For those of you who ventured into “garlic farming” with me last fall, attached is a link that provides guidance on when and how to harvest your garlic, and what to do with it once it is harvested (click here). I pulled up about 75% of what I planted this past weekend.  I had some really nice sized heads, but some were a little on the small side and probably could have stayed in the ground a little bit longer.  The person who originally told me about planting garlic, someone at the local Nature Center, told me he typically harvested in mid June.  Most of what I’ve been reading recommends late July through mid August – which I think is more on target.  (Of course, the crazy non-ending rain this summer probably did delay the crop).

I must admit I am proud of what I have.  We braided it up, and it’s hanging in our kitchen now. When harvesting, pull gently.  I did break a few of the greens off  and had to go digging with a trowel to find the head.  After I pulled them up, I dipped them gently in a bucket of water to clean the dirt off of the bulb and the roots.  I then put them in the sun to dry.  I later read that I should have not put them in the sun, but a dry place out of direct sunlight.

Depending on the rate at which I use garlic, this should last me at least through the winter.  So time to find some good garlic recipes.  This one for pan-fried garlic shrimp looks like it’s worth a try (and it’s a video!).

As I was looking at the latest round of pictures I took of the chicks, I realized that this is the first time, in all the times I’ve used chicken wire for projects, that I’ve used it for what it is purported to do – contain chickens.  I realize that there is maybe 2% of you that are actually interested in our new lives as chicken farmers, so for those 2% – I’ll keep reporting, occasionally, to fill you in on the sordid details.  For the rest of you, please bare with me.  

So far, so good.  (I think this primarily has to do with the fact that young animals make little poops). These 10 chicks are still relatively cute – although I know their days of cutedom are numbered.  Given that they are now four weeks old (which means 5 months ’til eggs), this was the first weekend that we could let them venture outside.  Of course, they were relatively forced out their door – as two pairs of young hands grabbed, lifted and pushed them outside and down the ramp into their new outdoor pen.  Once there, I think they rather liked it.  

I’m rather amused by how my husband has taken to his new role as well.  He likes to check on the chicks just as much as the young boys, and has busily been building indoor perches, outdoor perches, nesting boxes, climbing stumps and a ramp with steps.  

Pictured above is the chick named Tom.  He (well she really) was the one we were most worried about when they arrived in their little box – flown in from Ohio.  She was definitely the smallest, but has become rather assertive, and is mostly seen hopping right into the middle of the feeding dish.  Her feathers and markings are quite beautiful, and she stands up a bit straighter than the rest of the chicks.  Ironically we also have a chick named Michael Jackson (MJ) – who was named so before the superstar died… I guess our own special family tribute(!)  While I’m a bit embarrassed to report on how he was named – he was named so by my teenagers because of his black and white feathers.

So now we need to start researching how to make these chickens super healthy egg producers – free range, grass fed, eggs with high omega 3s (I think they primarily get this by eating flax seed).  While I must say I’m still eating chicken, and I don’t think twice about doing so, it does make you think about the food chain – and what the animals eat, you ultimately eat.    Ahhh, a topic for another day (still want to see the new Food, Inc. documentary that is out).

Uh, oh.  I said yes to more than a Fish.

I’m a dog person.  That being said, I don’t have a dog.  I’m constantly having a mental struggle about whether to have a dog or not to have a dog.  My biggest stumbling block is the amount of time we’re on the go and out of town.   Managing the logistics of what to do with a dog is something I’m not quite ready for.  

Well in a weak moment, I said yes to a chicken.  I should say eight chickens.  I can justify it under the guise of academics.  My son is in an Agriculture Science program in high school, and with participation in this program comes membership in the Future Farmers of America.  So you see, owning chickens is just purely and simply a school project – kind of like homework.  And of course the big side benefit is nice and tasty fresh organic eggs.  Very expensive eggs, I might add.  My wise women friend Charlotte thinks I’ve fallen off my rocker.

So the “coop” has been furiously under construction.  An extension to our once playhouse, now shed.  The back now serves as the roosting zone.  My husband relishes in the construction – and I do agree – the building of the structure is a good family project. 

My wise women friend next door neighbor has been very good at biting her tongue when we discuss these new neighbors that are moving into our back yard – no rooster I insist. Just chickens – and just remember, fresh eggs.

As you read this, the chicks have reportedly hatched.  They are being mailed from Ohio and will arrive any day at our local post office.  That event in and of itself, I hear, is something to witness.  I know the kids will have sheer delight on their faces when they hold a 4 day old chick in their hands. 

