tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55774561063405053102024-03-13T11:07:47.199-07:00Rachel's Tiny FarmWhat's growing (or will be) spring 2008:
Grapes, Strawberries (4 kinds), Fig (2 kinds), Apple (2 kinds), Peach (3 kinds), Plum, Apricot, Oranges (2 kinds), Clementines, Lemons, Pomegranates, Mulberry (2 kinds), Blackberry, Tomatoes, Green beans, Dry beans, Peppers, Peas, Corn, Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Eggplant, Cucumber, Beets, Radishes, Watermelon, Swiss Chard, Winter and Summer squash, Carrots, Garlic, Onions, Cilantro... and chickens.rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.comBlogger145125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-1551539503035741472012-04-29T18:18:00.003-07:002012-04-29T18:33:35.630-07:00Greenhouse!It's been a long time since I've posted and a lot has been going on. About six months ago, we built a greenhouse. I've wanted one for years, and we didn't have the money to buy a nice kit and I had heard so many mixed reviews about the cheap ones from Harbor Freight, so I just built one from scratch. It ended up costing around $500, but part of that was for rebuilding the aquaponics stand and a little plumbing so I've got a working hose inside it. It's 7.5' deep and 10' wide.<br />
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Greenhouses in Arizona are an odd thing. This will really only get used between Halloween and March first, unless I decide to put an evaporative cooler in it, which I'm on the fence about. It worked fantastically for starting all of my spring seedlings and I had enough room to grow some extra for a local nursery (urban farm nursery) and a few for the farmer's market. This year's plant sales paid for about half of the cost of the greenhouse, so it looks like it will be a cost-effective endeavor. I also started a bunch of rare varieties of pomegranates and mulberries from cuttings this winter and spring that should go into the ground later this year or next spring. I will do a separate post about that.
An 85˚ room full of plants when it's 50˚ or less outside was wonderful for my husband and I to go warm up in for a few minutes every day. The 175 gallons of water in the aquaponics tank helps keep the temps more stable. I still had to use a small tank heater, but not nearly as much as I would have needed without it. Most of the work on the tiny farm is done solely by yours truly, but when I'm doing large projects that require two sets of hands Wes is willing to help out, especially if the job is going to require the use of the .22 powered nail gun. :)<br />
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I just realized that there aren't any images from the outside after it was completely finished. The sides and doors all have heavy weight greenhouse plastic covering them. I'm not sure if that's a permanent thing or not. We'll see how it holds up.<br />
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Leveling the frame foundation before I poured the cement, it's hot and sunny here, we usually work in sombreros, much to the amusement of people who happen to look in. Notice the old aquaponics set-up in the background</div>
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Aquaponics moved, and in place. Moving this thing required pumping out all of the water, removing all of the hydroton in the growbed and unfortunately pulling out all of the plants. We tried to save some, but I think one chard plant was all that made it from the move.</div>
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Framed! The building this abuts is where I work all day. I can open the window and use the greenhouse for a bit of passive heating!</div>
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Another shot, the wall closest to the camera is the south side. All of the stock tanks, troughs, and barrels were used to store aquaponics water and medium while we moved the system.</div>
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Painted and time for the roof panels to go on.</div>
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A view of the aquaponics set up a little after I transplanted some tomato volunteers from the yard before our first frost, the tomatoes TOOK OFF!</div>
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Here is a view into the greenhouse from the side window with my spring starts growing.</div>
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It's no Martha Stewart greenhouse, but it works really well for the tiny farm!rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-53703119786070496602011-10-31T21:54:00.001-07:002011-10-31T22:23:48.035-07:00Seed swap perilsI host and attend a variety of seed/plant swaps during the year. It's a great way to share seed, learn things and meet people. I just attended a great swap hosted by Phoenix region people from Dave's Garden (an online gardening forum). I brought tons of seeds (because as you all know by now, I'm a seed hoarder) but most of what was at the swap was plants. I don't mean a giant pile of aloe vera pups and a few spindly leftovers from experiments that didn't quite work out. These were beautiful, top-notch plants people were sharing. I came home with an amaryllis, an 18" lime basil plant, two big tomato plants (it's 90˚ here, we're good to grow tomatoes for awhile yet), rain lily bulbs, a bulb of heirloom garlic, broccoli starts, some uncommon hot pepper seeds, and a few small pots. <br /><br />At the fall seed swap I hosted one of the things I brought home were some kale seeds that a woman had saved from her garden. For some reason, amongst my hundreds of varieties of seed, I never seem to have any kale. I was pretty stoked. I got everything planted and that kale shot up so fast it seemed like it was out of the ground the moment it got wet. Pretty unusual in my experience with kale. Here's a picture of the kale bed I shot today:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKxCOu6tqDlzS3DxpTsLOCuSHDuKdNrvKI24-2hIoefl0hlaVp3LUeeNK9bNCFaHxhr4MK8zzZGU0LQ30ZWD7weyVrZWHC1009SkqbRwuYIF9-EUQPi-aaWC3bu7YIWeTZeRL8l6Vzwo/s1600/mustard.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKxCOu6tqDlzS3DxpTsLOCuSHDuKdNrvKI24-2hIoefl0hlaVp3LUeeNK9bNCFaHxhr4MK8zzZGU0LQ30ZWD7weyVrZWHC1009SkqbRwuYIF9-EUQPi-aaWC3bu7YIWeTZeRL8l6Vzwo/s320/mustard.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669889351379097362" /></a><br /><br />What's that you say observant reader? That's not kale? You are correct. That is a bed full of mustard. Which grows like a weed out here. In fact wild mustard is one of our rampant spring 'weeds'. The woman who donated the saved seed, inadvertently saved mustard-- one of two crops (turnips being the other) that have been retired from Rachel's Tiny Farm due to household-wide disdain for eating them. <br /><br />Now this is obviously not a big deal, I'll just take out entire plants to eat instead of only the outside leaves and we'll get through it quickly enough and replant with kale. If the worst thing that happens to you from going to a seed swap is a bed full of unwanted mustard, what have you got to lose? Seed swaps are a great thing to have in a community... and may I recommend the book <span style="font-style:italic;">Seed to Seed</span> by Suzanne Ashworth for the generous seed savers amongst you. ;)rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-36326986866784592092011-10-30T15:41:00.000-07:002011-10-30T15:52:43.085-07:00Farm to trash.This story has a moderately happy ending, but is an excellent illustrator of insane regulation being applied to the wrong people. Cut fresh vegetables are a biohazard, but the little lathed carrots soaked in chlorine, stuffed in plastic bags and shipped hundreds of miles are not a problem. <br />A link to the story reproduced below is <a href="http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/quail-hollow-farm-dinner.htm">HERE.</a> <br /><br />Farm-to-Fork Dinner Fiasco<br />By Laura Bledsoe | October 24, 2011<br /><br />When an over-zealous regulator shows up at a farm dinner demanding that food be destroyed as hungry guests await, who do you call? Here's Laura's account written as a letter to her guests who had come to Quail Hollow Farm expecting a meal of foods harvested from local small family farms.<br /><br />This incident shows the value of the 24/7 legal hotline for farmers like Laura who need help...even on a Friday night! A member benefit like the hotline is available thanks to the financial support of the many FTCLDF members and donors.<br /><br />Dearest Guests, (You have all become dear to us!)<br /><br />What an evening we had this last Friday night! It had all the makings of a really great novel: drama, suspense, anticipation, crisis, heroic efforts, villains and victors, resolution and a happy ending.<br /><br />The evening was everything I had dreamed and hoped it would be. The weather was perfect, the farm was filled with friends and guests roaming around talking about organic, sustainable farming practices. Our young interns were teaching and sharing their passion for farming and their role in it. (A high hope for our future!) The pig didn’t get loose. <br /><br />Our guests were excited to spend an evening together. The food was prepared exquisitely. The long dinner table, under the direction of dear friends, was absolutely stunningly beautiful. The music was superb. The stars were bright and life was really good. <br /><br />And then, …<br /><br />for a few moments, it felt like the rug was pulled out from underneath us and my wonderful world came crashing down. As guests were mingling, finishing tours of the farm, and while the first course of the meal was being prepared and ready to be sent out, a Southern Nevada Health District employee came for an inspection.<br /><br />Because this was a gathering of people invited to our farm for dinner, I had no idea that the Health Department would become involved. I received a phone call from them two days before the event informing me that because this was a “public event” (I would like to know what is the definition of “public” and “private”) we would be required to apply for a “special use permit”. <br /><br />If we did not do so immediately, we would be charged a ridiculous fine.<br /><br />Stunned, we immediately complied. <br /><br />We were in the middle of our harvest day for our CSA shares, a very busy time for us, but Monte immediately left to comply with the demand and filled out the required paper work and paid for the fee. (Did I mention that we live in Overton, nowhere near a Health Department office?) Paper work now in order, he was informed that we would not actually be given the permit until an inspector came to check it all out. <br /><br />She came literally while our guests were arriving! <br /><br />In order to overcome any trouble with the Health Department of cooking on the premises, most of the food was prepared in a certified kitchen in Las Vegas; and to further remove any doubt, we rented a certified kitchen trailer to be here on the farm for the preparation of the meals. The inspector, Mary Oaks, clearly not the one in charge of the inspection as she was constantly on the phone with her superior Susan somebody who was calling all the shots from who knows where. <br /><br />Susan deemed our food unfit for consumption and demanded that we call off the event because: <br /><br />1. Some of the prepared food packages did not have labels on them. (The code actually allows for this if it is to be consumed within 72 hours.) <br /><br />2. Some of the meat was not USDA certified. (Did I mention that this was a farm to fork meal?) <br /><br />3. Some of the food that was prepared in advance was not up to temperature at the time of inspection. (It was being prepared to be brought to proper temperature for serving when the inspection occurred.)<br /><br />4. Even the vegetables prepared in advance had to be thrown out because they were cut and were then considered a “bio-hazard”.<br /><br />5. We did not have receipts for our food. (Reminder! This food came from farms not from the supermarket! I have talked with several chefs who have said that in all their years cooking they have never been asked for receipts.) <br /><br />At this time Monte, trying to reason with Susan to find a possible solution for the problem, suggested turning this event from a “public” event to a “private” event by allowing the guests to become part of our farm club, thus eliminating any jurisdiction or responsibility on their part. This idea infuriated Susan and threatened that if we did not comply the police would be called and personally escort our guests off the property. This is not the vision of the evening we had in mind! So regretfully, again we complied.<br /><br />The only way to keep our guests on the property was to destroy the food.<br /><br />I can’t tell you how sick to my stomach I was watching that first dish of Mint Lamb Meatballs hit the bottom of the unsanitized trash can.<br /><br />Here we were with guests who had paid in advance and had come from long distances away anticipating a wonderful dining experience, waiting for dinner while we were behind the kitchen curtain throwing it away! I know of the hours and labor that went into the preparation of that food.<br /><br />We asked the inspector if we could save the food for a private family event that we were having the next day. (A personal family choice to use our own food.) We were denied and she was insulted that we would even consider endangering our families health. I assured her that I had complete faith and trust in Giovanni our chef and the food that was prepared, (obviously, or I wouldn’t be wanting to serve it to our guests).<br /><br />I then asked if we couldn’t feed the food to our “public guests” or even to our private family, then at least let us feed it to our pigs. (I think it should be a criminal action to waste any resource of the land. Being dedicated to our organic farm, we are forever looking for good inputs into our compost and soil and good food that can be fed to our animals. The animals and compost pile always get our left over garden surplus and food. We truly are trying to be as sustainable as possible.)