Garden blues

Our vegetable garden is just not off to a very successful start this year.  When we first started planting from seed, the chickens were accessing the garden, munching to their hearts' content.  We brought home starts for the greenhouse, but the door wasn't latching properly, so they got in and ate all of the cucumbers, eggplant, and broccoli.  We replaced the starts, fixed the door, reseeded the outside beds, and kept going.

The peas tried to come up, but something has been eating them.  For some reason, the beets just won't grow.  Our weather has been unseasonably cold and rainy (payback for the mild winter and early spring, resulting in a major slug invasion), which might explain why so many of my seeded veggies are still little stumpy sprouts.

We have planted the greenhouse, and we should at least have lots of tomatoes and basil.  They are doing well.  But our broccoli hopes have dwindled each week as one after another animal has busted into the garden and eaten every last one of them.  We thought we were safe when we constructed a chicken fortress, entirely enclosed by chicken wire (which will also allow us to stay out past dusk on occasion without fear of raccoon massacre.)  But, the goats have pried fencing apart 3 times now, devastating anything remotely yummy.

We love our goats, but milking was abandoned years ago out of frustration.  Now, they are pets that live in the barn.  During the winter, I feed them in the morning and at night, but that is all.  I can't keep up with vaccinations or hoof trimming, so I just feel guilty for being a bad goat mom.  They are so sweet and affectionate, and, for the most part, they have a great life here, but I think they could do better than us.  So, I'm considering finding them some greener pastures.  It really is about time we did something to make our lives easier instead of harder.  But, the yard will be so lonely without goats...

I plan to replant today for the 3rd time, but we'll have only a few broccoli plants, no corn at all, and the sunflowers and nasturtiums that usually line the edge of the garden will be missing.


The good news is that our broody chicken hatched a baby turkey, and it seems to be doing well. I have hopes that a few more of the eggs she is sitting on will hatch so that we take one small step toward breeding our own turkeys.

Recycling an inflatable mattress:

My daughter wanted to have a slumber party for her 7th birthday, so we had 3 girls over for the night.  My plan was to blow up the inflatable mattress and have 2 girls in her loft bed with 2 on the floor underneath.  The mattress is about 3 years old, and has been used quite a bit for camping trips, tent camping in the backyard, and sleepovers at the high school where my husband works (something the students get to do occasionally.)

I was disgusted to find, as I unpacked the mattress, that I must have failed to thoroughly dry it before packing it last time it was used, nearly a year ago.  The soft surface was covered in a thick layer of mold!  I used layers of blankets for the girls to sleep on and threw the mattress outside to deal with later.

On the next dry day, I used a bit of bleach (I know, I know) in a spray bottle to try to kill the mold, hoping to salvage the mattress.  Then Mike reminded me that, the last couple of times we used the mattress, it deflated by morning.  I was still thinking I could scrub the mold off and maybe patch a leak, just because I knew I couldn't bring myself to throw this huge amount of PVC into the trash.

Here's what I know about PVC: The manufacturing of the stuff creates dioxins, which are leaked into the environment.  People who work in PVC factories frequently get throat and lung cancer from breathing the fumes.  People who live in areas surrounding the factories have a much higher incidence of cancer, and PVC companies spend huge amounts of money making settlements in order to keep the information from making the news.  There is no safe way to dispose of PVC.  Burning it creates nasty toxins.  If you just leave it in a landfill, it photo-degrades, releasing dioxins into the environment.  The stuff is evil.  And it is everywhere, because it is such a perfect material for things like air mattresses, raincoats, and shower curtains.

So, here I was, knowing all of this because I once watched a really great documentary called "Blue Vinyl", and with a queen-sized pile of moldy PVC serving as a new kind of home decor.  What is an obsessive-compulsive recycler to do? 

First, I began by cutting the seams of the mattress, along the sides.  I found that there were flaps inside holding the top and bottom together so that, while inflated, it would maintain a mattressy shape.  So, I cut these apart as well.

And, like other normal people, I saved each and every one of these clear flaps of pvc, because you never know when they might come in handy, right?

As it happens, one of my dogs has had some kind of stomach upset lately, and it has been pouring rain for days, and she therefore has opted to spew feces all over our covered back porch, which is the launching pad for the dog yard.  This porch tends to be decorated with all sorts of flotsam, with the dogs spending so much time there, and I had just finished spraying it down once again before I stared on my mattress deconstruction project.  As I cut the top surface away, I suddenly realized the practical purpose:

It is the perfect size for the porch, and will make future clean-ups much easier.  I folded the bottom segment and stored it for now.  I am thinking of using it as a booth floor at Cracked Pots, or a mat for my studio floor, or for putting down when I cut glass outside.  The sides of the mattress were also cut out, in one long strip about a foot wide.  I might use that to sew some handy waterproof totes.