And I’m sure I’ll have more blog worthy reports on my new venture in chicken farming…

I am half Irish (on my dad’s side) which requires some display of my Irish pride on this most revered day, St. Patrick’s Day. Alas, a frenzied search through my wardrobe for green clothing produced only teal, aqua and chartreuse garments. None of these shades proclaimed, “I am Irish!” with enough gusto, so I ended up in one of the zillion blue-colored outfits I own. (While ‘zillion’ may seem like a fanciful number, soon zillion will be the new billion at the rate our economy is going).

My frustrated quest to join in the wearing of the green is ironic in two ways:

1. Each year I engage in the same frantic and futile hunt. What do I think happened in the intervening year? A leprechaun tip-toed into my closet and deposited a lovely emerald green shirt or sweater for me to wear on March 17th? Actually, if I’m going to be visited by a leprechaun, I’d rather he left a pot of gold to replace my now paltry 401(k).
2. The color blue – not green – was originally associated with St. Patrick. According to Wikipedia, St. Patrick’s Blue appears on the Irish Presidential Standard (i.e. the flag of the President of Ireland) and the Coat of Arms of Ireland. The blue and gold color scheme is said to represent “the Ancient Colours of Ireland” and is found on the coat of arms of “the Ancient City of Dublin” the Flag of Munster, the Flag of Connacht, and serves as the colors for the University College Dublin^.

So, I’m not out of step with the rest of the green-wearing, Irish wannabe world. I’m just retro in my color scheme. How have you celebrated St. Patrick’s Day – past or present?

A few weeks back, Elaine blogged about different ways to go green. (Click HERE to read her blog).  Stacy, one of our faithful commenters, shared a number of different ways she “recycles” – which has included turning many different objects into works of art.  Clearly she is an artist, as even if I could conceive of some of what she has done, I don’t think I could successfully execute it.  One of my favorite things that she does is buys old pairs of ice skates (white girl’s pairs are particularly charming) at tag sales, paints a winter scene on them, and then hangs the pair on the front door in lieu of a holiday wreath.

So I must ask, what would you do with an old kitchen sink if you found it out in the woods?  Well Stacy found a sink, and turned it into a garden bench with a beautiful mosaic design.  Here are the steps – and the pictures marking the progress of this creation:

1.  Find an old sink.  Turn it upside down – and it obviously (not) has the potential to be a bench:   

2.  Get some old plywood to create a back, and place PVC piping, cut in half along it to create a design:  

3.  Put PVC piping on the lower front as well, and make arm rests out of wood, with a half of a PVC pipe to make rounded arms. Then cover with a mesh wire.

4.  Mix up some cement, and cover the sink, plywood and piping to create a smooth surface:

5.  Then Stacy used old plates/china that she had collected from tag sales and made a mosaic design:

 It truly is an amazing creation!  And believe me, Stacy has no shortage of ideas.  If I could ever have the vision for this, I would then have no idea where to begin.  Stacy, this could be another calling for you if you ever decide to switch gears!

I write this on Sunday evening, and feel like for the first time in quite I while, I’ve had a productive day. Some good family time, but thankfully for my mental health, I got through some of those things that have been on my to do list for quite a while.  I laugh that a day of paying bills, mailing overdue gifts, putting some laundry in the machine, moving my summer clothes into the attic and bringing down my winter clothes, can feel so good.  And the reason for this weekend being so highly productive was that as of last weekend, soccer for two of my sons is over, and field hockey is over for my daughter.  So coming off of last weekend where I felt like I was drowning – with 1 lacrosse game, 2 field hockey games, 2 soccer games and 2 birthday parties, plus a husband out of town, this weekend was wonderfully clear.

So as I was going through my piles today, I came across an article I had torn out of the paper awhile ago. According to the date, this article has been sitting by my bedside table since April 6th.  (And yes, that pile is now much smaller too.) Anyhow, it was about a carpool management website called dividetheride.com. It’s a very  interesting premise.  You register by putting in your name and address, your children’s names and their activities.  Then you invite friends and neighbors to join a carpool.  From what I can gather, the biggest advantage of doing this vs. facilitating a carpool schedule through phone or email, is that is calendarizes the schedule for you, maps the houses and destinations, and then sends out update reminder emails or text messages on the day of the carpool, 2 hours preceding the event.

It also has a function called CarLine Manager.  This is a program set up through your children’s school, and enables you to send an update into the school’s administration if you are not able to pick up your child at the last minute, and designates who will pick up your child instead.  I thought this would be a useful tool for those last minute scrambles when you’re stuck in traffic and know you’re not going to make it.