<br /><br />Again, a call to Susan and another negative response.<br /><br />Okay, so let me get this right.<br /><br />So the food that was raised here on our farm and selected and gathered from familiar local sources, cooked and prepared with skill and love was even unfit to feed to my pigs!?! <br /><br />Who gave them the right to tell me what I feed my animals? <br /><br />Not only were we denied the use of the food for any purpose, to ensure that it truly was unfit for feed of any kind we were again threatened with police action if we did not only throw the food in the trash, but then to add insult to injury, we were ordered to pour bleach on it. <br /><br />Now the food is also unfit for compost as I would be negligent to allow any little critters to nibble on it while it was composting and ingest that bleach resulting in a horrible death. Literally hundreds of pounds of food was good for nothing but adding to our ever increasing land fill!<br /><br />At some point in all of this turmoil Monte reminded me that I had the emergency phone number for the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) on our refrigerator. I put it there never really believing that I would ever have to use it. We became members of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund several years ago as a protection for us, but mostly to add support to other farmers battling against the oppressive legal actions taken against the small farmers trying to produce good wholesome food without government intrusion.<br /><br />The local, sustainable food battle is being waged all across America! May I mention that not one battle has been brought on because of any illness to the patrons of these farms! The battles are started by government officials swooping down on farms and farmers like SWAT teams confiscating not only the wholesome food items produced but even their farm equipment! Some of them actually wearing HAZMAT suits as if they were walking into a nuclear meltdown! I have personally listened to some of their heart wrenching stories and have continued to follow them through the FTCLDF’s updates.<br /><br />Well, I made the call, told my story and within a short period of time received a phone call back from the FTCLDF’s General Counsel, Gary Cox. When told the story, he simply suggested that we apply our fundamental constitutional right to be protected against “unlawful search and seizure.” I simply had to ask Mary two questions. “Do you have a search warrant?” “Do you have an arrest warrant?”<br /><br />With the answers being “No”, I politely and very simply asked her to leave our property. As simple as that! She had no alternative, no higher power, no choice whatsoever but to now comply with my desire. She left in a huff making a scene shouting that she was calling the police. She left no paperwork, no Cease and Desist order, no record of any kind that implicated us for one thing, (we had complied to all their orders) only empty threats and a couple of trash cans full of defiled food. I will get back to “the inspector” and her threats shortly. Let’s get to where it really gets good.<br /><br />While I am on the verge of a literal breakdown, Monte and Gio get creative. All right, we have just thrown all of this food away, we can’t do this, we can’t do that, what CAN we do? Well, we have a vegetable farm and we do have fresh vegetables. (By the way, we were denied even using our fresh vegetables until I informed our inspector that I do have a Producers Certificate from the Nevada Department of Agriculture allowing us to sell our vegetables and other farm products at the Farmers Market. Much of our produce has gone to some of the very finest restaurants in Las Vegas and St. George.)<br /><br />The wind taken out of the inspector's sails, Gio and his crew got cookin’. It just so happened that we had a cooled trailer full of vegetables ready to be taken to market the following day. Monte hooked on to the trailer and backed it up right next to the kitchen. Our interns who were there to greet and serve now got to work with lamp oil and began harvesting anew. Knives were chopping, pots of pasta and rice from our food storage were steaming, our bonfire was now turned into a grill and literal miracles were happening before our eyes!<br /><br />In the meantime, Monte and I had to break the news to our guests. Rather than go into the details here, you can see the video footage on Mark Bowers and Kiki Kalor’s (our friends and guests) website at: http://www.reallyvegasphoto.com/Events/CSA-Farm-Government-Inspection/19707296_v2zFML#1546717636_dJJDZjw <br /><br />We explained the situation, offered anyone interested a full refund, and told them that if they chose to stay their dinner was now literally being prepared fresh, as just now being harvested. The reaction of our guests was the most sobering and inspirational experience of the evening.<br /><br />In an instant we were bonded together.<br /><br />They were, of course, out-raged at the lack of choice they were given in their meal.<br /><br />Out-raged at the arrogance of coming to a farm dinner and being required to use only USDA (government inspected) meats.<br /><br />Outraged at the heavy handedness of the Health Department into their lives. <br /><br />Then there was the most tremendous outpouring of love and support. <br /><br />One of our guests, Marty Keach, informed us that he was an attorney and as appalled as everyone else offered his support and counsel if need be, even if it be to the Supreme Court. He was a great comfort in a tense time. <br /><br />With their approval, Giovanni and crew got cooking and the evening then truly began. The atmosphere turned from tense and angry to loving and supportive. As soon as I heard my brother Steve sit down and begin strumming his guitar, I knew something special was happening. Paid guests volunteered their services. Chef Shawn Wallace, a guest, joined Gio and his team his knife flying through the eggplant and squash. Wendy and Thierry Pressyler and so many that I am not even aware of, were helping to grill and transport dishes. Jason and Chrissy Doolen offered to run quick errands. Jeanne Frost, a server for the Wynn hotel, didn’t take a seat and began serving her fellow guests.<br /><br />Before long we were seated at the beautiful table and the most incredible dishes began coming forth. It was literally “loaves and fishes” appearing before our very eyes! We broke bread together, we laughed, we talked, we shared stories, we came together in the most marvelous way.<br /><br />Now this is what I had dreamed, only more marvelous than I could have ever imagined! The sky being bright with glittering stars, we had the telescopes out and invited any guests who desired to look into our starry heaven. While we were looking into the heavens, heaven was looking down upon us! I can’t tell you the number of times I have felt the hand of providence helping us in the work of this farm.<br /><br />As hard and demanding as this work is, I KNOW that this is what we are meant to do.<br /><br />I KNOW that it is imperative that we stand up for our food choices.<br /><br />I KNOW that local, organic, sustainable food produced by ourselves or by small family, local farms is indispensible to the health and well-being of our families and our communities now and in the future! If this work were not so vitally important, the “evil forces” would not be working so hard to pull it down.<br /><br />We were victorious, we will be victorious, we must be! Our grandchildren’s future is at stake!<br /><br />Back to the inspector. She did call the police. You must remember that we live in a small town. We know these officers. They responded to the call dutifully but were desperately trying to figure out why they had been called. Never in all of their experience had they ever received a call like this.<br /><br />Mary, the inspector, demanded that they give us a citation. The officer in charge said that she was to give us the citation, she responded that no, they were to give us the citation, which they then asked her for what violation. Even with the help of her superior on the phone she could not give them a reason. They asked her to leave which she did. The police were very kind and apologetic for the intrusion. All of this was done without fanfare and out of sight of our guests. The police officers are commended for their professionalism!<br /><br />Now that we have come to the last chapter of our novel, I realize that it ends with a cliff-hanger. As happy as the ending was, it isn’t “happily ever after” yet. This will remain to be seen in the ensuing days, weeks and even years ahead.<br /><br />Tom Collins, our County Commissioner, furious by the events that took place, having formerly been a board member for the Southern Nevada Health District is putting together a meeting with himself, the current board members and ourselves to make sense of all this mess.<br /><br />As so many of you have related verbally and through emails your desire to help and be involved, we will keep you informed as events take place. I feel that we have been compelled to truly become active participants in the ongoing battle over our food choices. This is just one small incident that brings to our awareness how fragile our freedoms are. We are now ready to join the fight! <br /><br />We would encourage all of you who can to contribute and to become a member of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund. They are not only fighting for the farmers, they are fighting for the consumers to have the right to choose. You can find them at farmtoconsumer.org<br /><br />As I close, I am reminded of the passage written so forcefully by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence: <br /><br /> “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.” <br /><br />The same battle continues. I pray the result of the battle will be the same, that we have been “endowed by our Creator with … life and liberty”.<br /><br />We love you all, and thank you with all our souls for your continued love and support! We will stay in touch.<br /><br />With warmest wishes for you and your families,<br /><br />Monte and Laura Bledsoe<br />Written from Quail Hollow Farm<br />October 24, 2011<br />quailhollowfarmcsa.com<br />Email Laura at quailhollowfarm@mvdsl.comrachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-83891915620247214142011-09-27T09:06:00.000-07:002011-09-27T09:29:48.303-07:00Summer break is over!There just isn't much to blog about for me from June through the Equinox. All of the blogs will sound the same-- "Gee, it sure is hot here... 30 days in a row over 110˚... lots of dust, no rain, still hot.. etc" But now that the weather has cooled enough to go outside in the mornings and evenings and my annual desire to give up this crazy farming stuff has passed, I'm back. :)<br /><br />A recap of recent events:<br />Fall planting is getting started. I've put in lots of lettuces, carrots, beets, herbs, peas, parsnips and flowers with more to get planted in mid-October. I'm really going to focus on keeping the gardens well-mulched as a step to help improve soil and plant quality for the long haul. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5u9zNC0mv60U6_znCHT8oa8HMAYnZ774738IXGv3Mtd46EcyiEAu8rwicq9TcDk5ZxVCmLZXZ2eATFjtMIrgDZe2DjGyKQG-8BN6KwEuHqJSZop9rB4EPRc8ZLmLcJEgifLi0WhuAubA/s1600/seedswap4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 278px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5u9zNC0mv60U6_znCHT8oa8HMAYnZ774738IXGv3Mtd46EcyiEAu8rwicq9TcDk5ZxVCmLZXZ2eATFjtMIrgDZe2DjGyKQG-8BN6KwEuHqJSZop9rB4EPRc8ZLmLcJEgifLi0WhuAubA/s320/seedswap4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657077267429657442" />A few of the people that came to the seed swap</a><br /><br />I hosted a seed swap for the <a href="http://www.valleypermaculturealliance.org">Valley Permaculture Alliance</a> (as well as my monthly "Raising Chickens" classes for them and other organizations). I love seed swaps. They are a dream for someone with a seed habit as serious as my own, but it's also great to share with brand new gardeners and watch them get excited when they find out what all they can grow. <br /><br />In neighborhood news: For those of you that read the post a few months back about the people in my neighborhood, you may be interested to know that the mosquito has added to his impressive bicycle fleet and now has a very homemade bmx-ish bicycle built for two. No more hauling the wife around on the modified wheelbarrow attached to the back of his (sort-of) regular bike. Though the one time I've seen him on it he was alone. We also have a new addition whom I'll call the operatic jingleman. He scoots around the neighborhood in a motorized wheelchair on trash pick-up day and grabs things (recycleables maybe?) out of the trash cans with one of those claw-on-a-stick things, all the while belting out what seem like old commercial jingles or tv theme songs. As hard as it may be to believe, I don't think he's crazy, he seems more like he's just out having a good time and thrilled about autumn.rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-314261823668908462011-06-07T17:50:00.001-07:002011-06-07T18:21:36.754-07:00Sour oranges and MarmaladeWe have a giant sour orange tree in our yard, which most people consider a great big waste of space. However when you consider that it's very similar in many ways to a lemon (and can easily replace them in most recipes), the tree starts looking a little more valuable. When you realize you can make a margarita out of those things, they become infinitely more valuable. <br /><br />My basic recipe for the Southwest Sour Orange Margarita (only a little less good than the legit lime kind):<br />Two shots sour orange juice<br />One shot of good tequila<br />Half shot water<br />Big squirt of agave nectar<br />A few ice cubes.<br /><br />Shake. I leave the ice cubes in. Drink. You can also add a splash of grenadine which I think is extra tasty, but at some point it stops becoming a margarita and turns into some weird Red Lobster "hurricane splash" type drink.