Ready for the Chicks

Our chicks are scheduled to arrive this week.  We don't know which day; it will be either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.  We're so excited!  And, incredibly, completely ready for them.  We had ordered everything we needed about a month ago, and yesterday we finally took it all out and made a cozy bed for them complete with heat lamp.  It's kind of a cardboard condo.  I ground up several bags' worth of leaves to use as their bedding, hopefully enough to last until they can go outside to live.

Dominique finished the outside chicken yard by putting on a door.  Now we're waiting for the coop to arrive - should come next week - but we won't need it for 4-5 weeks yet.

Marmalade Season in SoCal

It's Marmalade season! The citrus are ready. There's a bountiful blood orange tree in the neighborhood. I've decided to find out exactly how much marmalade a single tree can produce. So far I've processed about 20 lbs in three batches. There's a lot more to go. I'll give a final report on volume sometime in April. How much marmalade does a family use in a year? Or, should or could use in a year? And what does that mean regarding use of energy for distribution?

Bees - Osmia

While we wait for Janet's chicks to arrive, I'll tell you about my bees. Two years ago when trying to get the vegetable garden organized we had real trouble with the squash for lack of pollination. Flower after flower fell off and no fruit. So, it seemed clear. If we were going to have a successful garden we would need to address the pollination issue.... so that meant learning about bees.

There are many kinds of bees. Guess what! There are many kinds of solitary (not hive) bees that live in total bliss flying from flower to flower for the mere pleasure of procreating yet another generation of pollinators. Forget the hive, honey, queen bee, worker bees etc. etc. These solitary bees sound like my kind of bee: Low maintenance.

So, I learned about the Mason bee, of which, again, there are many types. I'll let you all do the Google search to learn more.

Short story: I settled on the Osmia lignaria, otherwise known as the Blue Orchard Bee or BOB!
Cute and native, a very important consideration. Of course, I was figuring this out in 2008 and by January of 2009 realized that I was out of luck to do anything constructive for that spring. This is also an aspect of learning about nature: Sometimes nature's cycle cannot be adapted to our convenience. Whoa! Did I really say that?

The picture above shows the natal bee tubes on the bottom shelf that I put out two weeks ago and something is starting to happen. I've actually got two types of bees. On the left are the tubes for the Blue Orchard Mason bees that come out as early spring pollinators. On the right are the Osmia californica that some out later and pollinate into the summer. Both are native to California. In between is just crumpled newspaper to hold the tubes in place. These are solitary but convivial bees and are happy to work side-by-side with others doing the same. One can just make out where some of the mud plugs have come out. Two plugs lie on the shelf in front. I haven't actually spotted any bees yet. Bummer, but they must be around. The Mason bees are black or dark blue. Of course the males come out first and get themselves ready for the females. Hmmm... The idea is that the females will come back and lay fertilized eggs in the cells of the above unit. THEN there should be lots of activity to photograph. I cross my fingers.

Introducing SoCal

Well, this blog is expanding its perspective to include Southern California, Pasadena, specifically. Now, I contribute with some trepidation. Nothing EVER freezes in Southern California. Growing slows, yes, as daylight shortens. But, nothing seems to ever actually die - even the beets.

We (my husband, Mark and I) have been self-sufficient vegetable-wise for almost a year now. Since I am from New England, where, perhaps naively we think, temperature controls much of the growing, it's a new situation to figure out what the cycle in Southern California might be.

Quickly, we now have beets, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, rutabaga, arugula, and peas harvestable.

More to come.

Sparkmann's Dairy

Dom and I took advantage of a road trip to Florida to stop by and visit this dairy that I discovered via Whole Foods.  We arrived at milking time (around 5:00) so we watched them milk the cows for awhile.  They did a lot of washing and the whole process seemed very clean. 

We also saw many calves, ranging in age from 1 day to 5-6 weeks.  They were caged but the cages were quite large.  The one thing I didn't like was that the 1-day-old was already in a cage by himself drinking from a large bottle rather than with his mother.  I'd like to know why that is.

S/he was having trouble finding the rubber teat attached to the bottle and the person taking care of the calves was gently and patiently teaching him/her to find it.

They were very open about letting us walk around by ourselves.  The cows all wander around freely, as far as we could tell.  The calves, as mentioned, are penned but I imagine that's for their own protection.  Maybe also to keep them from their mothers, and vice versa.

They don't claim to be organic but they don't give any growth hormones to the cows.  We ended up buying butter, drinkable yogourt, plus bacon and sausage from another nearby farm.  Haven't tried any of it so far.

