Where Did the Time Go?

I am all apologies today, folks. I know. It's been forever. I blame college. This quarter (sixteen credits at school plus full time work) has been really rough. I'm thick in midterms at the moment (please don't ask about my Statistics midterm last night), and there are only four weeks left in the quarter. Registration for Spring quarter is next Tuesday. Seriously. Where the heck did the months go?? Sitting at my computer today, I realize now that I have spent next to no time at all doing the things I enjoy since classes started in the first week of the new year. Somehow the house isn't a total wreck (credit is due to the best girlfriend in the world) and the chickens haven't starved. Still, I feel like I'm on some sort of uphill grind, and I really can't stop to look at the scenery until I've pushed to the top.

What have you missed? Not a whole lot. It's winter, after all. The chickens stopped laying for a while (I'm sure you remember the whining last fall), they started again with a vengeance, a langstroth bee hive arrived in the mail, I learned to knit, a few snowdrops and crocuses and the tips of garlic are up in the garden, and the annual Flower and Garden Show is next weekend. Of course I meant to write about a lot of that stuff. Still, sleeping is far more attractive than spending another hour in front of a computer upright.

And I apologize again, but I now need to finish some homework, clean up the house, apply to Western Washington University, pick out my classes for Spring quarter at EvCC, eat lunch, and zip off to work.

I miss boredom.

Animal (chicken), Vegetable (Apple), Miracle (Birthdays)

I've been reading a lot over the last few weeks, what with school slowing down for finals and spring break. It's nice not to feel bound by course requirements, even if it won't last. Math 141, Chemistry 121, and Political Science 101 begin next Monday. I'm cramming in the garden books while I still have free time. Here's a list of what's captivated my attention so thoroughly this spring.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an endearing journey through a family's year of local eating. I've found myself laughing along many times. This book (and its website) contain a number of tasty-looking recipes for eating local produce and meats that are in season. I doubt I'll get Aimee to choke down anything with eggplant in it, but I'm always eager to try new dinner menus.

Okay, you knew sooner or later I'd have to admit being a Michael Pollan junkie. I originally got hooked by The Botany of Desire, which is a great read. The film version of it was on PBS not that long ago, and it was equally enthralling. What I enjoyed most about In Defense of Food was its semi-cynical manner of breaking down and discrediting every major diet fad America has known, including the one proposed by Michael Pollan himself.

I followed Jenna's blog for a few months before finally wrangling Made From Scratch from the clutches of the Everett Public Library, and it was worth the effort. Again, this was one of those books you chuckle along with as you read it on the bus or train, but I can't say she's got me convinced to playthe hammered dulcimer just yet. I will admit that her trials and errors with chickens alone made me feel like a truly accomplished urban farmer (seeing as we currently have an 83% survival rate amongst our hens).

All of this reading has got me (and, to some extent, us) thinking about eating more locally and more seasonally. The eggs from the backyard are great (our monthly tally is already over 100 for March), and I know we'll have plenty of produce from the garden in the front yard come July and August, but we'd like to go further. The Everett farmer's market doesn't start up until June this year, so these changes are going to require thinking outside the box.

Do any of you eat seasonally and locally? How about some advice for the novice!

Today is also my birthday. While their importance decreases over the years, birthdays should still be infused with a bit of fun. One present (though it wasn't intended as such) arrived on the porch while we were out walking the dogs this morning. Two of our older computers are being replaced with a new iMac. This thing is so huge I think we'll need to build a new desk for it. I can't wait to get home and play with it!! Additionally, the much anticipated weekend of Seattle Tilth classes is almost upon us. I've signed up for two classes: Goats 101 on Saturday, and Muchroom Cultivation on Sunday. What kind of wine goes best with chevre and porcini mushrooms?

Holiday Presents That Last

The first issue of Hobby Farms has arrived, and I was downright giddy last night as I poured over the glossy photos and enticing titles of articles on each page. This makes me feel a little more normal, a little more connected to the other "Hobby Farmers" out there, and one step closer to being on that real farm someday. Issues arrive every other month, so I have lots of time to read, explore, and absorb until the next copy arrives.

We've also been inundated with all the seed and greenhouse catalogs that we associate with the dead, grey role of winter which January plays, and I'm really looking forward to sitting down with them next weekend. There's something entirely therapeutic about descriptions of bountiful snap pea harvests, prolific tomato plants, and corn that you can hear growing in the night. I may not order much, but I'll read it all.

On the chicken front, we are all recovering from the loss of Norma Jean. It's strange to see only five chickens huddling around the morning treat bowl of lettuce, cucumber ends, bell pepper seeds, and plain yogurt, but we're happy that our remaining flock is healthy and well-adjusted. It turns out that gluttony was the killer of our little bird. She ate too many meal worms the day before she got sick, and the overdose of protein was lethal. Just when you think you've got nature figured out...

Yesterday we collected the sixth egg. Each one is a little bigger than the previous one, and now they are being laid IN the nest boxes. Hooray! While we originally thought it was Raquel doing all the hard work, Ursula was busted nesting in the box twice, and each time a small, perfect egg was found immediately afterward. She spends her sweet time in there, too. I feel like I should give her a magazine or something.

And, last but somewhere firmly in the middle of the mix of life as we know it, school started for me on Monday night. I'm enrolled in English 101 and Math 099, and my night classes have not yet conflicted with work and vice versa. This is the first quarter of many to come, and I'm hopeful that everything will go well. It feels fun to go to college, especially looking around the classroom at the teenagers who are scared out of their wits at the thought of dividing fractions. I don't expect big challenges for a while yet, and much of the first few quarters of class will be catching up from 15 years of not being in school, but it still feels fun.

Partly Cloudy withToo Much Rain

The sun is shining, but the clouds are rolling back in. My weather widget says we can expect rain through Sunday, and even then I don't expect things to get better. I guess it's just that time of year in the Pacific Northwest again. The girls, as you can expect, are less than pleased about the weather. They truly enjoy their outside time, and being confined to their enclosure is less than pleasing to them. Today they received a handful of strawberry tops, the last of the season. The patty pan squash are less appetizing, and the most recent one I left for them has been pecked at in an apathetic manner. Perhaps I am not the only one emotionally effected by the dreary grey days.

I built a "chicken ladder" for them a couple of weeks ago, and it appears to be unused so far. All the best chicken resources say that you need to provide your hens with a roosting pole inside their coop. My attempt has backfired. They still cluster right next to the door, waiting for me to open it in the morning, then push their way out and down to the food. I am convinced that they are not bright. Not bright, but definitely hungry. They are currently consuming food at an alarming rate. I can't blame them. It's been cold both day and night recently. I think I've been refilling the feeder every three or four days, adding in some three-way scratch to keep them happily pecking away. We are on our last bag of developer feed, and we may need one more 50 pound bag before they are old enough to lay. Going by the calendar, they should be six month old and ready to give us eggs by about MLK day, January 18, 2010. I am not, however, expecting to see eggs before late February, given the lack of daylight at that time of the year. A friend and co-enthusiast of urban chickens was in one of the classes I taught at work last week, and she suggested lighting the coop to promote more laying. While I've read about that option elsewhere, I'm concerned about reducing the hens' overall lifespan and laying ability. It just sounds so unnatural!!

Yesterday was also an information drop-in day at Everett Community College, where I will begin my quest for a BA in Environmental Planning and Policy. I met with the head of the department, and she gave me lots of useful information about this new degree program which is a blend of Western Washington University and the Huxley College of the Environment. I'll be starting my freshman year in January, and I only hope the math and English classes are as easy as I expect.