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kbvotxV1G2GMFsbG9Ovzt1mFjYMyXhaPX-NdxqLAnRaSTW2m_j7pnYT2BUKm4PrFOB-GYaJLmpWxsrzOV49WBasMbSKF0nC_y9uQ0TgCPbi2jYlF8Eg2cfKx8m6U4DdYLQIbavGUlag/s1600/marmalade2011.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6kbvotxV1G2GMFsbG9Ovzt1mFjYMyXhaPX-NdxqLAnRaSTW2m_j7pnYT2BUKm4PrFOB-GYaJLmpWxsrzOV49WBasMbSKF0nC_y9uQ0TgCPbi2jYlF8Eg2cfKx8m6U4DdYLQIbavGUlag/s320/marmalade2011.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615648357980817474" /></a><br /><br />Earlier this year I made marmalade with some of the sour oranges. I always remember that making marmalade can be a frustrating process as getting it to set without adding pectin can be a pain, however I often forget that there is a soul-crushing amount of sugar in there. This year I left all of the oranges soaking in water for a day, that seemed to help as I got a good set. Recipes abound, I won't include the one I used because I'm still not 100% happy with it, maybe next year I'll add ginger, cardamom, vanilla or something else to give the taste more depth. Any recommendations?rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-11173762808082196672011-05-04T12:37:00.000-07:002011-05-04T13:02:01.864-07:00I think I'm the bird ladyBecause I teach a lot of backyard fowl classes around here (and wrote a <a href="http://www.yourguidetogreen.com/store/urban-farm-press/fowl-play-your-guide-to-keeping-chickens-in-the-city-rachel-bess-greg-peterson/prod_1901.html">little pocket guide about raising chickens</a>) I get a lot of emails from people asking for help with their birds. I think the birds in the neighborhood have gotten word of that over the years as well as they seem to show up here when they need a little help too. Here are some photos of a few of the birds I've helped/raised. (Please excuse the bad hair days, birds seem to show up when you look least presentable)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_tc7jlyXMj-ddj7wSUjT90XHhnPfnIlRwrXq7ynWBaHkhFbzoiGbU_iwS90S-tVg4jqkzPGr-tmhampu18JnnyAqKmT_2ShWRBmkqm9hyphenhyphenxW4pzvRt1_bPOf_iYuIPCkkHdZ6R0Eo9Eg/s1600/jasperonwespants_web.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_tc7jlyXMj-ddj7wSUjT90XHhnPfnIlRwrXq7ynWBaHkhFbzoiGbU_iwS90S-tVg4jqkzPGr-tmhampu18JnnyAqKmT_2ShWRBmkqm9hyphenhyphenxW4pzvRt1_bPOf_iYuIPCkkHdZ6R0Eo9Eg/s320/jasperonwespants_web.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602949809021317890" />Our favorite wild bird of all time, Jasper. We raised him/her from about day 2. Here Jasper's trying to find any remaining seeds that might be stuck on my fingers...</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwGDlmCpKFwvx-J1zromMOfEstdgiaq8KcQD0K0vzpKo9nqqm5C25lMcnkYp6YwdeVShYTfyA2zKm2F3DkVu-bRthDWmEz5TgajDEUv-K8kVkTKdXqwseLKprWoCCfhcMEr_fy2w-pEI/s1600/jasperandducklings_web.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 244px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwGDlmCpKFwvx-J1zromMOfEstdgiaq8KcQD0K0vzpKo9nqqm5C25lMcnkYp6YwdeVShYTfyA2zKm2F3DkVu-bRthDWmEz5TgajDEUv-K8kVkTKdXqwseLKprWoCCfhcMEr_fy2w-pEI/s320/jasperandducklings_web.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602948524673584722" />This is Jasper with some newly hatched (unwild) Khaki Campbell ducklings</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijLgzX65KXzChQJokOhTLZzIJpQ8WSyD2FrmxFHMGaAAJOf3VBQPb9SwM_ISSIqsXCZTLy4szeTJ4tT5aSQbCXI9WGAQRhV5x3_Tt1vpkTCrusO0p_wv6moDhyphenhyphen5Djbo5nggJdqGYfnG1M/s1600/JasperintheStudio_web.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijLgzX65KXzChQJokOhTLZzIJpQ8WSyD2FrmxFHMGaAAJOf3VBQPb9SwM_ISSIqsXCZTLy4szeTJ4tT5aSQbCXI9WGAQRhV5x3_Tt1vpkTCrusO0p_wv6moDhyphenhyphen5Djbo5nggJdqGYfnG1M/s320/JasperintheStudio_web.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602949810237541522" />This was from bring your wild bird to work day. Long time readers may recognize this photo. As Jasper grew up we let him/her fly around and return when he felt like it. I thought he had left for good one morning and was quite sad, until I went to work in my backyard studio and Jasper had flown in through an open door and was there waiting for me.</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYRGVai1VNx1mzTWvsUqdyn_4sef3vHvXM9kHFIg3OtfnkfywxLSUXmQQRFZWgf8QI00M4YJyALEPKNKz85ACB4EZlWjLpXU8sxa4dTRCNa4kVLPoIrvDhMcbdzFMFEEzLiqdgWiA3vM/s1600/woodpecker1_web.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYRGVai1VNx1mzTWvsUqdyn_4sef3vHvXM9kHFIg3OtfnkfywxLSUXmQQRFZWgf8QI00M4YJyALEPKNKz85ACB4EZlWjLpXU8sxa4dTRCNa4kVLPoIrvDhMcbdzFMFEEzLiqdgWiA3vM/s320/woodpecker1_web.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602949823069898018" />A little woodpecker</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq9uMwUIwQDgivlHHMxSrTWW2QNxq_h2P9EFYQQKrtpR6r1Ogw3gUnfk5x1DpI1ev6nkWg0_ZZk8LDJkV-xDaExxTabMwnFakefRzHphwH2OcNe05wkePznovw3UQNC85oxyeUfYiJnXc/s1600/woodpecker2_web.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq9uMwUIwQDgivlHHMxSrTWW2QNxq_h2P9EFYQQKrtpR6r1Ogw3gUnfk5x1DpI1ev6nkWg0_ZZk8LDJkV-xDaExxTabMwnFakefRzHphwH2OcNe05wkePznovw3UQNC85oxyeUfYiJnXc/s320/woodpecker2_web.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602949827786888626" />The woodpecker thought my messy hair might be a good place to look for bugs!</a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkZqQGQMJaA3ourQPCSkJHMbJ2hAnRFa1rSYlzOa97WifRSRLa-6kwaRT8oilRkLa5sukZ6gLngcvu1xh-UotCYmY8aqXdKfDAZklN5aPaIdl8o0vlqpL6HP1Ca4GssRcWjix3w9Mgh0/s1600/rachel_hummingbird_web.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkZqQGQMJaA3ourQPCSkJHMbJ2hAnRFa1rSYlzOa97WifRSRLa-6kwaRT8oilRkLa5sukZ6gLngcvu1xh-UotCYmY8aqXdKfDAZklN5aPaIdl8o0vlqpL6HP1Ca4GssRcWjix3w9Mgh0/s320/rachel_hummingbird_web.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602949813873654114" />My hands are very small, and this hummingbird makes them look like man hands</a><br /><br />It's that time of year again, so I'm keeping an eye out for little birds. So far it's just been a few sparrows I've had to help (begrudgingly, as they are a bit of a pest around here). Mockingbirds, my favorite, should be hatching right about now!rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-66399050900023072082011-04-26T14:22:00.001-07:002011-04-26T19:25:19.610-07:00Inspiration at the Permaculture Design CourseFirst off, the pair of mallards came back for a visit (read: they came back for more mulberries) How exciting!<br /><br />Many of you local readers know me as the chicken lady, as I'm the person who has been teaching the majority of classes on raising backyard chickens in the Phoenix area for the past several years. For those that don't know, I've been lucky enough to teach the "regular" chicken classes for the Valley Permaculture Alliance (formerly known as the Phoenix Permaculture Guild) and also the animal part of the Permaculture Design Course. It's always a blast to teach people who are so interested in becoming active participants in a positive and more complete relationship with their environment. This year I had the privilege of teaching at the VPA's newest version of the Permaculture Design Course being headed by Toby Hemenway (author of Gaia's Garden), that felt like kind of a big deal. I followed Toby and after my presentation was an amazing talk about seed saving by Bill McDorman, formerly of Seeds Trust, now the Director of Native Seeds/SEARCH in Tucson. Also teaching, though not on the day I taught, was Brad Lancaster (of water harvesting fame). All of these people are accomplished and well-respected in this field, and I realized that they all live in Arizona. With all of the crazy press AZ gets over our often idiotic state government amongst other things, it's really inspiring that we have such vibrant permaculture, sustainability and service-oriented communities. I won't bore you with long lists of local groups and their accomplishments, but the list is long and the membership in these communities is in the tens of thousands. It makes me want to try even harder to learn, experiment and share more with my community. Maybe someday the headlines about Crazy AZ will take a backseat to the eco/forward-thinking powerhouse we could become? We have a little ways to go to catch up to parts of the Pacific Northwest for example... but the solar cooking's better out here. ;)rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-18882412073979507682011-04-18T21:00:00.001-07:002011-04-18T21:22:18.675-07:00Visitors!Over the years I have made a lot of bird friends. I don't mean people who also like birds, I mean birds. Most of them are ones that I've saved but every once in awhile a bird shows up and decides to spend 15 minutes or an hour with me and these are some of my favorite memories.<br /><br />Last night I was picking mulberries from the tree over our driveway (I know, not the greatest place for a tree that makes a HUGE mess for 3 weeks a year, but that's where the birds planted it.) and my husband saw these guys fly our way...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKi6zgnNZlrIKxO36VA4rTAqYtXu4jitG_kNkDSEULWcmG7PH1RI12V09Lzj0Nogk4gKOhzuGbgvwdB5KnRoGz_JUB3NLfkoyKuC7bE-ywRWdVWEAhlc1YTeGVmrxdAvMKYryy7qUeTI/s1600/visitingmallards.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKi6zgnNZlrIKxO36VA4rTAqYtXu4jitG_kNkDSEULWcmG7PH1RI12V09Lzj0Nogk4gKOhzuGbgvwdB5KnRoGz_JUB3NLfkoyKuC7bE-ywRWdVWEAhlc1YTeGVmrxdAvMKYryy7qUeTI/s320/visitingmallards.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597143334557636018" />Introducing Cowboy and Kickass</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyVkoVvXC7gb_j67Fy8MPcgtuxSI1o5fZBQ35g_YH5vfcFk5Oh4w03vytklOvoz_xcMrAixBbENzBGcq7Tkr5OS6BdBxapxlsyDpOAePQ4dX7lGkBxAtmOFxak1MqkQaik80LeO6YPBmQ/s1600/visitingmallards2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyVkoVvXC7gb_j67Fy8MPcgtuxSI1o5fZBQ35g_YH5vfcFk5Oh4w03vytklOvoz_xcMrAixBbENzBGcq7Tkr5OS6BdBxapxlsyDpOAePQ4dX7lGkBxAtmOFxak1MqkQaik80LeO6YPBmQ/s320/visitingmallards2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597143335869299922" /></a><br /><br />They hung around in the street for a few minutes and then wandered towards us. It turns out mallards like mulberries. I fed them berry after berry, 15 minutes or more later they followed me up the driveway and into the backyard. I didn't want them to get sick from eating too many berries so I switched to sprouted bread. They wandered around our backyard for a long time and we just sat there and watched until finally it was getting pretty dark (way too dark for photos) and they both stood up as tall as they could like little antennas and flew off together. It made my week. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OssUFJAsCBW4kWRRAAhAEtumWJTyK1hnOh9r1pW7nLHieCdKKhRdWM-lt_cGuDzKdUCl3Zz-kyysMQQbDaFuLEoJTyfXxt8MmJ1ES1az91KocjMnJqdNjUOXb6NYmgHpbSsWkyUs4DU/s1600/visitingmallards3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OssUFJAsCBW4kWRRAAhAEtumWJTyK1hnOh9r1pW7nLHieCdKKhRdWM-lt_cGuDzKdUCl3Zz-kyysMQQbDaFuLEoJTyfXxt8MmJ1ES1az91KocjMnJqdNjUOXb6NYmgHpbSsWkyUs4DU/s320/visitingmallards3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597143341843427266" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-vXkrjIsbzHk9PSR-4rvBsv459nYDcvW152v4wWc9ikX24hDeWUSXmqcB-_G4Vv2Fnqjbygav1pWihyphenhyphenBj5LaAHNAaz6kZzLVH5Xhh8NE19fyWpxYCF5sebcf0CzZelnGLN7S2iCYyGag/s1600/visitingmallards4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-vXkrjIsbzHk9PSR-4rvBsv459nYDcvW152v4wWc9ikX24hDeWUSXmqcB-_G4Vv2Fnqjbygav1pWihyphenhyphenBj5LaAHNAaz6kZzLVH5Xhh8NE19fyWpxYCF5sebcf0CzZelnGLN7S2iCYyGag/s320/visitingmallards4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597143342681657058" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPWAa0IMF3c5_4ivFKnj3mIeu-HeD0bgZeCdNWiBIoHpQbQCgloQbA6Vh3ibjrgscWm_y18dobQh1GG3D5DQiHQaKIb_3BGea0b7PAnQq_oVEteG6A_ThYK_Dp3Fg5P508r6qUopAcRA/s1600/visitingmallards5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPWAa0IMF3c5_4ivFKnj3mIeu-HeD0bgZeCdNWiBIoHpQbQCgloQbA6Vh3ibjrgscWm_y18dobQh1GG3D5DQiHQaKIb_3BGea0b7PAnQq_oVEteG6A_ThYK_Dp3Fg5P508r6qUopAcRA/s320/visitingmallards5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597143345715974562" /></a>rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-5524378922718662062011-04-03T09:52:00.000-07:002011-04-03T10:52:41.258-07:00New Blog-- The Integrated Tiny HouseThis is a new blog about a project I'm hoping to embark on. I know there are currently people building very sustainable "normal-sized" houses, there is a growing awareness of permaculture and a small (no pun intended) tiny house movement, I'd like to combine all three and build: <br /><br /><a href="http://integratedtinyhouse.blogspot.com/2011/04/epiphany.html"><br />The Integrated Tiny House</a><br /><br />I'll need to do a little fundraising to get the project off the ground, but once it gets a little momentum I believe I have all of the resources to accomplish a proof-of-concept house. This would not just be intended to be a one-shot house for one family to live in, but would also serve as a teaching institution about the different processes involved in the structure and surrounding landscape.rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-52241867431648883902011-02-27T08:19:00.000-08:002011-02-27T09:11:08.026-08:00These are the people in my neighborhoodI've been working on converting the front yard to ebdibles for a couple of years, it's a long process-- getting rid of bermuda grass, palm trees, planting fruit trees rearranging the dirt to create swales and lowered garden beds and so on. I hope to have it all finished by the end of this year, but spending a lot of time in the front yard has made me grateful to be an urban gardener (urban homesteader if you will). I see lots of people pretty regularly while I'm out there working, my close-by neighbors of course, and those are varied, kind and interesting people for sure, but today I'd like to talk about the other folks that pass by. So here are some brief profiles:<br /><br />Backwards man: One of my favorites, he goes around the neighborhood several times a day in his wheelchair, backwards. We have brief conversations; when he sees me out working, he stops at my house to light his cigarette. Apparently he used to garden when he lived in San Diego. For awhile he got a motorized wheelchair and went forward, but he's recently returned to going backwards in a regular wheelchair. I asked him what happened to the electric chair (I'm sure this term isn't ideal) he replied, "It got a flat tire man, I'm totally bummed out!"