http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sun, 11 May 2008 10:12:38 -0400 Sun, 11 May 2008 10:13:20 -0400 iBlog 1.4.6 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C400897704/E20080511101225/index.html


First, our independence days progress this past week...

1) Plant Something: We planted the first bush beans, our remaining golden beet seed, another round of radishes (probably the last batch for the spring), and some dragon langerie wax beans. This week I'll cover the needs-improvment part of the newest garden and plant the first tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, and put in cucumber seeds under hot kaps where I harvested scallions.

2) Harvest Something: We harvested salad mix (baby bibb lettuce, dino kale, arugala, and mizuna), cherry belle radishes, and scallions for the first farmer's market, as well as our usual eggs.

4) Store Something: I emptied and cleaned out the pantry, so now know exactly what was lurking in there, and have been steadily working through some older canned goods this week.

5) Prep Something: We moved the pigs to what will be next year's garden expansion, and have been scattering their food all over the area to encourage them to root up the sod. I ordered new kidding supplies from Hoegger's - vaccines we were out of (we do a yearly CDYT vaccine here, as well as giving kids some short acting tetanus preventative before castration and dehorning), and some supplies for the livestock first aid kit. No babies from Lu yet though. We'll clean up the garage this week and take the opportunity to clean out the milking parlor area.

6) Manage Something: Weeded and thinned the beets. Removed last year's polymulch and prepped it for planting. Mowed the rest of the pasture and dreamed about fencing in that whole area and getting sheep instead of pulling out the old ride on mower to maintain it! Someday! :)

8) Add to local food system: Sold at the first market of the season and purchased asparagus, baked goods, and a hanging basket from our "neighbors" at market.

9) Reduce Waste: Composted everything as usual, recycled all our paper, plastic and glass.

10) Learn Something: Talked to North Slope about how to use/cook our green garlic, since they had a bunch for sale this week. Figured out how to make my mitered corners even on my continuous binding for quilts.

It's been a crazy week here - E needed to trade in his truck for a four door, so that he can travel with both girls in their respective car seats, so we sold his car and found him a new-to-us one, only to find that the brake rotors were acting up when we took it out on the highway. The dealer was great though, and had it fixed within days, but still, lots of running around. My car has been faltering for months, E would say years :), and the latest round of mechanical problems were estimated to cost more then we were willing to keep throwing at it...so, TWO new to us cars now! Luckily, our neighbor has wanted to buy my old Jeep for some time so he came over and bought it yesterday. We test drove one I kinda' liked yesterday, and will continue the search on Monday. I know having safe, reliable vehicles is worth it, but oh! way too much wheeling and dealing the past few days.

Our first farmer's market went well - since it was a full three weeks early this year, traffic was a bit slow, but we definitely brought in enough to make it worth our while. Lots of people looked at and asked about my quilts, so hopefully I'll sell one or two to returning customers this month. Now to get those started pullets laying so we have 50 dozen eggs fro NEXT Saturday. C'mon girls! ]]> Sun, 11 May 2008 10:12:25 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C400897704/E20080511101225/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C266918590/E20080502130826/index.html

As Tansy said on her blog, it can feel like nothing is getting done when you're farming with little ones around, and she is participating in the Independendence Days challenge to keep track of what DOES get done amid the crazy, joyful everyday of family life. This challenge is from Sharon at Causabon's Book and is all about doing something each day in the name of local food. The mainstay of the challenge comes from Carla Emery's routine of planting something every day till mid summer, and then harvesting/preserving something every day till the end of the harvest season. She suggests updating weekly, so here is our first update!

Planted: So, let's see...from last Friday? I planted the rest of the scallion sets - none will sprout, forgotten in the corner of the barn, this year! I also put in anouther sucession planting of lettuce for salad mix - a purple looseleaf and a nice green oakleaf type. Today I'll plant anouther round of radishes and get one more bed ready to go. We really need to move the pigs ASAP so I can get into that garden bed too.

Harvested: Eggs :) I definitely could harvest some dandelions, just need to remember!

Preserved: Nothing in this area this week.

Storing: We're starting on the second egg fridge and I've been collecting, cleaning and packing eggs for market every day.

