Heritage Breeds/Varieties

I've been doing a little research lately on heritage breed chickens because of a hen of mine going broody.  Broody means that she has gone into the state when she is bound and determined to raise her own brood of chicks.  It has been really quite interesting to watch, and although I was not going to raise chicks, I have decided to do so because of the health of this chicken.

Broody chickens go into a zen, almost comatose state and will not leave their nest, and with my chicken it has meant even to the detriment of herself.  When I would try to put her back in with the other hens, they would pick on her terribly, so I just decided to let her stay in her nest.  The point that I am trying to make is that these chickens have a strong instinct that is almost impossible to override, and I got to thinking, why would I want to?

I have a huge demand for my organic eggs, absolutely adore having my chickens, and have the facilities to raise the chicks safely until they can live in with the rest of my chickens.  So, with a little research, and a couple of days of  collecting just the right eggs, we have placed the eggs under our wonderful broody hen.  But with that research, I have learned some very interesting things about heritage breeds.

First and foremost, heritage breeds are very hearty and intelligent breeds, just like my broody girl.  One of my new favorite sites is the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, and according to them: "The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy protects genetic diversity in livestock and poultry species through the conservation and promotion of endangered breeds. These rare breeds are part of our national heritage and represent a unique piece of the earth's bio-diversity. The loss of these breeds would impoverish agriculture and diminish the human spirit. We have inherited a rich variety of livestock breeds. For the sake of future generations we must work together to safeguard these treasures."

The site also has a great list of all heritage breeds, whether it be poultry, goats, sheep (which I have), cows or horses.  So if you are at all interested in raising livestock, look into heritage varieties, you won't be sorry.  It takes much less work as they tend to do part of the work for you.  And not only that, you will be keeping a part of our history alive!

Volunteer - oregano?

Lately I've spotted oregano in some unusual places. There's a little volunteer oregano in the dill.

There's oregano in the thyme.

Yes, I said in the thyme. Look closely!

I said in the thyme, not in the - oh, wait a minute. In the pines?

How on earth did the oregano move to different pots on my deck?

I blame the guerrillas.

Tiny, furry, guerrilla gardeners: the ones with big fluffy tails.

There's no telling what'll come up next. Thyme in a bottle?

I knew I liked his name...

"We have bigger houses but smaller families,
more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees, but less sense
more knowledge, but less judgment
more experts, but more problems
more medicines, but less healthiness.
We've been all the way to the moon and back
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the neighbor.
We built more computers to hold more information
to produce more copies than ever...
but have less communication.
We have become long on quantity but short on quality.
These are fast times of fast foods but slow digestion.
Tall man but short character.
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It is a time where there is much in the window
but nothing in the room."
~the Dalai Lama

My friend Tiffany wrote a great post on acceptance yesterday, check it out.  It led me to a great new blog, that led me to this poem.  Thank you, Pilgrimsteps, for the inspiration!

Gardening keeps me humble.

Nature does humble a person. No matter how much research I do, online or in books, no matter how many experts I ask, the weather will take its own course. No matter how healthy I am or vice versa, the plants and weeds will keep on growing. They'll fall over before the wind, and I'll pick up what I can, but the storms will arrive when they will. When it's super hot, I'll drain the rain barrels to water the plants. When it's rainy, I'll squash mosquitoes. If I'm lucky, we'll get just enough rain to refill the barrels and all will be well with the backyard gardening world.

Every year I start with plans - big plans. This year the big change was the new tomato plot. We planned ahead, set it up as a large triangle with layers of cardboard and newspaper covered with compost in the style of a lasagna garden. When spring came, we braced the three sides with boards donated by a generous neighbor and then covered the area with about 4 inches of soil trucked in from a local nursery. Then I planted: tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli, with a few wildflower seeds scattered across the back. Fleet Farm had the tomato supports I wanted, and we were set.

Read the rest of this post at Compost Happens. Enjoy the summary of my garden summer and the many ways it keeps me humble.

Making every last minute count

The kids are headed off to school tomorrow; one of my saddest days of the year.  I get so used to having the little pains in the rumpy around that I really miss them when they are gone for the day.  But, as they remind me, I will have some time to work on my next book, so I guess it is a trade off...

Since today was our last day of summer, we had to make every minute count.  My daughter saved up her money this summer from taking care of the neighbors house while they were on vacation and decided to repaint her room; a girl after her own mother's redesigning heart.  Of course the process took a lot of prep work which entailed cleaning out the "little girl" toys.

The morning started with getting every last bit of paint out of the gallon that the dear girl had worked so hard to buy.  I of course will need one more gallon to finish the job while she is at school; three ten year olds did quite a job on the trim, etc, but what the heck, her and her girlfriends thought it was a great way to wind down the summer!

My middle boy starts high school this year, and my eldest made the mistake of telling him that all the high schoolers wear hats to school since it is allowed now.  The sucker in me gave in, wanting him to feel at his best on the first day as a freshman and headed down the mountain to find him a hat.  

It all worked out just fine because I could donate the "little girl" toys that my daughter had gathered to a local charity (making the trip down the mountain more worthwhile in my mind), take my youngest two to an inexpensive lunch at our new local diner (supporting a great new business), and I got the "lid" covered!  And speaking of back to school fashions, they are fantastic!  The colors this year are so vibrant  and beautiful (yes, even for the boys), that I didn't mind doing the laundry, and that is saying quite a bit!

The best part about it, was that I got home in time to catch my oldest son cleaning out his car.  So I pulled my truck up next to his and started cleaning it.  I have asserted for a long time, the best way to talk with a teenager is to do while you both are working.  The words seem to flow easier, the teen seems less defensive, and you're accomplishing a task on your to do list on top of it!

So, for those of you with school age children, good luck this year, and give your kids an extra squeeze, they will be graduating high school like my boy (soon) in the blink of an eye!  And please, by all means, please be aware of the school buses and zones!

Water, water everywhere - cutting consumption

I had mixed feelings the day my rain barrels ran dry. We were in a heat wave, the tomatoes needed water to bear fruit and ripen, and the rain barrels were empty. I turned to Chuck and said, "This will be the first time all summer that I've needed to water plants with water from the house." Impressive, really. My two rain barrels, regular rainfall, and no treated water from the house was wasted on watering the gardens.

Mother Nature provided a rainstorm the next night. Both barrels refilled completely.

Around home it's easy to monitor my water consumption. Rain barrels. Replacing my top-loading washer with a front loader. Using cooking water or dishwashing water to water the herb pots on the deck. Away from home, though, it's another story.

Here's a link to National Geographic's Water Footprint Calculator. I felt good watching my water use average go down as I answered the home questions. My coffee habit is higher than average. As for transportation, I drive a minivan, but drive fewer than average miles. I rarely fly, so that helps keep the average down.

My biggest impact on water consumption is my diet. It's part of the omnivore's dilemma; raising meat animals consumes a lot of water. Cutting down on the amount of beef, pork, and even poultry that I feed our family can make a significant impact on water consumption. As for the coffee - well, I'll have to work on that.

The concept of water consumption presumes a steady supply of clean water, usually pumped through a treatment plant on its way to the user and again after use. The Kalamazoo River oil spill shows another danger to our water supply: our addiction to petroleum based fuels.

Now that I've made serious inroads on my home water use, it's time to look outside the box. Try the Water Footprint Calculator, and read the tips. They're very informative.