Homestead Update #32
Hi friends! How are you! I can't believe I didn't get one update posted in all of July. My goodness. All I can say is that camp has kept me very busy. I have loved every single minute of it but I just haven't had the extra time or mental capacity to write a good update on what's been happening. So. Let's see if I can keep this month-long update short. I doubt it. heeheh.
chickens
the chickens are doing really well. I think they did a great job of settling into their temporary home. We held a contest with the campers to name the chickens. Every camper had the opportunity to submit a name for the chickens. We randomly picked names so, I introduce to you: Pongo the Barred Rock; Elvis the Rhode Island Red; Spaghetti the Buff Orpington; and Lil Peep the unknown breed! The girls loved it. And Pongo even made a surprise appearance at one of our gatherings.
I was terrible with keeping track of the egg count this summer. I will do better next year. I will figure out a new system for next year. One that is easy especially for my off days. That's when I totally lost track. I don't collect the eggs and I kept forgetting to tell the staff that does the collecting to let me know how many they collected.
Camp is in its final weeks so the chickens will be making their way to their new home(s) soon. I will miss them but am so thankful I got to spend the summer with them. They are so cute. This was my first experience with chickens that I didn't raise from chicks. It goes to show you just how adaptable they are. They got to know me pretty quickly and can tell when it's me walking up to their fenced in area. They come running and start talking. I've been told they are very loud on my days off. LOL.
garden
The garden is chugging along nicely. We've been harvesting like crazy. The campers love harvesting. I think it mostly has to do with taking the harvest to the mess hall where they get cookies in exchange for the produce. It took me a while to catch on that that was what was happening! Those little buggers. I'm on to you!
So far we've harvested:
1. basil
2. parsley
3. lettuce
4. sage
5. mint
6. chives
7. rosemary
8. oregano
9. dill
10. strawberries
11. green beans
12. cucumbers
13. peppers
14. tomatoes
15. snap peas
16. radishes
We planted cauliflower but it didn't do so well. I had to pull it. I've also pulled all the radishes and snap peas. We've replanted those beds with things such as flowers, pumpkins, gourds, and acorn squash. We've also been planting sunflowers everywhere. There's a fall festival at camp this fall and I wanted to plant things that might be showing up in time for the festival. I also have big plans for next year's garden! LOL.
Camp is also loaded with wild berries so I've been very busy picking wild blueberries and black raspberries. I did pick raspberries but not enough to keep. So I ate those. I'd like to get enough blueberries so I can make a round of wild blueberry jam. I have a half gallon in the freezer now (of blueberries). I will continue to pick them this week hoping I get at least a gallon. That will give me some berries for the freezer and some for jam.
currently
I finished reading The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian. It took me most of the month to read The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbough. I really liked both books. The Language of Flowers really hit home with me in a lot of ways. I liked the story line (it involves flowers-obviously-but also vineyards and dealing with life). I just started The Sleepwalker also by Chris Bohjalian.
I haven't really listened to any podcasts, although that will change soon. I was listening to them in the garden while I worked, but now that camp has started I tend to not use my earbuds. Mostly because a lot of campers walk by and yell 'Hi Farmer Kristin!' and ask questions and such. I don't want to miss that. It's not often that you get teenage girls interested in gardening and chickens.
Speaking of camp, I've started a little informal knitting group. I'm teaching some girls to knit and others bring their knitting. It's a lot of fun and something I hope they continue after camp. We've also done some other fun projects like making lavender sachets and making lip balms. I had the girls infuse some oils with the herbs from the garden. Then we strain them and use that oil to make our lip balms. It's been so successful that we're doing it for another round this week.
business end of things
Ah July and classes! I had so much fun doing a demo at the Rock Hill Farmers' Market. I showed customers how to use the whole food product, including what would be considered the 'scraps' that would normally be thrown away. I made radish quick pickles and then used the radish tops to make a pesto. I used products from the market--scallions, maple syrup, radishes, and cucumbers. It was fun and I think it helped get people thinking about using the whole product.
Then I went all the way over to Sloatsburg and taught some teens how to make mac and cheese from scratch. Making mac and cheese from scratch is super easy and it has a lot of different techniques so it's a great teaching opportunity. We made a roux, tempered eggs, grated cheese, and then melted all the yummy stuff together. I think it was a big hit!
Oh! And how could I forget to tell you. I wrote a chapter for this book that is being published this fall. I'm so excited about it. I wrote a chapter on how to make lilac syrup. If you've been following along for any length of time here, you'll know how much I love foraging and making things with those foraged items. So it was so nice to be asked to contribute to the book on sustainable library programs.
And, I'm still writing articles for the River Reporter. You can find my latest one here. I love writing them. They always challenge me to write about a different topic, even though it's homestead related. As for August classes, I have several coming up. You can find out more about where I'll be by checking out my calendar.
the rest of the story
As for the rest of the story, well. There's lots to share. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but here goes nothing. I've been enjoying getting to know a new group of women. These women are so fun! Sometimes it's just two of us. Other times there can be 6 or 7 of us. Lately it's been more like 3 of us! I met up with one of my friends and her friend for a day out. I took Anna Lee with me to the farmers' market then we walked around town. Afterwards, we headed to the river for an hour or so of swimming. Anna Lee has never been to the river before (I know, I know, how can that be when we lived on the river for most of her life. Sigh. Chalk it up to one of those many, many things). Anyway, Anna Lee did so wonderful. There was even another dog to play with! As for me, the river was a bit cold, but it was nice to get out there. It was a really hot day so the cold water was very refreshing. Then we went to the Salsa Shack again (more on that in a minute). It was so good! I think it's our favorite place to go to eat burritos and sit outside.
Then there was another outing to dinner and a movie. We saw Thor since it was what was playing in town. I wasn't particularly interested, but it never hurts to see a god in all his glory. Hehehe. I've also treated myself to ice cream a couple of times this summer. My favorite ice cream place isn't too far from where I live, but it is a little out of the way. The other place that is easy to get to is on the side of the road that I travel on a semi-regular basis. I was heading home from doing a class at the local library and decided to just stop! You'll never regret stopping for ice cream.
And there was another puzzle tournament at my local library! I love those tournaments. I had a lot of fun, even if we didn't win this time. There's always next year!!
A Birthday
I celebrated my 47th birthday in July. I wasn't nervous to get a year older. I wanted to celebrate it. So much has happened to me during the past year, that I wanted to celebrate how far I've come. How much I've grown. So I gathered this new group of people in my life and we went to the Salsa Shack for dinner. I had all the people (other than my family) who mean something to me surrounding me helping me celebrate me. I even had Anna Lee with me! When I look back at that video of me, it's hard to believe that is me. That I am THAT happy. I didn't think that was possible. I am so thankful and grateful for this new life I am living and all the wonderful people that I now have in my life who want to celebrate others. Life is good.
That's it for this month friends. I kind of like this format of a monthly update. I might start doing those instead. We'll see!
'til next time
-k
xoxo