I’ve been looking carefully at the empty bed that we have devoted solely to asparagus and wondering if the whole patch met a mysterious subterranean demise over the winter. But just yesterday, I finally saw the first signs of life from them – two purple heads poking up through the ground. Now at least I can breathe easy and assume that the rest will soon follow.

Signs of life returning to the garden in the form of the first asparagus to emerge from winter's deep slumber.

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We planted beets right before our big family vacation last June, and they straggled and struggled along all summer. I never got around to using them in the fall, and actively began ignoring them come winter. They survived some significant week-long freezes, and a couple good snows to boot.

I finally decided to pull them up and see if there was anything worth saving, and it turns out that beets are pretty darn tough in the ground. We cooked up a batch of golden beets for a salad a few weeks ago, and today I pulled out the fancy candy-cane striped Chioggos to roast for Robbie’s 3rd birthday party. After paring off the gnarly skin from the tops, they look as good as new.

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Turns out maybe that little portable greenhouse I started some seeds in was maybe a little too portable. We’ll see what can be salvaged. Hannah was morose about the situation: “I guess I’ll have to plant my chives again.”

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Alicia texted me this morning while I was out saying “2 eggs in the coop today”, which is exciting because they haven’t laid since October or so. Maybe it was that huge full moon last night. When I got home Robbie and I went out to collect the bounty and pose for this picture. By that time there was a third egg, so spring has officially arrived.

(Note: Right after snapping this photo, Robbie decided to drop the eggs on the ground, and one broke, so we’re back down to 2 eggs.)

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I always cruise the clearance bins of whatever stores I happen to be in… you have to know which dark back hallway leading to a break room they stick it in at most grocery stores, and the selection is usually just a dented can of peas and carrots and a whole box of some dubious-sounding product that didn’t fly off the shelves the way the marketing department had hoped (Ginger-Mango Habañero Ketchup! Vegan Mayonnaise!)

Lowes is clearing out the stuff that didn’t sell very well this year, and one thing they had that I fell for was a rain gauge. It was only 98 cents, and ever since I’ve installed it the kids have been obsessed with checking how much it rains. It’s frozen right now, so I’m assuming it’s expanded a little past the actual rain we’ve had, but it’s been at least an inch and a half over the last week or so. We’ve had a wet winter (hence a flooded basement a month or so ago), so now at least we can track exactly how much water is falling. I think we’ll empty it every month, and maybe make a little chart. Teach those kids the scientific method, you know?

Our new $0.98 rain gauge from Lowes.

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About a year ago I got some Egyptian Walking Onions from a generous (or maybe over-run) gardener down in Skyway. They are a pretty curious plant, producing Dr. Seuss-like forms when they first bud, and by the end of the year, they have burst into pods of onion “seeds”. I harvested all of these and am going to try planting some over the winter to see how they do (ignoring all the dire warnings of impending heavy snow). I’ll save the rest for spring, and probably have plenty to share, so let me know if you want to give them a try.

In addition to the seeds (that can’t be the right term…), the stalks of onions are ready to harvest. The bulbs below the dirt are like a cross between a shallot and a leek. I think the key with thes e onions is to pull them all out every year, and plant them again the next year. Otherwise, it sounds like the patch can get pretty choked with them.

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Dispatches from Paradise Volume 1

We’re spending a couple weeks in Hawaii doing a housing exchange (not to brag). Word is that it’s still pouring in Seattle, so we’re not missing much, and I’m not worried about the garden burning up. Naturally, my first question upon arriving here in Maui and seeing the red clay soil was, “I wonder how well you can compost here.” It seemed like the natural solution to the hard, arid soil, but that’s just me, I suppose.

We are staying in a house with a big lot (over an acre, I’d guess.) And a view of the ocean (not to brag.) There isn’t much in they way of gardens here (besides a pot of basil on the deck) but it has two things going for it in the farm department:

1. Fruit trees – Tangerine, banana and papaya trees on the premises. We’ve had a few tangerines so far, and there are some ripe papayas that apparently we can pick with a bamboo trimmer. (They’re pretty far up in the tree).

