Adventures in Sustainability

June Farm Update

2012-06-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

May and June were hectic months around the farm, and unfortunately not in a good way. Many things were neglected besides just the blog.

There were a few happenings worth noting however-- our freezer is full of hog: pork chops, loins, ribs, shoulder steaks, ham hocks, roasts, bacon, sausage, ground pork... all of course the most delicious pork that I've ever tasted! I've never even really eaten ground pork before, but it's turned out to be one of the most versatile cuts in there! Basically, we've been eating a lot of pork. I'm sure there will be recipes to follow this post, as I explore different ways to prepare the same meat every night.

We also bottled and quickly consumed our hard apple cider that we started in the Fall. It was quite delicious. It came out a bit dry, so we added some maple syrup, cinnamon, and cloves to the final brew and it was awesome! Very strong stuff, perhaps a little too strong, ha. Luckily, we made enough to share, and the merriment was spread about quite nicely!

Also, we got a duckling! But just one. And for just one day. About mid May we noticed a chirping in the tall grass and discovered a newly hatched duckling wandering around. Further inspection of the duck house revealed two dead ducklings that never made it out. The duckling stayed by its mother, a Welsh Harlequin, for most of the day, nestling under her wing when she rested. We decided to see how the ducks were at mothering, and just left the one surviving duckling in there with them. Unfortunately, I realize now that we should have confined it to a space nearby with a top over it to protect from hawks. We don't know exactly what got it, but my guess would be a hawk... the electric fence was on, there were no noticeable tunnels underneath the fence line, there was no sign of any carnage, and the ducks were all very weary of the sky, looking up all the time and nervous all the next day. Live and learn, next time I will separate any new hatchlings. There are still two Harlequins nesting underneath the duck house, so we'll see what comes of that... perhaps we'll get another try.

The goose, meanwhile, hasn't moved off of her nest in over a month, possibly even two months. I'm actually starting to get a bit worried about her, I'm beginning to be afraid that she's just sitting on a nest full of unfertilized eggs, just getting weaker and weaker. I've been bringing water and food to her, but I haven't seen her out of her house to eat any of the fresh spring grass that is filling the goose pen at all. I'm not quite sure what to do if she is just sitting on rotten eggs.... how do I get her to leave them? She's very defensive, and I can't get too close without thoroughly upsetting her to even check the eggs. **UPDATE: She has finally given up on the nest, and is out and about with the gander again. There was indeed a huge pile of rotten eggs... I think due to the fact that we took their swimming pond away a few months ago, which is probably essential to proper mating.**

Financial woes have unfortunately forced us to consider moving off of this lovely property. We'll probably end up slaughtering the flock and filling our freezer with them, as it doesn't seem like we'll be able to find a place within our price range to move them to. Plus, the ducks took about 6 months to settle into this place when we moved last time, and we don't want to stress them out like that again. Part of me really doesn't want to eat them after I've nurtured them for so long... they feel more like pets than livestock at this point. But their original purpose was as livestock, and it is something that I will simply have to come to terms with. We've been struggling with food costs, anyhow. I've never eaten goose before, I am interested to see how it tastes! While this experiment with waterfowl was fun and very rewarding, it seems as if our menagerie will dwindle once again to just the Polka Dog. At least she'll have a break from guard duty for a bit! Not that that's necessarily what she would prefer... whatever will she do with herself now?

Overall, it's been a tremendously stressful couple of months, and we're not quite sure what the future holds for us, but hopefully it gets better from here!

Slaughter Time -- April Farm Update

2012-04-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

The hogs are finally gone, we had them slaughtered in the wee hours of the morning today. The butcher showed up in a mobile unit before the sun was up, and an unexpected snow fell around us as we roused the pigs. We realized that the shop had grossly misinformed us as to the capabilities of the truck/crew-- they had told us that it was no problem how far away the pigpen was, the guys would just carry the hogs over. Two middle aged men showed up, and informed us that the truck couldn't leave the gravel, and they certainly weren't picking any muddy hogs up and lugging them that far. Luckily, our trusty Subaru saved the day once again. They shot the hogs in their pen, slit their throats, and dragged them behind the Subaru down to the butcher truck. There they immediately washed, skinned, gutted and hung the carcasses up for transport. All of the smoking should be done and the meat should be in our freezer in a couple weeks! I'm quite excited to finally eat some. I've never watched a hog be killed and gutted before, especially one that I raised myself. It was pretty brutal, but I'm glad I watched it. It's an important part of life, and it gives me all the more respect for my meat come supper time. Their life sustains my life, and I never truly felt the weight of that until I stared into their eyes as they were shot... it felt much heavier than killing birds. I was glad to be able to give them a scratch goodbye and thank them for their sacrifice before they were slaughtered, it's a rare opportunity.

I know it's pretty gruesome, but of course I had to include at least one shot. Meet your meat!

We also seem to have lost another member of our menagerie, but unfortunately, this one was not by choice. Cedar Cat has disappeared, and sadly, we haven't seen him in about a month. He had just hit puberty and was starting to wander further and further away from home, and then one day he just didn't show up for food. He was a very friendly cat, and we never bothered with a collar, so it's possible that he wandered into someone's warm home and they decided to keep him inside. That would be the best possible cause, and I sincerely hope for that. However, I do expect the worst. I've owned quite a few outdoor cats during my years in the Pacific Northwest, and sadly, the longest living ones were only about three years old when they disappeared. I thought that perhaps Polka Dog would keep an eye on Cedar a little closer, but alas, she cannot follow him when he wanders off of the property. While predators abound, I could still never force a cat to stay indoors... that just seems too cruel. At least they were all free while they were alive, to do as they wished. Cedar didn't even make it a full year with us. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect protect him better, and I will miss his fluffy friendliness... he was actually the most affectionate cat that I've ever owned. So long, my friend.

