New additions to the flock 2015

Another unexpected bonus to working at The Kitchen Garden was the part timer!

She is a skater boarder/bird breeder living in Erinsville.

You can find her on Instgram under the name The Real Farmacy.

It sounded like her homestead had a lot in common with ours...

so we thought we'd head out for a visit!

It was a short drive for my son and I one sunday morning

back in July I believe.

She breeds turkeys.

Big ones.

She has a flock of laying hens.

And a whole lotta chicks!

My son was very taken with the baby turkeys (Poults if you want to get technical).

They were pretty sweet.

Aw who am I kidding?

They were freakin adorable!!!

Luckily we only came home with 3 hens.

Two Ameraucanas.

One Jersey Giant.

A JERSEY GIANT.

Not sure what I was thinking...

but I'll be sure to post a picture of her when she is all grown up!

I'm super excited to see how these new babies make out with our flock.

I'm also stoked to see how the giant turns out!

That brings us up to 12 hens.

Still perfectly acceptable.

No crazy chicken ladies here.

Nope.

SUPER SAD UPDATE:

Two weeks after I wrote this post...a raccoon grabbed two of the new chicks.

Killed them both.

And the orange necked ameraucana in the bottom of the picture above survived.

She's a scrappy lil thing but she was pretty traumatized by the whole event.

I was devastated by the loss of the two chicks.

It was our first attack on our hens.

For better or worse, we shot the raccoon the next night in a 

wave of anger and a feeling of protecting our flock.

Not sure how I feel about it now.

I'm still an animal lover...

and its not like we go sport hunting raccoons all of the time.

We've lived here happily for 4 years without having to kill off the local wildlife.

I would like to think the next time we'll use a live trap.

Then I saw a big turkey vulture flying very close to our yard...

and thought...

why would I deprive such a majestic bird a well deserved meal?

All I know is those sweet lil chicks aint growing up.

And I was pretty pissed about that fact.

Another Update:

We took in 3 of my sister-in-law's hens.

One died mysteriously shortly after we took them in.

The other one didn't integrate very well.

She developed a head wound that would not heal.

We separated her from the flock on numerous occasions.

Each time we tried to re-introduce her...they would attack her all over again.

We made the choice to end her suffering.

Strangely enough the whole flock calmed down once she was gone.

One of our original flock died of old age.

Then our Silver Laced Wyandotte had a prolapsed vent.

Our flock is now 6...but spring of 2016 will bring way more hen madness!

Stay tuned for the new arrivals... 

Apples

So its fall!

At least that's what my calendar is telling me.

I suppose if I were to sit and think on it...

It feels like fall too.

The air is cooler.

(Not so stifling and heavy)

The geese are honking their goodbyes.

The nights are beautiful!

(no bugs)

Not to mention, my calendar says its fall today...officially.

When its fall we pick apples.

Certainly not the first time.

Definitely not the last time.

We have picked apples at local farms too!

What makes this year a little different is that our favorite trees are heavy with fruit.

My sister in law has several GREAT apple trees.

The past few years have been hard on them.

Serious winters, porcupine damage, deer thieves...

These trees hardly stand a chance!

And yet this year they are spectacular!

(and luckily for us, they are right around the corner)

We drove up one evening to grab the apples before the deer at them all.

Owen was pretty annoyed that there was only one picking tool to be had...

So I made him the official apple picking photographer.

At 8 years old...he's not to bad!

Apple picking action!

I remembered the cloth in the picking tool this time...

No I didn't bring rum to pick apples...although...

We also scored a cabbage too!

(Located in the nearby veggie garden))

And in case you are wondering...

Here is a handy post that describes what we do with all of those apples.

And if you are interested...

I have posts on Apple and Havarti Quiche

As well as Parsnip Apple and Brie here.

Both are well worth trying!!!

I promise! 

Verona Garlic Festival 2015

Saturday was the annual Verona Garlic Festival.

It has become quite an event for this community!

Thanks to BearRoot Gardens for this beautiful braid!!!

I just love stocking up on garlic.

Although we tried to grow garlic for the first time this year...

It wasn't a huge success.

Thank goodness for events like this!

Its a place where you can stock up,

Meet the grower and 

Learn something new!

 

There were many many vendors.

They came from all over Ontario!

The vendors were mainly garlic producers...

but they offered so much more!

All kinds of garlic...garlic pesto, garlic dips, marinades, sauces.

But not just garlic!

There was a honey vendor, a hot sauce guy from St Lucia, 

a booth offering wine samples...

The Tai Chi Society was out too.

Small farms trying to get the word out.

Garlic is great!

And shopping locally feels good.

(it tastes even better)

If its within reach, you should definitely make a plan to attend next year's event!

PS.  There were so many vendors offering free samples...

my mouth was certainly burning by the time I left!!!

What you plant and why it matters...

So this year I broke down and bought a bag of pea seeds.

I normally just plant what we saved from last year.

This year the packaging seduced me.

The Heritage Seeds Co.

Brown paper bag shouting

"LINCOLN HOMESTEADER"

I couldn't help myself.

I note that normally I don't care what kind of stuff I plant.

But thanks to my new job growing organic vegetables at The Kitchen Garden...

I know it matters what you grow.

I'll show you the proof.

Above you'll see the pea on the left...is one grown from seed we saved.

The one on right is the Lincoln Homesteader.

I will forever use capitals and call them by their right name...

they are an amazing specimen of shelling pea.

The one on the left (ours) produced poorly and with only about 3-4 peas per pod.

The one on the right (Righteous Lincoln Homesteader) kept pumping out the peas for 5 weeks and produced a whopping 12-14 peas per pod!!!

NOTE:  They then produced a very healthy second blush of perfectly sweet peas in the middle of AUGUST!?!!