I feel pretty triumphant for managing to keep this thing out of the waste stream....for now.  Unfortunately, this material will not last forever, and will probably make its way to the garbage can, little by little, despite my best intentions.  This is the problem with plastics.  We can recycle and reuse, but they do eventually get thrown out.  This is my second air mattress, and I will not buy another one.  They are so useful, and my daughter is begging me to replace it, but there has to be a better way.  We will be camping at the end of this month, and I really hate sleeping on the cold, lumpy ground.  I would love suggestions for an inexpensive, eco-friendly way to create a somewhat soft bed.  Feel free to send me ideas.

A very busy June...

My blogging has focused on the farm lately, but my studio work has been just as demanding.  Over Memorial Day Weekend, I finished grouting the 2.5' x 4' mosaic panel that I've been working on since March, which will be delivered tomorrow.  (The photo above is the top portion of the panel, featuring Mt. Rainier as seen from Federal Way, WA on a clear day.)

I knew that I would be barely making the deadline, but a guy stopped by my place on May 5th to ask if I could squeeze in another project.  He is part of a group that holds a race each year, and they will be cycling past my house on June 5th.  Each year they hire a local artist to create 12 creative, funky awards to give the winners of the race.  They have a tiny budget, and it was kind of insane to say yes, but I couldn't resist.  Each day in the studio, I would warm up by making one 6" x 6" plaque, and I just finished grouting them yesterday.  Each one is done onto scraps of wedi board given to me by my friend Frank, a top-notch tile installer, and I used all scrap glass and mirror.

This week, I'm preparing for a workshop I'll be teaching at Hexen Glass Studio (http://www.hexenglass.com).  I will be teaching how to use mosaic in the garden, discussing bases and adhesives for exterior use (which translates to many architectural applications as well).  Students will mosaic onto salvaged cement pieces, creating recycled garden ornaments.

On Monday the 7th, I'll be exhibiting at the Green Enterprise Conference near Elma.

Olympia Pediatrics is holding their open house on June 10th, celebrating their new clinic and the art that makes it stand apart from every other pediatric office in the area.  I was privileged to coordinate with two other artists; muralist Heather Taylor-Zimmerman and textile artist Janice Arnold.

Then on the 18th, the Federal Way Senior Center will hold its celebration and unveiling of the new art on their site, which also has an amazing community garden and a food bank. 

I'll be starting on a project for a private home next week; glass-on-glass mosaic cabinet doors that will feature irises and Western Tanagers, and will be lit from inside.  In addition, I'll be working on inventory for July's Cracked Pots Recycled Garden Art sale.  And I actually have several projects planned just for us, including our stair risers. 

So, I don't just run the chicken infirmary, chase goats, harvest mushrooms, tend bees, weed, plant, clean and parent.  I'm multi-dimensional!

More Poultry News

I have been seeding some of our garden beds for the past couple of months with pathetic results.  The seeds are coming up sparsely, and my peas look awful.  The chickens had made a hole in the base of their fenced area and were spending a lot of time in the veggie garden, and I think they may have been eating my seeds and sprouts.

In the meantime, we had been raising a ton of starts in the greenhouse, and had a goal of getting them in the ground on Memorial Day Weekend.  Mike did some final tilling and weeding, and we planted the greenhouse with tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and melons, with carrot seeds sprinkled throughout the tomatoes.  Then we planted a lot of broccoli and cauliflower, because Anouk loves them and they freeze well, and we lined the garden with zucchini, sunflowers and nasturtiums.  Then, we went to a party in Olympia.

What were we thinking?  We came home to find all of the broccoli and cauliflower demolished, along with some of the other starts.  Urrrgh! This discovery was followed by long talks about the fact that we are pretty overwhelmed, and not keeping up with everything.  We should have secured the chicken yard and clipped wings before planting the garden.  There is so much that needs to be done and the two of us can't manage it all.  As always, we talked about packing it all in and moving to the suburbs.

But, we aren't giving up.  Things get much easier when Mike is home for the summer.  I'm trying to convince him that we can find ways to save money so that he doesn't have to work his after school program, which would give him an extra 3 hours at home every day.

Yesterday, he took Anouk to Seattle to help a friend set up his new chicken coop, and I decided to go to yet another party.  I came home late, and closed up the coop, hoping the chickens had put themselves away as they do each night.  At 3am, I heard the telltale gurgled screeching outside.  My dog Lily and I ran out to investigate, but we couldn't find the chicken.  I returned to the house, but heard it again.  Again, we searched , until we finally found a bedraggled chicken in a corner of the goat yard, very much alive.  I couldn't see her very well, but feathers were everywhere, so I knew she had been mauled.  I moved her to the coop and went to bed.  (Not to sleep.  I can never fall back to sleep after running around outside in the middle of the night.)

