Whiteley Creek Homestead

 
My barred rock and red star chicks are two weeks old today. A major growth change since my last photo shoot at one week old is their wing development. We created an outdoor playground where Olga, Pearl, Flossie, Opal, Henny Penny, Cora, Phoebe, Edith, and Hilda frolic in the sunshine during the daytime hours. 

Normally, on Saturday morning, I am at the downtown farmers market. Today I switched things up a bit and attended an organic gardening workshop taught by two market vendors, Jeff and Peggy Campbell, at their farm. To be standing on the ground where the food I put on my table comes from… immeasurably meaningful. 

 
While the sunlight filtered through the fresh spring growth on the trees, Jeff began by explaining that we need to grow soil because the soil is going to grow the plants. To grow soil means to enrich it by natural means like adding compost and planting cover crops to supply nitrogen. He suggested a simple cover crop of black eyed peas to precede the planting of squash. I will share a detailed explanation of this process in a post later this spring. The goal is to create a fertile soil so that fertilizer (even organic ones) won't be necessary and to create an environment in which plants are less likely to become stressed, since that is when pest infestations generally become a problem. When necessary, Jeff uses a fish emulsion fertilizer and two nonchemical insectcide/fungicides, although he was quick to point out that a gardener's first line of defense is to hand pick pests off plants. To build fertile soil, composting is an important element. This is the composting unit from Home Depot that the Campbells use.  

 
The drawer on the bottom, that is assessible from all four sides, is where the usable composted material is. To speed the decomposing, Jeff uses a large landscsaping shears to snip the dried brown leaves and green plants into small pieces. The time it takes is minimal, but it reaps huge dividends. As plants are ready to be harvested and sold at the farmers market, there are also pots with seedlings at varying stages of development. For additional information about the Campbells' small-scale farming venture, click here to read an informative newspaper article that includes a wonderful video depicting  their day to day activities.

  
Peggy used an analogy to explain how our life is like a puzzle. We pick up a puzzle piece and sometimes we set it down again without doing anything with it. At other times, we choose a puzzle piece and find where it fits. Over time, the puzzle begins to take shape until it is complete. I am beginning to see my puzzle coming together. I am solidifying who I am… where my interests lie, what is important for me to glean from life, how I choose to spend my time. One thing I do know. I must learn. This Mahatma Gandhi quote is especially meaningful to me. "Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow." So, I learn. This morning, it was about organic gardening.   

My chicks hatched on March 7, 2011, so they are one week old today. In this brief timespan, their wings have grown noticeably larger.

If we invest extra time and expense in raising a flock of hens or purchase eggs from a local farmer… or grocery store, it's prudent to take measures to lengthen the eggs' shelf-life. Because egg shells are porous, they are prone to moisture loss and odor absorption. Storing them in their original carton is better than in egg trays molded into a refrigerator door, but here's a better idea yet… airtight egg containers.

A simple downward snap of each of the four latches… two at a time… and the lid's sealing ring on this Lock & Lock egg storage container "securely locks in the goodness." The clear lid showcases multi-colored eggs, that are too pretty to be hidden away.      

In my online search for such a container, some sites offer ones for 10 eggs. How practical is that? I say go for the 12-egg capacity. 

Tomorrow afternoon is raw milk delivery day which means that I needed to use up some surplus homemade cultured buttermilk to make room in my fridge. Buttermilk's acidity deactivates the phytic acid in grains, so I am prepping hearty pear pecan muffins and oatmeal hot cereal by soaking the grains overnight. In preparation for making bean soup, I am soaking a variety of dry beans, split peas, and lentils in the third bowl using vinegar as the acidic medium. 

Prepping grains for muffins and hot cereal is not the only flurry of activity this afternoon. I have nine 2-day old baby chicks hatched at 10 a.m. on March 7, 2011… 5 red star and 4 barred rock that Dick and I hand-picked at the neighborhood farm store today. I emptied a stash of fabric out of an old washtub to use as a make-shift brooder, layered the bottom with 2 inches of bedding material (wood shavings), attached a reflector brooder clamp light with a red heat lamp to the washtub's edge, filled water, feed, and grit containers, then introduced our chicks to their new home.  

 
brood·er

[broo-der]

–noun

1.

a device or structure for the rearing of young chickens or other birds.

 

 

As I keep busy in my kitchen, their gentle chirps are as soul-soothing as a stream trickling over rocks in its path, a Nora Jones song playing on the radio, a tractor slowly chugging along a dirt road… yes, there are still some dirt roads to be found although they are sadly, quickly disappearing. In my memory, there are many still.