It's the most wonderful time of the year...

This year is different.  David, Raquel and I are not travelling for the holiday.  It is our first Christmas together at home.  It is wonderful.  A few days ago, we made our environmentally conscious Christmas tree purchase.  We drove a few miles down the road to the Christmas tree farm and cut down our Christmas tree.  That's about as local as you can get, short of growing a tree in your back yard, which we tried to do (thanks for the tree last year, Dad, it was doing good until about three weeks ago and it started to die :(.  We walked/ran around the field of trees.  David said that Raquel was going to choose the tree, but what he really meant was that she was going to say "I want that one" and we were going to say, "I think that one is too big".  It was a joyful time and no one got hurt with a hack saw!  It helps that the trunk of the tree is only about 4 in. in diameter.  I have to say that I feel good about our purchase.  It doesn't smell as good as the trees that we had growing up in Minnesota (said with a Minnesota accent), but it is beautiful.

Another thing that I am trying to do this season is bake.  I love to bake.  I love the feel of the dough in my hands.  The only problem is that I am trying to bake "healthily".  (Is that a word?)  I made an exception to my healthy baking kick when Raquel said that she wanted to bake ginger bread cookies.  Actually my first thought was "No way!" because who actually eats those things!  But then I said, "Ok" because I love her and I want her to be involved in the holiday traditions.  I got my recipe ready, all the ingredients out and little one in her helper position on a chair next to me.  All was going well until I put in 1.75 teaspoons of cloves in the mix instead of .75.  Now, I have never made ginger bread cookies before, but I smelled that cloves stuff and I knew that either it would be fine, or it would taste terrible.  And let's face it, ginger bread cookies taste pretty terrible to begin with.  After an internal fit of frustration, I put R in front of Netflix and started over.  Who knows if the cookies would have tasted terrible or not, but I wasn't about to go through the whole rest of the process to find out.  I am not a "trial and error" sort of person.  I want to get it right the first time.  One final thought about baking ginger bread cookies is that molasses is a bit disgusting.  It smells gross, it is incredibly difficult to clean up and maybe it is the reason that I don't like ginger bread cookies, although I can't be sure.  After R's nap, we are going to roll them and bake them so maybe my mind will be changed about these cookies forever.  Finger's crossed.

Until next harvest.

Pictures from the work day

And a farm is formed...

Saturday was the first work day at the land that is owned by the "Beaufort Open Land Trust" which will from now on be referred to as "the farm". David and I were very excited and took great care in preparing for this work day. Well David took great care and I mostly tagged along. We had an amazing turn out. Thanks to all of you who broke your backs and braved the hot sun (despite the 50 degree weather, the sun was hot) in order to help us build a community garden. We successfully built 6 raised beds and a huge compost bin (was I supposed to spell out the "6" there?). I personally spent most of the day shoveling. I have one thing to say about shoveling. Who invented the flat shovel? I mean really, I don't get it. I got ready to dig into the dirt and thud, all my net force applied rebounded back on me in a jarring, hurtful way. (When you're a scientist, you think about things like "net force".) The things don't work! If the idea is to dig, then the tool must be able to dig. Right? I braved my shovel inadequacies and worked my fingers to blisters and enjoyed every moment of it.

Thank you David for getting me out there. I don't always think of a morning spent sweating in 50 degree weather as fun, but Saturday was fun. Working along side people that I love made the experience much more enjoyable.

All of this reminiscing on the day is making my body ache all over again so I shall depart.

Until next harvest.

Chickens's 1st Recess

Yesterday the baby chickies had their very first recess. As soon as Faith came home, we decided to take full advantage of the unbelievable Thanksgiving-week weather we're experiencing. After spending my 950th hour (give or take) on http://www.mypetchicken.com doing research about those little peckers living in my garage, I encountered a suggestion that I am sure I must have read and logged deep within the recesses (variety #2) of my chicken database, which some of you may know as a brain, that said that between the 2nd and 4th weeks of life we should take the chickens outside if it's warm enough ~ 65-70 degrees. --I'm fairly certain that the previous sentence contains multiple grammatical errors, one of which we like to know as "run-on." Please forgive me, and ignore this rant.

