Zero chicken policy

 

I love spring. This post was supposed to be about new life and the excitement of this time of year. But then I completely derailed and now I’m kinda just in shock again, not sure how to move. 

It’s been a few years since I posted, been a few years since we were at the farmers market or the butcher or hosted a plant sale or seed swap. There’s only been a few volleyball games the past few years. Things have been quiet. 

I moved to Massillon, within city limits onto an affordable piece of land and the two kids aren’t babies anymore but awesome little rambunctious kids. We got some chickens that my kids love and all was well until I was just informed that I need to stop keeping fowl on less than 5 acres within city limits. Massillon city says no chickens. Like zero chicken policy. 

I can’t believe it. What an odd law. And I’m kinda mad. Because … what an odd law. In ww2, it was our patriotic duty to keep chickens. In 93% of all cities, there’s some way for people to house chickens. Heck, in nyc, they can even keep chickens. But not Massillon? 

It’s the wildest and most backwards thing I can think of. What an odd argument to fight with over your residents too. Chickens are weird, fluffy, feathery pets that also give you food and entertainment. A quick search found that other residents in years past have had chickens and been told they cannot have chickens due to being in city limits. Even on 2 acre pieces of land. Zero chicken policy. 

Buying a house is huge- what to afford, how many beds, garage or no garage, and location. I remember checking school districts and city ordinances. 

I do not think I would have bought a house in Massillon if I knew the city would tell me I can’t have chickens. And honestly, getting a letter saying that I couldn’t have chickens made me start house shopping again. This isn’t community building. This isn’t a place that I feel comfortable with sharing my ideals. How the hell can there be a zero chicken policy? My kid is in school, likes his teacher, neighborhood parks are nice, we like a lot of things here. but hearing about the no chicken policy, my kid also started asking “does canton have a no chicken policy?” 

I’m frustrated and upset over something that seems minor but it’s not. I’m going to get rid of the chicken, but my yard is going to miss their liveliness, companionship, them scratching at scraps and dust bathing as the squirrels try to steal their scratch grains. It’s not going to be the same. Nor is my view of this city. My Massillon pride is gone. I’m going to seek a change, either through petitioning to change the law or if that doesn’t work, I am going to move to a more supportive community. 

Cause zero chicken policy? That’s ridiculous. 

Growing differently

The rain this morning revived that fresh muddy and green scent that has been perfectly balanced so far this year. It wasn't much needed, but it also wasn't on the heels of another flood. It feels just like the rest of 2017 so far, where the winter was mild, the spring was pleasant, and the rain comes once a week when it's needed the most.

Canton Farmer's Market Saturday mornings

 We are growing a bit differently this year. With no CSA, our vegetable production has gone toward just the things that we love to eat like platinum cucumbers that we like to pickle and plenty of berries for eating fresh or canning, if we have too much of a flush.

We also have amped up our flower production this year for customer order and to take to the farmers markets. We have years of perennials that have caught our eye and this year I ordered a bunch of cut flower annuals too.

A custom bunch for a baby shower

The fun of planting is that I have started a lot of these blooms the first of January. Our flats were tended for so long and carefully moved outside during the early spring warm days and then moved back inside on the cooler nights.

Now they are almost all in the ground and the blooms are just starting to show. Some of these are true surprises as some seeds take off and others don't work out.
This year, I finally got black poppies and they are beautiful! Next year they will be bigger and better, which is the great thing about perennials!

Black poppy first year blooming

This year has been potatoes. I'm not saying it's like meat and potatoes, more like growing potatoes:
You plant them in deep trenches and wait as they unfurl unassuming leaves followed by dainty flowers and then you cover up some of the leaves in hopes that they keep growing. You don't really know what's happening under the soil, just kinda keep going in hopes that the tubers are forming.

It's kinda a whistle and a prayer, but for slightly impatient gardeners such as myself, once the flowers form, you can reach under the soil and feel around for new potatoes. That's when you start seeing the fruit of your labor.

I had high hopes that all the trenching, mulching, planting, and hard work would pay off. I hoped the big greenhouse would pay off, the soil amendments to the garden would sprout great crops, and that our raised bed projects would be very productive.


But so far... potatoes.

I have no idea what's simmering under the surface of the soil. As the season creeps on, I'm still wondering what will happen this year.


Anyway, the flowers are coming on in waves of beautiful colors, shapes, and textures. I plant a lot of flowers based on scent alone, so now that my English rose is doing so well, I'm delighted by the fragrance. The nigella have seeded everywhere and some of the annuals came back after the mild winter.

