More For The Garden

Ahhh what a day!! After the farmers market we went by the nursery. "Just to look" I told myself. Well I found plenty to look at and we now have several more veggies in the garden.



Today I planted eggplant, pepporcini, cantelope and basil. I also divided my aloe and replanted all the "babies" into pots. We now have 6 aloe plants. Can you guess what I'll be giving as gifts this year??



Scott has gotten excited about the prospect of growing more sago palms from the tiny ones that shoot out from the trunk of our existing palm. At the nursery we got organic "sure start" (which seems to be just a turbo charged fertilizer). I prised off a couple of the mini-sagos and Scott set about potting them. Well see how it goes.

Our Daily Bread

At last! I have successfully made BREAD!!! I have unsuccessfully made bread many many times. Ooooooooh!!! I am extremely impressed with myself.

If you have never attempted bread making before, let me tell you the first thing you need to know. CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULE. Every time I have made bread, whether the results be good or bad, it was an all day engagement.

• First you assemble and mix all the ingredients (20 min).





• After mixing the initial ingredients, you let the dough sit until it becomes "big and bubbly" (30 min)





• Then you knead in even more flour (15 min).





• Next, you put your gorgeous and slightly sticky dough into a greased bowl, cover it with a cup towel and let it "rise". This is an unexact amount of time. The dough needs to double in size. Todays dough took about (1.5 hours).





• After the dough is sufficiently......doughy, you "punch" it down and divide it into the correct number of loaves. Today, I made 3.





• Now, you place each loave into its own greased pan and allow it to rise AGAIN. (30 min).
  
  

Then, at last, the dough is ready to become bread!! Put your loaves into the oven and soon (another 30 min) you have beautiful, fresh, wholesome, delicious, preservative-free, home made bread.

Wow, imagine how much longer this would take if I had to grind my own flour.

Holy Moley!

Heat wave! California weather is so mild, all of a sudden we've got 100 degree weather.

My chickens are pissed and poor Seamus Fuzzworth is just laying around trying to stay cool. Looks like its time to shave the bunny. Hee Hee Hee. That sounds a bit dirty. I like it!

Garden Rewards

Here are some tiny strawberries. Every day, there are more ready to be picked.

I feel like I havn't planted enough. Ahhh! This weekend, I'm digging up a new patch in the front yard to put out more broccoli lettuce and cabbage. The chard is looking rough (going to seed) so I should probably sow some more seeds and replace the older plants. What is the lifespan of a chard anyway.

I need more space!! I've planted most of what I want to grow this year, but still need at least another bed to get everything I want. I am toying with the idea of doing an in ground planting. I know, what a revolutionary I am that I would consider forgoing the raised bed and plant directly in the ground!!

We're already picking snap peas, strawberries, and onions from the garden! The strawberries were planted last year and didn't do much. This year, we've already got a small bushels worth. Apparantly strawberries take a while to produce.

We bought an apple tree last weekend. Its formed to grow laterally, ( I'm pretty sure the term is espalier ) and has a couple of tiny little apples on it already. Well see if they come to anything. It's still in the pot while I decide where to plant it. I have a couple of places I think it will do well, but I'm deliberating.

The chickens are doing well. Laying has been kicked into overdrive and we are overflowing with eggs. It's the best thing to watch the chickens come running around the corner when they hear the back door open! They know I've got something good for them. Their favorites are black sunflower seeds, chard from the garden, and the girls leftover cereal! We had a scavenger problem over winter, something was getting to the eggs and eating them all up! The hens all took to laying in strange spots and it was like an easter egg hunt every day! I've finally got them laying in the coop again, but they wont go in the boxes. Instead they lay in a secluded corner full of hay and feathers. At least I know where to find them!

Seamus the bunny. Ahhh Seamus. He's a bit anti social. I can't really blame him, the girls like to dress him up in baby clothes and that cant be fun for him. His wool really is lovely, though. He's gotten a couple of haircuts now and the angora is soft, warm, and lofty. When we are home, he has full run of the backroom and has great fun in the girls doll house, where he likes to hide. I plan on listing the wool in little batches on ETSY and seeing if it will sell at all. Who knows!

My birthday is coming up and I have a new tatttoo planned. I'll see if I can rustle up a drawing of what I want and post it here. Then, after I get it I'll take pics and put them up. I'm going to try 0ut a new artist and will be meeting him on Monday to go over what I want. I know it will include yarn, needles, siscors, and maybe a pin cushion. If you search Knit Tattoos on Flickr you will see some wonderful crafty tattoos!