In an unrelated aside, the softly falling snow outside my window is so beautiful.  Big fat flakes that are starting to accumulate again.  I already went out for a long walk in it.

Some Local Food Breakthroughs

Good old Whole Foods has led me down the righteous path to the promised land once again.  Well, that may be overstating things a tad, but I really do like that store.

Went grocery shopping for the first time in awhile, determined to do local as much as possible.  I exceeded my expectations and made some exciting discoveries.

In produce, I was able to get strawberries and broccoli from Floriday and cabbage from S. Carolina.  Had to get an onion from California but only bought one.  Don't we grow special onions in Georgia - Vidalia?  Hmmm.

In the dairy section, I found milk from a dairy in south Georgia.  Looked them up on line when I got home and they sell several products on their farm.  Dom and I are going to take a motorcycle ride down there when it gets a bit warmer.

Also bought some locally-made cheeses.  They're good - well, haven't tasted the cheddar yet - but the prices are breathtaking:  $18 and $17 per pound.  Ouch.  Gotta learn to make my own.

Then I found cornmeal grown and ground in Georgia.  Once again, looked them up on line and learned that they sell a whole lot of grain products - wheat flours, mixes, grits, rye flour...  This is especially exciting because I didn't think I'd be able to find that locally.  Now we can start making bread again.

Finally, bought some coffee from an Atlanta roaster.  Ok, I know coffee isn't local, but some things are not to be sacrificed.  Coffee is one; wine is another; I guess gin as well.  (Are we seeng a pattern here?  Too bad I don't smoke - that I could get locally.)  The roaster started in Olympia, Washington; Cathy, you should check them out although I have to admit I don't quite know where Olympia is in relation to Everett.

What a success.

Ready for the Chicks

All the stuff we ordered for the chicks has come already - that was fast!  Dominique finished the chicken yard this past weekend except for the door, which he designed this week and hopefully will get to build tomorrow, if the weather holds.  Can finish preparing my beds, too.

So we're all set.  Just waiting for the week of March 15.

More Progress

The 3-day weekend has been put to good use.  Two days ago Dom and I ordered pretty much everything we'll need to get our chicks through their first 5 months, including feeder, waterer, lamp, and lots of feed.  We've plottedd out where they'll spend the first month of their lives.  And today Dominique did a tremendous job of fencing in the area where their coop will go so that they can safely be "free range" even when we're not around to keep an eye on them.  Can't wait for March 15!

I planted the first batch of seeds that will be grown in the greenhouse.  It's not really that warm, even in the greenhouse, but I wanted to get them started so that they're set when it warms up.  Unfortunately it's too wet to continue preparing the beds but there's plenty of time for that.

Continued the quest for a good food source and think I've found a CSA that will fit the bill.  A tad more research then hopefully I'll be ready to share the discovery and post the link.

Some Disappointments

Dominique and I braved the sub-zero temperatures yesterday to drive to Little 5 Points to check out the food coop there.  As it turned out, the independent bookstore I'd been wanting to visit, A Capella, was right across the street so we went there as well.

Disappointed on both counts.  Sevananda is ok, but nothing special, apart from the fact that it is clearly a very community-oriented store, which is cool.  But in terms of local food, most of their produce was from California, Mexico, and Peru.  Found one locally-made granola, but no other grains or grain products seemed to be regional.

Although it's a co-op, anyone can shop there.  No one ever asked us about becoming members, either.

All in all, I can't see much advantage over Whole Foods, which is a lot closer.

Then we walked across the street to A Capella.  It's a small store, with used as well as new books, well-organized.  I went there with 2 books in mind that I wanted to buy, and thought of 2 others as I was browsing.  I took the one book that I was able to find to the counter, planning to ask about the rest, prepared to order if necessary, understanding that a small store can't stock everything that a big chain can.

The guy at the front counter was on the phone and stayed on the phone while he started to ring up my book.  I indicated to him that I was looking for some other books as well.  He put the phone aside long enough to listen to me, and finally told the person on the other end that he had to call back later.  At last I had his attention.  He looked up one book after the next; none was in stock.  That, of course, I knew, having already looked through the store.  Never did he offer to order a book for me.

I was under the impression that independent bookstores were an endangered species but judging by the customer service at A Capella either (a) they deserve to die out or (b) they're in fine shape, thank you very much, and don't much need my business.  Sorry, won't be making any special trips to Little 5 Points to help support them.

Local Food Coop in Atlanta

Been poking around the internet and may have found something, although it doesn't sound as convenient as Cathy's which actually delivers.

