The Kids

For someone that doesn't have children, I sure have a lot of kids! We have the 3 indoor cats, the 3 dogs, the 2 outdoor feral cats and the ** number of chickens! (and that number is growing!) The little kids of the household, the 3 chicks that were hatched by a neighbor while we were on vacation, (who then lived in the bathroom, and then the greenhouse) have finally been moved out to the main coop but are protected from the others by being contained in their cage.

It takes at least 1 week of caged/protected introduction before you can let the newcomers out into the general population. Because we are getting ready to leave for 5 days and my mother-in-law is going to be watching the fort, we are going to leave them in a little longer for a total of 9 days. If they are mixed into the flock too early, the bigger girls could cause harm and even kill the newcomers. Yes, pecking order is the rule of the roost!

As you can see, the other members of the flock are quite curious about these newcomers. The newcomers, for the most part, are talking up a storm and are a little nervous. This protected intro will ultimately save their lives.

What are the other kids up to?
Callebaut, our chocolate lab, aka "the Elder Statesman", "Brown", "Grandpa", "Cranky Butt", has received some preferential treatment for the last month. He just turned 10 years old and has been showered with gifts! As you can see above, he takes the original gift, in this case a stuffed faux sheep-skin goose, and transforms it into...um...more fluff!

In this next photo, you can see he is quite pleased to be on his brand new "big boy" bed...and India is SOL.

On the other hand, Tasso, our Hurricane Katrina survivor, has figured out how to make the best of a situation and instead of sulking over Callebaut's new bed, has found the perfect place! On Mom and Dad's bed right in the middle of the laundry and packing area. Nice!

Parents of human children practice the art of unconditional love and we do the same, as much as is possible when they tear up your favorite robe, pee on your leg (Tasso has issues) or steal your butter. After all, they are just animals!

Bully, the Brahma, defending her eggs

In living with as many animals as we do, I find myself "zoomorphosizing" folks, giving them animal attributes, the opposite of anthropomorphizing, which ascribes human characteristics to either animals or inanimate objects, like our cars or sewing machines or...?

Just the other day I found myself describing a friend's actions as that of a wounded dog, not wanting to show the vulnerable side for fear of attack. I also caught myself describing someone unwilling to give up total control by describing when I am collecting eggs and can't pick all of them up at once. The hen will quietly and discreetly extend her wing over the egg, slide it back towards her body and glide over it, now hiding it from me. I have a real hard time taking it away from them again after this sly maneuver.

The most embarrassing...when I am in the middle of imitating one of my animals behavior, complete with body contortions, facial expressions and deep, guttural noises. There is no lady like recovery from that show!

I love my animals and can't even begin to count all of the mouths we feed. The numbers will jump exponentially when we get our bees in two weeks. I am dizzy just thinking of that many creatures I will be mothering. What is another 30,000 mouths?

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy

Bully, the bantam Brahma hen, and Eric, the bantam Sebright rooster.

Birds of a feather flock together, but when you get chicken owners talking, oh, brother...hang on. We chicken folks are like...I was going to say Knitters, but really we are enthusiasts bordering on the fanatic. Having chickens in your care just ads to the quality of life. I LOVE it!!!

One of my many bird friends told me about the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Their mission statement: Ensuring the future of agriculture through genetic conservation and the promotion of endangered breeds of livestock and poultry.

You can't beat that! With that in mind, I have gone through the list and cross checked it against my other chicken breed guide from Ithaca University, ICYouSee Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart. Hey, I didn't name it. I look at this handy guide frequently when I have questions about breed characteristics.

The reason for coming up with a list of chicken breeds that are both hearty AND on the conservancy list? A field trip to the Pacific Poultry Breeders Association's Show in Stockton on January 24th! Farmer Jeff just let out a nervous chuckle when I showed him my list. Only yesterday he told me that he thought we were at capacity for chickens. Is there such a thing?

I have heard many times from the Eastside Farm Chronicle readers: MORE talk about Chickens!!! One of my New Year resolutions is to blog more about...chickens!

Happy New Year!!!

The LONG Days of Summer

This is a picture of the kids getting ready to snooze for the night, like I should be doing right now!!!

We have been very busy catering and farming and taking care of all of the animals and...and working too much! I can't believe August is nearly over and we are staring down the barrel of September. It is starting to feel a little fall-like, but I have yet to catch a whiff of it in the afternoon breezes. It will be here soon enough!