Here's to you, Cedar Cat... I sure hope you're just off curled up by someone else's fire!

One Welsh Harlequin has decided to brood, so we may just get some ducklings after all! We just went in there today and marked about a dozen for her to sit on, and cleared the rest out. She was sitting on a pile of about three dozen eggs! Way too many for her to realistically hatch. We shall see, we shall see. We're going au natural on this one, letting the ducks just do their own thing. We haven't been lighting them or putting them away at night, depending on the electric fence to keep them safe. We're on the hunt currently for some duckweed to start growing to cut down on our bird feed costs. Duckweed is supposedly easy to grow, especially high in protein, and can be dried for extra stock. We should be able to supplement the fish's feed with it as well, once we have the aquaponics set up and running smoothly.

The greenhouse is up and almost finished! My boyfriend and his uncle showed off their awesome carpentry skills and built one almost entirely from old windows, with a polycarbonate roof. There are three old Subaru fans in the eaves for ventilation, hooked up to a small 12v solar panel, so that when the sun is shining the fans are running. It still needs some finishing touches, but I'm pretty impressed with how nice it's turned out so far. We're going to put in some shelves on the north side, a dirt bed along the south side, and fill the rest of the space with aquaponics. Unfortunately, we still need to save up some more money for aquaponics equipment, fish, and dirt amendments for the dirt bed. We'll probably fill it with seedlings and container plants in the meantime. I'd like to grow basil and peppers in the dirt bed, and salad greens, herbs, and catfish in the aquaponics system. The goal is to have the aquaponics up and running by June. Once that's in, it'll probably take up most of the limited space in the greenhouse, but that's the main purpose of the greenhouse anyhow-- to hopefully keep the fish and plants alive through the cold seasons. We're going to mostly bury the fish tank to help with insulation, and we'll probably need some kind of extra heating source on the really frosty nights, but that's where the fun in experimentation comes in. We shall see, we shall see!

That's pretty much all of the major happenings around the farmstead, I hope that everyone out there in cyberspace is enjoying that beautiful Spring sunshine!

Fire Cider: Herbal Flu and Cold Remedies

2012-03-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

Spring has brought us that lovely warm sun that we've craved all winter, but along with that tempting sun that makes us dash out to play in shorts, also comes plenty of wind, rain, and hail to catch us off guard with an immune system knock-out and more than likely, a springtime cold.

Colds and flus should always be dealt with as soon as symptoms are evident-- even with false alarms, herbal preventative measures can do nothing but good for your body. At the first sign of sickness, my first measure is usually to up my (non-acidic) Vitamin C intake, and use some liver stimulating herbs such as Oregon Grape Root or Milk Thistle to help my body fight the extra toxins/disease. Grapefruit Seed Extract is on the top of my list whenever I'm feeling ill, 20 drops in a shot glass with water will usually knock out whatever is bothering me. It tastes pretty terrible, but most effective medicines do, right? You can buy GSE in capsule form, but I've always found the liquid extract to be more effective for some reason. Another great preventative measure is to get your circulation running really well. Ginger tea can be great for this, and I will often make an infusion of ginger, lemon, and honey and drink it all day long. Cayenne pepper can also be a helpful addition to your diet to get that blood flowing well-- in general, most spicy foods will help stimulate blood circulation.

Below, I have included a recipe for Fire Cider, and amazing spicy infused vinegar that will burn any sign of a cold away in a hurry! Fire Cider can be taken straight a half shot at a time, or added to soups, sauces, stir frys, etc. while cooking. It's best taken at the first sign of illness, but can also be used regularly as a general health tonic.

Fire Cider

(Ingredients are per quart mason jar.)

-- 1 whole small onion or 1/2 a large onion; sliced

-- 1 whole head of garlic; diced or mashed

-- a few strands of usnea lichen (optional)

-- 1”x1”x2” piece of ginger root, peeled and diced

-- 1”x1”x1” piece turmeric root, diced

-- 1”x1”x1” piece horseradish root, peeled and coarsely chopped

-- 6 whole cloves

-- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper

-- about a quart of apple cider vinegar

---Process the ingredients accordingly, place in a quart mason jar, and cover completely with apple cider vinegar, leaving a small gap at the top of the jar.

---Lid tightly, label/date, and place somewhere to infuse, preferably somewhere visible so that you remember to shake it.

---Shake the jar(s) every couple days to make sure that no one chunk stays above the surface of the vinegar for too long.

---Infuse for 8 weeks. You may use it within this time if needed, but won't be at it's peak potency until it has infused for the full 8 weeks.

---After 8 weeks, strain out the chunks, decant into a clean jar, top off with extra apple cider vinegar if needed, and add honey to taste.

Keep in a cool, dark place and use as needed.

Vinegar has long been used as a way to both preserve and extract the minerals, vitamins and volatile compounds from herbs, spices and vegetables.

Onion is rich in minerals and anti-oxidants, and has been shown to stimulate the immune system. It is anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and an expectorant. It has a strong “drawing” effect, powerfully drawing out infections, colds, and congestion.

