The Earth's Axis MUST be Spinning Faster

Doesn't it feel as though life is speeding up...or is that just me? Maybe it is just Spring and that is our time to hurry up and grow! I mean, work! Whatever the reason, we find ourselves very busy!

We have been experiencing a late Spring storm and are expecting another 2 inches of rain today. So much for mowing the lawn. I can't complain...we so badly need the rain! It did slightly dampen the spirits for our first Healdsburg Farmers Market...but only slightly. It was fun to finally make it to market and I couldn't stop smiling, even in the rain!

It was a bit dreary picking in the rain. I was not a happy camper. On the other hand, we ended up with a "body" of Swiss chard!

I found myself with time to spare while at market and took pictures down the aisle.

While I was at market, Chef Jeff was over at Relish Culinary Adventures teaching a class on Cheesemaking! (yes, another skill!) I wandered over to the school after market, dried off, and was able to take some pictures as well as sample the fabulous fresh mozzarella (in a beet salad and on pizza!) and then fresh Meyer Lemon ricotta in Cannoli. YUM!!!

Yesterday was the Annual Gathering for the membership of Sonoma County Farm Trails. Chef Farmer Jeff and I, along with other board members, produced the food for the event. It was great to be able to visit with everyone! Farm Trails also gives scholarships to 4 high school seniors that are heading into a career in the agricultural field. It is so great to meet and recognize the next generation of farmer.

We are getting ready for another week of...work. All good...but it prompted Chef Jeff to decant our vinegar (yes, he does sleep, but he wakes up with far more energy than I!!!) Here is a picture of our first BIG batch of Eastside Farm Vinegar!

Have a great week!

New Babies!

Note to Self: As a Chicken Addict in need of a 12 Step Program, never go to a Chicken Sale.

Last Saturday was the annual Pacific Poultry Show in Stockton, CA. I have missed this show for one reason or another for the last 3 years. This year it was marked on the calendar WAY in advance. I was able to coerce Farmer Jeff into attending as well as the new Executive Director of Sonoma County Farm Trails, Lyndie. We both came prepared with dog and cat carriers to haul our new babies back home. I went armed with my list of chosen breeds and I don't know if Lyndie knew what she wanted ahead of time.

Lyndie had heard about the sale building at the show. She had also heard, via the chicken chat-rooms (see what I mean about the 12 step program?), that you needed to get there early in order to buy the "good chickens" because they tended to "run out". DANG...CAN'T run out of chickens!!! That really put fear in my heart. The show opened at 8:30, so we had better get there at 8! You have to understand that I am not a morning girl. I struggle if I have to be up before 7:30. On this morning, I was out of bed at 5:04, had the bed made (another miracle) and was dressed by 5:15, ready to hit the road. Farmer Jeff was stunned and then a little smug. I knew I had blown it. No longer could I tell him I was physically incapable of rising with the sun. Sigh...

We arrived at the show around 8:15am only to find the sale building opened at 7 AM!!! Farmer Jeff parked the car for us so we could run in and start making deals. While parking the car, he observed a couple of chickens that had "gotten away" and were being chased down by their new owners. I was tickled...and I really mean TICKLED to see people walking around carrying their new chickens much like we imagine wanna-be starlets carry their chihuahuas in Beverly Hills. It really has made me rethink taking the chickens with me when I go visit people, but that is another story.

The excitement in the air of the sale building was like static electricity on panty hose, which was really something considering that the majority of the population was cold and wearing denim. There is something I just can't explain about how cool chickens are. They are like miniature, feathered live dinosaurs. I have attributed reptilian intelligence to them, but is that really an oxymoron? Don't they both have brains the size of peas?

I found a woman selling Silkie bantams out of a trailer. (Psst...Hey lady...wanna see some chickens? Rare colors?) Okay...I was suckered in. I bought a Silkie with "Splash" coloring (Blue and white spotted) and then a "Champagne" colored Silkie (has a little blue and copper/buff). (see them pictured above in the garden.)Then I went back into the bldg. and found a little female Mille Fleur Belgian Booted D'Uccle.

Now it was time to look for the breeds on the list. I looked up and down the aisles, especially looking for Spanish Penedescenca hens. They are known for laying VERY dark eggs, even darker than Marans. I didn't see anything I was looking for ...and then a man walked in with a carrier and unloaded a breeding trio of Silver Speckled Hamburgs. SCORE!!! I was, however, confronted with a problem. I really just wanted female egg layers, not a rooster. I was explaining, in my liberal white guilt voice just exactly why I wanted the Hamburgs. "They are listed on the American Livestock Breed Conservancy list and are considered endangered"...and then I knew I really looked dumb. I could practically "hear" the breeder thinking, "great, she thinks she is going to save the breed without a rooster. This I gotta see". This is when I ran outside to talk to Farmer Jeff and see if we could PRETTY PLEASE get another rooster? Actually, he was much easier to convince and we have made the decision to breed them! We already have a lean-to built next to the main coop where we could start a breeding nursery and the Silkies are supposed to be WONDERFUL mommies.

Not to leave you guessing, we have started with the naming of the birds. The little female Mille Fleur is now named Caterina to be the mate to our Mille Fleur rooster Lorenzo (deMedici). The little Splash hen is now Madison (named after the mermaid in the movie Splash, and the little Champagne hen is ...Bubbles.

Summer Fun is upon us!

I guess Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, but I think I tasted the real signal that summer is here, our first Tomato!!! Had I been thinking, I would have taken a picture of it first, but no, I popped it in my mouth and bit down. Squish...sweetness with a little acid. Yum...a fresh tomato! (It was a tiny yellow/gold cherry tomato, Mirabell. This picture is from Gary Ibsen's Tomato Fest site...thank you!)

I am still working on the CPC (certified producer's certificate) and seem to find more to add to it. When you are making your living, well, part of your living as a farmer, you look at everything in the garden and ask yourself, do I really need to have roses in my house or could I get a dollar for one? That goes for the mint, the lavender and grape leaves. Hey, you COULD make dolmas out of them, right?

Tonight was the official start of Farmer's Market in Healdsburg, but we just didn't have it together to go. We still have to find a car battery to use for powering our scale and I have to find a stand for our new umbrella. Sigh...

One of the very worthy organizations to which we belong, Sonoma County Farm Trails, was featured in the New York Times this past week. Check out the article: http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/travel/01explorer.html?th&emc=th

Our little community is getting famous!