IN SHORT...
Here is an abbreviated version of this week on the farm....The chickens are happy and healthy. We're experimenting with some worm farms, using a few old windows, to supplement the protein needed for the chicken's diets. The bees are flourishing - I already had to add another hive body onto each! They are quite productive! There are lots of yellow squash getting bigger every day, plenty of green tomatoes, flowers on the green beans and zucchini. We planted corn, more melons, more cucumbers, pumpkins, and tons of beans - including some heirloom pole beans called "Reverend Taylor." Today, we finished setting up some bamboo trellising for them. These, plus the canopy of sheets shading our kale and chard, secure our garden as being completely insane-looking. "Anything you do that makes your neighbors think your crazy," our papa farmer, Eric, used to say, "probably just means you're doing something right!"- Hannah.
ZEN AND THE ART OF ART.
In the past two days, I have finished two paintings and I am pretty excited, to say the least! It is so good to be painting again, and for Jesse to be able to write. However, June is a busy part of the season, so we have to make time for these pursuits, whether that means getting up before dawn, or working extra hard through the day to feel ok about spending an hour or two painting. These hobbies, however, are very important to our sustainability, because of how important they are to our sanity. Insane farmers does not equal sustainable! And I can assure you, it feels good to have two new finished pieces and a couple more in the works! Now... where to put them?- Hannah.
WENDELL WEDNESDAY.
Remember when Wendell looked like this? I have started painting and drawing and making art, partly because I miss it and we now have some space for me to set up a studio....but also partly because I want to hang some of my work around town and start making some much needed cash. *SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT* anybody want some art? Portraits of people, pets, inanimate objects? *END SHAMELESS PLUG* But seriously, I think Wendell is my new muse.
SIXTEEN LADIES.
It seemed like we built our chicken coop ages ago....and we have been waiting and waiting for the day we could fill it with our own little flock. Some hard-working folks have been busy clearing out all the leftover debris and junk from our yard this week...so we decided it was time to find some chickens!It was very last minute, but the ever-reliable Craigslist came to our rescue. And now - we have our girls! Sixteen. Barred rocks (the black and white speckled ones), Golden Comets (brown and white), and White Leghorns - or "Leggerns" as they seem to be called around these parts. They are pullets - which is basically like teenagers - so they aren't quite laying yet. But we are more than happy to bring them home while they are still developing, so that we can get them started on a good diet and out on some fresh grass before enjoying their eggs!We are so in love. Yesterday, I just sat with them for almost an hour...feeding them worms and naming them. We've have named the four Golden Comet's: Rose, Blanche, Dorothy, and Sophia (our Golden Girls). Plus, we got an extra chicken for free: She was a "dirty bird," basically a cross of two breeds and therefore useless to the farmer who registers his flocks. We love her the most, don't tell the others. She is the barred rock with a brown head you can see in the second-to-last photo. She is a TOTAL diva. Her name: Beyonce.We still have a lot more to name: suggestions?- Hannah.