<br /><br />Murphy, the mayor of 14th St: I learned about the "mayor" part from a guy that lives a few streets away (on 14th St) that works at Home Depot. We figured out we were neighbors once when he was helping me with some appliance questions. Ironically, I see him nearly every time I'm at Home Depot and get caught up in neighborhood news, but have never seen him once around the neighborhood, but I digress. If there ever existed a man that would be well-served pedaling a bicycle instead of riding a converted one (powered by a lawnmower engine) it would be Murphy. However, he has lots of "business" around the neighborhood and must need to make his pick-ups and deliveries expeditiously. He's recently branched out from his uhm, herbal sales to making those irritating motorized bicycles. His sounds like a big giant bee, which sort of fits with his appearance, another one that he's made for a neighborhood guy sounds like a sputtering fart, and a third that was made for a possible business partner sounds like a mosquito, which brings me to....<br /><br />The mosquito: Built like a mosquito, otherwise looks like a hippie. Almost like a cross-dressing hippie. He tends to wear a lot of tank tops and very short cut-off jean shorts. He used to ride an old ten speed around but then switched to this. He has a long-time lady friend that sometimes doubles up on the bike, but I have also seen him taking her around in a cart attached to the back of the bike that I'm pretty sure was made from an old wheelbarrow/dolly with the handles bent upwards for gripping. She looks a bit like the grandma from Beverly Hillbillies so the sight of this contraption going by will make anyone laugh and really brighten your day.<br /><br />That old whore Lois: She's the neighborhood nuisance. Really the only regular pass-by that I really don't care for. I have no idea what her actual name is, but the term comes from a family member several generations back whose husband left her for, "That old whore Lois" Lois is always drunk/high and is often seen dressed bumbling around looking for business in a Jackie O-style outfit/sunglasses/scarf, with old beat up sneakers. She begs you for money with a variety of obviously untrue excuses and curses you if you don't give her any. No one gives her any. Her one positive point (that I've been able to find) is that she walks the dog that used to just stay chained up in the yard where she stays (I think it's an invalid's house who may be her grandfather). She peed on my neighbors wall a few months back. <br /><br />The non-speaking dog-walker: A slight girl who looks to be in her early 20's that walks a great big hairy dog most everyday... in heels... that she can't walk in very well. I hear her clopping down the street and know who it is immediately. I usually say hi to her and she never says hi back. I don't think she's being rude, probably just shy, or maybe too focused on not falling over.<br /><br />Jose: Jose unfortunately died of a stroke this past year, but he was one of my favorites and deserves recognition. His English wasn't great, my Spanish isn't great so our conversations were choppy. He always wanted to see what I was growing, we would talk about plants and cooking tips. One day he showed up in my front yard with some different agaves and instructed me to plant them, so I did. :) I showed him my two cotton plants once and he doubled over laughing saying, "You gonna beee reeeech!" I miss Jose.<br /><br />I could go on, as there are a lot more, but this post is getting long. I'm so grateful to have this huge mix of folks surrounding me, maybe I'll do a part two to this post down the line.rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-64750086523739934312011-02-20T10:28:00.000-08:002011-02-21T08:05:25.135-08:00Urban Homesteading at Rachel's Tiny FarmMost folks by now know about the Path to Shooting Yourself in the Foot AKA the Dervaes family's trademark of "Urban Homestead" and "Urban Homesteading". For those of you that have managed to miss it, the brief summary is that a prominent urban homesteading family in Pasadena got the phrases Urban Homestead and Urban Homesteading trademarked late last year. They then sent intimidating cease and desist style letters to other urban homesteaders or that dared use that decades-old term in their name or events. They had Facebook pages taken down of some folks and small businesses like <a href="http://www.denverurbanhomesteading.com/">Denver Urban Homesteading</a>, a small farmer's market in Denver that also teaches and promotes self-sufficiency. There's a lot more that adds to the egregiousness of the situation, but a quick search will pull up dozens+ of stories about it, so I'll refrain from writing another one here. The long and short of it is that essentially the entire urban homesteading movement is upset. This is not a great move when your income, via donations and an internet store that sells urban homesteading-related items (with a pretty hefty markup so purchasing from them also includes an implied donation) depends primarily on other urban homesteaders.<br /><br /><br />I remember picking fruits and veggies at my grandparents house starting when I was very young, my grandmother also had shelves full of what seemed like hundreds of jars of canned foods that I liked to sit and stare at, though the only thing I wanted to eat were the cinnamon apples. She didn't teach me how to can, but she sparked the thing in my brain that made me want to do it, and has helped me along the way. It probably started in my grandparents gardens in the Ozarks when I was too small to remember and slowly snowballed into what it has become today, picking up bits of information and skills as I roll along my way.<br /><br />Enough about that. In response, here are some things relating to self-sufficiency that are practiced here at the tiny farm. This is a post standing with my fellow urban homesteaders showing an overview of some of the things we do, illustrating that urban homesteading is a widespread phenomenon, deeply rooted and not something that one family can own. (No pics this time, sorry!) <br /><br />Aquaponics: We're about 8 months into raising tilapia in a small (200 gallon tank, 100 gallon grow bed) home-made aquaponics system and loving it. I love the results and the concept, it's almost like having my own tiny biosphere in the backyard, without the late-night pizza deliveries... for those of you that remember that little fiasco. My goal for 2011 is to get the bigger system set-up and running. We're half way there, the pond is built and has gambusia (mosquito fish) swimming around eating any would-be baby mosquitos, I've just got to get the grow beds in and the mechanics finished. Another goal is to switch over to feeding the fish completely with homegrown feed (black soldier fly larvae, duckweed etc). <br /><br />Food preservation: We do both dehydrating and canning. I prefer to dehydrate because the resulting product takes up less space and it uses only the arid AZ weather to create. (We use a solar dehydrator that I built which you can read about <a href="http://rachelstinyfarm.blogspot.com/2008/03/solar-dehydrator.html">HERE</a>.) This last year I found a brand-new pressure canner for cheap, so I'm able to do both water bath and pressure canning now. The pressure canner still makes me nervous and the safety monitor in me wants to wear a helmet and goggles while using it. For now I'm resisting the extra apparel and am I'm grateful to have the option to can low acid foods. <br /><br />Chickens and Quail: We raise these (in separate areas!) mostly for eggs, occasionally meat. Because you can have quail roosters in the city, I'm able to breed the quail. In fact there's a batch in the incubator due to hatch the first week in March. The birds' manure can't be overlooked either, with attempting to grow as much as I do, that valuable fertilizer is necessary!<br /><br />Composting: Because of composting, re-using and recycling, our household of two, including our businesses, now creates a small bag of trash every two weeks. Of course there are the other obvious benefits of composting.<br /><br />Year round food gardens: Although we hit a new record low this year of 19˚ (how do you cold climate people get through winter??!!) our winters are pretty mild, generally with only a handful of freezes. Interestingly, the September through February season is often the most productive time of year in Phoenix, so 365 days a year there is something in the yard available for eating.<br /><br />Solar power: The house, though on grid, creates 100% of the electricity it uses annually from photovoltaics on our roof. We also often cook with a solar oven, and dehydrate with the aforementioned solar dehydrator.<br /><br />Rainwater collection: We have one 275 gallon rain collector and a few other smaller ones. Someday we hope to have a cistern, but that's likely a year or two off. <br /><br />Household miscellany: I do our haircuts, we repair rather than replace when possible, use a clothesline, use a lot of homemade cleansers, make gifts or buy them from friends or other individuals that make neat things.<br /><br />Seed Saving: With the exception of one Super Sweet 100 tomato I'm growing this year all of our seeds are open-pollinated. I love both the action and the idea of saving seed. As many of my friends know, I'm a seed hoarder. I'm trying to divest myself of this problem(?) but it's tricky. With all the horrible things that are going on in the mega-seed world, preserving open-pollinated varieties seems like an easy way to do some good deeds.<br /><br />Helping others: Helping other folks that want to be more self-sufficient is one of the most important things an urban homesteader can do. You've got some skills or books you don't need anymore? Pass it on. Even if it's just taking the time to answer someones email questions. This year I feel lucky enough to have the ability to not only continue teaching chicken raising classes for the <a href="http://www.valleypermaculturealliance.org">Valley Permaculture Alliance</a> (formerly Phoenix Permaculture Guild) but to be recently added to their board of directors (It's unpaid, so don't get too excited about the possibility of the Tiny Farm adding acreage or anything). I was also able to host two seed swaps for <a href="http://azhomegrownsolutions.ning.com/">Arizona Homegrown Solutions</a> and donate about 700 packs of seeds (Remember that seed-hoarding thing?).<br /><br />Our reasons for doing all of this are many-fold. Lessening our environmental impact is a big one. Another one is financial. My husband and myself are both self-employed freelancers, I'm a painter <a href="http://www.rachelbess.com">(art not houses)</a> and he's an animator. As you can imagine, our income is sporadic and not huge. The relief of not having to worry about paying an electric bill is great. Due to saving rainwater, using many native-adapted plants and earthworks to use water most efficiently, our water bill is no higher than a house with a standard lawn. Our food tastes good, I know where it comes from and that it hasn't been genetically modified or covered in pesticides and our grocery bill is reduced. Finally, it's just a good feeling to live as self-sufficiently as possible, tens of thousands of people agree.rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-20688294879140460432010-12-25T17:41:00.000-08:002010-12-26T15:37:42.787-08:00Aquaponics Update<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3ePGYSskNktJ7cfo_ypIif0fXmHfSwoJWGZxOxuIvxdmJfEHZftaMlXH-NEXL1XX1c2mlvsYCRQqXkZVmPzy9Vnh-EGPJ1IawP8IJYbZeegX8HLY8u2Yw5dVjEY_1HFVjK0N0Z3nMNA/s1600/aquaponics2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3ePGYSskNktJ7cfo_ypIif0fXmHfSwoJWGZxOxuIvxdmJfEHZftaMlXH-NEXL1XX1c2mlvsYCRQqXkZVmPzy9Vnh-EGPJ1IawP8IJYbZeegX8HLY8u2Yw5dVjEY_1HFVjK0N0Z3nMNA/s320/aquaponics2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555138514117839042" /></a><br /><br />I'm about 6 months into the aquaponics experiment. My first system, looked great (IMHO) and worked pretty well until it sprung a leak in the grow bed. I'm pretty sure this was in the drain area. I unfortunately placed the drain near a seam in the EPDM, which wasn't in itself a problem except that one side was regular thickness and the other was double thickness where the seem was and I think that caused a tiny leak that ended up making the wood swell and cause a big problem. Lesson learned. I didn't lose any fish, but I had been wanting to try an IBC system anyway. (IBC's are the giant plastic 275 gallon containers that things like bulk pineapple juice and liquid soap are shipped around in). These are a couple of pictures of that system. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzF4PMuqpcSxc0FbtT8v8bNDomXqOLRT-i6WLec3aiPsfpWzxsrzx4lz-nVK5vbRyB2L0rrvD8qprjf2iD4qfRhEkgTNqWUqzTJfxrWoVXRfWhO7wIapRmcE-Wdc8Lw6lW2JsnO7UiNjc/s1600/aquaponics1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzF4PMuqpcSxc0FbtT8v8bNDomXqOLRT-i6WLec3aiPsfpWzxsrzx4lz-nVK5vbRyB2L0rrvD8qprjf2iD4qfRhEkgTNqWUqzTJfxrWoVXRfWhO7wIapRmcE-Wdc8Lw6lW2JsnO7UiNjc/s320/aquaponics1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555138508269935170" /></a><br /><br />I have the fish tank section shaded to prevent too much algae growing in there so it's a bit hard to see in these photos. I cut the 275 gallon container into two sections, an approximately 175 gallon fish tank and a 100 gallon growbed which is filled with hydroton (expanded clay pellets-- very lightweight, easy on the hands). The grow bed is mounted on top of a structure I built for it made out of 4"x4"s and 2"X6"s. It's on casters like the original system. Right now, because the fish need to stay warm I keep it covered in greenhouse plastic. One interesting thing I learned was that, even though the temps in the grow bed get up above 100˚ during the day, the greens don't bolt, presumeably because of the 68˚ water flowing over the roots every half hour. I keep a 250 watt tank heater with a built in thermostat in the fish tank just in cases the water starts to drop at night. