnight and cook until soft. 

Take care not to burn the beans, soybeans take a long time.  

2.  Drain beans and save cooking liquid



soybean broth

3.  Dissolve 1 cup of sea salt in 2 cups of cooking liquid to make a strong brine, stir until salt is completely dissolved.

4.  Mash beans to desired smoothness, we blended them in the blender with a little liquid. 

Mashing the beans

5.  Once the brine is room temperature take one cup of it and mash in the mature miso.

Mature red miso

Then return the miso mash to the brine and add the koji. 

Koji is grain, most often rice, inoculated with spores of Aspergillus oryzae, a mold that starts the miso fermentation.
 If you can't find it at your local health food store, try G.E.M cultures or South River Miso Company online.

Finally add this mixture to the mashed beans and mix until the texture is uniform.  If it seems thicker than miso you've had, add some more liquid to desired consistency. 

5.  Salt the bottom and sides of your fermenting vessel with wet fingers dipped in sea salt. 

6.  Pack the miso tightly into the crock avoiding air pockets. 

7.  Smooth the top and add a generous layer of salt over it. 

8. Cover with a lid.  A hardwood lid cut to fit exactly over the top is ideal.  Rest a heavy weight on the lid.  Lastly place an outer cover over the whole thing, like a plastic sack.  Tie or tape the cover over the crock.

9.  Tuck your miso away for about 6 months and try a little then.  You can take layers of the miso out, re-salt the top and let it ferment for years this way, taking a little as you need it.  The miso will get more mellow over time.

Indian Runners

Spring is in the air and that means lots of baby animals.  Yesterday we picked up our order of 5 Indian Runner ducklings (4 females, 1 male).  They are so cute.  If you are wondering what the colored spots are on their heads, the hatchery from which they came paints the heads of the females with a red dot and males with blue. 

Indian Runner ducks are land ducks that do not need a pond, just a small pool or tub of water to occasionally bath in.  They lay from 150-200 eggs a year or more.  Indian Runners love foraging and running around grassy meadows looking for worms, slugs, even catching flies.  So far we have been observing them eating, jumping alot, and bathing in their drinking water. We are happy to have these new fuzzy friends. 

New Man In Town

About a month ago we adopted a Leghorn rooster from Sienna Ranch.  He is mild mannered but a little skittish.  It is said that a white rooster brings many blessings to a property and so we named him Barak, which means blessing in Arabic.  Our 7 year old agrees, "He is president of the chickens!"



Thoughts On Today

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened.
Don't open the door to the study and begin reading.
Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
Rumi



remembering the struggles of our ancestors,
times have been hard before

 
In these times where there is so much turbulance, change, and sorrow, we need to be desperately seeking out the joy and beauty that is all around us.  I have not written for awhile, feeling to overwhelmed by current events to talk about the new chicken tractor, the felted soaps, or the seedlings in the ground.  The mundane seems so trivial and yet it is what keeps us going day to day as we are cleansed by the rain and watch the shoots push up and grow tall, painting the hills green.  Meditating on what might be good information to share right about now I realized that many are feeling a bit helpless not knowing how to be proactive or what to do to protect ourselves-to feel empowered. Here is some knowlegde I have accumulated from various sources I trust on moving through trying times with wisdom and grace.  Protecting our bodies is just the first step but an important one we cannot afford to overlook! 

Radiation Concerns
It is fun and easy to incorperate these delicious foods into our diet.  Wake up people and take good care of yourselves.  The time is now. 



Native Californians have been harvesting seaweed as a main
 food in their diet for thousands of years



Foods and herbs recommended as offering the best protection against radiation:

sea vegetables (seaweeds)

fermented vegetables (especially cabbages and other brassicas)

dark green leafy vegis (collards, kale, mustards)

miso

daikon

burdock

mushrooms (reishi, shiitake)

lentils

coconut milk

black and green teas

anything high in Vitamin C

apple pectin

nettles

eleuthero (siberian ginseng)

cilantro

Notes on Eleuthero (Siberian Ginseng): 

Eleuthero is an adaptogen which reduces stress on the body by combating harmful toxins. Eleuthero has shown a protective effect in animal studies against chemicals such as ethanol, sodium barbital, tetanus toxoid, and chemotherapeutic agents.

eleuthero leaves and berries

 Eleuthero also reduces the side effects of radiation exposure. In animal and in vitro studies, Eleuthero has demonstrated effects of radiation protection (Yonezawa et al., 1989) and stress reduction (Takasugi et al., 1985). After the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, many Russian and Ukrainian citizens were given Eleuthero to counteract the effects of radiation. Eleuthero was also commonly used in Russia in oncology hospital departments to increase the tolerance of the patients to the adverse effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy (Gvamichava, 1966; Khatiashvili, 1964, 1966; Kupin, 1986a, 1986b).

 



eleuthero root



Important Links to Check out with Lots More Info, Articles, and Recipes!!!

http://www.seaweed.net/Words/healing.html

http://www.jonbarron.org/natural-health/radioactive-fallout-fear-recommendations

http://www.susunweed.com/Article_Surviving_Radiation.htm

http://midnightapothecary.blogspot.com/

*This is intended to be an open forum.  Please respond with suggestions, comments, questions.  Let's educate each other, we are all in this together.

Happy Spring!