I think the biggest hurdle to overcome in using this is ensuring that this site is safe – as you are putting personal details about your children’s whereabouts on the web. It is a password protected, secure site, and only those you invite can have access to view your personal details.  That being said, it’s still natural to be trepidatious.

But as a mom of four busy kids, who lives in a rather out of the way neighborhood, carpooling keeps me sane, not to mention the fact that it’s a wonderful green solution.  I may just give this a try, when the next activity starts up, as long as I can find some willing guinea pigs!

Last week I was at a brown-bag lunch talk, and I heard the woman next to me sigh. “Shoot, I forgot to bring a spoon.” The man on the other side of me whipped out a spoon from his backpack (the real kind, not plastic) and gave it to her. At the end of lunch, the woman wiped the spoon clean with her napkin and began to hand it back to the man with her thanks. He waived her off. “Keep it,” he said. “Use it and you’ll help keep 10,000 pounds of plastic out of our landfills.”

I hate it when that happens. Looking down at the plastic fork and disposable plastic salad container I was about to toss, I suddenly felt guilty.

Until that moment, I never really thought about my use of plastic utensils. In fact, I was proud of the stash of Costco forks, spoons and knives housed in my drawer for those days when I brought my lunch.

Now, the comments of that well-meaning man run through my head every time I reach for a disposable fork. Damn that environmental goody-two-shoes and the green-colored glasses he foisted upon me!

Here are a few other things I “discovered” you can recycle:

• Wine corks. They’re turned into flooring and wall tiles. Mail them to Wine Cork Recycling, Yemm & Hart Ltd., 610 Chamber Drive, Fredericktown, MO 63645.

• Tinfoil. After rinsing and wadding the tinfoil up, you can bring it to the curb with your recycled bottles and cans.

• Videotapes. Instead of tossing them (and running the risk they unwind and get tangled in everything at the landfill), donate them. Send them (and other computer media) to ACT, a nonprofit that employs disabled people to clean, erase, and resell the tapes.

What you do to reuse, recycle and reduce? Despite my tantrum, I actually am looking for ways to reduce my impact on the environment. My next stop is The Nature Conservancy’s carbon footprint calculator to generate more guilt inspiration.

I know you will think this sounds weird, but I’ve been waiting for the third week in October for almost 5 months now (although yes, I’m most definitely bemoaning the loss of what seemed like a very quick summer). In late May/early June, I was walking through my nature center’s organic garden, where I came across some very tall greens – looking like they were almost ready for harvest.  My little Sam asked, “what are those Mommy?” And I replied, “I think they’re onions.”  Luckily Mr. Organic Gardener was there himself, and he told me it was garlic.  He went on to say that garlic is his most favorite thing to grow in the garden – it’s hardy, it’s easy, it’s virtually animal proof, and it’s delicious.  The garlic we’re used to consuming from the grocery store is typically 8 months old.  He said once you taste fresh garlic, you can never go back.  And there are a huge number of varieties – some very sweet, some quite spicy.

So ever since then, I’ve loved the idea of planting garlic – you plant it in the fall, and it comes up in the spring, ready to pick in early summer.  One of the best things – the deer and chipmunks don’t like it.  You can actually plant the cloves from a garlic bulb you buy at the grocery store, but I ended up ordering a couple of bulbs from Burpee.com – an “Early Italian” variety and “California Extra Select.”  Gurney’s also offers a variety of garlic bulbs for sale – including one that sounds quite interesting – Spanish Roja Garlic which is quite hot and spicy.

If you get the same kind of hankering to do a little late season gardening, follow these easy steps from ehow.com, on how to plant garlic.  And get those gardening gloves out one last time before those first flakes begin to fall.

As I was driving home yesterday from work, I was struck by the image of a man dressed in a nice business suit, with his brief case slung over his shoulder, driving 60mph down the Merritt Parkway. For whatever reason, this image made me smile; I gave him the thumb’s up sign. While we can all assume that this man elected to find a more economical way to commute to work, funny to say, it was a very retro image for me, a throw back to simpler times. This made me start thinking…can the spiraling out of control economic down turn actually have a silver lining?