2. Livestock – There is a flock of 10 or 12 chickens, from a couple months old to laying hens. Plus, the big bonus, 2 sheep that look like goats. They are a little bit too friendly at times (see the photo below; they think they own the table on the deck.) Our morning routine consists of feeding the sheep (Robbie is kind of getting the hang of it), letting the chickens out to forage, and refreshing their water.

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We started a bunch of seeds way back in January, getting things going on the kitchen counter, and then moving them to the back porch. They stalled out on the back porch, so we moved them to the portable greenhouse hoping that some warmth would perk things up. You’ll see a photo from 3 weeks ago, and bunch from today, and you can indeed see that despite the miserable weather here in Seattle, the plants are thriving in there. Plus, the lettuce that Hannah and I planted awhile back is ready to start eating… starting with a salad or three from thinning the rows. (Look at how small the lettuce is in the background of the first picture).

A bunch of the plants are in pots made from newspaper (thanks ReadyMade magazine) and ready for the seedling exchange I’m going to in a few weeks. We have tons of tomatoes, peppers, and squash, along with a couple different kinds of cucumbers and some swiss chard; way more than we have room for.

{ 2 posts today because I always get excited when I see we’re being linked from somewhere… thanks to Trudy’s friend Emily for finding this one from Apartment Therapy’s Re-Nest. Onward and upward! }

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It’s still technically winter, but the cherry blossoms have blossomed and it feels like an early spring. We have started some seeds inside, and some of the plants that were dormant are emerging from colder months. In order, below are photos of Swiss Chard and Pea starts inside, garlic coming up (planted in late December), rhubarb, and the new Egyptian Walking Onions.

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Our kale has proven to be the most resilant crop we planted this year.   Our recent freeze finished off the last of the other vegetables still in the ground, which only consisted of lettuce, chard and one, rather ugly artichoke.  The lettuce had long ago stopped being of use to us since it was quite bitter, but neither Dan nor I had bothered to pull it up so it remained in the garden surrounded by the burlap which covered the rest of the bed.  With the frost it became slimy and unsightly enough to motivate Dan to pull it out for the chickens.  The kale wilted for a day or two and popped right back to life after warmer temperatures returned.  We’re now in the midst of a stand off about what to do next.  Dan thinks we should move it to the backyard in the hoop house to give it a warmer, frost free environment.  I say leave well enough alone.  We’ll see who wins this one.  In the meantime we’re enjoying what little bounty we can from our garden and using up the fruits of my canning labor over the summer.

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Recently its been sunny enough to get back to drying my laundry on the line.  I enjoy laundry much better when I can use it as an excuse to hang out in the sun for awhile so its been a welcome change.  There is a crispiness to line dried clothes that is admittedly uncomfortable, but it makes me feel legit, like I really live on a farm. Hopefully we will get to enjoy our crispy clothes from now until fall, but in Seattle that may be a long shot.

BTW – Some of you may not have picked up the John Denver reference in the title.  If not, trust me its hilarious.

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Frozen Chicken

We got snow in Seattle last night, in the usual on-again off-again, is-it-going-to-stick-or-is-it-just-going-to-tease-us fashion. It was looking pretty slushy when we went to bed, but I woke up early in the morning and peeked out the window, just like I used to do when I was a kid, to discover a decent snowfall had stuck around, and even covered the road. But this post isn’t just about the snow, it is about chickens in the snow.

I was really curious how they would do in freezing cold weather. When I was researching heat lamps for them online, I read about people in Indiana and other ridiculously cold winter climates who didn’t feel the need to heat their coops, so I backed off my initial plans of supplying the ladies with a warm red light on all night for them. Anyway, they all snuggle together to sleep, and they can also puff up their feathers to make a nice downy layer of insulation.

This morning when I let them out of their coop they ran right through the snow to their bowl of food, but that didn’t last long. A half an hour later I looked out and they were nowhere in sight — they were back in the chicken house where it was, if not warm, at least not freezing cold on their toes (feet? talons? claws?) I didn’t see them outside all day, even after the snow melted back a little bit. So today the chickens and the humans ended up sticking to the same plan — hang out in the house and wait for things to get back to normal outside.

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