It's the Simple Things

09/29/2015

How a side-dish of roasted carrots can take three summers to create:

Did you know that carrots are actually biennials? That means they don't produce flowers or seeds until their second season. There are garden flowers like that, too. Foxglove comes to mind.

Anyhow, way back in the spring of 2013, we planted carrots in neat little rows in this awkward bed that didn't know what it wanted to be yet. We enjoyed most of our bounty that late summer, but never got around to pulling ALL of the carrots.

In the spring of 2014 I thought maybe that awkward bed wanted to become my chamomile garden, so I seeded it, watered it, and in the end, harvested a few flowers for chamomile for tea. What I DIDN'T do was w**d it much (again, it's an awkward little bed...and w**ding's not my favorite part of gardening). I noticed a few errant carrots growing in the chamomile that summer and pulled one, only to find this ugly, whoa-that-used-to-be-a-carrot thing at the end of a carrot top.

I left the rest where they were (after all, they weren't edible, and it's an awkward bed) and watched them grow their interesting flowers. But mostly I ignored them.

Fast forward to this morning, fall of 2015. The chamomile harvest has been over with for weeks, which means I've neglected that bed for weeks, too. Don passed it this morning and noticed a carrot growing. One pick led to another and before I knew it, he came in with more than a dozen carrots! I tossed some of them with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, fresh rosemary (from the garden), kosher salt, and pepper and roasted them in the oven. They were delicious!

That, my friends, is how you, too, can spend three summers to make a side dish! ;)

08/19/2015

We have an over-achiever in the hen house! We didn't expect any eggs for another 4-6 weeks, but Don found the one on the right in a nesting box this morning! The egg on the left is a large Eggland's Best, for comparison. Young chickens always start off laying small eggs.

I can finally see the light at the end of the buying-eggs-at-the-store tunnel and it looks like an omelet! ;)

08/02/2015

Dear Heavenly Father,

I meant to come to church this morning. Really, I did. But I went out to water the flowers first because it's going to be another scorcher. That's when the first hummingbird decided to take a shower in the spray. I froze; a living, breathing, garden statue. I carefully called to Don, who was splitting wood, and he went and grabbed the camera. One hummingbird eventually became two, then three, then four, and finally five. They dashed through the spray again and again. They chased each other. They landed on the leaves of the sunflower, and on the wire supporting the raspberries. One landed on the branches of the honeysuckle bush where the water was more mist than spray. She raised her head high, her long beak pointed towards the sky. I felt I knew her joy, because I'd felt it in the shower many times; that "ahh" moment when the water first washes over me.

I stayed too long Lord, watering the hummingbirds. I missed Mass, but I enjoyed our time in the garden together! Thank you.

08/01/2015

I love wood heat. This week we had four cords delivered. In case you didn't know, a cord of wood is a stack that's 4 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 8 feet long. Ours came in rounds, because my crazy Carpenter likes splitting wood (and as you can see, he's made a good dent in it).

Since the wood arrived, morning coffee on the deck has meant not just an opportunity to watch the hummingbirds play, but also the chance to breath deep the smell of split, red fir. It's wonderful.

I love how easily wood heats our main living area, keeping our bedroom nice and cool. I love that it's a renewable resource that burns so efficiently (when done right).

I get such a sense of security seeing this mess in the backyard. Bring it, old-man winter! Bring it, lousy economy! The Fischer's are staying warm this winter!

Do you heat with wood, too?

07/14/2015

Look who I found in the garden today! Pretty sure you can't tell it from the pictures, but she's pregnant. There will be little ones following her in no time (as soon as I get some more black tiles fired...I underestimated).

07/03/2015

Went to the playhouse early this morning to work on my ladybug for the garden. The view out the playhouse door was spectacular, as was the sound of the birds in the trees. The western tiger swallowtail butterfly was hard at work on the purple phlox when I came in.

06/22/2015

Pictures from the garden on this first full day of summer.

06/18/2015

On May 10th the new chickens moved INTO the chicken tractor. This morning they moved out into the real world (a fenced part of the garden). It took Don moving their water outside of the pen to get them to cross the threshold. Silly birds! Once they discovered their freedom, they were happy!

06/18/2015

This is horrible. While I'm not likely to go vegan any time soon, I believe the animals that nourish us should be cared for properly. What kind of milk can you get from a sick, sad cow? Unfortunately, this treatment might be more the norm than an oddity.

Is your milk and cheese the product of blatant animal cruelty? A new undercover investigation by Mercy For Animals shows workers at Cactus Acres—a member of Dairy Farmers of America—violently punching, stabbing, and beating animals. Watch the video, then take action!

06/17/2015

Borage sure has beautiful blue flowers! I wish they didn't grow in droopy clusters, though, so they'd be easier to see and enjoy! The bees and butterflies don't seem to mind!

05/11/2015

Oh, they grow up so fast! The new girls on the farm got moved to the chicken tractor today. It's always fun watching them discover the space, the grass, the bugs, and the ability to flap their wings to their heart's content!