That means...

We have 2 large freezer bags stuffed full of peas for the winter.

Dang!

That's the most peas we've ever been able to store!!!

Thank you Heritage Seed Co.

Thank you Lincoln Homesteader.

PS.  We planted another beds of peas two weeks ago...I'll give you 3 guesses what kind...

Garden Update 2015 Edition part 2

Bellstar sauce tomatoes!

Green Globe Artichokes....not choking yet

Broccoli

Red onions

White onions

Brussels sprouts...from above...

And below...

Cucumbers...

Summer squash

Ground cherries...paper lanterns...

Cheyenne bush pumpkins!

Third bed of peas...we may have a problem...

Black Kris tomatoes

Rainbow Carrots

Romaine

Turnips...great fall storage crop...

Jalapenos

Chilies...

How does your garden grow?

Garlic Mustard....Mustard

In the last few years, I was introduced to the lovely 'weed', Garlic Mustard.

It's one of those plants that came over with European settlers...

and has taken over ever since.

Seriously!  

There is no where in North America where you will have to adhere

 to strict conservation collecting with this one.

In fact, the Ontario Government has come out with a super cool website to tell you all about it!

It might take you a few seasons to make sure it is what you think it is.

Spring time looks like the above picture.

The cute, scalloped leaves are hard to mistake.

Once you identify these leaves, its hard to miss them.

You start to see them literally

EVERYWHERE!

The bright green spring leaves are a treat too.

They taste garlicky and goes great in a salad.

By August, they start looking like the above picture.

They shoot up and send out spindly shoots.

They sprout these wee seed pods.

Once the pods are dry...collect immediately!

I've checked one day and by the next day the wind has scattered them all.

Again, I can't stress enough...collect as many as you want...

You don't have to worry about this hearty plant coming back.

The seeds look like long poppyseeds.

They have a light mustard taste.

I've heard you can made mustard from grinding the seeds...

So that was our big experiment this year!

We collected the seed pods and slowly, patiently removed all of the seeds from each one.

Each pods contains anywhere from 2-10 seeds.

This process is time consuming...so plan a movie marathon or binge watch session.

A few weeks ago I actually got around to making the mustard I had set out to make using these seeds.

It turned out great!

I was amazed at the distinct wasabi taste.

Imagine...making wasabi in your own backyard!

I will admit I was a little disappointed...it didn't taste more like mustard.

Just being honest.

I guess I'll have to grow mustard greens in order to actually make mustard.

Even still...a very cool experiment indeed.

Thanks go out to The 3 Foragers for inspiring me to move beyond my comfort zone!!!

A day on the lake - Winter Edition

Here's a derrisive issue....WINTER.

Some of us Canadians hate it...

Some of us love it...

Some of us defend our right to freeze our butts off in it...

That's just how we roll.

Our buddy Blaine and his bike.

First off...we live in the Land O Lakes Region.

Check it out here.

Over 5000 lakes, pretty much in my backyard.

(My definition of back yard is fairly broad...but still.)

Second...its good for your health!

I did a post a while back on how getting outdoors 

in the winter time can be a great workout replacement!

It only took an hour to properly pack all of our gear up and head out.

There were 6 of us on this particular trip.

We packed a Thermos of hot chocolate, a few mugs of coffee and tea.

We brought a backpack that folds out into a chair.

We brought some stuff for Owen to do...in between checking lines.

All of our ice fishing and hole drilling gear.

Snacks too...and marshmallows.

A box of newspaper.

Minnows.

Father and son on a borrowed snow machine.

And helmets...can't go far without a helmet.

Riding with Blaine to the fishing spot.

We blazed a trail through the woods across from a relative's house.

We zipped down the frozen creek and lake.

Handsome Husband is also Handy Husband!

He shows Owen the ropes...er...lines...

They have father-son time.

He's also Hercules Husband...when it comes to hand drilling our fishing holes.

"10-12 inches of ice" he reports.

Moose

Clown

We brought some spray bottles filled with water and food colouring.

I had no idea how long they would last before they froze...

but it was only -4 degrees Celcius.

It seemed a great way to keep his attention...when watching a line for a jiggle wanes.

I scoured the shoreline for dead branches.

It seems weird to be walking along the edge of the lake...on the water side.

Owen and I explored up the steep hills to find a deer bed!

They nose up the dry leaves from under the snow.

Some of the beds showed how the heat from the animal melted the snow evenly around it.

(deer scat close by too)

We were pretty high up...but that's part of the fun!

But the best part of the day was the incredible peace that surrounded us.

Calm.

Quiet.

Serene.

Our pal Pepe, who is Uncle Pepe to Owen.

I love seeing him impart manly wisdom to our son.

I love it that Owen has such positive and positively cool men to look up to in his life.

I fix up a fire on the shoreline.

I make sure that I situate it in a safe place.

Owen takes a marshmallow break...

but the fire helps us warm cold fingers when needed.

(You can't keep your gloves on the whole time while ice fishing.)

I am so in love with the rock formations of South Frontenac County.

Takes my breath away.

I'm currently reading "Their Enduring Spirit:  the History of Frontenac Provincial Park 1783-1990"

by Christian Barber with Terry Fuchs.

I'm totally enthralled with the author's description of the geological implications.

Owen loves the rocks too..but for different reasons.

He is at his absolute best when he's outdoors.

A country boy in all his glory.

A 3lb pike!

Now that is a happy country fella!

We ate this lovely pike and gave our blessings.

We live in a glorious part of the world...where we can go out,

be in nature and bring home dinner.

How do you enjoy winter outdoors?

(if you don't do it now...you should seriously start)

If you need some help...here is a list of my favorite things about Winter!