Garlic is rich in minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. It is powerfully antiviral and has been used against the flu and common cold for centuries. It has also been cited as a “natural antibiotic” with studies that show that viruses and bacteria do not mutate to become immune to garlic over time as they do with conventional antibiotics.

Usnea is a lichen that generally favors wet climates, and is prolific in the Pacific Northwest. It is anti-inflammatory, an incredibly powerful natural antibiotic, and also a strong immune system tonic. Although long term internal use of the extract has shown to cause kidney and liver problems due to the usnic acid content, I do not believe that just a few strands will do any harm.

Ginger contains powerful antioxidants. It has a wonderful “warming” effect, and increases circulation. Among it's many medicinal qualities, it is known to be anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antiseptic, and expectorant.

Turmeric also contains powerful anti-oxidants. It is anti-inflammatory, and research has shown it to be both antibacterial and antiviral.

Horseradish is antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, an effective expectorant, and has long been used in the treatment of sinus infections and other lung ailments. It improves circulation, stimulates the immune system and provides anti-oxidants.

Cloves are a strong antimicrobial. They have been shown to inhibit food-borne pathogens as well as other bacteria, viruses, and fungi. They have also shown to be an effective expectorant.

Cayenne pepper is rich in Vitamins A, B, C, E and G. It also contains calcium, phosphorus, and iron. It is antiseptic and antibacterial, and an excellent expectorant. It is most widely known and used for it's circulatory stimulation qualities.

Enjoy, and may you all have a happy and healthy Spring!

Resources

Some general flu facts, including the differences between a virus and bacteria:

http://www.flufacts.com/know/what-is.jsp

Onion research:

http://www.herballegacy.com/Wilson_Medicinal.html

http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?displayID=30

Garlic research, including potential medication interactions:

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/garlic-000245.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090130154901.htm

http://www.livestrong.com/article/518048-therapeutic-dosage-of-raw-garlic-for-a-sinus-infection/

Usnea research:

http://www.itmonline.org/arts/usnea.htm

http://www.susunweed.com/An_Article_wisewoman3d.htm

http://www.livestrong.com/article/422523-herbal-remedies-for-usnea/

http://www.digherbs.com/usnea.html

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-usnea.htm

Ginger research, including potential medication interactions:

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/ginger-000246.htm

http://www.herballegacy.com/Whitney_Medicinal.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2015596704_ginger14.html

http://medicinalherbinfo.org/herbs/Ginger.html

Turmeric research, including potential medication interactions:

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/turmeric-000277.htm

http://www.livestrong.com/article/103379-turmeric-medicinal-uses/

https://talesfromthelou.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/20-clinical-studies-on-active-principal-curcumin-turmeric/

Horseradish research:

http://www.herballegacy.com/Horseradish.html

http://www.medicenterpharmacy.com/ns/DisplayMonograph.asp?StoreID=A722C5E84F9A406D8A8E5E4260791288&DocID=basic-interactions-horseradish

http://www.medical-explorer.com/medicinal-ingredients-a/armoracia-rusticana_1.html

Cloves research:

http://www.genhealth.com/Products/vitaklenz/ingredients/clove.htm

http://www.drugs.com/npp/clove.html

Cayenne research:

http://medicinalherbinfo.org/herbs/Cayenne.html

http://www.herballegacy.com/Cayenne_History.html

Newspaper Starter Pots: Spring Sowing Tutorial

2012-03-22T17:46:00.001-07:00

Tutorial time again!

Today I folded up a bunch of newspaper pots to start seeds in, and I thought I would share this easy technique for all of you lovely readers out there! Plastic pots can take up a lot of room to store, and they can take up a lot of time to scrub when reusing, as well. Plus, plastic is hardly sustainable, even with reuse. My recycling bin is full of broken pots. Newspaper however, is a waste product common in most households, even with the internet creeping in on their territory. I consistently have a copy or two of the local free weekly paper lying around. You can use old phone books for this as well, which we all must have at least three of sitting around. Reusing is so much better for our environment than recycling! I was recently informed that all newspapers and phone books are now printed in soy based ink. As long as it's got a newspaper like feel as opposed to a magazine like feel, you're all good.

Besides newspaper, the only other tools that I used for this project are a pair of scissors, a solid bottom garden tray to place the finished pots in, and a can to roll the paper around. I used a 20 oz. pineapple can for this particular project, but you could adapt this easy technique to any size can depending on what you're planting. Small tomato paste cans can be great for starting lettuce and some smaller herbs. Just remember, you're not going to be wanting to move these around much after you've planted them and started watering them, we all know the how wet newspaper acts. Hopefully they will go straight from the tray to the garden dirt in one move.

First, cut your newspaper to size. I used a local free weekly, which happens to be a very convenient size for this, as I can cut it horizontally down the center and have two halves of perfect size. For everyone else not using my particular newspaper, place the can on it's side about ½” from the top straight edge of the newspaper, and cut about two inches below the bottom of the can. Make the piece long enough to wrap around the can a few times.

Next, we roll! Place the can at one end of your paper strip, leaving about ½” of paper above the top of the can, and about 2” below the bottom of the can. Roll tightly, keeping the can as straight along the edge of the paper as possible, all the way to the end of the strip.