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yMnZb-2ffpA2kNhC9uX8PuEHCJlmPlnPeWSWsZazOR-liboIhpXvzSDmdfI8j7kQV8vLJeR4xbbVvGgar30n7jvVG4DHNLT6XCnp9S8CbNNRrzUpurC6msxa6dRJpvwqJFJxkG_f9wA/s1600/aquaponics3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yMnZb-2ffpA2kNhC9uX8PuEHCJlmPlnPeWSWsZazOR-liboIhpXvzSDmdfI8j7kQV8vLJeR4xbbVvGgar30n7jvVG4DHNLT6XCnp9S8CbNNRrzUpurC6msxa6dRJpvwqJFJxkG_f9wA/s320/aquaponics3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555138515312402658" />Growing tilapia</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_1zrXWK86wFluG3kzhW6XROKHoSLlLXz5hq2KY9uwoRQPPZR6J2D8hIdRrCDnrWucPvF6pR6KURA0qEv0MMaJxqdB-7UOnTkDsLH8711dnkK9rW7NWlZgChMaiKIlFJeRWTjSuzqwlDs/s1600/aquaponics4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_1zrXWK86wFluG3kzhW6XROKHoSLlLXz5hq2KY9uwoRQPPZR6J2D8hIdRrCDnrWucPvF6pR6KURA0qEv0MMaJxqdB-7UOnTkDsLH8711dnkK9rW7NWlZgChMaiKIlFJeRWTjSuzqwlDs/s320/aquaponics4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555138516643039986" />conrete reinforcing wire being used as a structure to support the greenhouse plastic</a><br /><br />So far I'm impressed with how aquaponics is working out. These plants have no supplements of any kind, they are strictly being fed with fish water. <br /><br />P.S. Now I'm working on system #3. The 400 gallon pond is nearly complete...rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-5752688398640885902010-12-20T17:44:00.000-08:002010-12-20T19:45:02.216-08:00Seedlings are started...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3hkYqNVo6DfUtuVExZgzzVwsBSP6HB9dunzMY8Z6POofYUrwplgY0jBLoclsWeBWfBmvBCDp0tHydqZmBZiMLP_qWilKRo5VnKOH6mLjaL0Pvz4SrgePgq_lruP2mNJInbBaoCm5Jwk/s1600/seedlings12_20_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3hkYqNVo6DfUtuVExZgzzVwsBSP6HB9dunzMY8Z6POofYUrwplgY0jBLoclsWeBWfBmvBCDp0tHydqZmBZiMLP_qWilKRo5VnKOH6mLjaL0Pvz4SrgePgq_lruP2mNJInbBaoCm5Jwk/s320/seedlings12_20_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552971134957462946" />75% of them so far...</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCD5VjrE1Zl-eqwe9-TY3zaWRwaTaRD1dZLJRkJYAlmyBIe1eC7xKBCKhBZM1p58LathrhvXp1LqQIFcB_tkeYlAffcw-_zpJ2Gz49B6s7Ri2aGJI8sTTAZZcg0TOS_5ra_EZzbfWwYjo/s1600/seedlings2_2010.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCD5VjrE1Zl-eqwe9-TY3zaWRwaTaRD1dZLJRkJYAlmyBIe1eC7xKBCKhBZM1p58LathrhvXp1LqQIFcB_tkeYlAffcw-_zpJ2Gz49B6s7Ri2aGJI8sTTAZZcg0TOS_5ra_EZzbfWwYjo/s320/seedlings2_2010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552971130466106866" /></a><br />I started the first round of my seedlings a couple of weeks ago. They won't go into the gardens until mid-late February but I like having a good sturdy plant to get into the ground so we can make the most of our short spring before the blazing summer when most tomatoes either die or stop producing fruit until October. For that reason I like to plant tomatoes that are mostly 75 days or shorter. I'll go as high as 80 if the variety really strikes me, but beyond that there isn't much hope of getting much, if any, fruit out of the plant. Peppers and eggplants, on the other hand, will tolerate the heat much better so I'll go as high as 90 days for them.<br /><br />Below I've listed my "catalog" of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants for the 2011 season. The descriptions are mostly straight from seed catalogs. I'm growing hundreds of plants, but I'll only keep about 40-50. The rest I'll sell for $2.50 or so in the spring to help raise money for improvements to the tiny farm. :)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Eggplant:</span><br />Rosa Bianca: 70-90 days – A lovely Italian heirloom that bears medium sized, 8 inch, oval fruits. The pink/lavender colored fruits are occasionally shaded with a cream color. Always sweet and mild, with no bitterness.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Pepper:</span><br />Hungarian Yellow Wax: 70 days- Developed in Hungary, this medium-hot pepper has a beautiful golden waxy color that resembles bees’ wax. The fully mature peppers are a more orange-red color, but the fruit is traditionally picked when fruit is 3”-4” long and still yellow. A favorite for soups and stews, pickling, frying, canning, or roasting, the 5” long and 1.5” wide peppers have thin walls and don’t need to be peeled before cooking.<br /><br />Italian Relleno Sweet Pepper: 65-75 days- 18-24 in. Delicious roasted, fried, and especially stuffed. Popular variety similar to the Anaheim chile, but slightly earlier maturing. High yielding and well worth growing. Transplant when soils are warm, spacing seedlings 12-18 inches apart. Enrich soil with mature compost. Needs warm conditions day and night to germinate and fruit well. Watering tips, during germination, keep entire seedbed evenly moist. Harvesting tips, pick at peak of color.<br /><br />Nardello Sweet Pepper: 65-75 days- Delightful fresh or fried, the sweetest non-bell Pepper when ripe. An italian heirloom from the Nadello family. Red when ripe, these 6-8 in. peppers have shiny, wrinkled skins. Almost like candy.<br /><br />Ordoño (NS/S): 90 days- An ornamental type of chile producing green, yellow, orange, purple and red fruits, which are an inch long and grow upright. Hot and edible. Collected from Batopilas Canyon, Chihuahua, Mexico. Good for container gardening.<br /><br />Pasilla Bajio (chile negro): 80 days- The Pasilla Bajio offers a rich, smoky, mildly hot flavor to many dishes. It is also called 'chilaca' and 'chile negro'. The name, 'Pasilla' means 'little raisin' in Spanish, referring to the dark brown, wrinkled dried pod. It is called 'chilaca' when fresh and adds character to red chile enchilada sauce and salsas. When used as a dried pod or in powder form, it is a very flavorful ingredient in many mole sauces.<br /><br />Sweet Canary Bell: 80 days- Canary Bell peppers ripen to a beautiful golden yellow that adds a gorgeous golden color to any recipe. We chose this variety of yellow Bell pepper for its exceptional flavor, thick walls, and incredible color. Canary Bell sets its fruit early and continues to produce peppers throughout the summer. You can use these peppers as a vibrant accent in salads, and they are also wonderful when sautéed or grilled. Easy to grow, you can plant them in the garden or grow them in large containers on a patio or deck.<br /><br />Tabasco: ~90 days- Hot, prolific, and hardy, this is the famous ingredient in Tabasco sauce. Narrow 1" fruits are yellow or orange maturing to red. Good for container gardening.<br /><br />Yellow Banana (Sweet) 72 days- An AAS Bronze Medal winner for 1941 and still extremely popular. Large, pointed fruits measure 6-7" long and 1½" across. The mild yellow peppers ultimately turn brilliant red. A favorite for pickling.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Tomato and Tomatillo:</span><br />Ace: 80 days, indeterminate- This robust tomato has wonderful fresh flavor, but is an old favorite for canning as well. It has clusters of 6-8 ounce fruits, 5”-6” in diameter, growing on bush type plants that do not require staking. Being a low-acid tomato, it may be easier on your digestion if you are sensitive. You will be impressed by the excellent yields these plants have for such a large tomato! Resistant to Verticillium wilt and Fusarium wilt (Race 1)<br /><br />Black Cherry: 65 days, indeterminate — This is a new variety that is very productive with cherry shaped fruits that have the dark, purplish coloring of 'Cherokee Purple.' Flavor is wonderful, very rich and sweet. <br /><br />Black From Tula: 75-85 days, indeterminate- Deep reddish-brown beefsteak tomato has a rich, sweet flavor that is delicious. Fruit is smooth in texture and weighs from 8 to 12 ozs. This outstanding variety is very productive and seems to set well even when weather turns hot. Russian heirloom.<br /><br />Bradley: 76 days, semi-determinate- A disease resistant variety released in 1961 by Dr. Joe McFerran of the University of Arkansas. Our TomatoFest organic tomato seeds produce compact, bushy, semi-determinate, regular-leaf, tomato plants with heavy foliage that yield copious amounts of 7 to10-ounce. dark-pink tomatoes with a wonderfully, delicious sweetness that is well balanced with just enough acidity to give you that old-fashioned big tomato flavor you love so much. Tomatoes ripen at the same time making it a great variety for canning and freezing. Suitable for Southern regions. An excellent fresh market tomato. Fusarium wilt resistant.<br /><br />Chadwick’s Cherry: 70 days, indeterminate- Heirloom cherry tomato named after the late master gardener, Alan Chadwick, originator of the biointensive method of gardening. Flavorful, 1-inch, red fruits borne in vigorous clusters of six. Add these cherry tomato seeds to your collection of cherry tomatoes and taste the difference.<br /><br />Chico III: 70 days, determinate- Compact plant produces high yields of 3 oz plum shaped red tomatoes. Plants set fruit well during high temperatures. An excellent processing variety used to make sauces and puree. A variety suitable for mechanized harvesting. Great for salads and sandwiches too. Suitable for home gardens and market growers in Texas and the Southwest. Disease Resistant.<br /><br />Chocolate Cherry: 70 days, indeterminate. Plant produces high yields of 1" diameter chocolate cherry tomatoes. This cherry tomatoes grow in cluster of 8 and are very flavorful. The tomatoes are crack resistant and hold very well on the plant. They can be picked several days before completely mature and allowed to ripen off the vine without sacrificing quality.<br /><br />Coyote: 50 days, indeterminate — This variety was given to heirloom tomato collector Craig LeHoullier by Maye Clement during a Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Harvest Fair show, as a cluster of fruit on the vine. She indicated that it grew wild in her home country of Mexico. It is a tiny cherry tomato that ripens its prolific crop to an ivory, translucent yellow color, shading to darker yellow at the shoulders. Flavor is superb.<br /><br />Gardener’s Delight: 65 days, indeterminate- Also known as Sugar Lump, these red cherries range from 3/4 to 1-1/2 inch across and are loaded with sugary sweet flavor.<br /><br />Hong Yuen: 75+ days, indeterminate- This Chinese tomato produces clusters of many red, mostly two-inch, sweet fruits. Hong Yuen is fine tasting for salad or sandwich; this excellent cropper can also be used for sauce or whole-pack canning.<br /><br />Juane Flamme: 70+ days, Indeterminate- Extremely prolific French heirloom tomato that bears in clusters of 6, beautiful, 1 1/2-inch, round, golf-ball sized tomatoes that are persimmon-orange colored inside and out. A delicious full-bodied tomato flavor that literally bursts in your mouth. Very decorative. Makes a great flavored sauce.<br /><br />Nichol’s (NS/S): 75 days, indeterminate- These seeds originated from the Nichols family in Tucson. Volunteer seeds that just kept coming up, they have been maintained by the family patriarch for about 50 years. It is well adapted to the desert; it is heat-tolerant and prefers full sunlight. The tasty, “pink cherry” tomatoes are prolific producers. Halfway between a cherry and a plum tomato.<br /><br />Principe Borghese: 75 days, DETERMINATE — Italian heirloom variety very popular in Italy and California for splitting in half and sun drying. They maintain color and flavor well. The plants produce heavy yields of small, red plum-shaped fruits. The plants will benefit from support such as caging.<br /><br />Prize of the Trials: 75-80 days, indeterminate- Best overall cherry tomato for flavor, yield, and crack resistance. Productive vines bear orange, apricot-sized fruits that thrive in hot dry climates.<br /><br />Punta Banda (NS/S): 75 days, indeterminate- Collected on the Punta Banda Peninsula in Baja California and grown out at our Albuquerque garden. The plants produced hundreds of red meaty, thick skinned fruits despite heat, water stress and poor soil. Great paste tomato.<br /><br />Red Grape: 60 days, semi-determinate — This variety is modern and currently very popular in the fresh produce market. The fruits are bright red, weigh about an ounce, and are smaller than most cherry tomatoes (½ by ¾ inches). Since they are mouth-sized they are perfect for salads and garnish plates. Twelve to sixteen fruits per cluster.<br /><br />Rio Grande: 80 days, DETERMINATE- Very large, blocky pear-shaped tomatoes are borne in profusion, making for large harvests to turn into tomato sauce, paste, or juice. Deep red fruit is about 4 inches long. Vigorous plants are well adapted to extremes in temperature.<br /><br />Roma: 78 days, DETERMINATE- One of the most popular varieties for paste, sauces and canning. Compact vines yield large harvests of 3 inch long, bright red fruit that may be pear-shaped or plum-shaped. Thick walled and solid with few seeds; slightly later than Roma with heavier foliage.<br /><br />Sugar Sweetie: 65 days, indeterminate- This organic, perfect, cherry tomato has classic sweet flavor. You may eat so many right in the garden, that it will be hard to get them into the house for salads! Large numbers of 3/4" to 1" fruit are produced in grape-like clusters on 2 foot tall plants. Even though the plants are indeterminate, the plants may be grown in containers on a sunny patio, deck, or balcony. As the plants continue to grow until fall frost, they will likely require a stake, small cage, or some sort of support.<br /><br />Sungold Select II (Open Pollinated): ~75 days, indeterminate, This is a selection from the regular Sungold tomato, sent to us by Reinhard Kraft of Germany. This is one of the tastiest orange cherry tomatoes out there! This variety is not completely stable and a few plants still produced red fruit.