This is the face of our molting Australorp hen, Austra. Her pin-like feathers look prickly and uncomfortable. Austra is a generally affable character but molting makes her seem frenzied. I say comforting things to her and only joke about the awkwardness of her feather loss behind closed doors like every good chicken mom. Her roost in the morning appears as though a pillow exploded overnight. The nest box hasn’t held an egg for over a [...]

As I was thinking about my life and readers, I considered ‘how about something for the four legged beasts?’ My dogs keep me company on walks in the alleys, bark at strangers, and eat cooking leavings off the kitchen floor. They also eat my tomatoes, birthday cakes, and everything else passable. They are, in part, evil. But even evil dogs deserve a nice fresh collar and leash once in awhile. Today’s birthday giveaway is a [...]

l to r: pimento, Jimmy Nardello, pepperoncini, purple beauty Last year, sexy tomatoes stole my heart. 2011 is the year of pretty homegrown peppers.   Added to 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordless Wednesday.

This week, we lost our speckled sussex hen, Sussie. Suss had not been active, or laying eggs, for a few weeks. We tried several recommended treatments but she continued to lose weight and strength. On Thursday, Alex found her dead in the coop. In life, Sussie was the most skittish and shy of our hens. She had a funky gait and I wonder if she battled a weak heart or other congenital defect. Lil loved [...]

Trash or Treasure? In this pile of salsa-making scraps, what do you see? Trash? Compost? How about the genetic code necessary to plant a whole garden of peppers next year? By taking a little bit of time now, in the height of the harvest season, home gardeners can save seeds for next year. Which Seeds Most popular Mid Western garden seeds are easily saved. Tomatoes, peppers, beans, and squash take little more than a piece [...]

Every year I commit to growing something completely new to me. This year, that distinction went to sesame. I sprinkled seeds, liberated from Franklin Park Conservatory, in rich soil in mid May. They sprouted and grew to three feet tall. A string of pentagonal buds formed into sweet white flowers. Below the flowers, strings of five pointed pods grew around the stem. The pods are swollen and dark green now. In time they will dry [...]

Mmmm…cornichons. Oh…gherkins. I like to say your names. I love how your vinegary taste and crunchy texture excite the palette, especially in between bites of rich charcuterie. The tiny cucumbers needed to make cornichons are difficult to find raw. To fulfill my homemade pickle desires, I did what any self-respecting homestead would do: grow my own. I started with Parisian Pickling Cucumber seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. Last year the plants grew a little and [...]