Adventures of an urban homesteader growing greens, preserving the harvest and tending a backyard barnyard
Quick! It’s blue sky outside! I’ve decided to drive to the beach today. The clear sky might only last the drive there, but that’s the Oregon coast for ya. It can be lovely in Portland and miserable on the coast. I have loads of yard work/chicken maintenance I should probably do instead… But no. Must seize the day!
Ah.. ten days off work and I decided to take a little hiatus. Lovely holiday, merriment was had. Back to the ebb and flow of things. Christmas morning I made a delicious apple pie, which I enjoyed for breakfast many mornings after. I had two dogs (one borrowed) and a cat keeping me company in our toasty house. And I just kept thinking about the
Yesterday I was out doing my weekly cleaning of the chicken coop when I found a little surprise. As I was sweeping out the hen house, out popped a little field mouse from one of the nesting boxes! It startled me, but I didn’t jump up and down shrieking or anything. A little pat on the back for that one… I went along cleaning and
All structure in my life has flown out the door around the same time Jay flew out of town. He is visiting family for about a week down south. Unfortunately, we won’t be together for Christmas, but I am trying to look at the bright side: No horrendous holiday airport lines… no stripping off my shoes, belt, and coat in front of strangers to shiver
Okay, I am tired of sheet mulching. I am going to pretend this is the final chapter of the project, but in reality I still have another load of wood chips coming this week so I can finish spreading a more presentable mulch material over our brown, soggy leaf layer. I think the neighbors would probably appreciate that. The City of Portland delivered collected leaves
Not gardening-related at all… I finally got around to seeing this Irish film called “Once“. I’ve been hearing about it for awhile from friends. It’s now playing at all the fabulous second-run movie theaters in Portland, so I checked it out the other night not knowing what to expect really. It was so moving – I can’t recommend it highly enough. The movie is about
The latest addition to my growing cookbook collection is called The Produce Bible, by Leanne Kitchen (nice name). I was wandering through the Powell’s Home & Garden location on Hawthorne and it caught my eye. Although I have a few books already with some good gardener/farmer’s market recipes, this one has been a nice addition. It was one of the staff recommendations and the photography
The mound of leaves from the city was dropped off last Thursday, with 2-3 more loads on their way over the coming weeks. I was all set to dig in this weekend, but didn’t even make a dent. Saturday rained all day. This is Portland – I am used to working outside in the rain. But the rain was coming down in sheets all day,
I am here just waiting patiently for Part III of the Great Sheet Mulching Project… The city was suppose to drop off a huge load of leaves a couple weeks ago. Every evening I come home expecting to see the towering mound, but nary a mound to be found. I plan to call them today and see what’s up. I definitely need a thicker layer
I stumbled upon this picture this evening as I was rummaging through some old photos. It’s me feeding my little chick Mabel with an eye dropped. She didn’t make it in the end, but I certainly tried everything to keep her around. Pearl, Hazel, and Winnie are all doing well. A little bored I think with the weather so chilly. I started feeding them some