There's a place called Sevenanda in Little 5 Points, which is kind of near downtown.  I'll definitely go check it out, but not until it gets warmer.  Sorry to be such a sissy, but this sub-freezingweather is kicking my butt.  Anyway we're still working through the leftovers from the Walking Club party we won't be buying more food any time soon.

$120 for lifetime membership - how does that compare to yours, Cath?  Plus they encourage (not require) people to work in the store, which I think could be fun.  They support both organic and local food, and it's been around 33 years.  Seems like the spot.

Solar Power

It's amazing how a day of sunshine pushes you out of the house and into the garden.

We're having the first nice day in quite awhile here in Atlanta, and Dominique and I ran outside as soon as possible to make hay while the sun shone.  (Unfortunately, it's already starting to cloud up.)  Dominique staked out the space for our chicken yard while I finally ordered our chicken coop from etsy.  It won't ship until March 15 but that's ok, the chicks will need to be inside where it's warm and we can keep an eye on them for the first few weeks.

Then I started on the beds in the lower 40.  The earth is really improving; much less of that horrible red Georgia clay and much more of the dark loamy stuff.  Result:  we seem to be getting a better class of weeds.  Used to be very tough, tall grass; now it's more of a ground cover that would actually be nice if it weren't where I'm planning my carrots and potatoes and basil and and to be.

Made a small experiment.  In 2 beds I hoed then pulled out the weeds; then covered the entire bed with a deep layer of mulch.  In the third bed, I only hoed and mulched, leaving the weeds where they were.  It was a lot less work, so if the result is the same - i.e., weedless beds, I hope - then I can continue doing it that way.  Unfortunately I won't know the outcome until April, when I prepare the beds for actual planting, so I'll have to decide what to do with the rest of the beds in the meantime.

A very big toad jumped out the leaves in one of the beds.  Quite a surprise.  He didn't seem at all bothered by me and in fact I had to give him a gentle poke to make him move so I could see if he was ok.  He was.  I yelled for Dominique to come down, which scared him (Dom) to death, but eventually he brought his camera and we got some great shots.  He (the toad) seemed a little dopey; do toads hibernate in winter?

Consolation

I was feeling bad about not really putting too much into practice so far.  Ok, I've got chicks and seeds coming, but for the moment, we're still just eating whatever we want or whatever we've got and it's not particularly local and most of it isn't even organic.  Most if not all of the farmer's markets in this area are closed now (although I need to be more diligent in checking thatout).

Fortunately, I got to the part in the book where she's pointing out that if you start reading this in the middle of winter - as I have - you've got to accept that there's not much you can do except plan ahead.  So I guess I'm really doing what I need to be doing, which is nothing to feel bad about.

I will, at least, find out if some of the farmer's markets are open, and also I need to follow Cathy's lead in looking for food coops that will deliver local food to us.  Project du jour!

Garden Planning

Just ordered nearly $60 worth of seeds, including - fanfare! - artichokes!  Found another great site, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.  Similar to the Seed Exchange in Animal Vegetable Miracle, but oriented toward varieties that do well in southeast US.  Heirloom varieties, for the most part, and mostly organic.  I ordered tomatoes, beets, winter and summer squash, peanuts (!), potatoes, carrots, and peas.  I have seeds left from last year for arugula, cilantro, corn, lettuce, cabbage, Brussel sprous, spinach, and peppers - I hope they're still good.  And I'm counting on my basil to reseed itself as it did last year.

Found out that the chicks are arriving the week of March 10!!!

Chicks!

I'm so excited, I just ordered 4 chicks!!  Two Dominques :-D and 2 Giant Jerseys.  They should arrive some time in March, which gives us plenty of time to prepare.  Oh boy, I can't wait til they get here!

Rules of the road

Ok, so I'm going to California tomorrow.  Does it count as eating local if I bring back a bunch of stuff that's grown in California?  Or is that absolutely cheating?  Seems like all the produce here comes from there, and since I'm going there anyway...  Thoughts?

Slow Start

Dominique made dinner last night.  It was really good, but I'm not sure that we grow avocados here in N. Georgia.  And isn't it a little early for asparagus?  I suppose the salmon could have come from the Atlantic not too far away - or could it?

This is going to take awhile...

In the meantime, I am almost completely out of breakfast food and still no idea where to find locally grown grains for granola, bread.  I didn't think this project would be a weight-loss program but it may turn out that way.