One of the many things we have done since the last posting was the Vision Cellars Collard Greens Cookoff! This is the third year that Jeff has competed and the second year that we helped out with cooking the meat for the potluck, Central Texas-style Natural Angus Beef Brisket. YUMMMMM

Farmer Chef Jeff won First Place in the Professional category, an honor for which he is very proud. Southern Food is very important to us, as is this award. Please join me in congratulating my honey!

Eastside Farm Girls at Play!

It was such a gorgeous day yesterday that I just had to let the girls (and guys) out to play! They LOVED the grass and picking around in it gave them such joy!

I had to laugh when Tyner ran over to me, asking for more of her special food. I swear that girl eats a LOT! She had such fun running around.

I also couldn't help myself. I am (shhhh!!!) so in love with our rooster, Eric. I followed him around and took several pictures of him. I think this is the cutest one...

We are selling eggs now at 3 different Farmers' Markets and find ourselves running out before we are out of customers. We also heard that our favorite live chicken store had in a fresh shipment of chickens, so Farmer Jeff and I EACH bought 3 chickens that are due to start laying in 4-6 weeks.

We ended up with 2 Red Sex Links (they were bred with White Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds), that are red with white tail feathers and 4 Rhode Island Reds that are red with black tail feathers. You may recall the movie we had for the new nesting boxes where Ruby couldn't make up her mind which box was perfect. Ruby is a Rhode Island Red.

When the chickens are out of their pen, the dogs are either locked up in their pen or in the house. Let me tell you, it was not a perfect arrangement for them. To add insult to injury, Ginger has taken over one of their favorite sleeping spots.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I leave you with a picture of the new "Queen of the Dog Bed".

A Chicken Walkabout

When Farmer Jeff said to me, "Be careful of what you dream, it could come true...", I froze in my tracks. Uh oh...what do you mean, I asked.

I looked in the same direction he was looking and my heart alternately jumped and sank. The chickens were out of the pen and wandering through the yard, and luckily, the dogs were locked up in the pen. WHEW. I didn't need another dead chicken or 10. Once I realized they were safe, I was REALLY happy!

Ever since we have had the chickens, I have wished that they could freely wander where ever they wished. With the dogs, that didn't seem like it would be possible. I happen to agree with my friend that said she never had pets on the same food chain. I kinda like that. Makes sense to me!

However, I do have dogs and chickens, so I follow the other adage, "Good fences ...keep chickens alive...". Well...you get what I mean!

We have actually let the chickens out 3 times now for several hours at a time. They have helped us by both weeding and fertilizing to garden. I just have to make sure they don't make it to the tomatoes!

I had to laugh. A couple of them started following me up the path towards the house, following just like the dogs!

Tyner, the hen with the scissor beak, is out of her baby bird food. (You might recall that for the last 2 years I daily feed Tyner a mash of baby bird food.) We ran out last night and I usually buy it in the town 1/2 hour south of us. With gas prices being what they are along with close to 100 degree heat today, I wasn't about to make that drive. I drove to the closest feed store and they had just run out. I drove to the town south of us and BOTH of the pet stores there have gone out of business! Sad to see that...

Once I realized that her special food was not going to be found, my ingenuity went to work. I went out to the coop, got a scoop of the regular feed pellets that she can't pick up in her beak, and ground it up in my coffee grinder! (Note to self: REALLY clean out the grinder before grinding coffee!)

I don't think she liked it quite as much as the gourmet stuff, but she did eat and I found a way to save some money. Works for me!

What in the world is going on?

Is the world spinning faster, thereby making us feel like we need to get more done? HEAVENS!!!

We HAVE been Whacky busy. Doing what, you may well ask? Well...Here are some updates.
Last Week...

Kitty up a Tree...who is that?
The other morning, when the dogs went out, they got as far as the tree before they started barking. What in the world is going on, I asked Farmer Jeff. He didn't know...so out I went and then looked up. Well, hello Stranger! Who are you and where in the world did you come from? Once we got the dogs into the house we were able to coax the handsome stranger down far enough to read his tag and call his owners. Thank Heavens for that tag!!! We got a call back from the kind and very worried owner. Turns out that it was a brave kitty from across the very treacherous road that runs between our houses. The kids of his house came over and got him. What a lucky kitty! The kitty's name, you are asking? Pancho. Nice to meet you, Pancho. Now be careful!