Prepped: We are wrapping up our pullet preparations today - E called off of work and is out gathering supplies to finish the second chicken coop for the pastured pullets. Once he has put the fin. We have a new waterer and range feeder, and will put another solar light in the second coop just like we have in the first. My goal is to see equal production between our chickens on pasture and in the barn, or very nearly so.

Managed: I plan on cleaning out the pantry this week, so that we can do another round of use what you have cooking over the next few weeks. :)

Cook Something New: I already make homemade mayo whenever we need it, but since E has been eating a low carb diet lately, I learned how to make hollandaise sauce to put over fish and broccoli.

Work on Local Food Systems: Paperwork was sent out for the farmer's market, and I just received a copy of our liability insurance so that will be sent out today. We need to buy a new cooler and tent, and then we should be good to go for next Saturday!

Compost something: All our scraps went to the pigs, as usual.

Learned a skill: See the hollandaise sauce above :) and I did some free-motion quilting on my latest Etsy quilt. ]]> Fri, 02 May 2008 13:08:26 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C266918590/E20080502130826/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C266918590/E20080417151957/index.html

- First farmer's market is in less then four weeks - hooray! We should have plenty of eggs from our over-wintered hens for opening day, but hopefully we'll also have our new pullets here and laying by then.

- The usual start up costs are overwhelming this season - feed costs have nearly doubled! - but we'll cross our fingers, lose a little sleep and forge ahead...

- E's first bees came last week, a package from Georgia, brought up the coast by a local guy who owns a pollination service. Mary will have a nuc ready for us in May, and hopefully we'll be able to catch a swarm or two as well this season. E already had to put a honey super on our strong hive - it's looking good for our spring harvest! He went out this afternoon and opened the new hive for the first time - the queen was released, accepted, and has started laying eggs.
* the difference between a package and a nuc of bees is that a package is a few pounds of bees and a queen that they haven't "met" yet - they slowly release her from her cage, and in that time you hope they come to accept her. A nuc is a few pounds of bees and a queen, as well as a few frames of eggs and developing bee babies - you don't have to worry about the workers rejecting the queen and the hive gets established more quickly. .

- I haven't mentioned it here - didn't want to jinx ourselves! - but I think pig move number 2 can be officially declared a success. Roko and Lola have settled in nicely to their pasture digs, so now we have to see how they take to being moved to a new section of the garden in a week or two. We've been bribing them into a large dog crate with food and moving them that way, so until they get too big, we will probably stick with that method.

- Scallions, peas, carrots, beets, mizuna, mesclun, arugala, and dino kale are all up and running. I stripped one of last year's tomato beds of landscape fabric tonight, so will turn that and plant it with more spring crops tomorrow. I'm anxious to get summer crops in, but we'll probably plant those as the spring veggies are harvested, since the scallions and radishes will be up and out very soon. Only one bed of peas is trellised, so that's another chore for the to-do list.

- I'm debating getting into mushroom production this year...still thinking it over. ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:19:57 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C266918590/E20080417151957/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C158692745/E20080416202852/index.html

The Etsy shop is up and running - wish me luck! ]]> Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:28:52 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C158692745/E20080416202852/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C158692745/E20080413175639/index.html I spent some time weeding and putting in a few rows of french breakfast radishes and more scallions underneath threatening skies today... the beets, peas, carrots, and greens are all up and growing, as this constant rain has been great for germination, if not for getting more actually planted. We were able to make one last egg delivery to the Bent Spoon, and now the egg fridges are filling up in preparation for our first market day. We have lots more planting to do, as well as tracking down a new tent, and getting our paperwork back to the market committee.

I think it will be a good year! This time last year, half our seeds had washed away in the flooding we had, and most of our potatoes were rotting in the ground from all the standing water. We didn't plant potatoes yet this year, but there's still time - priority has been going to crops that will be ready by the middle of May. Warm weather crops will go into the beds as the earliest crops are pulled, and we'll probably plant our potatoes then. I noticed a bunch of garlic we must not have harvested growing up out of the cloves that were left in the ground...I wonder if we'll get some garlic bulbs out of the deal? All of them may just set seed, but it's worth leaving them there to see what happens. Even Lucretia is getting bigger by the day, so she may have gotten pregnant this year after all - we were pretty sure Guy didn't hit puberty in time this season... Baby goats after all! We're actually hoping for one buckling, which we'll castrate and keep as Guy's buddy. That way he can move to a new, separate pasture and we can start milking Lu for our own use. (In our experience, milk from a doe who is anywhere near a buck is .... ewwww.... - it gives goat milk a bad nam.e!) I'll miss having him right by the driveway though - he's certainly always happy to see us!