In the greenhouse, my second crop of strawberries is coming on. I need to plant more in there. If I could extend the strawberry harvest, that would be a great crop to have around in the early winter and early spring. I planted a raspberry in there as well, but I think I lost it.
The tomatoes and peppers are just starting to come on, but then the well broke and during the heat of the summer, we were without running water for almost a week.
While I may have been proud of my sister for bathing in the creek and flushing with buckets, the garden and greenhouse did not share my optimistic sentiment. The tomatoes, addicted to irrigation in the heat of this dry spell, cracked open just before harvest.

I stood at my mother's sink, slicing up the first of the tomatoes of the season, super excited to taste the fruits of my labor, albeit, cutting around the split in the skin like a seam that popped. While still warm from the sun, I went to take my first bite but something smelled terrible and all the pressure from this rough year hit all at once and I cried. I couldn't fathom why a tomato could smell like dirty dishwater or where I went wrong so I ran outside with the slice that was in my hand and tears running down my face. And it was outside, in the stifling August air that I realized it wasn't the tomato that smelled, but probably the bucket of dirty dishwater that was in the sink that I was smelling. Hmm. Funny how sensitive we get at times.

Sometimes when everything seems to bear down on me, things I cannot prevent or see like drought or sickness, I like to do something that I used to think was hard.

So I went out with a pair of scissors in hand and sheared the sheep. She needed it. And it's something that is physically very difficult to do, but the more practice you get, the quicker and better you get and the more comfortable the animal is with you wielding a couple of blades very close to their skin.
I used to be terrible at this. I bought the expensive shears, tried the old school manual ones that look like two knives welded together. Neither did much for me.
The cheap pair of scissors was able to cut through the course, Icelandic sheep wool well without giving me blisters. So I would gear up with 5 pairs and run out to the fields to strip down the sheep once a year.
I got my holds down, ewe on the ground with a knee rested securely on her shoulder to keep her calm while I worked my blades from the belly up over the ribs to the backbone before grabbing a hoof and flipping her over to shear the other side.

What I completely forgot was how many muscles are used in such a simple task. Wow. But the sense of accomplishment in getting it done, getting something done that I used to be terrible at with a sense of satisfaction that's almost unparalleled.

So then I checked on my potatoes. Still just leaves. Brown, slightly crinkled and whining leaves. But I hope with enough care, time and learning as I go, I hope the harvest really pays off soon.

Spring stillness

The house smells like lemon butter cookies. This is the newest batch of soap curing. I hope it suds up as well as is smells.

  I found a use for that lard in the freezer from our pigs. Traditional soap making is such a fun endeavor. Albeit, a bit frightening when you have to don safety gear, I love following the process from start to finish, one part chemistry, one part following directions, two parts waiting and a pinch of creativity brings some excellent results. And so useful!

  Bill came out to see grass for the first time. It's februrary and I'm not freezig cold. The grass was tall at the end of the year and I didn't mind. It's almost hay-like now, but our new little lamb still sampled it all the same. Murray, his mother on the other hand just followed me around on a shakedown for some grain. 

  Soon there will be so much to do, but for now I will be happy with what little sunlight and warmth these early spring days yield as I plan with precarious patience at the growing season to come. 

Groundhog Day

I love Groundhog Day. Not just the movie, but the holiday as well. A giant ground squirrel is indeed the perfect harbinger of spring. And a shadow is such a telling predictor. It's beautiful.

This is the time of year when winter starts to feel like that bit of sleep in between true sleep and trying to be asleep. Just when you think you might be asleep, you realize you aren't and that frightens you into complete awareness.

Just when you settle into the frigid Ohio cold rituals of scraping your car, putting on woolen socks, scarf, coat, hat, gloves tucked into sleeves and high boots to fight the snow, somehow the weather hints that winter might be just a dream. With eyes half closed, you walk out and the wave of realization falls upon you that it's not cold enough for 2 pairs of long johns. Maybe you were just dreaming.

This is the time when baby goats and lambs appear.


There's nothing quite like the promise of adorable little screaming creatures that make you want to get up early and put your boots on and brave the cold.
I can't tell you how many mornings I've gotten up early just to stare at ewe sheep, fat bellies sticking out uncomfortably underneath winter wool coats, chewing hay as they stare right back at me like they got up early just to see how I was doing that morning as well. They have that blank look like, what?



Exhibit A:

What? How are you doing? You look a bit pudgy with that giant coat on too.

 

This winter has been spring. I'm not sure when the leapfrog of seasons happened, or if we even had a winter but perhaps that's why I enjoy getting my weather predictions from a marmot. I've been doing winter cleanup in a light sweater, which I quickly lose when I really get moving.

The greenhouse still stands through it's first official winter. And I actually read my first Elliot Coleman book (ok, first two chapters) and quickly learned that my frustration with the lack of light isn't an isolated incident but rather a shared frustration of gardeners trying to extend the season.