<br /><br />Super Sweet 100 (F-1 hybrid): 65 days, indeterminate- This is a home gardener favorite that has more disease resistance than Sweet 100 while keeping the same fabulous taste. Small round 1 oz. cherry tomatoes are deliciously sweet with a high Vitamin C content. Long clusters of fruit load up on tall, vigorous plants and continue to bear until frost.<br /><br />Toma Verde Tomatillo: 65 days, indeterminate- YOU MUST PLANT AT LEAST TWO NEXT TO EACH OTHER FOR POLLINATION TO OCCUR. If you can grow tomatoes, you can grow Tomatillos! They can be used in a wide variety of Mexican dishes, and their unique flavor makes an indescribably tasty 'salsa verde', which some say is superior to red salsa. The 'Toma Verde' is a large-fruited variety that has been adapted to grow successfully in a wide variety of climates. Related to tomatoes, tomatillos prefer similar growing conditions, but they will handle a lot more heat and drought. The 3'-6' tall, indeterminate plants grow quickly and produce well in both southern and northern climates. Fruits grow inside a paper shell and keep producing until the first fall frost.<br /><br />Violet Jasper: ~80 days, indeterminate. When these little Oriental jewels ripen, your eyes will be stunned with color. They have pretty violet-purple fruit with iridescent green streaks! Fruit weigh 1-3 ounces, are smooth and have good tasting (though some have complained it’s grainy), dark purplish-red flesh. This variety will also amaze you with its yield: it’s not only high, but incredibly high, being one of the most productive tomatoes we have grown. A great variety for marketing. Introduced to you from China.<br /><br />White Currant: 70-75 days, indeterminate. Treat yourself to one of the most unique and sweetest tasting tomato varieties known. The tiny fruit are half the size of a cherry tomato and grow in nice heavy clusters. Creamy-white in color with just a tinge of yellow. Deliciously sweet, a favorite of many.<br /><br />Yellow Pear: 78 days, indeterminate- These prolific miniature pear-shaped tomatoes are 1-3/4 to 2 inches long and clear yellow in color. They are delightfully sweet considered by many as 'garden candy'. Baskets of these are as pretty as can be. Tall plants bear large and continuous harvests<br /><br />Yellow Plum: 70 days, indeterminate — A very old variety. The plants are large and open with small oval fruit, 1 by 1¼ inches, that taste mild and sweet. There are typically eight to ten fruits per cluster, some late fruits have slight neck. Very productive.<br /><br />Zapotec Pleated: 80-85 days, indeterminate- Deeply pleated, pink to dark-red 6-8 oz. fruits originating from the Zapotecs of southern Mexico. Unique appearance with a rich and earthly flavor. Excellent stuffed, baked or sliced.<br /><br /><br /><br />What varieties are you planting this year?rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-89409020265055577532010-12-10T17:42:00.000-08:002010-12-10T17:45:23.600-08:00Deviled Quail Egg recipe!People are always asking what in the world they can do with quail eggs. My favorite thing to do is to devil them. When the Phoenix New Times asked me for a recipe of something I'm baking right now, it seemed like an obvious choice (even though technically it's not baked :) )<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bella/2010/12/rachel_bess_what_are_you_bakin.php">HERE'S</a> a link to my deviled quail egg recipe.rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-32902892133669131582010-11-18T16:22:00.000-08:002010-11-18T16:42:00.953-08:00Picking from the yard and foraging the foreclosuresFirst off, let me say that my camera bit the dust, so I'm having to rely on a little digital point and shoot that I'm not too familar with and as such have been hesitant to use it. No pictures usually= No posts. :( However, a new camera is coming soon. :)<br /><br />Our neighborhood like many of yours is full of vacant foreclosed houses. Many of these houses have fruit trees, and I'm not shy of saving that fruit from the roof rats. Here in Phoenix right now the daytime temps are around 70 and the lows are around 50. (Today was a beautiful 80 degree day!)With this kind of weather, November is one of our best times for harvesting. Today in addition to all I picked from home, I grabbed a big basket and went for a walk around the block. Our first stop is a house around the corner that has a big pecan tree in the front yard that reaches right up to the street. We always stop there and get pecans that are in the public right of way, people live here (though I doubt they harvest many of their pecans from what I've observed) so I don't get too grabby or go up into their yard. A few houses down from that is an empty house with a giant pomegranate tree out front so we hit that up with our citrus picker. Then around the next corner and halfway back to our house is a foreclosed house with no gate separating the front and back yard. The backyard has a huge lemon tree with hundreds of lemons on it. We got some. :)<br /><br />There are also mulberries and a recently discovered fig tree (ripe at different times of the year) in vacant housing or in the public walkway in the neighborhood. I only know of one other neighbor that bothers to pick any... <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuQGGDQ1yovIf4TYsGSIcbr7r-MtA04iDNcqOYR57dMUx-XcgSV9Tx0KCLIQvrAhbbkP_6EcJMWdS-Omh6ngg_jghC3X5wWEydCq-FznTvDe2HzvT2PKixGIIWewHgWxjfBqdBi0M770/s1600/food_11_18_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 227px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuQGGDQ1yovIf4TYsGSIcbr7r-MtA04iDNcqOYR57dMUx-XcgSV9Tx0KCLIQvrAhbbkP_6EcJMWdS-Omh6ngg_jghC3X5wWEydCq-FznTvDe2HzvT2PKixGIIWewHgWxjfBqdBi0M770/s320/food_11_18_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541053665738621138" /></a><br /><br />So here is a picture of most of today's harvest, everything not mentioned above came from our front and back yard. I even canned some dilly beans (like a dill pickle, but using a green bean instead of a cucumber) from our beans.<br /><br />Do you have anything to forage for in your neighborhood?rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-77378853303733496752010-10-11T15:11:00.000-07:002010-10-11T17:04:50.785-07:00A day in the life at the tiny farmI'm jumping on the "Day in the Life" meme bandwagon. Here is Sunday 10/10/10 at the Tiny Farm.<br /><br />6:30- Changed the chickens' water, checked the automatic (timer) feeder and the treadle feeder, both had food. I gave the hens some leftover cantaloupe rinds and seeds from last night's dinner and a few greens. I have one hen that sleeps on the lip of one of the nest boxes and I've never been able to break her of the habit, so I take the big spackling knife I keep hanging on a nail in the coop and clean the poop out of one nest box. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyh2MLuBMCGWTEhSqoErQxzoVCh_3ozkeVhcV_8-noiqyqawpSP37mUrfh9XxWO35z5paLlczphPTK8Zm3ArnbUp_6kIoVgW0HY5UegbZ_cEXklnyBJpmysbTn_kKj_64CD810uIjDDAE/s1600/tilapia_10_10_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyh2MLuBMCGWTEhSqoErQxzoVCh_3ozkeVhcV_8-noiqyqawpSP37mUrfh9XxWO35z5paLlczphPTK8Zm3ArnbUp_6kIoVgW0HY5UegbZ_cEXklnyBJpmysbTn_kKj_64CD810uIjDDAE/s320/tilapia_10_10_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526941958928158370" />Our biggest fish are around four inches now</a><br /><br />6:40- Feed tilapia. Check on the quail chicks. I sold 25 of them, but still have about 72 in the stock tank. Luckily I just inherited a bigger stock tank, so they fit pretty comfortably in there, and since it's two feet tall, they can't fly out of it yet. :) I change their water, give them food and clean the bedding a bit. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxieP2-6IvFQc6m9ZjGKkx4YVc9Xjsy0Xz402hSWVhwuZVPLv2S-W6ImSvf8V8I1ngsW0NeyI8VG22XeiAbaXQzMykt3tDpW7izCo3FrS5Ig0IOy6IYxVbUW6QTGk6czGGguXWMlcOLQM/s1600/quail10_10_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxieP2-6IvFQc6m9ZjGKkx4YVc9Xjsy0Xz402hSWVhwuZVPLv2S-W6ImSvf8V8I1ngsW0NeyI8VG22XeiAbaXQzMykt3tDpW7izCo3FrS5Ig0IOy6IYxVbUW6QTGk6czGGguXWMlcOLQM/s320/quail10_10_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526941955358547730" />A few 8 day old quail</a><br /><br />6:50- Check on duckweed/mosquitofish pond. Feed and water all of the adult quail. I also collect a few eggs that got laid after I collected them Saturday night. For whatever reason, one pen likes to lay just after dusk. I have them in 6 separate hutches right now so all of this takes awhile. I'm looking forward to their aviary being completed!<br /><br />7:05- The quail hatch before the most recent one had a few wry necked birds in it. I'm pretty sure this was caused by excess humidity during the incubation. I've read that it's genetic, but I've never had another wry-necked bird from my breeders, so that doesn't really make sense to me. Either way I want to be sure that the trait doesn't get passed on, and it's been awhile since we've had quail. I pick out a tuxedo quail for butchering, and after I grab him I realize I don't have my butchering scissors outside so I take the bird with me inside to get them. The whole time he just kept looking up at me in a pitiful way that landed him back in the pen and I ended up processing a much more severely deformed jumbo brown instead. This was a better choice anyway, as the tuxedo's posture is barely off, whereas the jumbo's neck was so crooked that it definitely impacted his quality of life. Butchering always makes me sad and a little queasy. <br />After processing the bird, I put him in the refrigerator in a pyrex bowl with a very light brine. (1/4 tsp salt and about 2 cups of water).<br /><br />7:25- Water all of the garden beds. I usually have the automatic drip system on, but we got a huge storm and we have hundreds of gallons in rain barrels, so that means doing it by hand. I fill up watering cans with the rain water and hit all of the beds, most of which have newly planted seeds in them. <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HrOdjcenlmjQHKHTdtJC5ln9aqXpBqXopWdqBa6TpB2KV5FtAq-D-i2syTkLW2F-3BafXGDvGPa1hD7rLrH9J38ClTwWOPt31_wu2uLFJoCO-RWRRDEo4J77GSFVyg8qqAQvUMQsxkk/s1600/rainbarrel10_10_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 297px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HrOdjcenlmjQHKHTdtJC5ln9aqXpBqXopWdqBa6TpB2KV5FtAq-D-i2syTkLW2F-3BafXGDvGPa1hD7rLrH9J38ClTwWOPt31_wu2uLFJoCO-RWRRDEo4J77GSFVyg8qqAQvUMQsxkk/s320/rainbarrel10_10_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526941953290259442" />One of the rainbarrels</a><br /><br />7:40- Pick stuff! My favorite part of the morning. I bring in some passionfruits, my first fall tomato of the year, a few black-eyed peas, some cotton and a lime. There is a lot of eggplant (and mint) still out there, but I have a bunch in the kitchen already and need to use it up! <br /><br />8:00- Make breakfast. I cook up some chicken and quail eggs on the stove and have them with some cantaloupe and morningstar fake bacon. My husband hasn't eaten pork in at least 10 years so thinks this stuff tastes as good as the real deal. He's waaay wrong, but since I have no desire to butcher any pigs, I don't argue (much). <br /><br />I have recently become pretty firm that I will no longer work on the weekends. If I don't hold myself to this, I get really stressed out and am an unpleasant person to be around (the word "tyrant" comes up a lot and is about the only PG-13 word that gets used to describe me). It's a nice day and the high is only in the low 90's so we go to the zoo and buy an annual membership with some of my birthday money. One of my favorite part is the goats, chickens, turkeys and peacocks. I just can't get enough of those things and I'm plotting to find some room to put some turkeys at home...<br /><br />3:00- Back from the zoo, I feed the tilapia again and give the quail chicks more food and water. <br /><br />5:00- I collect the chicken and quail eggs and seed two beds with peas, lettuces, spinach, golden beets, early wonder beets, thyme and onions.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_LUDq9sUkXErga7ztS0n7b4eSYcz3BjrV-3Y5DAHCdHHNq3sDt8X2usxmeIBog_kseZIZIL8qq67tAgbgySz8UZh-kF3ECVtwUHM2F7OFcMmTgFpHDVRy7n2ZDoCH-hwEeOmApjuungQ/s1600/chickens10_10_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_LUDq9sUkXErga7ztS0n7b4eSYcz3BjrV-3Y5DAHCdHHNq3sDt8X2usxmeIBog_kseZIZIL8qq67tAgbgySz8UZh-kF3ECVtwUHM2F7OFcMmTgFpHDVRy7n2ZDoCH-hwEeOmApjuungQ/s320/chickens10_10_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526941949741508066" />A few of the chickens just wanted to say hi!</a><br /><br />6:00- Start dinner. It's melon and roasted roots with quail. I chop up all the "roots" we have, which this time around are just carrots, potatoes, onions and garlic and add rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil and put them in a baking dish. In the center goes the quail from this morning stuffed with garlic and a little butter with a few extra pats put underneath the breast skin. Bake at 350 for a little over an hour, turning the quail every 15 or 20 minutes and basting with a small amount of butter.<br /><br />7:15- Dinner! We saved all of the bones and little cartilage bits to make stock with in the solar oven tomorrow. Even a tiny quail can make a couple of cups of stock.<br /><br />9:30- Final check on the baby quail, they get more food and water to last them through the night.rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-85479454769580459332010-10-02T20:55:00.000-07:002010-10-02T22:22:40.829-07:00A great (and also sad) quail hatch!I went to bed with one quail just barely hatched and this is what I woke up to:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimh5DN53dv2ybburxuAgFUmi7PKOPx2oQnKZMDJBywA3zUEU2UdIPbeuBtwNlJKMnwSnz_0HYtb5EjGLpNmVyUc2rbEPEEXy52MRvddngAetol99RHYeWNAkxbtgMOw3aInUnBCT_-0Ws/s1600/incubator10_2_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimh5DN53dv2ybburxuAgFUmi7PKOPx2oQnKZMDJBywA3zUEU2UdIPbeuBtwNlJKMnwSnz_0HYtb5EjGLpNmVyUc2rbEPEEXy52MRvddngAetol99RHYeWNAkxbtgMOw3aInUnBCT_-0Ws/s320/incubator10_2_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523668741307505346" />In the incubator!