I've beens sewing, as usual. I just finished an all linen baby quilt in a modern geometric design, and these are two of my latest swaps...





The best thing about this whole swap-bot thing is the way it makes me try new techniques - for this pincushion swap I used some printable fabric that I usually use for quilt labels and used my sewing machine to do some decorative stitching in combination with a note-card to create a needle-book.
]]> Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:56:39 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C158692745/E20080413175639/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C947998842/E20080402231054/index.html I wish the title above was in reference to the market gardens, but we're still waiting for those first seeds to sprout out there...but actually our computers were down. E bought and installed a new router tonight and voila - we're live again. So, news.

Baby C finally had a growth spurt and passed her birth weight, so we're good to go on that front - a relief, especially not having to go for our weekly weigh-ins at the doctor's office. My dad is home and recovering pretty well, slogging through the massive antibiotic doses of his H. pylori treatment, and he and Gi are spending the day together tomorrow. Planting is coming along, though E and I both are anxious to get everything in the ground NOW. Our replacement pullets are coming in two weeks, so E is starting to pull together the hoop house, get the batteries charged for the electro-net, and gather supplies to build a second hoop house. We will be housing about 50 hens per pasture/hoop house combo this year, and will see how that goes. We had some issues with productivity compared to the birds we kept in the barn and attached yard last year, but we'll try the solar lights we started late last year and keep our fingers crossed. The fruit trees are pruned, but the asparagus and rhubarb beds need to be cleaned out before everything starts sprouting up and the grape vines need to be attached to new arbors. The to-do list is always a mile long around here....

While the girls sleep I've been sewing (quilts for the etsy shop we'll be stocking soon) and making projects for swap-bot....

]]> Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:10:54 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C947998842/E20080402231054/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C947998842/E20080327060446/index.html

And just in time, as I'm itching to start on a new quilt, or two, or three.... A few posts back, I wrote about how I only had a few little loose bits and pieces to fix after washing my last quilt...this time around - success! Generous quarter inch seam allowances and actually giving up on using miniscule bits of fabric paid off! There are a few times I stitched through the whole quilt when finishing off the binding, most likely due to sewing while too tired or while herding a toddler, and a few pinkish spots where the batik scraps I used turned out not to be pre-washed and bled into the res of the block they were in, but all in all, it held up perfectly through a thorough wash and dry cycle. Hooray!

Out in the garden we've hit a 2 kid stride of getting one bed turned over and planted each night while the other person wrangles the girls. Monday: beets, 1/2 bulls blood and 1/2 touchstone gold. Tuesday: Snow peas, dwarf gray sugar. Wednesday: Scallions, white and red sets. If it doesn't rain tonight, the next bed is Shell peas, Caseolode. And watering....I haven't watered anything in, since rain has been forecast all week. Still to go into that side of the garden, radishes, carrots, and mesclun: mixed leaf lettuce, arugula, dino kale, and mizuna. ]]> Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:04:46 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C947998842/E20080327060446/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C266918590/E20080324115649/index.html I received an unexpected e-mail today that the farmer's market will be starting the 10th of May - much earlier then expected, and much appreciated during my unpaid :) maternity leave. That means the peas can go in as of today, along with the beets and carrots (I'll try getting a bed of each done tonight - not being too ambitious, as my dad may be finally! discharged and the weather is unseasonably cold today) We'll wait till the 1st to put in the radishes and mesclun, as those are two crops I hate to let get even a day past their prime.

