Hades the billy

We have a guest in our yard.  His name is Hades (another name for hell).  He is here to court the ladies. Usually the female goats go into estrus from fall to early spring.  However, if the ladies are exposed to a buck then they will go into heat.  He is very stinky and makes weird noises.

Apples are in! One of our four apple trees had blooms this spring and now we have a dozen apples growing happily in our garden.

Before and after there was Rhubarb

Learning to be on the porch and not taking off is one of Fugee's last tricks.  I don't think I could write a post with out a picture of her in it.  She brings a smile to our faces from the moment we wake up to the moment she curls in bed with us. 

I collected the Rhubarb stalks from a plant that was shaded by raspberries last year.  I cleared that section of the garden this year and the plant grew exponentially! 

I collected the stalks by pulling them out of the plant with a motion to the right or left of the main stem.  Sometimes you might break the stalk and that is okay, but you have to freeze the stalk or use it right away.  The leaves of Rhubarb are poisonous.  

I washed the stalks and cut them in 1 inch pieces, put them in freezer bag and hopefully make strawberry-rhubarb jam, rhubarb cake and rhubarb sauce.

We have also named another of our chickens... She has the least amount of black on her beak, therefore she is now called Blanca or Blanquita!

Rice and rows

Finally, I finished spreading the mulch among new and old rows of the garden.  I have also transplanted some rhubarb to a new spot in the garden and of course: weeded for hours.  I covered the potato bed with soiled hay from the goat pen.  It had both feces and urine and should be great fertilizer!  I also moved another pile of wood and decomposed wood to the new squash bed by the pond.  I will plant the squash seeds in the following weeks and cucumbers as well.

I am a tiny bit disappointed about loosing some of the broccoli starters in the garden.  First the plants  lost their leaves and finally died very slowly, and at the same time, other plants did great and grew nicely.  I don't know what is the root of problem.  Have to check some books.

About cooking: I am very bad at making rice: I have burned it, over-cooked it, under-cooked it, under seasoned it and made  as salty and as inedible as humanly possible. But not tonight, I have redeemed myself with this recipe: 

Stuffing Rice 

by DVD

1 cup of Basmati Rice 

1 1/2 cup of water

1 Tablespoon of sunflower oil 

1 teaspoon of crazy salt 

1 teaspoon of dried basil 

2 Tablespoons of dried veggie broth

1 Tablespoon of Mirin  

1 cup of spinach, about 1/3 cup cooked

1/2 Tablespoon olive oil

2 Tablespoons of chopped yellow onion 

1 big Garlic clove

1 bunch of grape leaves (preserved in brine)

Directions 

1. I use a pressure cooker to cook my rice. In medium high,  first spread the sunflower oil in any pan or pot and let it warm up, then pour the cup of rice in the pot.

2. Add basil, mirin, veggie broth and crazy salt and let it cook for about 3 minutes in medium high 

3. Then add the water and let it come to a boil and let it boil for another 3-5 minutes

4. Lower heat to the lowest possible temperature and cover, let it simmer for 10-15 minutes and when the water is gone, then stir and cover again. Let cook for another 3 minutes

4. Check on the rice every so often and stir until you see that the water is drying up, you can choose to have the cover on the pot or not

5. Meanwhile cook the spinach with olive oil, until bright green and I happened to have olives so I added a lit bit of the brine to the spinach and a bit of lemon juice 

6. Keep checking on the rice and you may turn the heat up a bit to medium

7. Add onions to the cooked spinach and garlic, but when the spinach is cooling, set aside

8. Chop the grape leaves and add to the rice, keep stirring 

9. Then add the spinach mix and yeahy ! you have made awesome rice 

I then stuffed blanched collards with it and rolled them like a burrito 

They came out really good 

so I decided to post it and maybe you can now redeem yourself too 

if you need to

Chickens in the family

I don't remember this picture, but I can remember growing up with chickens, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, dogs, song birds and fish. My favorite memories of growing up were of taking care of them.  Having a big yard gave us the space to house them and gave us the opportunity to learn about responsibility, compassion and made me love nature.

We just brought home 4 black australops chickens. One of them has a name, Bolt.  She is the biggest one and the tips of her wings have a white stripe that can be seen when her wings are tucked in.  They roost in the basement in the box of our new chest freezer, which by the way is the greatest investment for our food supply this fall and winter.  They love being in the garden and their feces should be awesome for the plants.  They are getting in the flower patch and the deck, which are places that we don't want them to be, but how can we mad at them?  They are adorable.  

The other three don't have names yet. We are waiting for their personalities to shine thru so that we can name them.  So far, they follow me around in the garden and eat the bugs I unveil while I am weeding.

I love hearing their calls since they have a variety depending on their situation. When one of them is lost, she sounds differently and when they are content they sound another call.