Now we need to close the bottom of the pot up. Beginning at the seam, fold a quarter of the bottom side down against the bottom of the can. In a circular pattern, fold the remaining edges down as well until you have four or more folds creating a solid bottom, each fold holding the previous fold down.

Flip the folded bottom over onto the table so that you can use the can's weight to press down against the table and crease those bottom folds together well.

Now flip the whole thing over and drop that can out of the folded paper. Here comes the trickiest part-- starting at the seam once again, we need to gently fold the top edge down, being careful to fold and not tear the paper. Be sure to keep the bottom of your pot against the table so that the bottom folds don't come out.

All done! Simple, eh? You'll want to place the finished pots in a tray, they help keep each other upright, and the bottoms definitely need some support that won't be moved around a lot. Fill with dirt, plant your seeds, and when they're big enough, plant the whole thing directly into the ground! The paper will biodegrade, and the the roots will push out between the folds before the paper even breaks down.

I'm probably a bit late on getting my tomatoes started inside, and that's probably what will fill this particular tray.

Happy Spring, everyone!

March Farm Update

2012-03-09T11:58:00.000-08:00

Time for another quick farm update!

We've been very busy lately, so I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and write for a while! The major drama of February's update was the sick Harlequin. You will all be glad to read that she is completely healed and back frolicking with the rest of the flock! We kept her inside isolated for about a week and gave her plenty of food and vitamin enriched water, and whatever she was sick with healed right up. We released her back with the flock and since she has been especially friendly, following me closely whenever I work around the pen. I finally gave in and collected all of the eggs that were building up in the duck house, one had broken and leaked all over the rest, and the ducks weren't showing any interest in sitting on them, anyhow. The goose started laying as well, and we're going to try leaving them in there for her to sit on. She doesn't seem to be that interested either... we'll have to wait and see.

We got some snow early in the month, but it hardly fazed the ducks! Here's the happy flock all together after the Harlequin returned.

Pruning happened on our little apple orchard, and the straighter branches from the pruning debris were limbed, cut down into stake size and stuck under the overhang to cure for this summer's garden stakes. The rest of the debris was burned in a nice winter bonfire with friends and neighbors. The orchard missed a year of pruning, so some of the shoots were pretty thick, and I shredded my finger in the process. More practice with the saw is definitely needed! Hopefully the apple trees will be a bit more productive and the apples more within reach this year.

Here's the piggies all snuggled up and sleepy during the snow storm.

The pigs are enormous, and we've finally set a butcher date-- April 6^th. Now we just have to decide exactly how we want them cut up and processed. We've switched from all grain to half grain and half corn for feed, and we're still feeding all of the gleaner extras, as well as picking up kitchen scraps from a local bakery/café. At the upper section of the pen, the pigs have dug so far down into the hillside that the bottom of the fence is now almost above their heads! If they were smarter, they'd combine efforts, dig horizontally, and break free in a couple hours! That thought, of course, scares me thoroughly. We've been procrastinating moving the fence line, but I know that we've got to get on it soon! I don't think that it can wait the month we have until slaughter time.

That's all the updates that I have for y'all right now: a healthy flock, a healthy orchard, and two big healthy hogs! I've been very busy in the kitchen, so more recipes will surely be coming soon!

I couldn't help sticking a photo in of the Indian Runner running through the snow... he's definitely a favorite, and by far one of our most amusing fowl!

February Farm Update

2012-02-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

Time for a farm update!

The ducks have started laying again, on their own natural schedule. We had a problem with the lighting in the summer and lapsed for a while, so we had decided to just let them do their own thing and wait for the light to change to start laying again. January brought us that sun and they started laying again at the end of the month. We haven't collected any yet however, because we're trying to get them to sit on them and give us some more little duckies. I plan to wait until they have a full clutch (10 eggs? 20 eggs?) and then mark the original eggs, and only take unmarked eggs to eat, leaving the original marked eggs for a (hopefully) broody duck to sit on. We've also been talking to a neighbor about using her egg incubator, which seems to me like a much better way to go about it. That way we get ducklings and we still get eggs to eat too. I've read that broody ducks will stop laying and focus on the eggs they're brooding instead.

We've also had a bit of a ducky dilemma in a different sense, as in... ducky disease. We noticed a Welsh Harlequin limping last week. We didn't do much about it, just made sure she had plenty of food nearby and tried not to stress her out by catching her for a full evaluation, opting to just let her be and see if she healed herself in a couple days. We've had this happen to a Harlequin once before and she healed completely when we just left her alone with plenty of food and water. Anyhow, a few days went by, and the duck didn't seem to be limping anymore. Seemingly healed! One day later, however, the duck is sitting close to the water, drinking a lot, and when she goes to leave it, she doesn't seem to be able to walk hardly at all. She is shivering, or is it a tremor? The more I watch the more I realize that the duck is shaking from either extreme pain or disease, but it is definitely not any kind of harmless shiver. I enter the pen, and in a rush to run away, the duck is literally using her wings to pull herself in a crawl along the ground. She fled to the duck house where she was easily caught. Upon inspection of her legs and feet, I could find no sign of wound or injury. We put her in an animal crate with ample bedding, food, and fresh water, and placed it in the laundry room so that we could easily heat her without having her in the middle of everything inside. She rested, and drank a lot of water. Today, one day later, we woke up and observed her wheezing. She can still quack, but she lets out this hissing sort of wheeze more often. No sign of mucous around her eyes or nose, and she passed a randomly spotted but otherwise healthy looking egg this morning. I've scoured the internet but I can't seem to find anything that exactly describes her condition. I've decided to treat it as if it is viral, which is to separate her, keep her warm, and keep her supplied with constant food and water. She's incredibly thirsty, and only leaves the water dish's side if disturbed by movement in the room. We just bought an electrolyte and vitamin supplement called “Sav-a-chick” to add to her water as well... all we can do now is watch her and the other ducks closely and hope for the best. I may try some kind of diluted thyme and alfalfa tea instead of water as well, but I am hesitant to use herbs too much on her only because I don't know enough about how different herbs may affect their very different avian bodies.