</a><br /><br />These are from shipped eggs from a flock completely unrelated to mine so I can refresh the gene pool. The eggs these guys came from arrived on a particularly hot day and sat in the mail truck touring the neighborhood for at least 5 hours. Needless to say I was worried about their viability but was pleasantly surprised when 98 hatched out of 118 set. :) <br /><br />Unfortunately one of the last quail to hatch had an umbilical hernia. About an inch of intestine was protruding from the little guys belly button. This is the first time I've ever seen this in person and sadly this situation doesn't have a good prognosis so I had to cull the bird. Now I've eaten some of my quail before, but their death served a purpose. It was much more difficult to kill a tiny bird, only to bury it in the garden. One of the hard moments in raising livestock.<br /><br />On a brighter note-- here are a few of the 92 smiling faces from the hatch.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqN8ghKxo3Khjm-bC8_2upInQ08yAxCG5wob_NpFUDER_Qo69PO_CE4ctIFKlVjsPpTgPajv03X6vVaDqOAywmZQOaJauz4SoGqWgRhFptbUdB9OyGM3j9IKzq_IasyNZ1jPLbM6GT-fA/s1600/Hatch2_10_2_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqN8ghKxo3Khjm-bC8_2upInQ08yAxCG5wob_NpFUDER_Qo69PO_CE4ctIFKlVjsPpTgPajv03X6vVaDqOAywmZQOaJauz4SoGqWgRhFptbUdB9OyGM3j9IKzq_IasyNZ1jPLbM6GT-fA/s320/Hatch2_10_2_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523668747436586306" /></a>rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-160312501927773852010-09-16T17:04:00.000-07:002010-09-16T17:33:14.799-07:00Time to refresh the coturnix quail!Well, it's that time of year again. Once a year I like to bring in some quail eggs from a new source to refresh the bloodlines. No one wants a bunch of inbreeding! I'll sell some of the adults I currently have and replace them with birds that hatch out of these:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBb7nZZnxF_KiN4OJlMmy7j2kgVRtnIalGujGZ9uJQKtxM_965pc7NFAQCfefNBu2870vIpeJBlGEkcbIVC0zc7zbCqY9vCrPxkObMYFc7tUaQOuCDR94yYxTH7d1cYNdzI3ksqZi9GFM/s1600/quaileggs_2010_2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBb7nZZnxF_KiN4OJlMmy7j2kgVRtnIalGujGZ9uJQKtxM_965pc7NFAQCfefNBu2870vIpeJBlGEkcbIVC0zc7zbCqY9vCrPxkObMYFc7tUaQOuCDR94yYxTH7d1cYNdzI3ksqZi9GFM/s320/quaileggs_2010_2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517667343886944578" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCV-koggAHkb9K_F9HN9QUazSTgXhkbpFqdAmy9J4VqO9CIGABpic_OsvVJUkPiaL31QYyhvfcTBnf3FbDfXuEQuJjcln0KH9gJMaVVuAFQ3ftLYvOqBp8drL8ao36Kipx9C8JkfpG3M/s1600/quaileggs_2010_1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCV-koggAHkb9K_F9HN9QUazSTgXhkbpFqdAmy9J4VqO9CIGABpic_OsvVJUkPiaL31QYyhvfcTBnf3FbDfXuEQuJjcln0KH9gJMaVVuAFQ3ftLYvOqBp8drL8ao36Kipx9C8JkfpG3M/s320/quaileggs_2010_1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517667339876809154" /></a><br /><br />Out of 120 eggs shipped only 2 got cracked. It always amazes me how well eggs (and even chicks) do in the mail. I probably crack 2 quail eggs a week just bringing them from the quail pens into the house.<br /><br />I will be keeping a total of only about two dozen birds, the rest will be sold or eaten. I currently have about three dozen, so those plus whatever I get out of this hatch will be the birds to choose from. I decide which birds go where by a few different criteria: <br /><br />1. Genetics: I want to have as many different bloodlines represented, I especially want the roosters to be from different bloodlines as the hens as much as possible. <br />2. Defects: Any bird that has any trait that I wouldn't want to breed (for example I have one chick right now with crossbeak) gets eaten. It's unfortunate, but it's important to not have those birds in the breeding pool, mine or anyone elses. They are given a good life until they are table size.<br />3. Interesting, good looking or other positive qualities: I have a few that I recently hatched out with color patterns I haven't seen before, I'll keep at least one of those. I also have a rooster that I love because he has a bizarre and warbly crow very different from the others. I also have a few birds that are especially friendly and/or lay very large eggs, they stay here as well.<br /><br />Ideally, all of the other birds get sold or bartered with. I wouldn't want to sell a bird that I wouldn't use for breeding myself, I feel that even as a tiny scale hobby farmer I have a responsibility to not muck up the genetic pool for this amazing breed. (And no one wants bad quail karma!)rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-30304475103661064742010-08-11T17:28:00.000-07:002010-08-11T18:04:04.330-07:00Aquaponics and a tiny pondI still haven't added the tilapia to the aquaponics system, but I think the tank may have nearly finished cycling this weekend. In the few weeks we've had them, the females have gotten a little bigger but the males have more than tripled in size. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVEwhWNZUtZ-iOTw9r-vamxXHpVYCHgT8La0249mQFz_zDvMI_1qTmYFAatp1Yz-XwnIWZp56Sjoi341wippAL332pBWkanlEELYw2lQU9_W1S5tctzVIXUzqncedkzoqerV60dWqjJ8/s1600/aquaponics8_9_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVEwhWNZUtZ-iOTw9r-vamxXHpVYCHgT8La0249mQFz_zDvMI_1qTmYFAatp1Yz-XwnIWZp56Sjoi341wippAL332pBWkanlEELYw2lQU9_W1S5tctzVIXUzqncedkzoqerV60dWqjJ8/s320/aquaponics8_9_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504319481540474546" />Grow bed about 2 weeks after planting seeds</a><br /><br />The plants are doing fantastic in the grow bed. I've been adding small amounts of fish emulsion both to help with the tank cycling and also to provide some nutrients for the growing plants. This picture is about 10 days worth of growth from the last post's picture. <br /><br />Finally, I've made a tiny pond on the tiny farm! This roughly 45 gallon pond will serve to grow duckweed to help feed the tilapia. I'm hoping to eventually grow 100% of the food for the tilapia on the property. To build it (after my usual sticking my shovel through some irrigation lines and repairing them) I used leftover pond liner from the aquaponics set up, rocks that were already on the property, plants that came free with my tilapia, a handful of duckweed from the fish store ($1.30) and a pair of gambusia fish to eat mosquito larvae ($2.49). Total cost: about $4. I could have gotten the gambusia free from friends with ponds or the city of Phoenix, but this particular fish store (Phoenix Tropical Fish) took the time to really help me with questions a few weeks back so I thought I'd give them some business, even if it's just a couple bucks.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioS_v-T6jX9xYBW9TJNkBM4nAYog5YRCmSKPhsa8H_UqxlTOz3svqZJDDx2xFpqbtDY3Z80RPk95SPdVVDDOwCCE74b71lhAdiREjQcOtgCHTwVV0Tb8vgSqZ4RK6juiLAde2C9yrUm5Q/s1600/pond_before.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioS_v-T6jX9xYBW9TJNkBM4nAYog5YRCmSKPhsa8H_UqxlTOz3svqZJDDx2xFpqbtDY3Z80RPk95SPdVVDDOwCCE74b71lhAdiREjQcOtgCHTwVV0Tb8vgSqZ4RK6juiLAde2C9yrUm5Q/s320/pond_before.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504321013051377266" />Pond area: BEFORE</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrgqQOALr_2uF6HJNqiVfBZHpm7V3eowm8-faanrnScLuXdMTh1VKvJsJXhYCJigiPbSz0KEYRvQ_wF8N8fig8qL_IEwlLetaz2V0SToFkwlnPbQf3Ec5th2xm9J_1e_Anbkab40VWuA/s1600/pond8_11_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJrgqQOALr_2uF6HJNqiVfBZHpm7V3eowm8-faanrnScLuXdMTh1VKvJsJXhYCJigiPbSz0KEYRvQ_wF8N8fig8qL_IEwlLetaz2V0SToFkwlnPbQf3Ec5th2xm9J_1e_Anbkab40VWuA/s320/pond8_11_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504319485110604114" />Pond: AFTER</a><br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHg5FkmoTQIKjdIasRsL1mIL8XVvIwzgCnWX_svz5eDM9NSS40FUgYtcPampnaVAx2bQiB9cTWbRr0EJbuAZgfZWCxAkB5nsgq1O3-BuqmUAHYhJY7daZJ-dyvrYcQ8y-wiqDT1kkI7E/s1600/waterhyacinth.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHg5FkmoTQIKjdIasRsL1mIL8XVvIwzgCnWX_svz5eDM9NSS40FUgYtcPampnaVAx2bQiB9cTWbRr0EJbuAZgfZWCxAkB5nsgq1O3-BuqmUAHYhJY7daZJ-dyvrYcQ8y-wiqDT1kkI7E/s320/waterhyacinth.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504319489561578834" /></a><br />I'll add some plants around the outside of the pond when the weather cools down a bit. The duckweed is spreading rapidly and the water hyacinths are blooming, so it's been a pretty good payoff for a few hours of very sweaty digging and rock piling.rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-75015699344470658172010-08-03T22:05:00.000-07:002010-08-03T22:24:49.160-07:00Aquaponics sprouting!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_AVdMiptrbgIHjSAmRljSGviJ-N9GtJt3N24eoguxuRJh0cHxikHz5_EpPphExqLayy35zU_ZFcVYQe_lM5JHuLZw2qWt3w8SRr3rEN9QpCNyyq35fpBEj6mrZoLtrrXzAqP8z1gIS4/s1600/aquaponics_sprouts.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_AVdMiptrbgIHjSAmRljSGviJ-N9GtJt3N24eoguxuRJh0cHxikHz5_EpPphExqLayy35zU_ZFcVYQe_lM5JHuLZw2qWt3w8SRr3rEN9QpCNyyq35fpBEj6mrZoLtrrXzAqP8z1gIS4/s320/aquaponics_sprouts.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501416750883221666" />Some free cucumber seed being put to work</a><br /><br />I planted some cucumbers and summer squash for the fall season in Phoenix. I was a bit hesitant to just throw the seeds in the hydroton (clay balls) as I thought they would just get washed down to the bottom, but lo and behold after three days, my cucumbers have sprouted. I planted 6 seeds each from two different varieties and every single seed sprouted, so apparently they do stay put fairly well. In a couple of months we'll see if the tiny seeds like lettuce and herbs perform the same.<br /><br />I am still cycling the tank, so the fish are still indoors as I'm trying my best to not kill them. In order to prevent the tiny tilapia from getting sucked into the filter once they do go in, I've devised a simple and cheap mesh cage for my pump. I bought a small roll of fiberglass mesh used on window screens and sewed it into a tube shape. Using a couple of my zipties I tightened it around both the cord and the hose fitting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwOxSNsjMaAbmdk7LauHku3FKRHFrmj0yXZjuWaugCxzuABbBMo-hGeyECkHr0q0hjpSUjtaGVS98x5zl7EdxILsZYp8SYXvHO_ZA0WtX_6zAdC-JNAvCfUXZXesfaNBU-s_bA-gl1RSA/s1600/aquaponicsfilter_1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwOxSNsjMaAbmdk7LauHku3FKRHFrmj0yXZjuWaugCxzuABbBMo-hGeyECkHr0q0hjpSUjtaGVS98x5zl7EdxILsZYp8SYXvHO_ZA0WtX_6zAdC-JNAvCfUXZXesfaNBU-s_bA-gl1RSA/s320/aquaponicsfilter_1.jpg" border="0" <br />alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501416758518513250" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBoFnztES7Sk-cKGIAPPSUIXwIHBn3uGIGzcbDy5aoS0-YBZwydGvjUnWfhsQTTtKcsNQLTic-dfULNA9uSLp8BxMPsSXxg5yZZrrsSvu8smiIRjnKl3po2xnLkujROI5birGjZ5eU0xc/s1600/aquaponicsfilter2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBoFnztES7Sk-cKGIAPPSUIXwIHBn3uGIGzcbDy5aoS0-YBZwydGvjUnWfhsQTTtKcsNQLTic-dfULNA9uSLp8BxMPsSXxg5yZZrrsSvu8smiIRjnKl3po2xnLkujROI5birGjZ5eU0xc/s320/aquaponicsfilter2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501416764312096546" /></a><br /><br />I will remove this after the fish get big enough to not get sucked through the normal 3/8" holes in the pump cage so I can pump some solids out. These will be filtered out using aquarium spongy filter media that will be placed underneath where the water comes out of the pump into the grow bed. <br />The progress so far is exciting!rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-8248559142497661782010-07-25T13:10:00.000-07:002010-07-25T13:35:59.440-07:00Aquaponics progressThe new system is nearly entirely built. I have learned a lot of lessons, on how to build and plumb more efficiently (for way less money!) for next time around. So many parts that I imagined would be easy to find were not, and some didn't even exist. I've kept all my receipts and will update with the way-over-budget total when I'm done and have returned all of the incorrect parts that I bought. :) I will also add a more reasonable hindsight budget for next time!<br /><br />The system is a roughly 100 gallon grow bed and roughly 100 gallon fish tank. Both are built with 3/4" plywood and reinforced in the corners (top and bottom) and lined with EPDM pond liner. I will probably also add some reinforcement going over the top of the grow bed to keep it from bowing over time. It's all on an old shelving unit my carpenter neighbor built and gave to me when he moved. Very sturdy but added more casters in the middle (you can't see them in this picture) and some extra 2 by 4 bracing just to be extra sure. The system can obviously not be moved around when full, but the idea is to empty the tank (even temporarily) between seasons so it can be in afternoon shade in summer and full sun in winter. When it's in place I have cinder blocks underneath it for extra insurance.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMpaIKUCEzD5xWWrXOL8tZZ8ux_4BPp9uI76ppqMdWUAANcDOImW59MmuGhYGMd_aft-bsBZj0FnXsYnq_wM46tlAdiUpwKxXFpGqr8gwdiqEMvWnyRxtaTQBzZoYXOFHJGFWJSK7mKM/s1600/aquaponics+system7_25_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMpaIKUCEzD5xWWrXOL8tZZ8ux_4BPp9uI76ppqMdWUAANcDOImW59MmuGhYGMd_aft-bsBZj0FnXsYnq_wM46tlAdiUpwKxXFpGqr8gwdiqEMvWnyRxtaTQBzZoYXOFHJGFWJSK7mKM/s320/aquaponics+system7_25_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497939166335969442" /></a><br /><br />The most simple explanation is that a pump pumps about 40% of the water out of the fish tank to fill the grow bed, when the water reaches a certain level a siphon kicks in and floods the water back into the fish tank. I went with an Affnan siphon for those of you that are interested in those sorts of details. I'll do a more complete post about siphoning in the future.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuPamwg8Vs2abm6czngkuHJanrw5PWAb1oxMU00X_gTLdj5FgfOu9U0bwBIXoGOpvzgeJENxKaHmpazpqwtICcyq4-tQCzNN-kGl6Ic8unMy1s92W3r4NIHHxYc5aQEPErBbb-T_V4Vc/s1600/growbed1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuPamwg8Vs2abm6czngkuHJanrw5PWAb1oxMU00X_gTLdj5FgfOu9U0bwBIXoGOpvzgeJENxKaHmpazpqwtICcyq4-tQCzNN-kGl6Ic8unMy1s92W3r4NIHHxYc5aQEPErBbb-T_V4Vc/s320/growbed1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497939168799246402" />Looking down into the growbed-- need a little more substrate to fill it up.