This also means it's time to rent the industrial tiller from down the road and till up the other existing beds so I can plant a ton of potatoes and get my brassicas started. The pigs are still in the back kennel after one failed move (we've learned they're still too small to be deterred much by a few strands of electro-tape), but we're going to put the elctro-net up and try again this week - even if I can't use them to turn over the old beds, they'll be a big help in getting some new beds ready for later in the season - there will always be more tomato seedlings needing homes, as well as more winter squash varieties to try . ]]> Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:56:49 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C266918590/E20080324115649/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C400897704/E20080322064229/index.html

Life has been a bit of a roller coaster here lately, my dad's been in the hospital with a bleeding ulcer (no fun, but we're all grateful now that we know his collapse wasn't due to something less treatable and more serious like a heart attack....) He's gotten a few blood transfusions and is getting his strength back, but I think at least part of our Easter will be spent in his hospital room - he's not ready to come home yet. The wee baby, while she's thriving in all other ways, seems to have the metabolism of a hummingbird, and hasn't returned to her birth weight yet (she'll be 4 weeks old on Wednesday). This week we're mixing organic formula with some pumped milk after every nursing session in an effort to boost her calorie and fat intake and see if that helps - she has her next weigh in Monday. She took to the bottle without any problems, but there have been lots of warm baths and belly rubs since the poor kiddo now has a tendency to get all blocked up from the formula.

In between taking care of the girls and visits to the hospital there has been SOME time for creativity and farm work though. C's quilt top is almost done - I keep adding border after border so that it will fit nicely in the existing quilt hanger already up on the wall in the nursery! Early this am, Gi and I made an egg wreath for A's house since she's hosting Easter for her fam tomorrow, and yesterday A and Alex came over and we made all the ice cream cakes for her train birthday cake. It needs to be decorated, which I'll do before the party later this morning over at their house. I made a big frittata last night, which we'll serve with cold cuts for Alex's birthday party lunch as well.

I joined swap-bot this week after seeing it on several sewing blogs and just put together my first "newbie" swap package. The whole concept definitely speaks to my long, love affair with pen pals and the post office and as an added bonus pushes me in new directions with my craft and sewing projects - should be fun! I also joined etsy (as a browser only :) and have been scoping things out since I'll be listing my quilts there, as well as our beeswax and a few other farm items, as I make up merchandise for the farmer's market. ]]> Sat, 22 Mar 2008 06:42:29 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C400897704/E20080322064229/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C947998842/E20080318183552/index.html

Whew... when you're making a quilt with 5" blocks instead of the "usual" larger ones it takes a LOT of blocks to make a baby quilt. I was making the 5" blocks for the dear baby jane project and sort of got on a roll, hence the tiny blocks throughout this quilt. The sashing will be khaki just like Georgia's and there will be a border of the batik flowers (the very last, last bits of that wonderful tablecloth bought on clearance from Ten Thousand Villages ) instead of the applique flowers on Gi's. I think she'll like it....

]]> Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:35:52 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C947998842/E20080318183552/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C158692745/E20080315210625/index.html

Georgia had a great time at her first egg hunt, and is very proud of her green egg..."with CANDY inside!!!'. I'm thrilled with my mama poncho, knit by the wonderful and talented Karen. This little egg dressed as a rabbit is compliments of a Martha kit A and I couldn't resist the other day at Michael's. ]]> Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:06:25 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C158692745/E20080315210625/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C158692745/E20080313235432/index.html Not much time spent sewing this week, instead I've been re-adjusting to the stay ay home mom life, and adding a few small indulgences to make things even better. A new pair of slippers for the 6 am baby feeding/quilt block sewing/toddler breakfast/wiggles watching hours. Pretty glass head pins in the perfect shades of green and blue, now begging for a new linen pincushion to call home. A pretty new notebook for my ever evolving list (my antidote for mama brain). A very part time teaching job to keep my biologist brain cells in shape. Treats for an Easter basket for a kiddo who is old enough this year to be anticipating egg hunts and big meals with everyone she loves. Plotting and planning two of these, for the kiddo and her cousin. I've made Gi a stuffed bunny every Easter since she was born, and this will be a nice variation she can use as a doll quilt too.

The first loaves of Irish Soda Bread are made and in the freezer - another 6 loaves and we'll be set for treat deliveries. :) We'll plant a token bed or two of peas and potatoes on Monday - I won't chance a market crop this early... that will wait till April 1st, but super early peas and new potatoes will be much appreciated around the house if the weather behaves. ]]> Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:54:32 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C158692745/E20080313235432/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C947998842/E20080310104519/index.html

This is a gift for my mom that Georgia and I have been working on this week - inspired by red work embroidery, and a favorite piece of red flannel that was retired from the closet. As with all my projects,it received a none-too-gentle wash and tumble dry last night and came out relatively unscathed. A few minutes with needle and thread reinforced two parts of the binding, but compared to previous projects I think I finally can see the day when those last minute reinforcements may be a thing of the past!