The sick Harlequin in quarantine.

As for the hogs, they're looking huge! Seriously, scary big. It's getting more and more intimidating to work in the pen with them, especially if they're hungry at all. I keep skeptically eying the fence line and being thankful for electric fence. It's pretty muddy in there as well. Stereotypical pigpen. The top part of the pen is not as wet, but deeply pitted. It's looking like it will be an excellent spot for a future compost pile! They're starting to eat a lot more, and we're finding ourselves running into town because we're out of pig food more often than we'd like. We've been talking to a local butcher, and we've re-estimated their slaughter for mid April. The butcher has a mobile unit and will come kill and butcher right here in the back yard. I'm pretty excited about it!

Notice how big they are compared to Polka Dog, just a few feet back in the background!

A green house made old windows with a polycarbonate roof is in the works, we plan to build it against the south side of the garage, using the garage side as the north wall, for extra insulation in the cold seasons. This way electricity can easily be routed into the greenhouse as well. I have a feeling this will be a bit of a slow project, but hopefully it will be done by the end of the month. Mostly, it's up to the weather. No one likes to build in the rain. We traded a friend a cord of wood for a 300 gal. stock tank, and we hope to get an aquaponics setup going in the greenhouse as well, eventually. We're thinking of growing either channel catfish, or yellow perch. I'll leave this topic for future posts, however. We still need to save up more money to complete our setup, and we could always use a little more research.

That's about it for now-- one sick duck, two humongous hogs, four eggs a day and a greenhouse on the way! Aquaponics will be a whole new adventure for both of us, one that I'm very excited about as well. I love seafood, but I'm not so fond of all of the toxins and pollution that I consume when I eat it. To grow my own fish, vegetables, eggs, poultry, and pork would truly be well on my way to self sustaining. Most importantly, it would give me more of a sense of security and control over even more of my food sources.

Wild Forage: Scrumptious Chanterelles

2012-02-03T16:11:00.001-08:00

A recent discovery of a Chanterelle patch behind the house has prompted me to write a Chanterelle post for all of you lovely readers! This is one of the most well known and delicious edible mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest, and one of my personal favorites as well! I can never pick too many Chanterelles when they're in season-- I'll eat them fresh with everything, they dry easily and will stay flavorful dried for over a year, they hold up well in the freezer, and I recently tried some smoked Chanterelles that were simply amazing!

This shot shows the distinctive gill structure of the Chanterelle.

My favorite way to eat them fresh is coarsely chopped and sauteed in butter with garlic. So simple and delicious! They require a quick dry saute before the butter and garlic are added to cook out some of the water in the mushrooms. The liquid can be drained and used in a different dish, like rice, but I usually continue sauteing until the liquid all just cooks back in. In this form they can be added to just about any dish and be absolutely fantastic! Scrambled eggs and Chanterelles are a classic meal... throw in some cooking greens like kale, chard, or spinach and it's even better! One year for Thanksgiving, I finely chopped a bunch of Chanterelles and garlic, cooked them in about a half a pound of butter, poured the whole thing into a jar to cool, and shared it as a spread for fresh baked bread. Everyone loved it! The dried mushrooms add a meaty texture to soups and pasta, and I love to grind up the dried pieces in a coffee grinder (never used for coffee, of course) and use the powder to season just about any dish, as well as thicken soups and sauces.

Here's a young Chanterelle at my favorite stage for picking.

As for nutrition, these wild edibles are packed with protein, carbohydrates, and fiber. They also contain a substantial amount of B vitamins, potassium, iron, calcium, selenium, copper and some other trace minerals. As with most mushrooms, you need to cook Chanterelles to break down the cell walls and make the valuable vitamins and minerals available for assimilation. No raw eating!

Chanterelles often appear in groups, sometimes spread in a band across an entire hillside.

Always harvest Chanterelles sustainably by cutting the mushroom off at the base, leaving some of the base in the dirt. In a week or so that spot will send up another mushroom replacement, and you can continue to harvest from the same patch for years! Care should always be taken to not disturb the delicate mycelial network below. These scrumptious mushrooms are destroyed by frost and generally are more of an autumn forage. A slightly smaller variety of Chanterelle can be found throughout the winter and spring between frosts, however. The patch behind our house looks like it could have been viable within the last couple weeks, so we'll keep checking back every few days, and hopefully we'll have some of these delectable fungi on our tables and in our tummies soon!

** Adventures in Sustainability in no way recommends eating any wild mushrooms that you are not 100% sure on the identification of. Chanterelles have few look-alikes, but the unpracticed eye could still be confused. A complete identification and look-alike guide can be found here: http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/chanterelle-mushrooms.html **

Preserving the Harvest: Single Serving Frozen Pies

2012-01-31T16:35:00.000-08:00

Hello All, today I thought I would share with you one of my favorite freezer goodies from last years harvest: single serving pie in a jar! Now you can satisfy your pie craving whenever they arise without having to go to all the trouble of making a whole pie! Just grab one of these beauties out of the freezer, bake, and enjoy your own mini pie! They perk up any rainy day and they're always ready to impress impromptu guests.