This morning, I can see that she is in bad shape.  She is moving around well, but is missing part of a wing, and a good deal of flesh from her back and underbelly.  She has puncture wounds all over.  My friend Paul would tell me to kill her and put her out of her misery, but my inclination is always to try to save animals.  They can be remarkably tenacious.  In a few minutes, I plan to put her into a separate area to protect her from the other chickens (and that damned turkey) and I hope she'll recover.

We will be completely enclosing the chickens this summer by creating a covered run.  So much for free-range.  The fact is, after 8 years, we have learned that free-ranging results in a lot of death and mangling by local wildlife.

In the meantime, we lost 3 turkey poults during the first week, until I added some antibiotics to their water.  I also put sand in their feed to help move food through their craws.  They stabilized quickly, and are healthy and growing fast.  They are now living in an enclosed coop we use as wood storage and as a transition area for our young birds.  Our two baby chickens are still living in the bathroom.  They now fly in and out of their box, so I have to clean the floor periodically.

Our brooding chicken is incubating 5 turkey eggs.  I plan to remove them as soon as they hatch because I don't trust the rooster, duck and Tom turkey with babies.

Life on the little farm is feeling a bit daunting at the moment.  We need to create better systems and re-prioritize.  The green house starts are already doubled in size, so if nothing else, we'll be eating tomatoes and cucumbers this year.  Now I'm off to rehabilitate a chicken.

Turkey News - babies!

Well, my female turkey has been laying, and she sometimes sits on an egg for short periods, but I always find them cold by the end of the day.  It turns out, turkey eggs are fine for eating, so I've used them for baking.  In the meantime, I've had one broody hen laying on a chicken egg for many weeks.  A couple of days ago, I found that egg left untended and stone cold.  The hen had moved to a different spot, so I slipped a warm turkey egg under her.  She has been tending it for a few days.  I opened the egg she had been sitting on to find a dead chicken fetus inside, nearly full term.  Who knows why she suddenly abandoned it? 

Last Thursday, our order of turkey chicks arrived.  There were 15, to be shared among 3 families.  They are hatched and shipped the same day, and I'm finally getting used to picking up a box of live creatures from my local post office.  However, it seems so strange, and I really hope that we will begin to raise our own turkeys so they don't start their lives bumping around in a box.  In previous years, I've opened the box to find at least one dead, and it seems brutal.  This year, all were alive and well, except that one had a malformed foot.  It seemed otherwise healthy, so I kept an eye on it.  Over the weekend, its legs became weaker, and on Sunday, it slowly died.  It was painful to watch and Anouk sobbed, wailing, "It's only a baby!  It's not fair!"  I have no idea what was wrong with it.  Possibly a nerve disorder?  Or maybe its gimpy foot made it too difficult to get sufficient food and water.  Whatever the reason, Anouk and I held a modest funeral, burying it in the kitchen garden and planting the grave with a columbine.

We bury a lot of animals.

Anouk's class incubated chicken eggs this spring, tracking fetal development with charts and photos.  They hatched last week, and she won a lottery allowing her to bring two home (with permission, of course.)  So on Friday, I put them in with the turkeys under a heat lamp in our bathroom.  As a rule, chickens and turkeys are not supposed to be kept together, but I can't figure out another arrangement with our limited space.  There is one disease that chickens can carry that is fatal to turkeys.  However, we've been taking that chance for years with no problems.

So, it seems that our attempts to breed our adult turkeys hasn't worked this year.  We will cull the adult male turkey and try again in a year.  It is my theory that they need to relearn long lost instincts, so I feel we need to give our female more time.  In the meantime, I'll start trying to steal her eggs before they get cold and either incubate them or get a chicken to do it for me.

The Morel of the Story

Growing up in Northern Michigan forest, it was a family tradition to hunt for morels every year.  This was one of my grandpa's favorite activities, along with fishing and drinking.  My memories of mushroom hunting are strong and visceral, including the smells of dry forest and that distinctive aroma when the knife severs a fresh morel.  There was the slow walk through the woods, scanning every tree, checking directions, moss, any rotten log.  And when someone spotted one of the elusive fungi, we all swarmed that area, knowing that there would be more nearby.  Usually, we suddenly realized we had been looking at them all along, but couldn't see them, like an optical illusion.  Later, my parents would saute them in butter; another strong memory because those were some of the few "happy family" moments at our house, and I still remember the smell of warm butter-soaked morels.