On the sewing table now: a baby quilt/wall hanging for the nursery - it will have a matching valence and also match Gi's "big girl" quilt, so that when the girls share a room everything works nicely together (the commercial nursery set will be looking for a hew home on e-bay). I'm not sure if I ever posted pics of her big girl quilt...lots of deep pinks and maroons along with khaki sashing and backing, with a few appliqued flowers from the same deep maroon batik fabric (I used a zig zag stich and fusible web for those, and so far it's holding up well). The 15 squares in this quilt were all made as part of Sew Mama Sew's Quilt Along month. Not sure what hormones made me switch gears into a full time seamstress, but I'm enjoying myself...

]]> Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:45:19 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C947998842/E20080310104519/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C622412850/E20080307121348/index.html - I am anxiously awaiting news on wether we'll be able to pull together a certain b-day surprise. I have to remind myself not everyone is up all day and night with two kiddos and might just be at work, unable to respond to my various questions and queries.

- Even though I already have two additional projects awaiting completion once I finish the red work table runner currently on the sewing table, I'm jumping into the "Dear Baby Jane " quilt along....lots of little different blocks - too fun, and a great way to continue to work my way through all my stashed fabrics. I need to request the book at the library so I can use it, along with the blog, to start making those blocks up.

- The table runner mentioned above is coming together nicely - I should be able to finish piecing it tonight if everyone else around here cooperates.

- We are moving Gi's goldfish, Ernie and Turkey, into a regular 10 gallon tank today after trying the neat little compact Eclipse for a few weeks. The filter just can't keep up with goldfish pooping, and though it takes up more space on her dresser, I'm looking forward to a nice clean tank. I think we'll clean out the Eclipse and collect some frog eggs to hatch out this weekend - the spring peepers have arrived in all their deafening glory.

- C and I were up for hours before dawn in a nurse-a-thon. I'm hoping my milk supply and her appetite have synced up again and we can avoid that tonight.

- I ordered some birth announcements/Saint Patrick's Day cards - they should be shipped to the local Wegman's any day now, and I can't wait to get those out - one more to-do checked off our list. ]]> Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:13:48 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C622412850/E20080307121348/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C622412850/E20080304121753/index.html

Today the first crocuses bloomed and yesterday in the wee early hours I spotted the year's first timberdoodle dabbling in the creek outside our bedroom. I'm sure there will be plenty more snow and ice but spring may just get here yet. Some quick notes - more for my mama brain then anything else.

- All the fruit trees and grape vines over-wintered, though one of the peaches lost a main branch. I need to prune that off before the sap starts flowing too much. The grapes are in dire need of individual t-frame arbors, def. an upcoming weekend project (we have three two year old vines, and I'd like to add another concord or two since jam is by far the biggest grape preserve in this house)
-When and if we move the last antique tractor up to the road that will free up space for two more fruit trees - maybe take a chance on cherry, def. pick them up at the feed store since they are by far the healthiest ones we've ever planted.
-No sign of the rhubarb or asparagus yet this year, but it's early.
-There are a few bag-worm cocoons on the apple trees - time to expand the goat fence once again so they can devour the remaining scrub cedars on the outskirts of their pasture. It should only take another 50 or so feet of fence. Growing apples organically here is very much a losing battle, surrounded as we are by MASSIVE commercial apple orchards which serve as host for every disease going, but those three little tough trees have managed to hang on this long - they even bloom now - we may as well try to give them a fighting chance. (Pears, for the record, do the best for us growth and disease-resistance wise, though ours haven't matured enough to begin setting fruit. Our peaches flower and set fruit reliably, but they suffer from similar problems as the apples and so we rarely get any ripe peaches at the end- peaches are the other major commercial orchard crop on our road.)

Isn't Guy handsome? LOL. He loves having his picture taken. ]]> Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:17:53 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/eliezersilver/iblog/B828340566/C622412850/E20080304121753/index.html