The Stamford Advocate just ran a series of articles on how people are adjusting to the high gas prices. Everything from buying mopeds to selling their SUVs, this economic crisis is unfortunately severe enough to make us all rethink our normal course of action. One of my girlfriends even mentioned to me (somewhat tongue in cheek, somewhat seriously) that no longer is the deposit money from the beverage recycling pocket money for her children! Paying $85 to fill up my car does force me think more carefully about the actions I take. My neighbor just bought a moped, his thought being that the cost of the moped will be paid back in the gas savings of running errands in the minivan.

Way, way back when, people stayed home….and life happened around them. Kids played in the neighborhood, parents hung out – chatting in the streets. The front porch was the focus of the house – welcoming all in; not the back deck. We were not maniacally driving around town, taking kids to their upteenth activity of the week. Maybe just maybe this “crisis” allows us to more readily say “no” – and thereby enables us to enjoy our homes more and the surroundings of our home. I crave those weekends where nothing is planned or scheduled…where we can just be home.

And maybe if we’re not so exhausted from being in the car all day, and the endless hours that are wasted being in that car, we can enjoy our home time more. We won’t be so stressed trying to squeeze in all the chores into a limited amount of time, and instead can focus our attention on good cheap family fun. A good game of Parcheesi with the kids, more family hikes vs. paying to go the amusement park, playing backyard badminton and volleyball, growing a vegetable garden for the first time, saving an errand for another day when you can combine two trips to the same area of town, commuting to work with a friend, and enjoying the camaraderie of the drive, instead of becoming stressed about what lays before you for the day. Maybe it’s about walking and getting on the bike more often vs. always reverting to climbing in the car. Letting your child ride his bike the four blocks to his friend’s house. During the school year, when school was released early, my son would take the city bus from school downtown to the skate park. If I was home from work, I could see myself insisting on picking him up from school and driving him myself. But I wasn’t home. So I decided that it’s a good experience for him to take that bus – economically, environmentally, as well as a growing experience of demonstrating his independence. And what about “stayvacations” – the latest buzzword in the travel industry which is all about staying at home, being a tourist in your hometown and going places for the day.

And what will next winter look like? Probably wearing fleeces inside and throwing an extra blanket on everyone’s bed. Building fires in the fireplace more regularly … so far, that picture doesn’t sound so bad.

I know we’re all conscious of changing our ways right now. For some, it’s an economic necessity, for others, it’s a general conscientious reaction. What about you? Have you changed your routines or are you doing things a bit differently than just yesterday?

   Day Laborers Assisting with the Spreading of the Mulch

This time of year I love to get out into the garden, and soak in the warm fresh air and the colors of spring.  So I’ve been making my ritualistic trips to the garden center – and planting away.  I also have a gargantuan mound of mulch in my driveway – ordered by my husband; he must have forgotten that we didn’t live on a 50 acre farm when he ordered; consequently, I probably will be looking at this “mound” for the next 5 years of my life (the perpetual to do list).  I’ve even hired day laborers to help me get it out into the yard (see pic).

So, I’m enjoying the fruits of my labors…the perennials popping up and blooming, and the freshly planted flower pots along my front walkway….and then, disaster strikes:

Night One:  Variegated Geraniums – Beheaded

Night Two:  Two pots of Petunias – Mowed over

Night Three:  Two pots of Impatiens – Dug up, chewed up, spit out

Night Four:  Lilac buds – Missing in action

Night Five:  All Coneflower Sprouts – Stripped and gnarled

The Culprit:  The Vicious Neighborhood Pack of Wild Deer, Public Enemy #1.  Enemy #2 is Mr. Chipmunk, who suns in the Parsley pot, nipping at the leaves when he needs a snack.  The deer, these beautiful, docile, gentle animals, have pushed me to the edge.  I think I let slip between my lips tonight that I wanted to buy a shot gun.  Last Sunday evening – around 6 – when you could still hear the neighborhood kids running about, I was upstairs in my bathroom and glanced out the window.  There was Public Enemy #1 strolling through my backyard and looking hungry.  I raised the window and screamed in the loudest, shrillest voice I could find “Get Out of My Yard.”  I’m sure my neighbors must have thought there was either a horrific domestic dispute taking place or that I was actually being murdered.  (My throat was sore for the next two hours because I had screamed so loudly).  The deer looked up at me, and quickly made an exit (this at least was good, because sometimes it takes them great effort to even move one step away from you).

I also must add that this fine dining also took place despite the fact that I have been spraying a deer repellent on my plants.  Has anyone found a solution?  Any good home remedies?  I’m ready to put a barricade around my house…although not a very neighborly thing to do.  Help!  I can’t bare it any longer!

P.S.  And if they’re going to use me….I’m going to use them:  

Deer Butt Door Bells