Yesterday was 75 degrees. Beautiful weather. (<--- incomplete sentence)

They were so cute. At first, they were scurred. (<--- misspelled intentionally to convey a colloquialism) They tried to all get back into the box that I used to carry them out in. After I removed them for the 2nd (<--- technically, you're supposed to spell out a one digit number, unless it's used in the same sentence as a two digit number, in which case you can chose between forms, maintaining consistency) time, and turned the box over, they began exploring, scratching, pecking, and otherwise being very chickeny.

At any rate- if the rain holds off today, I intend to take them outside again. Assuming everything goes as planned, I will take some epic, unbelievably beautiful photographs of them and post them on this here blog.

Actually- it would be really fantastic if it rained.

As Raquelly would tell you: "Peace out!"

That new chicken smell

I'm sure that you are thinking that this post is going to have to do with the smell of chickens. Well, you're wrong. This is about having something new. I love the smell of new books (do you feel me Kai-Ning?). In fact, every time I go into Barnes and Noble, I get a little bit intoxicated. I become overwhelmed with the possibility of learning something new. When I open a new book, I love when it has a good beginning, because it makes me want to devour the whole book all at once. I felt the same way about the chickens. I couldn't wait for them to hatch and then to arrive in the mail. I was disappointed that I had to work when David went to get them from the post office. At first, I was obsessed with going to see them as soon as I got home. I could hardly go a minute without picking them up or watching them. I was enthralled. I am sad to report that this newness is wearing off. They are slowly becoming a part of the normal landscape of my life. I don't have the compulsion to watch them as I once had. I went the whole day today without checking on them. Is this the normal progression of life? Do new things always lose their glamor over time? I'm not sure. Maybe you think differently.

Until Next Harvest

$5 in my pocket

Last night I won myself $5. At Raquel's Thanksgiving program, all of the students got up to the microphone and said what they were thankful for. Before any child said anything, I turned around to David and said, "I bet you $5 that she is going to say the chickens." All the other children said that they were thankful for their mommies and daddies, so as the line got shorter, I lost my confidence a little bit. Needless to say, I was overly joyed when I won the bet. Check out the video. And yes, that is me screaming with joy in the background. Who knew that $5 and 5 seconds worth of video would make a person so happy?

Learning curve

What I think that I am enjoying most about this project is the insane learning curve that we have. As each new problem comes up, we may look on line to get some ideas, but for the most part we have to come up with the solution ourselves. This makes it incredibly interesting and a good stretching exercise for me (the perfectionist). I want to do things right the very first time that I do them, but with raising chickens, that is impossible. So I am unlearning my perfectionist ways, thank God!

Above is a picture of Ryan and David building our chicken hotel. It is made of largely recycled materials thanks to our lovely neighbors. You also see some cool pictures of the chickens under their red light. This keeps them warm and doesn't keep them up all night. I love the picture of them all chillin' together. It is hilarious when we try to pick them up, because they are so fast now. If the brooder box was any bigger, they might win the battle. Raquel loves having our new project. She is getting excited for Tuesday when she will get to hold them!

Until next harvest.

I believe I can fly

That is the theme song around our house these days. Our baby chicks are growing wings. In a matter of hours, their soft downy coat slowly is turning into flyable (maybe I meant viable) feathers. Thanks David for setting up their home, because you nailed it. The temperature is just right, they have enough food and water and they are safe. Boy are they ever cute, too. If it weren't for the constant danger of them pooping all over my clothes, I would want to hold one all the time. Expect for maybe when I'm preparing food, or sleeping, or, well, you know when else. I was telling David the other day that I love having the chickens, because it is our first major step toward living within our ideals. Who knows, some day we may be "off the grid" (GASP). Those people are some weird hippies!

A few days ago, I was encouraged by Christmas music. I am beginning to fall more and more in love with good Christmas music. My favorite album currently is any of the Sufjan Stevens ones. If you haven't heard about them, you need to. The words were "Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice" and he was singing it like he was savoring his favorite kind of chocolate. I just closed my eyes and rejoiced. It was awesome.

Until the next harvest

Chicken To-Do's abound!

Our chicks were born today. Forever, until it matters no longer, I will refer to November 8, 2010 as the birthday of the newest additions to the Hislop family. They ship today or tomorrow, and will arrive on Wednesday... we hope. If they fail to arrive by Thursday, their doom will be most absolutely imminent.

