Garden Glories

I'm not sure which is better, or if perhaps I'll just have to settle on loving both: it is very exciting to see little plants emerging from the ground that I, myself planted, but it is as fun to be given plants you get to watch grow and then identify.

Either way, the garden brings a lot of joy to my life. We've actually harvested our first radishes and pretty much everything I've planted from seed has shown some sign of life. 

It's a slow process, figuring out what's already growing on our property, but much easier when the flowers show themselves. For example I've got peonies, irises and columbines, and even lilacs tucked away in a shady thicket, but I'm still wondering if I've got comfrey, though secrectly I was hoping for borage, and, what exactly the blooms of these various multiplying bulbacious plants will look like. It's clear Paula obviously had a penchant for the blue purple spectrum. 

There's more planting to be done, now that the month of May has passed. Some direct sowing of seeds mail ordered from Dan at Salt Spring Seeds, and possibly also some perennials depending on our free time from "Work with a Pay Cheque" to tend to our "Labour of Love". Ultimately organic gardening, or natural raising, as I might be more obliged to call it, is the idea behind our home grown consumables (and that includes animal products and animals). Many projects, ideas and hopes...

We've purchased some old fashioned equipment to pull behind our tractor by three point hitch. The machinery is now quite hard to come by because big farms have long since retired the shrimpy, nearly manual bits and pieces, or farmers just can't bear to part with them preferring to let them become delapitated lawn ornaments. (To be fair, we have ornaments ourselves and will be leaving the horse drawn Massey Harris tractor and single bottom horse drawn plow right where they are to be slowly reclaimed by the earth, and admired, too.) Nevertheless, these pieces of equipment are the perfect size for a farm like ours where we are still young legs and enthusiastic. 

Breaking new ground is hard work, as imagined, even with the help of gas guzzling machinery. But it is coming along as my appreciation grows ten-fold for the settlers (true survivors and adventurers) who dug all their garden spaces by hand, not just some measley 300 square feet like I did. The soil itself is nicer than I'd ever imagined, it's really just the top layer that's a nightmare -  woven and matted dread-lock style - which takes some (hours of) hand hoe wielding like a barbarian (yes, some people pay to go to the gym, but you could just come help me! Your back and shoulders would thank me for the sculpting, your back, though, will never be the same even post multiple massages.) We have two spaces we are preparing - Bob and Frank, for back and front - and we are close to planting Frank. The idea here are dual purpose cover crops, improving soil (and not too bothered by chunky organic matter i.e. colds of grass) and feeding our chickens and rabbits. Bob we may have to allow to run the course of the season... We will see. It's me who wants to get going and get growing. I could totally be a fruit and flower farmer. Maybe I will be. If patience doesn't get me first! 

Speaking of hand tools, I've just found a scythe and sharpened and learn to use it. Very, very cool. It does give reaping a fierce feeling. 

Spring means there's really no time for writing, meaning mostly, all extra energy is given to plow and cultivate our newly opened plantable patches comprising in total about 18,000 square feet. Also I've been sad because my Kitchen Aid super mixer hasn't been feeling too super lately. It's eaten itself from the inside out once again and parts are on order and reordered since they never arrived. Obviously I use said mixer a lot. This is not a decoration on my counter folks. So because cake is my thing, I got an idea and went with it. Cake mixed in a blender? Yes! Especially if it requires an ingredient to be puréed anyway. 

Brick-Red Velvet Cake

In a bowl with a whisk combine:

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 heaping tsp baking powder

In a blender mix until smooth:

130-160g Cooked beet

2 Tbsp cocoa

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup butter milk

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Then add and mix until incorporated:

2 eggs

And an optional splash of vinegar

Remove the center part from your blender (if it detatches because it is much easier to remove batter and to clean the blender afterward with it out) and mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated.

Use a spatula to get the batter all out and bake in either cupcake liners or an 8" round pan until done. 

Adorn as you please. Here the chocolate icing was a great flavour and texture companion.

After we recover from being pooped out, we must concentrate on watering. Once we contemplate all the solutions, gather the necessary parts and put the system in place, it seems to simply become a function that time must be reserved for, versus a cumbersome chore. 

Rabbitry Beginnings

I've waited and waited for these three rabbits! 

Finally I was able to meet with the breeder. She lives about six hours north of Red Deer so it was quite convenient to meet her in Red Deer for the pick up. I didn't have the opportunity to choose my stock, so I'm stuck with these genes, at least to begin. And breeding will see what that brings!

Meet our breeding stock: 

Grand Chef, our Buck, needs a bit of an attitude adjustment, though he's not had a temper tantrum for a week or so now... He sounds like a pig when he's mad! He's a big fellow, weighing about 10 pounds, but apparently a very picky eater. We are working on this... I don't want him to waste away. 

Rochelle, our oldest doe, is the sweetest bunny of all. 