Yummmmmmmm!

First, you'll need to prepare some pie crust dough. Don't fret, it's easier than you think! It's made especially easy by use of a handy dandy food processor, which is the process that I will elaborate on below. If you lack a food processor, just cut the butter in by hand instead. I don't personally use shortening very much in cooking or baking, and rarely have it on hand, so I chose a recipe with all butter.

Ingredients

· 2½ cup all-purpose flour
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 teaspoon sugar
·1 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks, very cold
· ¼-½ cup very cold water

Directions

① Put the flour, salt and sugar into the food processor and pulse a couple times.

② Add the butter one chunk at a time and process until the mixture looks grainy.

③ Slowly, just a splash at a time while pulsing, add the cold water until you can form the dough by pressing it between your fingers.

④ Decant the loose dough onto a piece of plastic wrap.

⑤ Using the wrap, fold the loose dough towards the middle and press with the back of your hands to form a slightly sticky dough.

⑥ Split the dough into two pieces, wrap each tightly in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours before using. (The dough can be made ahead of time like this and stored in the fridge for up to a week.)

I decided on blueberry and apple pies for my freezer this year, but you could do whatever type of pie you'd like! Just remember, avoid the cold cream pies, because you've still got to bake the crust! I'd really like to try them out with chicken pot pie filling for a home made quick frozen dinner on a busy night. Anyhow, pick your filling and let's proceed! Below I've included the process for my two favorite pies, apple and blueberry:

Blueberry Pie Filling

Ingredients

· 4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (if you use frozen, use a bit less water)
· ¾ cup sugar
· ¼ teaspoon salt
· ½ cup water
· 1 tablespoon lemon juice
· 3 tablespoons corn starch
· 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

① Combine the blueberries, sugar, salt, water and lemon juice in a                     saucepan and cook over medium heat, slowly stirring in the corn                           starch one tablespoon at a time.
② Continue cooking over medium heat and stirring frequently until the                 mixture thickens.
③ Remove from heat and add butter, mixing well.

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients

· About 8 medium sized apples
· 2/3 cup sugar
· 1/3 cup all purpose flour
· 1 tablespoon cinnamon
· a pinch of salt
· a pinch of ground cloves

Directions

① In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and cloves.
② Peel and core the apples, and cut into tiny, uniform chunks. The                     chunks may be thrown directly into the dry mixture and tossed around a bit to prevent any discoloring.
③ When all of the apples are cut up, mix all of it together really good                     and make sure that the apple pieces are all thoroughly coated.
④ Transfer to a saucepan and cook on medium heat until the apple                     chunks cook down a bit and the filling is of a thick, uniform                                 consistency.

Alright! Now it's time to break out the jars! For these mini delectable delights, you will need wide mouth half pint canning jars.

Break your pie crust dough out of the fridge and either roll out sections to line the jars with, or simply pull chunks of dough off and press them into place along the edges of the jar. Either way, line the jar with the pie bottom, leaving a bit of space at the top for the top crust. A top crust isn't entirely necessary, but it sure does look cute! Next, spoon some prepared filling of your choice into the jars, almost to the top. For the tops, flour a clean, flat surface and roll out some dough. Use the ring part of the wide mouth jar lids as a cookie cutter to punch out the perfect sized tops... I love to cut mine up into little mini lattice, but you can do whatever you'd like, as long as you remember to leave a little steam vent! You could do a crumb topping instead, or skip the top crust altogether!

Three mini blueberry pies ready for the freezer!

Now tightly lid the jars, label, and fill your freezer with fruity, flaky goodness!

Next time you're craving pie, simply grab a jar out, remove the lid, place it on a cookie sheet to prevent any spillage, and stick it directly into the oven. Turn your oven up to 375 F and bake that beauty for 50-60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. I usually let mine go for the full hour.

Some may worry about the jars shattering from the freezer to oven temperature difference, but let me assure you that I have enjoyed many of these and never once had one crack! I think that placing the jar in the oven as it preheats helps with temperature shock.

After you remove them from the oven, let them cool for 10-30 minutes (this is always the hardest part) so you don't burn your tongue off and you can truly appreciate the complex flavors of the delicious filling. If your crust is thick enough you can pop the pie out onto a plate, but I always just eat mine right out of the jar. Freezer to oven to consumption all in the same container, what a lovely dish saver! Wash the jars and start all over!

This is one of my favorite ways to preserve the apple and blueberry harvests. Come mid winter I am so grateful for my forethought.. and of course, a vow to freeze twice as many next year has certainly been sworn!

Apple pies, one ready for baking and four ready for freezing... this shows a good size comparison between the mini pies and an average sized pie.

Fast Forward

2012-01-29T18:10:00.000-08:00

Spring of 2011 did not go as smoothly as hoped for-- we were asked to move out in March because our landlord, battling cancer, wished for her house back. We had very much hoped to get at least two growing seasons out of our huge garden space as so much hard work had gone into it, but alas, that wasn't to be the case. The ducks were laying about a half a dozen eggs a day regularly, and the goose began to lay an egg every other day or so in February. We were faced with the grim reality of mass butchering our entire flock if we couldn't find somewhere to move that would accept them as well, and the options were looking slim.