</a><br /><br />The rocks on a plate are a temporary weight to hold down that pipe. The pipe has lots of holes drilled in it to act as a strainer to keep the rocks from entering the siphon, which is inside that pipe. The pipe to the left of that is an overflow pipe (I need to make it shorter). It's simply a back-up in case the siphon ever fails, it will keep the grow bed from overflowing. The other pipe is hooked up to a 35 watt(!) Laguna Max Flo 600gph pump, and carries the water from the tank to the grow bed. I will put some aquarium filter underneath where it comes out to keep too many solids from entering the grow bed. It might be hard to see but the water pipe is zip tied in place in three different spots to be sure it stays in place.<br /><br />Still a little more fine tuning, but as it is now, everything works how it should. I plan on beginning to cycle the tank tomorrow, it should be ready for the tilapia in about 3 weeks.rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-57800810020299887992010-07-19T08:09:00.000-07:002010-07-19T08:30:05.313-07:00Aquaponics beginningAfter a year or so of wanting to do aquaponics, I've finally begun. For those of you that don't know about it, aquaponics is similar to hydroponics only instead of adding chemicals, you use a fish tank and the fish provide the plant nutrients and the grow beds provide the filtration for the fish.<br /><br />I had some plans to build a 1000 gallon fish tank filled with tilapia and stick some growbeds on it and call it a day. It turns out, after some research, that there's recommended ratios and a few other things that just made it more complex than I was expecting. Not the least of which is our climate. For at least a month we have highs around 115 and lows around 90... and humidity. It's also quite expensive to do something that large, not prohibitively expensive, but enough so that I don't want to mess up. So for now I'm building a 100 gallon fish tank which will pump up about 50 gallons twice an hour to a 100 gallon grow bed filled with rocks which will siphon back down into the fish tank. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFSnzXwDhyphenhyphenh-do8QC2s0SmptDUwwH_5oK7eVwtH96pfilXl3Ik2Wrcz6SI0OegiV_Wm8liYoUgJbNCqXINItsrwNHFeaUVZwXm8snU5sFszOUmcGIsVXV-uz5HG6rtjNDybmROnBLeuo/s1600/me_buildingGBandFT.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihFSnzXwDhyphenhyphenh-do8QC2s0SmptDUwwH_5oK7eVwtH96pfilXl3Ik2Wrcz6SI0OegiV_Wm8liYoUgJbNCqXINItsrwNHFeaUVZwXm8snU5sFszOUmcGIsVXV-uz5HG6rtjNDybmROnBLeuo/s320/me_buildingGBandFT.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495639208391861490" />Building the outer frames for the fish tank and grow bed</a><br /><br />I was lucky enough to get some tilapia fry (babies) off of craig's list, as it's expensive to overnight big bags of water from the hatcheries, and I only needed about 15 fish, which is well below any minimum order sizes. We did a trade for them too, which was an even bigger bonus. I gave her seed packs and quail eggs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4O2mANFUlQOWYpJ76fzmmJrOjZ0JqQGwSIog148liLdtPmMaWV3yz_GK0IF1M6RUBTGYPnPl7sGoYHnhrY8fVWRd4phc-ocpTvjE6qS_uzLUh1KtVO-3i0kfwWZSyguag_M9O8SxU0s/s1600/tilapia_day2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4O2mANFUlQOWYpJ76fzmmJrOjZ0JqQGwSIog148liLdtPmMaWV3yz_GK0IF1M6RUBTGYPnPl7sGoYHnhrY8fVWRd4phc-ocpTvjE6qS_uzLUh1KtVO-3i0kfwWZSyguag_M9O8SxU0s/s320/tilapia_day2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495639199077214738" />Those gray smudges are 1/2" long tilapia</a><br /><br />I have a pond pump, and pond liner on the way. Both the fish tank and grow beds will be lined with pond safe EPDM. Until then....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJz_3yMRw4KS8TxiPMzxAFtHpCe-via5Cpjqw3yY7ikn2xIZ5vyBBNt5nOJAzwWv9xDgUS_py5mdHKhvIrBkXja716D-2EHQv8BOIlgbOw4DdcZdx6VJhkNZGyTZNhEc_SEH8pbm_AMk/s1600/me_intheFishtank.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJz_3yMRw4KS8TxiPMzxAFtHpCe-via5Cpjqw3yY7ikn2xIZ5vyBBNt5nOJAzwWv9xDgUS_py5mdHKhvIrBkXja716D-2EHQv8BOIlgbOw4DdcZdx6VJhkNZGyTZNhEc_SEH8pbm_AMk/s320/me_intheFishtank.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495639213961882562" />Not so flattering pic... it 100 degrees in there</a>rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-89076732465072833182010-06-21T17:37:00.000-07:002010-06-21T17:59:46.738-07:00Happy solstice, the mead is done!First off a happy summer solstice to all of you. As always, it feels like we're at least a month into summer here by the time the solstice rolls around. I've instituted a new family tradition that we'll celebrate the solstices (and maybe the equinoxes too) with some homemade hooch. Today I think it will be more of our hefeweizen as it's already at its peak and delicious. The hefeweizen was actually our second attempt at liquor making, the first one was the honey mead we started several months ago but just bottled this weekend. The mead was a bit of a learning curve for us as we learned some important lessons in sanitation, and how as it turns out, you should check all of your seals BEFORE you put the mead in the primary fermenter, otherwise you may have to put your hand in the brew to tighten things up. Despite the odds the mead turned out drinkable and not poisonous. We opted for a dry mead rather than a sweet one and this one is definitely dry. I think we left it in the fermenter a little long as it tastes more like a chardonnay that was left on the counter overnight... a hint of vinegar. Hey, I said it was drinkable, not wonderful. We're hoping that some aging will help it get a little better. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMFVDTPDmRtOSMhmHsywfF1WF92p1SsCZ6EP3iHn6GicNK5bkJb707OCKVgD6I99YQNzf5ckCP8HVYK3Gv_ZCOekAHC7epJD9os-ruAlVBtQLzi7kzQk-BYztitLSUmrlAJf30esFRic/s1600/mead_lasmanosvenenas.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMFVDTPDmRtOSMhmHsywfF1WF92p1SsCZ6EP3iHn6GicNK5bkJb707OCKVgD6I99YQNzf5ckCP8HVYK3Gv_ZCOekAHC7epJD9os-ruAlVBtQLzi7kzQk-BYztitLSUmrlAJf30esFRic/s320/mead_lasmanosvenenas.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485393871958367810" />22 bottles of La Mano Venenosa Mead</a><br /><br />The rest of the tiny farm is being productive as well. The 11 chickens are pitching in laying plenty of eggs in the 105 degree heat. Here's a week's worth:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHYJwF2ZQA3JqLTXN8pqGdjPdIkv6w-DiwLDkSUSrfapRQ8LxZ4JRK974wC1ZTmBqqDErMlBAvTax2d9QJVR7bfFx7hfJz-hCEez3TGizahqa__MIMZRq9E31ZeUoCGe9P4UDkzzMUZM/s1600/eggs_1week.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHYJwF2ZQA3JqLTXN8pqGdjPdIkv6w-DiwLDkSUSrfapRQ8LxZ4JRK974wC1ZTmBqqDErMlBAvTax2d9QJVR7bfFx7hfJz-hCEez3TGizahqa__MIMZRq9E31ZeUoCGe9P4UDkzzMUZM/s320/eggs_1week.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485393873885356738" /></a><br />Not bad considering that a few of these birds are pushing four years old and I'm still getting about 9 eggs a day!rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-44727218569962749202010-06-06T16:28:00.000-07:002010-06-06T16:55:48.836-07:00The first blackberry!This morning I got to pick the first blackberry I had ever grown. I didn't even know you could grow blackberries in Phoenix until I was about 20. Ever since then I had wanted to and when I bought my house I tried (and killed) several blackberry plants and pretty much gave up on it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjolVCsXj8LILhxNUVdPpE7VnGq2GVfFAWV0OfWwKm25tqegjorHiqaBA9gMqoAFkHUvaGhAkx_ugofYnS4M6gB6OgU_1VJFsi4iW4SiboL20mpURTXrhCwrf4XEwklb1hX8ZWK4kTAOJc/s1600/blackberry1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 277px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjolVCsXj8LILhxNUVdPpE7VnGq2GVfFAWV0OfWwKm25tqegjorHiqaBA9gMqoAFkHUvaGhAkx_ugofYnS4M6gB6OgU_1VJFsi4iW4SiboL20mpURTXrhCwrf4XEwklb1hX8ZWK4kTAOJc/s320/blackberry1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479811207533966066" /></a><br /><br />Fast forward to about a year ago. My husband and I were riding bikes around the neighborhood on our way to visit the house that had heritage breed turkeys for awhile. No, not legally, but no one complained. You could see the pen from the street and I think a lot of people like made a point to go by that house just to watch the turkeys. Anyway, we stopped at a yard sale a couple doors down. I bought a little birdcage to use as a hospital cage for small birds for $5 and I noticed he had a huge hedge of blackberries. Long story short: we rode our bikes home with a birdcage and a gallon bag of blackberries. He invited us to come back later with a shovel and dig up a few. We did. I planted them. Two out of five survived and I now have blackberries. I recently found out that they grow 'wild' in the irrigation ditch a street over and an awesome neighbor whom I've recently befriended happens to live next to that ditch and brought us 8 or 9 plants of which a few are starting to leaf out. These are not the thornless 25 gallons of berries per plant you see advertised in the catalogs and magazines, they are good old-fashioned very thorny blackberries. It makes them a little rough on the hands, but it also means they're a little rough on predators. I've planted them against the fence to the chicken pen and against where I plan to build a big quail aviary in the fall, so now they can serve two purposes. <br /><br />A big day indeed. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0eakoYaepPCst1CIjNSD81EmRi-oHYacbVfGy00pVxOwxGDlvmFn0R3AcQxR6z6x3KW-MrhcJFjXDea3BzHY53LFDS2u5LldBu4Ffs-7xWtOJvZOc-W8JVmhER7N4KXWR_JwFB-lHFi8/s1600/blackberry2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0eakoYaepPCst1CIjNSD81EmRi-oHYacbVfGy00pVxOwxGDlvmFn0R3AcQxR6z6x3KW-MrhcJFjXDea3BzHY53LFDS2u5LldBu4Ffs-7xWtOJvZOc-W8JVmhER7N4KXWR_JwFB-lHFi8/s320/blackberry2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479811212080591506" /></a>rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5577456106340505310.post-14490204397056083152010-05-14T22:21:00.000-07:002010-05-14T23:00:09.194-07:00Solar update, more baby quail, PICSFor those of you that are curious, the electric bill last month was $9.47. Way to go, solar! About $8 of that is administrative fees and taxes, the remainder is from the couple of days before they installed the new meter that credits us with surplus power. After all the math, it seems like it will pay for itself in about 5 years. However my husband and myself are both essentially freelance so the investment in the piece of mind that we have (basically) one less bill to pay every month is worth even more to us.<br /><br />We had an 80% hatch rate for this last batch of quail. This seems a little low for eggs that didn't have to travel but still very much acceptable. There comes a hard time in nearly every hatch when a quail or two has started pipping out of the shell and for whatever reason gets stuck and doesn't progress. The general rule is to not help the quail, that hatching is a test of fitness and for the sake of future generations you only want to breed the best and healthiest birds. Often birds you help out will be weak or have other problems and die anyway. Every once in awhile though you get a bird that is so close, really seems determined and peeps away at you from half inside the shell as if to beg you for just a tiny bit of help. Honestly from time to time I help one of these birds, I tell myself I really shouldn't, but I can't just let it suffer. An important part of responsible animal husbandry is to not be such a softy, that you really aren't doing the breed as a whole any favors by helping out individuals in this situation. My solution for this is that if there is one that I've helped, to band it and make sure it doesn't get used for breeding. <br /><br /><br />It takes about 4 to weigh as much as a cherry tomato. :) On to the pics!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0LE-pbDiEIWDOb1ynSNMVjzMVyEb39xfx_J-VVIzL8uhjR_RI3w-i-XQv7MwUZz30AIsu-EWrAciKJRyMclOA4glFaMumDruriVx9KPt2_udIZ-ikNM_6a0PcjSqOexel-pBLsqQ86c/s1600/sm_DSCF0031.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0LE-pbDiEIWDOb1ynSNMVjzMVyEb39xfx_J-VVIzL8uhjR_RI3w-i-XQv7MwUZz30AIsu-EWrAciKJRyMclOA4glFaMumDruriVx9KPt2_udIZ-ikNM_6a0PcjSqOexel-pBLsqQ86c/s320/sm_DSCF0031.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471372069156963426" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineniPAo8qK_JwfblyIkpabUMIfdNsqZwrt_GvaOjvkneWhhOLVxlKXv8z4tYbl8weEmrec6fSItyEJaNfQgJMUzAX9kmLx04Hbt8CFNMTi_gKfpA1gxA2eDXH4b2W6dC-UIxbYVV6UrA/s1600/sm_DSCF0026.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineniPAo8qK_JwfblyIkpabUMIfdNsqZwrt_GvaOjvkneWhhOLVxlKXv8z4tYbl8weEmrec6fSItyEJaNfQgJMUzAX9kmLx04Hbt8CFNMTi_gKfpA1gxA2eDXH4b2W6dC-UIxbYVV6UrA/s320/sm_DSCF0026.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471372064325871554" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-y-IKqNLuKgtkRl9H5bh3AmodL8XoFIf5NCABcM7KH3d-Wb6_GaFMZUlpEo7Y4OnB0LGsJPwNrpuhR0ZOIw9xahlPaGnUPEdX9OsCeJdliLQWQtqVwlmn2AsSbuwWVWOKkMw4m0vdXM/s1600/sm_DSCF0021.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-y-IKqNLuKgtkRl9H5bh3AmodL8XoFIf5NCABcM7KH3d-Wb6_GaFMZUlpEo7Y4OnB0LGsJPwNrpuhR0ZOIw9xahlPaGnUPEdX9OsCeJdliLQWQtqVwlmn2AsSbuwWVWOKkMw4m0vdXM/s320/sm_DSCF0021.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471372064902688514" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCHtjJr363oLUSIBVU_aSVWlDNhy32anIkWcp4W9gxY8hqQAGQlnYrX7P9ra9MlAPDk0Jd2nsQeNeDGL72h9bXulXZYhiC_Fn8-TpbR8LQv8BfKWOS5ZO7JFC-7f8vGXnn77Sa-qB1hg/s1600/sm_DSCF0006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCHtjJr363oLUSIBVU_aSVWlDNhy32anIkWcp4W9gxY8hqQAGQlnYrX7P9ra9MlAPDk0Jd2nsQeNeDGL72h9bXulXZYhiC_Fn8-TpbR8LQv8BfKWOS5ZO7JFC-7f8vGXnn77Sa-qB1hg/s320/sm_DSCF0006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471372054984911650" /></a><br /><br />Breed responsibly!rachelbesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11907834360662079706noreply@blogger.com1