The Pig Pit
Farmer Jeff is hard at work on his Central Texas-style Pig Pit. No...it is not for raising pigs...it is for cooking them for dinner. 'Nuf said. We are not vegetarians. We do eat meat and actually prefer our pork over most meats. Sorry, Papa, I will not eat cheese so I can eat my pork!

I love the lines of this structure. It reminds me of an ancient church. I know it is where Farmer Jeff will be spending many a Sunday praying for crispy pig.

The Chickens
The chickens are still enjoying their remodeled house. Here is a picture of Wild Girl, daughter of Elizabeth, a now deceased Ameraucana and sister of Jericho. She is not the size of a full grown Ameraucana and does not lay green eggs. She does have a rather squirrelly personality, hence her name.

The Tea Party
I was able to have a little tea party to celebrate my sobriety "birthday" and my sweet honey gave me the most beautiful floral arrangement from my favorite florist, Dragonfly Farm, here in Healdsburg. I love tea parties. We had kind of a Southern-style tea with Pimento Cheese Sandwiches, Smoked Catfish Pate on Crackers, Cucumber Sandwiches, Hearth-Baked Biscuits with Willowside Meats Ham and a Honey Mustard, then also butter and then housemade Zinfandel Grape Jelly that we make! For dessert I was given a magnificently decadent 4 layer chocolate fudge cake...swoon...Thankfully I had folks with whom I could share it!

The Benefit
Farmer Jeff was asked to be one of two "Master of Ceremonies" (emcee) at a fund raiser in his hometown (kind of) Modesto. It was the first time a fund raiser in that area had a cooking competition, Culinary Clash, as part of the event. Since Farmer Jeff has won two of this kind of contest (Derby Day several years ago and "Steel Chef" last year at the Sonoma Showcase) he was a perfect choice.

We left town a little early so we could hit his favorite hamburger stand, Scenic Drive in, for a "knock out burger". This is what an article in the Modesto Bee had to say about Scenic: Over the years, Scenic Drive-In has become one of the most popular spots for burgers in the area. Next to Scenic Cemetery and west of Coffee Road, the restaurant is known for its signature "Knockout" burger, which includes avocado, bacon, cheese and hot peppers.
I think it also has 2 hamburger patties. Sadly, it is currently closed for repairs.




He called his father in a panic from the parking lot, and we were redirected to "M.O.A.B.", which stands for Meal On A Bun. OH MY GOD...what a meal that was! I also had a chance to see that my honey's love of old farm stuff is really one of his cultural back ground. Here is a picture of both the burger and the walls of the place.

We made it to the event in time, didn't need to eat tums but did have a bubbly drink to counteract the lunch, and were treated to a fun evening! Farmer Jeff was a natural! It was fun to watch. He had a fun reunion with his first "Chef", Stan Dimon, under whom Jeff worked and trained for several years at Mallards. This was the chef that warned Jeff: you will be working weekends, holidays, birthdays and most of the time that your friends will be off having fun. Are you SURE you want to be a chef?
Well, that was well over 20 years ago and here we are!

Bye, Bye A Good Yarn!
After 5 years in business and the formation of many wonderful friendships and knitting projects, my favorite place to hang out (and buy yarn!) has closed. We didn't let the day go unnoticed. We threw a little party for our beloved friend, Laura Vink, and toasted her into retirement! We also had a last run at the yarn. Farmer Jeff has been teasing me that we will be the first in the nation to have a yarn cellar. I assured him that I am an amateur when it comes to collecting soft and pet-able yarn. I have friends that are on husband imposed "yarn diets". You know who I am talking about! Anyway, we will still get together and knit every Saturday morning, but it just won't be the same! Thanks, Laura. You have given us a great gift of friendship! Now come and knit with us!!!

Well...the tea party was Sunday, April 6th. In that week we also did 2 catering jobs and then ended the week on Sunday by planting 192 tomatoes. I am sure glad we both like challenges and like to accomplish things! Next...this week!

There's no Place like HOME!

(India, the dog, and Chloe, the cat, on our bed!)