One goose egg towering over the surrounding duck eggs... the goose eggs have an especially thick shell and lend well to being blown out and dried to use later in crafts. One goose egg can make a two person omelet, easy!

The geese and ducks free ranging around they yard, summer 2010

Amazingly, our awesome housing luck stood by us, and we managed to re-locate to five acres with a slightly bigger house in a beautiful, close-knit community about 20 miles outside of town. The waterfowl were all welcome, and there was even room for more! We would also be changing over to wood heat, a much more sustainable source of heat for us considering that we're surrounded by clear cuts... this now meant that we could scavenge all of our own heating fuel instead of paying a monthly bill for it. We took a bit longer than hoped for to set up a good place for the waterfowl, and due to the unfortunate timing of the move, were not able to get much of a garden started that summer. There was already a nice large garden space fenced off however, so with a bit of effort we did manage to get a few blueberry bushes in and a nice raspberry patch going. We also grew some basil, tomatoes, salad greens, radishes, snap peas, strawberries, yarrow, and one lone cabbage. A small but neglected herb garden came with the house as well, with rosemary, thyme, oregano, chives and lemon balm. Our new residence came along with a five tree apple orchard as well, and although it wasn't the best apple year, we still made great use of it! We pressed cider and made pies. Ten gallons were put aside and processed for hard cider. I love warming the cider with spices, adding a bit of rum, and enjoying mulled cider in the rain!

The bird pen became much larger, and we decided in the early summer to raise turkeys with our waterfowl. We split an order for a dozen poults with our neighbor, and received six little turkey poults in early July. We built a heated cage for the baby birds in the garage, and then in about a month we moved their cage outside and began to let them out for a few hours during the day. In August we lost two turkeys to the duck pond, drowned although they probably could have touched the bottom. Stupid birds that they are, they drowned one right after the other. We buried them, cursed our ignorance, and replaced the kiddie pools with an automatic waterer. The ducks and geese were not happy at all with their loss of a swimming hole, but they were forced to deal with it. By September the turkeys were bigger than the geese and no longer needed to be locked up at night. They ended up being even easier to deal with than the waterfowl, even though they could fly better. November rolled around and it was time to harvest what were now pretty big birds. Two days before Thanksgiving we butchered the surviving four turkeys, saving the largest one for Thanksgiving dinner and cutting the other three up into pieces for meals later. I have never truly appreciated a Thanksgiving dinner as much as I did that one! It was, of course, the most delicious turkey that I have EVER eaten! One taste and I vowed immediately to raise turkeys again next summer. The meat from the other three birds was vacuum sealed with a wonderful improvised marinade and frozen in meal sized portions, and the turkey carcasses provided an ample amount of soup stock to freeze as well.

November also brought about a lovely addition to the meat menagerie: hogs! Pork happens to be one of Taijha's favorite meats, but it also happens to be, in my opinion, one of the grossest industries. He bought two sows for $80 a piece and moved them into the open shed out back. A fence was built from scavenged fence posts, some scrap wood, and some 16 ft. hog panels. The electric fence that we had running around the outside of the birds' pen to keep predators out was routed around the inside of the pig pen to keep the pigs in. A lower rung was essential to keep the pigs from burrowing out under the fence, just as on the bird pen it was essential to keep predators from digging their way in.

Bacon and Officer about three months old.

Young Bacon.

Winter's lessons included burying the livestock water hoses to prevent them from freezing, because trying to make two pigs drink out of a five gallon bucket without tipping it over is not only labor intensive, it's also just plain ridiculous. We discovered where all of our leaks were in the outbuildings, and the pigs made a mud pit for themselves as deep as their hips. We struggled to keep dry straw in their bed space. I've read many places that it takes much more food to keep the weight on a hog in the winter because they use up so much energy keeping themselves warm. We've been feeding about a 50lb bag a week of pig feed, as well as 400-500 lbs of gleaner leftovers, picked up once a week from the local gleaner association. The gleaner food mostly consists of old bread and freezer burnt veggies, but I'm sure as the growing season starts up again there will be a whole lot more fresh (but unusable) veggies and fruit as well. We also just started picking up kitchen compost from a local restaurant. It works out well-- we get free pig food, and they get free removal of massive amounts of compost!

Bacon and Officer around early January 2012.

I've just about got y'all caught up on our story thus far! We've still got our same geese and ducks, now with their own separate pens. (We could no longer free range them at the new place, they kept getting in the road and the neighbor's yard.) The hogs are about 160 lbs, and are looking like they'll be ready for slaughter around March. Besides production animals, we also have Miss Polka Dog in full farm dog form, and Cedar, our lovely resident mouse catching feline. The outside garden is in hibernation, but we are getting some salad greens from the windowsills inside. Life, in general, is quite content!

Cedar and Polka relaxing on a carved out log.

A Bit of History

2012-01-25T17:12:00.000-08:00

Our experiment in self sustainability truly began in the early spring of 2010. We lucked out with a small house on three acres in the mid Willamette Valley of Oregon for our first residence. Naturally, our first step towards producing our own food was to build a garden. We talked or landlord into paying for half of the fencing and dirt, and we started digging up the yard! We ended up with a garden about 25'x25' with a ten foot fence to keep the deer out. Raised beds were essential, as the field that we were digging up tended to flood in the wet seasons, but those were easily assembled from scavenged old fence boards. A scavenged carport frame with some 6 mil clear plastic became a nice little greenhouse as well.