He explains, you don't garden all seasons. You just figure out how to harvest all seasons. Growing happens when the sunlight allows for it. After that, you just protect your food until you are ready to eat it. Ahh. I see.

 

So now we are in this odd limbo of weirdly warm weather, but not enough light to do anything with it. Pepper and I have enjoyed it though as Frisbees still fly, even when daylight is less than 10 hours a day. And as for getting on the boots to bundle up and check on the sheep, I guess when it's nice out and I'm out all the time, the lambs just happen.

 

 

And when they happen on Groundhog Day, you can't help but name the new little one Bill Murray.

 

 

Storing up for the winter

The wind shifted direction. The dark is creeping in slowly and I don't have much time after I get off work to go outside and get some things done. The summer time in Ohio is great for both weather and the stretching of the daylight.

So like the slowing squirrels scavenging in the lawns, I am trying to put back enough to keep me fed and busy for the winter.

The first thing is, I got out the dehydrator. 

The joy and burden of gardening in season, is the bounty all at once during the growing season, and then the months and months of freezing cold when nothing is growing.

 

So after CSA finished up, I started packing the dehydrator with everything that came from the gardens. I've been focusing a lot on herbs for tea, salad dressings, soup mixes, and spice blends. I have kale rough chopped and in there too. Jason worked up the best paprika ever by dehydrating a bunch of red peppers and then grinding them up really fine. I had no idea how many peppers it took to make a pinch of paprika!

 

While I like almost anything that we are drying, I'm most excited when the whole house smells like tea herbs.

 

While I love freezing, fresh veggies full of water take up a lot of space and use energy. Dehydrating maintains their vitamins while making them easier to store. And bonus when soup season comes around as the flavor punch that dried herbs and veggies adds is a whole new dimension to your favorite recipes.

 

So out from the dehydrator come these great ingredients straight from the garden. I have been putting them in deli containers and labeling them so I know what ingredients I have from our gardens for our spice and tea blends.

 

While I love it for cooking, stripping thyme off the stems is incredibly time consuming. Perhaps that's where it gets it's name?

 

 

My mountain of deli containers is growing and spreading into mason jars, gallon freezer bags, and whatever else I can store things in and label.

 

Once the garden is put to bed, the greenhouse should be coming into production with our cool weather crops so I will have fresh things to try all throughout winter.

 

 

 

And certainly nothing warms up a dark winter evening quite like friends, a cuddly dog or cat, and a hot cup of homegrown tea.

 

The pineapple sage and lemongrass is ready to come out of the dehydrator and stored. Back to the garden for another round. Next up, harvesting oregano to combine with dried meyer lemons, garlic, and shallots for a nice greek salad dressing. Can't wait for recipe perfecting on that so I can share it with all of you!

Modern Barnraising this sunday!

Modern barnraising party this Sunday!

It's finally here. The plastic is ready to be stretched on our 30x72' greenhouse and we need more hands to help! Come by at 1pm this Sunday as we stretch out and stretch on two layers of plastic to extend our growing season to almost year round.

We started last fall with the initial marking of the corners. You need to make sure that your house will be straight or else nothing will work.  

Then in December, as the snow started to fly, we realized that this might be another rough Ohio winter. We tried to make sure our hardware didn't all freeze to the ground, but once the blanket of snow came in, everything was covered for weeks. 

Corina drives the posts in with the carrot canoe in the foreground

Jason finishes up the other side

Then we started laying out the bows for the top. No idea what we were doing so it was a bit of a puzzle, but fun.

The ducks checked our work often on the way to the creek

Grandma also checked our work.

She needed to make sure Jason wasn't doing it wrong.

Then once the growing season hit, we rushed to fill the gardens, get the hops trellis up, put vegetable oil on the apple trees to keep down the bugs, and make sure that all the animals were on fresh grass and well fed.

Now is the time to finish up this project as we start preparing for another Ohio winter. Hopefully this one might be a bit brighter, warmer, and greener. Stretching plastic at 1 (wind permitting) and potluck at 3pm. Volleyball will inevitably follow....

Hope to see you there!

Toby the foster dog love strawberries... a flipbook

Toby says, more please!

Plant sale may 17th 2015

It's the day before the plant sale. There are mountains of things to do on my list. And here we are hiding out in the fish barn next to the mushroom logs, watching the rain.


But that's ok. This is ohio. We relish the rain when it comes as I ponder if the morels will sprout after this cool refreshing rain. I wonder if the rain will soak down through or new strawberry towers. And if it will be on and off tomorrow.