Western Washington is not considered a place to find morels, so I was surprised 3 years ago to find a few growing in our backyard, right against the house.  They were huge and healthy, so I battered and fried them and served them to my family.  Anouk loved them until Mike came home and said they were disgusting.  She has refused to take a bite ever since.

Last year, they popped up in the gravel in our front yard, not far from the front door.  There were about 100, all healthy, modestly sized.  I gave most of them away.

This year, I was disappointed that I didn't see morels in the gravel again in April.  I searched for any signs of baby morels popping up, and finally gave up on it.  And one day, Mike noticed a couple between the rocks in our perennial garden.  We started looking around and realized there were close to 100 right in nearby garden beds.  Over the weeks, we kept finding more, with most of them growing right outside my kitchen door.  One day, I was so astonished by the numbers, I counted how many were growing in about a 4' x 3' bed, and there were 133!  I'm sure there have been hundreds by now, all over the garden.

I've been giving the morels away to people who will appreciate them - bags full.  Still, I find that they have been waning and getting sort of dry on top.  When the weather turned warm and sunny, I worried that they would all shrivel up, so I harvested pounds of them last Friday.  Following directions I found online, I strung them on thread with a needle and hung them to dry.

This has worked very well.  They are all shriveled into little crispy nuggets and are stored in a paper bag in my pantry.  Yesterday, while watering our raspberries, I discovered ANOTHER good sized patch of morels.  Big, juicy ones.  So I picked them , soaked them, and I'm trying a different method.  I'm laying them on the counter on a dry towel, and will turn them regularly.  I think this will work just as well, without the comedy of me stringing them, losing my grip so they all fall on the floor, washing them, re-stringing, etc.  Besides, now the first batch are all snugly dried on strings, like really ugly necklaces, and I'm not sure how to take them off to cook them.

Speaking of cooking morels, I found this recipe online, which I think I will try:

1/2 pound of fresh morels 2 tablespoons unsalted butter salt & pepper to taste 4 cups of chicken stock (degreased if home made) 4 egg yolks 1 cup heavy cream

Clean morels and cut into small, spoon size pieces.Heat butter in 2 qt. saucepan, then add morels & salt & pepper. Cover & simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the stock & bring just to the boil. Meanwhile mix the egg yolks & heavy cream together in a separate bowl. Slowly add this mixture to the stock & morels & heat it while stirring till hot but do not let it boil or the eggs will curdle. Taste & correct the seasoning with salt & pepper and a little lemon juice if you'd like. Serves 4 normal people or 1 or 2 morel maniacs!

I am baffled by the way our morels have migrated to entirely different parts of the yard, and hope they will return next spring.  I am careful to cut them, rather than pull out the stem.  When I soak them, I pour the water back into the garden beds, hoping any spores will reproduce.  Apparently, it takes 5 years for new morels to grow, so it's possible I'll see them return to the other areas in the future.  I welcome any advice from readers about propagating and cooking morels.

Catching Up

I haven't posted in quite some time because I am a bit behind on my latest commission and it is hard to justify time at the computer.  I often get distracted in the studio, and can easily find that I spent an hour trying to make insects out of cork and wire when I should have stayed focused on the project with a looming deadline.  Besides, with spring in full force, there is a ton of work needed on the homestead, and I'm way behind on all of it.

(These are the goats, helping me remove Morning Glory.)

As for that mean turkey, he continues to be a nuisance.  He especially dislikes adults, but seems to leave kids alone.  I really need to clean the coop, but I really can't do much in there as long as I'm fending off a belligerent turkey.  Worst of all, he has been terrorizing the other poultry.  I had to break up a fight between him and the duck, and I often intervene on behalf of innocent chickens.


Mike has reseeded our lawn with a low-maintenance flower/herb mix, so we need to steer clear of it for at least 3 weeks, watering it 4-5 times/day.  This is a huge challenge with three dogs and a (as of yesterday) seven-year-old.  I have to leash each dog separately when they go out, which is frequently.

We have decided to bring on a second cat to manage the rodent population on the farm, as it has become a real problem since our female cat disappeared last fall.  She was an outstanding mouser, preferring to hunt for her food over bagged kibble.  We miss her, and we are hoping a new kitten will accept Lazarus as a friend.  (Lazarus is our very sweet male cat, who begged Stella to be his friend for the past 6 years, only to be hissed at and snubbed.)

The bees are building comb and capping brood. We expect the arrival of new turkey chicks any day.  The garden is blooming and some veggie sprouts are coming up.  I just need to get to securing the dog yard, finishing the greenhouse, building a chicken run, tilling remaining raised beds, weeding about an acre of garden, trimming goat hooves, and stacking some huge piles of split firewood.  And, of course, finishing that commission by the end of the month.