As the property had a small but well flowing creek running through, we promptly picked up some ducklings, for eggs and meat. We got them as day old hatchlings for about $3 a piece, raised them first in a bucket in the kitchen, then a pen in the laundry room, and then finally moved them to their very own fowl house in the yard at about two months old. We began with six Welsh Harlequins, one Dutch Hookbill, one Indian Runner, and one Khaki Campbell.

The ducklings' second day on earth... Indian Runner stare down.

The dark one making eye contact is the Dutch Hookbill, affectionately remaining our only named duck, "Dutchy".

As guardians for our duckies, we selected a mated pair of Embden geese off of Craigslist, a steal at $40 for the pair. They were about 5 months old when we moved them in. The geese sleep less than the Polka Dog, so are more alert to sound the coyote alarm in the middle of the night. They also lay huge eggs in the spring, and have a bigger store of delicious meat than the ducks.

Our summer flew by fast, as summers tend to do, and by autumn harvest we had quite a bounty! The ducks were starting to lay eggs regularly, and we had culled out and made a meal of two drakes, one Welsh Harlequin, and the one Khaki Campbell. We kept just one drake to the flock, the lone Indian Runner. The duck meat was succulent and delicious, and each duck fed about three of us for a meal. I made duck stock from the carcasses and froze it for soups later. The precious fatty drippings were rendered and saved for frying in later. (It made the most delectable french fries that I've ever eaten!) These were the second birds that I've helped butcher, but the first that I raised myself! I cut off and saved two feet, and tied them around big raw Brazilian emeralds to dry. One cured and one rotted, but the one that cured is quite the bizarre conversation piece! After we culled the other two males, the Runner got weirdly aggressive. Dominance amongst the waterfowl was suddenly an ongoing issue, especially between the Runner drake and the goose and gander, who were at least twice the drake's size. The Runner would even charge at both of us and even Polka Dog when we had our backs turned! Harmless because of his size and soft beak, this became more entertainment than trouble, and we enjoyed many chuckles as the Runner randomly chased the geese around the yard.

We get about six duck eggs a day.

Here's the best footage I ever managed to capture of the Runner chasing the goose... unfortunately I usually didn't have time to grab my camera. Notice how as soon as he sees me watching he promptly stops and pretends he's just nibbling around the ground...

The garden produced well, although not as well I'm sure was possible. Gardening is still an ongoing learning process for me. We filled the greenhouse with a variety of basils, peppers, salad greens, kale, and parsley. The habeneros didn't get hot enough to fruit, and the salad greens got too hot and bolted. The kale, hardy plant that it is, did well in the greenhouse as well as the garden, and we ate off of the same plants for over a year, still crisp and sweet until the day we moved out. The basils loved the greenhouse and produced faster than we could eat, process, or even share. I filled my belly as well as my freezer full of pesto! The outside garden produced salad greens and kale as well, along with carrots, beets, potatoes, broccoli, celery, purslane, tomatoes, snap peas, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, sunflowers, nasturtium, calendula, mint, lemon balm, lavender, dill, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. We attempted to grow watermelon, but as has been my past experience in the Northwest, we just didn't have a long enough growing season to pull them off. I got a few fruits, but none of them ever ripened before they rotted. Perhaps I'm just not getting them into the ground soon enough in the spring.


Polka Dog lounging in front of the garden in full bloom.

Polka Dog looking hot amongst the greenhouse goodies.

Here's a peek at a thriving corner of the greenhouse, clockwise from left- kale, purple basil, parsley, lemon basil, with a purple beauty bell pepper in the center.

Our overall experience with our first summer was encouraging, and we were hopeful for the next summer. Preserving the harvest was overwhelming, and we dried, canned, and froze like crazy. The greenhouse was planted with salad greens and kale for the next season, and we hunkered down for the wet Oregon winter.

A bowl of fresh delicious garden bounty... cucumbers, anaheim chili peppers, grape and pear tomatoes, rosemary and dill... yummmmm!

Here's a general "harvest bounty" shot including foraged chanterelle and lobster mushrooms.

A Humble Beginning

2012-01-25T11:10:00.000-08:00

The dream of a sustainable life is not one that I've always harbored. I went through my first two decades on this planet completely apathetic to most everything around me. It took travelling the country on foot, hitch hiking and squatting for about five years before I realized how much I really love this country, this earth, and yes... these crazy people that share all of it with me. It took me making my meal night after night from the waste of others, living in abandoned buildings with others' abandoned belongings to realize how much our society really wastes. We take so much for granted! There are entire societies living off of our garbage. It made me sick. However, as a traveller, although I was not actively participating in the dominant, materialistic society surrounding me, I was not doing anything to make my own life sustainable beyond that wasteful society either.

My years on the road had done well to set me in the direction of self sustainability-- I had learned to forage my own food from both forest and city, make my own medicine from native herbs, and make shelter out of just about any material. I became a master of recycling and re-using, a skill that would prove invaluable later. I had worked on many other people's gardens, but never on my own. To really produce all of my own food in a healthy manner, I needed to settle down. This is a story unto itself of which I will not delve into now, but finally, I did indeed find somewhere to settle down for a bit, and someone to undertake this great adventure with, as well.

Here you will find the ongoing story of our quest for
self sustainability.