In other news, Ryan and I built a chicken coop while he was here on vacation. It's almost finished- I just have to build the roof. It's pretty fancy, and apart from the nails, built with recycled materials. The wood used to be a deck, and the roof was some scrap left over from another project. Just as soon as I (really, probably Faith) is able, there will be pictures posted of both the coop and the babies!! Eggs will be available in about 5-6 months on a limited basis-- determined by the amount of affection we feel for you. Yes, you.

In other news- new design on the blog... would love some feedback, but only if it's positive! That's a joke... any feedback is welcome.

Faith always closes with "Until next harvest" but I haven't come up with anything catchy just yet, so I'll leave it with a simple ciao.

Ciao.

Chickens!

In a little over a week, we will have chickens! After careful research and a little faith, we are ordering 4 different kinds. Some are good winter layers, others are beautiful; we have a little bit of everything. David has yet to build the chicken tractor, but we won't need it for another 5 weeks, maybe longer if the winter starts out cold. The little ones are going to be very small when we get them and we want them to stay nice and warm until they are ready to brave the winter winds. What an adventure! We are unsure as to how our dogs will handle it (picture nail biting). As with our other pets, we are expecting some sleepless nights. But it will be all worth it when we get a continuous stream of eggs. We will probably have many more than we will need, but we will provide for the in-laws too. :) Our neighbor down the street recently ordered chickens from the same online provider and we were fortunate to see their successful chickens growing bigger and bigger. It is nice to see so many people reconnecting with the planet and striving to do things more organically. Apparently the post office is getting used to receiving livestock now.

The land on the island is mowed, but not yet plowed. We are working hard on plans for spring. We have someone who is willing to plow now, but I am not sure if it isn't too late to plant for a winter harvest.

Until next harvest.

Lots of rain

We don't need to struggle to catch any rain these days. I have never seen so much rain. Normally, we have scattered thundershowers, but the last few days has been a torrential downpour. It makes me wonder if I didn't move to the Amazon! It has been beautiful. My lovely daughter has been excited, because it "makes the plants feel better" when it rains. I am in awe of how wonderful her perspective is on the rain. I hear the thunder and rain outside and am looking forward to how green everything is going to be.

I start back to work tomorrow. I am commited to providing good food for my family, so I will continue my bread baking, however, it won't be with the same regularity as before.

We are still waiting to start our new garden.

Something we have learned, though, is to not plant so many hot pepper plants. We had so many seeds and we planted a bunch of habanero plants. Well, I don't need to tell you that the peppers are still on the vine. What do I need with 20 habanero peppers?

Until next harvest.

Sadness

When we returned from our time in Arizona, we were greeted by sadness in the garden. We finally had time to get dirty, but mother nature had other plans. Shortly after we left, there was a heavy storm and then immense heat, which killed off most everything we had in the garden. Before we left, I was excited about the prospect of canning tomatoes and okra, but my dream could not be realized this season. My eyes were wide open to the realization that we don't, in any way, control the final outcome of the garden. So many factors are involved, importantly the weather. We can only do the best we can to temper all of the influences that want to destroy what we create.

It is still blazes hot here and so we will wait a few more weeks before we plant our fall crops. What I don't understand is that originally, the summer break was meant to free children to help with the harvest, but right when we are going to get started in the garden again, I have to back to work. Next year, we are not going on vacation until August! We don't want to miss a thing.

In other news, my adventures in baking bread have developed nicely. I have experimented some and have had some failures. My family has greatly enjoyed my ambitions. :) As I have worked with dough, I have realized how much I love baking! Desserts are my thing and I might have a pastry chef career in the future.

Until next harvest.

New to blogging

Faith signing on to the world of blogging. Right now, I am enjoying a vacation. Soon, I will have my hands in six inches of dirt. We return to South Carolina to continue our adventures in gardening. We started our adventures in January of this year with white packages of seeds bought on the internet. I had no idea what I was doing or what I was buying. Our seeds turned into seedlings which, when placed in a trench of black cow and dirt, turned into shoulder high tomato plants. Joy to the Earth! My canning begins in two short weeks. What a gift from the Earth!

Geoffrey thinks my tag line should be "Get corny with it".

For now my tag will be, "Until next harvest".