My new foster dog paces. He finds some goose poop and does a taste test, which is gross but means he is taking care of this ragtag flock. He sniffs in the woods and then circles back. And I wonder if his yellow lab face  hides some deeper Anatolian shepherd blood. No chickens killed. No goats agitated. Just nose to the ground and protection mode activated. We will see.

So mowing is out today. We are going to run from the fish barn shelter to the pavilion for a minute and then to the greenhouse to label our little seedlings for tomorrow. We will see what the weather does. We will be out tomorrow, but if the weather doesn't cooperate, there's always next week.

Sketches of spring

I got a new sketchbook. It's a small investment for the world of possibilities it holds. The first few pages are quickly getting filled with line drawings of bunnies and different logo letterings. I'm working on a label for the goat milk lotion my sister has been perfecting. And I like drawing bunnies as they are an expressive yet playful subject matter. I try to draw my dog, but if it's even slightly off it looks terribly wrong as my companions face is so familiar to me that anything else seems bizzare.

Today I am going shopping with my friend B. She's picking me up for what will surely be a very girlie day driving through Amish country to buy dirt and pots and veggie baskets and oil for lotions. My list today is a bit long, but I'm excited to work through it and work you enjoy never really seems like a chore. 

I would like to put another Csa bed in today. The early season always starts out slow so I try to get as much in the ground as possible in hopes of filling the baskets with deliciousness early. The late season tomatoes and squash always fill the baskets easily but the early greens and roots always seem to start so slow. So today should put more onions in the ground and some broccoli romanesco as I'm always trying to get those beautiful fractals to grow. 

I also have some carrots in the ground from last year in a rainbow of colors. While I don't imagine they are still tender enough to eat, I am going to process them to put their nutritional value to use in a lotion by shredding, dehydrating, and infusing them into an oil. Waste not want not. 

And the mushroom logs we cut last week are ready to be innoculated, all 100 of them, which is not an easy or quick task. 

So perhaps my list might be a little long, but I figure if I start with the carrots, I'll at least cross one thing off my list that shouldn't take too long. (Oh how I love the food processor!)

The marginal night weather has the florecent lights back on their timer with the tender tomatoes in the house again. But they are looking very good from their short time in the seed starting greenhouse and we should have quite a nice selection for the plant sale this year. 

Alright, enough if my lounging around. It's Saturday and spring. Time to get something done! 

The cold cuts straight to the bone

The smell of fresh garlic fills the house as my dad whips up some eggs straight out of the chicken house. The size and shapes of all the different eggs reminds me of smooth gemstones before they are cut and polished.

Today is a sick day. The rain outside has covered the peacock and his iridescent feathers turn the blue to a different angle so he looks green, like he might be having a sick day too. Rain in December is a mixed blessing. While it's nice that it's not super cold, there's nothing that really chills down to the bone and cuts straight through my immune system like a bitter cold rain.
And I have been out in it every chance I can get with my latest project.

I guess rewind a few months to pictures like this....

The gardens were full, tomatoes were plentiful, love lies bleeding was doing what it does best among the cosmos and everything was growing.  First frost hits and knocks some things out. And then slowly us Ohio gardeners have to watch as each week the bitter cold nights knocks out the tender ones as it marches on towards eventually the demise of the winter stubborn kale.

 It's depressing.

So I started researching and thought about indoor gardening in unheated greenhouses and ended up with some tomatoes in the seed starting greenhouse for about a month after the outside ones had long gone.

These tomatoes held on for quite awhile after their outside counterparts had long since gave up. The tomato fruits were large and green and we brought them inside to finish ripening in the windows.

The other greenhouse held the hopes of little lettuce starts and salvaged plants from the garden we were hoping to hold on for a bit longer, but the single layer of plastic was not very effective at staving off the cold.

In my trips to other farms, I focused on their season extending cold frames and greenhouses, seeing what other people were doing to supplement their outdoor growing season. Seems like cold frames are the way to go. With just a small investment, you can cover quite a bit of ground and with passive solar heat and protection from the wind, you could do quite a bit

So the plan was set into place to get a nice sized cold frame that would extend our season for both homestead sustainability and for bringing more produce to market during a longer season. So far so good, but the process we are working through is for another blog, another time. 

In other news, RIP our High Mill sign. That last terrible wind storm ripped the 4x4s in half. But this picture was taken just a few weeks ago when the hollyhock decided it was their time to bloom in spite of terrible weather.

So Pepper is inside watching the Browns bumble around and we are happy to feed the sheep some great long grass on the hill that we only mowed one time this past year. The chickens have eaten the fall pumpkins and all the sunflower heads have been consumed already (got to save more next year) and the goats have put on their fuzzy winter coats. 

It's not seed ordering time yet, but we are optimistically battening down the hatches for another Ohio winter.