She has a lovely temperament, keeps her cage tidy and we think she will make a good mama rabbit. Her favourite treat is sunflower seeds, so we've planted sunflowers we will harvest just for her. 

We hope her black features are hereditary and she passes them on. 

Lynnette is a little over a month younger than Rochelle and she is cheeky and full of baby energy. She's beginning to get her silver hairs and I wonder if she will go more the all-over silver like Grand Chef, or more black striping in the facial area like Rochelle. Maybe she will be different! 

Rabbits don't travel too well... The younger the better it seems and Grand Chef either had a rather mean streak to start with or the drive simply brought out his mal humour. 

I'll try feeding him banana. He needs to be sweetened up! 

The chickens are no longer chicks, and I can't wait until they begin laying! 

We've been experimenting with a mobile enclosure, a chicken tractor, if you will, and although moving it with them inside, or not, and then carrying them to and from is a pain, they are developing their foraging skills. I'd like to reduce their bagged many-unappitizing-over-processed-ingredient feed to a minimum and instead give them more wholesome chicken food (Like maggots!! Yum, right? And whole grains), after all, what goes in is what comes out, which in this case are eggs that I'll be eating. Amaranth or quinoa, buckwheat or turnips, but still undecided and rotor tiller-less! 

Above Georgi looks a tad guilty. 

Which he was, sitting on the bed! 

And furthermore, I later found he'd also eaten all my indoor seedlings!!!

Bad kitty. 

But the poor little meow-meow is sick. No one knows what's wrong with him. 

Hopefully he will pull through! 

This morning just before leaving the house I realized Georgi was chasing something. The something was a mouse, a large, plump mouse with ears like a bear, hiding behind the recycling bins. I pulled them away from the wall to let the cat at it, but the cat was just playing too gently. So I brought in our real mouser: Rori. She also just likes to play, but her bite is more lethal. She bit and tossed the mouse numerous times, not killing it, just puncturing it, and then flung the mouse, hard - right at me. Blood splattered. Luckily not on my uniform, but by then I'd had quite enough. The injured mouse ran under the fridge and since I'd prefer to put the poor thing out of its misery, than for it to die in some obscure location and ferment, I pulled out the fridge, and got the mouse away from the dog. Outside I sent the mouse to mouse heaven. The cat was irritated at the dog, the dog was irritated at me, both for 'toy' stealing, and I was irritated at them both for making me deal with the mouse! 

It was early, but I was wide awake by the time I left. ;) 

Bathroom Update

I'm not saying this is so true of men, so much as it is of women, but each and everyone one of us does spend a fair amount of quotidian time in the bathroom. I'm not a woman who spends a ton of time in one of the smallest rooms of the house, but in the course of an average week I suspect I log seven hours in there. Good grief! (and you come out looking like you do... Lol) Looking at it in this way reminds me it's a heck of a relief these hours are spent in a nice bathroom. 

On that note - of nice bathroom spaces - I thought when it comes to renovations, the bathroom should probably be our first priority in our little house. Above is a photo, and you might agree: Functional, but a bit sad and outdated.

Lots of shower/bath scrubbing (like thee hours!) showed it was obvious with some caulking and well chosen flooring (in order to pull the colour of the shower walls in) we could avoid replacing the tub enclosure - see above photo. Otherwise we kept only the light fixture, heat vent and door. We kept the drywall, too, but completely changed the subfloor. And ended up with this: 

In achieving the above it was quite a bit of grunt work. Our goals were to repair all floor rot, have pressure from the shower, for the toilet to remain level, and include a wee nod at revival. Perhaps in a softer colour, (butter yellow because obviously I have a thing for yellow - butter anyone?) favouring a country-shabby-chic décor. Jordan is quite happy to go along with my decorating schemes even if they turn out more feminine than neutral... 

Nothing like a good scrub and a nice coat of white to clean things up. Just painting this vent cover did wonders. Also to go with the decor theme, I finished the mouldings and door with an antiqued brush finish and sealer. 

I hope you like it because we made it especially for Jordan's lovely cousin - also a lady so perhaps she'll appreciate the feminine touches - who I hope will enjoy it, too. A few more details such as door stop, a shelf, and hooks will complete the room. Fashioned rusticly, building them should be manageable. 

Since everything was remarkably well built and still works, I will likely keep the vanity as a base for a wood working table. Maybe the toilet and sink could become planters? Looking back to childhood, my Dad would have thought the same, jokingly, knowing it would not be permitted by my mom. Shall we ask Jordan, who was so adamant I not use palettes in the house, EVER? 

But I did. And never showed you yet. So here's our extra bedroom:

I used a nifty crate for a bedside table, as well as an old panelled window for decoration. The palettes just serve as a frame to elevate the mattress, and create a walkway at the foot of the bed. 

And just to let you know you're a loved guest, I chose this pillow. :)

Oh and Jordan does want to keep the toilet planter... And is talking about a special inscription to go on the lid as a nod to our farm's name. More on that later!