Meet PomPom

This is our favorite addition to our flock this year. All of the birds are Speckled Sussex except for this one. He or she was thrown in for free with our chick order since we ordered more than 25. We are not 100% sure what she/he is but we "think" she is a White Crested Black Polish Bantam. She was less than a week old in this picture and has since lost the pom pom fuzz on top. It has been replaced with white feathers as she is now about 2 months old.

Meet PomPom

Some of the others at less than a week old.

It seems I have figured out this blogging on dial up issue and will hopefully be here more often. I have really missed blogging! So coming soon are pictures of the new place!

Living off the Pantry

Keeping a well stocked pantry is high on my list of priorities. There are many reasons I do this. One being I like to know that the items in there were purchased on sale, saving us money. Another is I do not like to run out of things mid cooking. Knowing that I have beans, rice, and baking supplies on hand is comforting to me. I enjoy feeding my family. Making bread is one of the highlights of my day. Dinner can sometimes be a chore but I am working on that. lol

Before we moved in January we discovered that the budget needed a lot of tweaking. We though that our first months rent would be the pro rated amount like it usually has been when we moved mid month somewhere. Well this was our first time using a rental company and how they do it is the second months rent is prorated for the amount it would have been in the first month. Quite a shocker for us since we had rearranged our budget to accommodate paying final bills and new bills and had a lot of overlapping bills making it a very tight month and a half. As we looked at out budget the only extra that could go to this unexpected amount was either savings or the food budget.

I told Joe that I could feed the six of us on just our pantry and freezer stores for 6 weeks. He was skeptical but I was certain I could do it. We did buy milk and some fruit during this time but not a lot. I am so thankful that we had this store of food. Had this been a real emergency we would have been fine. I could have even stretched it farther if needed! I am very thankful for this and even more determined to have a stocked pantry after this experience.

We did not starve but towards the end the options were limited. lol The kids were hit the hardest I think. One day Joe came home with his lunch dishes in a plastic bag and the two littles rushed him yelling "Did you go the the grocery store?!!" lol I think thoughts of goldfish crackers were running through their heads. :) The snack options were limited and for the last week snack consisted of a loaf of homemade bread with peanut butter and a jar of apple butter. My kind of snack! Many soups were enjoyed and a lot of beans were eaten. I feel like this experience really strengthened my cooking skills.

Now the task of restocking my pantry is at hand. Luckily this happened at tax season where we were able to throw a bit of that to restocking the pantry. Its not where it was before but will be soon. Living off our pantry for 6 weeks also showed me what I really need to focus on stocking a lot of. We were just about out of flour and some kinds of beans. We still had a lot of rice. We completely ran out of most baking supplies, frozen/canned vegetables, and meats by the end. We had an ample supply of jams and jellies thanks to our canning the previous year.

I am excited that we were able to do this. It was daunting at the beginning and a little scary. We had little extra money to throw into the food budget if this failed and I am happy to say that it was not only successful but it taught me a lot about our food usage. I am looking forward to this spring when I will plant our garden and am all ready planning a root cellar for inside our garage. I am mid re-organizing and re-stocking the new pantry area and when I get it cleaned up a bit I will post some pantry photos and more details here on Lally.

Have you ever lived off your pantry? Either by choice or by necessity? What kinds of things are most important to you to keep stocked in your pantry? I would love to hear about it here in the comments.

What did I forget?

Right around dusk I need to go close up the chicken coop. I usually have Maddy keep an eye on Naomi and run down to the coop on my own. Its getting dark and easier to do it without the help of a 23 month old. For weeks Joe has been telling me that I am going to regret doing something and well it finally happened. Its rather comical actually but needless to say I will be changing what I do. Here is what usually happens:
I head to the coop, open the gate and shut the chicken door before they realize I am out there and all run out, I then open the roof check and check for eggs. The roof is heavy and a two handed lift, so at this point I slip the egg or two that we are getting into my pocket. Then I lock up the rest of the coop, grab the chicken feeder, and head back to the house. On the odd occasion that we have three eggs I put them on top of the chicken food in the feeder as three won't fit into my pocket. Once back at the house I hang the feeder up, take off my boots and go inside. Hang my coat in the closet and then its on to start dinner. Do you see what I missed? I didn't either. Until I went to put my coat on the next morning and wondered what was oozing out of my pocket. Yup, eggs. lol I think I will start bringing the egg basket even if it is only one egg. :)

Garden Planning 2010

This years garden is going to be our biggest ever. I have yet to measure and map it out but at least four times last years size! I am so incredibly excited about this and cannot wait to place my seed order. The other day a friend said that seed catalogs are gardener's porn. lol I couldn't agree more. I have loved looking through my seed catalog this year and dreaming of all the possibilities. It is now very well marked and the cover is falling off. So onto the garden. Here is a list of what we are growing this year:

Summer Squash Cocozelle
Basil
Catnip
Chamomile
Chives
Cilantro
Dill
Fleabane (insect repellent)
Horehound (used for coughs and colds)
Mint
Stevia
Strawberries
Horseradish
Garlic
Shallots
Arugula
Green Beans (bush and pole)
Beets
Brussel Sprouts
Carrots
Cabbage
Celery
Chard
Corn
Cucumbers
Fennel
Pak Choi
Leeks
Anuenue
Lettuces (many varieties, including a hot weather one)
Melons
Kincho
Bunching Onions
Red Onions
Walla Walla Onions (will not be ready till next year)
Peas (shelling and snap)
Pumpkins (edible varieties)
Radishes
Spinach
Yellow Crookneck Squash
Zucchini
Butternut Squash
Sweet Meat Winter Squash
Ground Cherries (yes I am trying these again, even after last years fail lol )
Tomatoes (several varieties)
Watermelon

In addition to growing for ourselves and preserving/storing for the winter we are growing a few items for my mom. We have also offered up a share of our garden to local friends (mini CSA style). I didn't think anyone would be interested in buying a garden share from us but threw the idea out there anyway. Now we have a list and are thinking about doing a second share. After I do the actual mapping and planning I will decide if a second share is even possible. I wouldn't want to commit to one and then realize the space is just not there.

What is going on in your garden right now? Are you just at the planning stages or in harvest season? I love getting comments and read each and every one.

Happy Gardening!!

My Vision for a Special Kids Garden

I have a vision in my head for a special kids play area. I am going to post it here so I won't forget it. I am not talking about a kids garden they tend themselves. They will have that as well. I am talking about a special place to play where things are growing. I am picturing a square of grass big enough for all the kids to sit in. All around the grass area will be like a moat with a pathway in. The moat area will be where the plants grow. I want to find large branches and tie them together to make a sort of tee pee and plant vining and climbing plants to grow up and over these branches creating a sort of canopy. There will be walls of sunflowers, cosmos, daisies, corn, and whatever else I think will grow well. Maybe snap peas and carrots for quick play time snacks. Also cut tree trunk rounds for sitting, standing on, or to use as a table. This will be like a summer nature fort. I know I have seen similar ideas online and am really excited to maybe have one for the kids this year. I think they would really enjoy this. This is more of a note to myself so sorry if you are trying to make any sense of this. :) If I can work out the details and get this done I will be sure to post more details and pictures.

Garden Planning

Garden season is coming. I love this time of year. The anticipation of what this years garden will bring. I am even more excited out here in the new house as we can have a huge garden in addition to what is all ready planted here. I have started obsessing over the one seed catalog that survived the move, sadly I think the others were recycled. Its a catalog for a local nursery and one I would probably have chosen to order from anyway so all is well there.

I usually start my garden planning with marking pages or making lists of what I want to grow even if it won't grow here. Then I mull it over in my head for a few days adding things as I think about them. This years list is three pages long!! lol I will be weeding it down. :) I always put the standard garden fare for my family which is: several kinds of lettuce, carrots, spinach, peas, green beans, tomatoes, summer squashes, and potatoes. I am sure I am forgetting something but that looks about right. After I list the main plants I start having fun. I like to add something new each year, last year I grew cayenne peppers for drying. This year I am trying some medicinal herbs and tea herbs. Also stevia is on my want to list but its a zone 9 or 10 so I am waffling on that one.

Once my list is made and I have mulled it over I start to condense it. This is where I usually sit down with Joe (who often groans when he sees the garden journal/notes for the year) and ask him what he wants to grow/eat. I cross off things I have decided not to grow and add things I decided to grow. Do I really need 6 different varieties of something? Once I have a suitable list I order or go to a store and buy the seeds. I try to do this early as I have noticed if I forget something its usually not available later in the season. One year I forgot to buy snap peas and they were really missed by all of us when I couldn't find any in the local stores.

Now comes the really fun part. At least for me the compulsive, crazy type. Its now time to map it! I usually use a grid paper and measure out the area I am using. I then make a key of one square equals so much space. Last years garden was small and one square equaled 1/2 foot. This year I think I will be making a much bigger map so not sure how to scale I can do it but I will sure try. I add plants to marked off map sections checking the seed packets and my gardening books for recommended spacing. I try to check previous years maps to rotate crops (though I mostly forget) and I like to plant flowers among everything for insect control and also to attract the beneficial insects. As I go down the list the map gets fuller and fuller. I usually find a few empty spots and add whatever I think we will want more of. This is about as detailed as I get on the map making my notes else where in my garden journal. This year I plan to note more information on the map itself. Days to harvest, info for fall plantings, etc. I may have to make a separate map for the fall/winter plantings but that will depend on how the map spacing is.

Once this is done its planting seeds inside and waiting for it to warm up enough outside to get to work. I will try to post pics of my garden map when I get it done. Currently I am still at the trying to get Joe to sit down and tell me what he wants to grow stage. I would just do it on my own but then he always says why don't I let him help! lol

Happy garden planning everyone, I would love to hear about what you are growing this year! Old favorites or new plants? For the readers in other parts of the world I would love to hear how your garden harvests are going!

We are here

We moved in on the 10th and are still unpacking. No photos yet but soon I promise!! The kids are really enjoying all the areas to explore in the yard and I am completely enjoying the peace and beauty that is out here. Madeline told me the other day that the air smells good out here. :) I am starting to plan our garden and am really enjoying unpacking and setting up house again. lol Hope you are all well just wanted a quick update on here as its been a while. See you soon with pictures...