Looming Crisis

Never mind the confit de canard; what am I going to have for breakfast?!?!  I'm running out of Grape Nuts, granola, toast, and bagels - and I don't think any of them is replaceable in their current incarnation.  I need local, organic substitutes and fast!  Ack!

Cathy, you're kind of hanging back.  Help me!

Slow Start

Ok, I haven't done anything yet except research.  But that's because I haven't had to do any shopping - I'm still working through the leftovers from the holidays.  (Amazing none of them has made me sick yet.  Cast iron stomach...)  BUT I'm preparing to pounce just as soon as I run out of everything.  Plus I need my personal French chef to return so he can prepare the confit de canard.  Did you think I was going to do that?  LOL

My first challenge

I've set myself a challenge:  to make an AVM (animal vegetable miracle) confit de canard, based on a recipe I saw in today's NY Times.  I love confit de canard so much that I had it twice in a row on my recent trip to France.  First step:  find a local, well-raised duck.

Where's the beef?

I have been vegetarian in the past and could easily be so again, but I think my French husband would have a cow, so to speak, if I pushed him too hard in that direction.  So, following Kingsolver's lead, I searched for local sources of meat from ranches and farms that raise and slaughter animals humanely and sustainably.

I just found a great site called eatwild.com.  It looks as though they might have different versions by site, Cathy, so check it out.  I specified "Georgia" and got a list (plus information, map and directions) for 16 ranches and farms, plus a few in southern Tennessee and northern Florida.  Plus they tell you which stores and restaurants offer these products.  Plus a whole lot of other information.

I'm going to plot a course to visit at least the nearby ones to make sure they're all that they say they are.  And hopefully meet some nice, interesting, and informative people along the way.

Better living through chickens

This is a great article on how chickens help with sustainable living from My Pet Chicken.   I have been told that I won't be able to get chicks for at least another couple of weeks, so this is a good time to study up.

Yes We Have No Bananas

Ok, this might not be a big deal for most people, but I am slightly addicted to bananas and eat a half or a whole one every day.  SO NO MORE BANANAS.  Have I mentioned how much I love tropical fruit in general?  I guess I need to move to Hawaii so I can eat local.

Bananas

Just as I was getting down to my last half-banana, Dom bought me another 3.  Bless his heart; he knows I eat at least a half every day.  Obviously, however, they don't grow in Georgia and are probably the first thing I will need to give up for this experiment.  They're bought now, though, so it won't be for another 5 or 6 days.

Who's Chicken?

Did major research on chickens today.  Went to mypetchicken.com and picked  a couple of breeds that looked interesting - one of them named "Dominique"!  Criteria were good but not too prolific egg-layers, interesting-looking, and nice dispositions.  I don't want to be chased around by an ornery hen or 3.

Also had some interesting back and forth with the Chicken Coop guy.  I'm wondering how we can keep rats and other rodents out when there's no floor?  He says people put light chicken wire down so that it's still portable but there's some protection.

Chicks seem not to be available until February.

Links

I should post the links I'm talking about if this is going to be useful to anyone.  Here they are:

Georgia farmers market guide:  http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm

Canning equipment:  http://www.canningpantry.com/

The chicken coop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/ChickenCoops

I started my research today, including where I could pick up a copy of the book since I gave Cathy back hers without finishing it.  I found some good online resources including a site that provided information on all the farmer's markets around Atlanta, another that provides canning equipment, and a portable chicken coop on etsy for $449.  I think I have Dominique on board with the chickens and I've asked the chicken coop guy if he knows any reliable sources of chicks.  I think they're not available until later in this season and they sure as hell wouldn't last long in this freeze we're having now.

The Launch - Who, What, Where, Why

We are two sisters, only 15 months apart in age (never mind what age), living in two corners of the country about as far away from each other as possible to get in the continental U.S. Cathy lives in Seattle (Everett, actually), while Janet is in Atlanta.

Thanks to Cathy, we have become inspired by Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, wherein she recounts her family's experiences with eating locally in Virginia. We've decided to see how these principles can be applied where we live, and we thought it would be especially interesting to compare and contrast how they would play out in two very different locations in terms of climate, growing season, resources, culture, terrain (or terroir) - well, just about everything is as different as it can be.

Hence our blog. Starting now, we're going to begin interpreting Barbara's ideas Seattle-style/ Southern-style, and documenting our experiences here. We would welcome comments, ideas, suggestions, and are hopeful that others have at least partially paved the way for us. Hopefully we'll help pave the way for others who want to try a "locavore" lifestyle on a full- or part-time basis.

Let's get started!