Farmer Jeff and I rolled into the driveway at 1 am on Tuesday morning from our restful 10 days away from home. We did get some rest, along with colds! No fun while on vacation. I did get some knitting time, as well as time to nap and relax.

Honestly, though, there really IS no place like home. We have gotten so accustomed to sleeping on a rock hard bed that we had trouble sleeping! We also have such a quiet place here that anywhere else is noisier!

The best part about coming home? The Kids!!! We guessed that India would be the one that missed us the most, but I think that she might also be tied with Chloe and Ginger. India insisted on sleeping between me and Farmer Jeff the first night home. Not only was she smack dab between us, she kept her paw and head on his shoulder all night. I had Chloe and Ginger sleeping either on me, much like a hood ornament, or snuggled under the covers with me.

I even think the chickens missed us! I took out a bowl of scraps to them today (made some comforting lentil soup last night) and they sure sounded happy to see me! Or was it the food?

Too HOT!!!

Goodness Gracious!!! It has just been TOO DARN HOT!!! The girls (and Napoleon, Jericho and Bruce) were having a hard time with the heat this week until Farmer Jeff hooked up their outdoor misters. They are much happier now! I am moving a fan into the coop tonight 'cause there is nothing sadder looking than a hot chicken, beak parted and panting, wings lifted up to allow air to dry their little feathered arm pits. Help is coming, girls!

Farmer Jeff went a got himself a new tool for the garden/farm. A mini rototiller. He is quite tickled to have it. It has been very effective in weed control/destruction. We are getting a handle on the cucumber beetle, but proof of their demise will come when the Swiss Chard can poke its little head out of the purslane, aka miners lettuce. That is our other problem in the garden. Purslane has sprung up EVERYWHERE! We are spending a lot of our time, in the very hot sun, pulling it out. When I remember I feed it to the chickens! They love it! They don't love it quite as much as, say, snails or tomatoes, but hey, it is greens!

To all of you folks that are fathers, or father figures, Happy Father's Day! Don't wait for your kids or loved ones to tell you they love you, instead surprise them with a big THANKS for being in your life!

I love you, Farmer Jeff, Papa and brother Chris. (These are the nurturing men in my life!)
Happy Father's Day!

Spring is here!

Spring = flowers, doesn't it?

The light of spring is beautiful. Life is bursting out all over.

We have been enjoying soft spring weather. Warm, but not too warm, a few clouds, but not too many, soft orange, pink sunsets and happy animals.
Our sweet pup, Callebaut, aka elder statesman, got into a tussle with our little guy, Tasso, and ended up with a hurt pad on his foot. Does it slow him down, or make him cranky or keep him from being his normal cheerful self? NO. He is our darling sweet boy.

Little Tasso has been under house arrest ever since he began, um, "marking" in the house. He is a very willful little guy. He gets to run and bark and do dog stuff while outside, but once inside, he is carefully watched!

Miz India, on the other hand, is a good little girl and does not require close supervision. The kids have all been happy to have Chicken Mama home (while she recovers from sinus surgery) and India takes full advantage by climbing up on the nap couch with a stuffed toy, and zonking out!



Whilst walking back from locking up the chickens one night, I saw a really fat earthworm on the path. My mom taught me that earthworms are invaluable and if you ever see one on the sidewalk after the rain, pick it up and move it back to soil. I was following this advice and as my hand reached for the big worm, I noticed the slightest flick of a tongue. HM...this is NOT a worm, but instead, a baby snake! I called friends of mine with little boys, thinking it would be a fun thing for them to see, but then we all agreed it may be in the snakes best interest, and let it go.

Our hens have been most generous lately! We are getting anywhere between 18 and 24 eggs per day! Thank heavens for spring. I am happiest of all to report that Tyner, our little Ameraucana hen with the scissor beak, is now laying eggs! Hers are the tiny green ones. Farmer Chef Jeff has just changed the menu at the restaurant to reflect Spring and has a warm Asparagus Salad with House Bacon in Sherry Vinaigrette, Eastside Farms "Sunny Side Up" Parmesan Baked Egg.


Julian likes to help dad to wash eggs. He is also hoping for a light green salad to appear on his salad plate. The cat is a nut. He loves his salads.


The sweet, darling of the house, Miz Chloe, poses for her close up.





Ginger declined to be photographed for this blog. Something about not getting the right amenities in her dressing room. Princesses!

PS: Happy Spring!