4 new Ameraucana chicks in the coop!

These adorable baby chicks grew in 2.5 months to be fat and feathered pullets. I really like this breed, the Ameraucana's. They are South American chickens that will lay blue or green eggs. The eggs are the same as other eggs, but people enjoy the novelty of the colored eggs. They are sweet and smart birds, too.

I was baking a pumpkin pie the day I got them, so I named them "Clove, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Allspice". Funny thing is....when they grew, they became orange/rust colored. They are my Pumpkin Spice Girls!

On Saving Seeds....

We are having a warm spell which probably won't last long but gets me excited about my hibernating garden again. I've been saving seeds: beans, corn (Baker's Creek TESTED non-gmo seeds), pumpkin, radish, etc. Here's a picture of my last year's baby chicks all grown up! Great blog for, well, everything is: www.giantveggiegardener.com. I took Janine's canning class, then I canned applesauce and I'm eating it now. Delicious!

A Bittersweet Moment....

When I recently took down my 8' tall corn plants to chop them up to fill the compost bins, I realized how sad it is to destroy the garden every Fall. But I think every gardener also feels a sense of relief and a welcoming to the rest that Winter brings.
Compost Tips: Here in a dry climate, it's not so easy to compost but this system works really well.
1. I made for a double compost bin out of free wooden pallets with chicken wire inside (to prevent the straw from falling through the slats). On the front side it has 2 doors that swing out. It's easy to fill and easy to empty. 
2. I got red worms from my friend Sam at the Farmer's Market. This has been extremely helpful as I no longer have to turn the compost over AND the worms like lots of straw. Once I got my chickens, having the compost bins gave me a good place to put the dirty straw from the hen house.
3. In the Fall, I layer the dead zucchini, tomato, corn, etc. plants with apple peelings, or whatever and lots of the chicken manure straw.
4. I soak each layer with water. Cover with straw and let the worms do the work of creating rich compost. Every Spring, I am amazed at the rich soil they have made from garbage!

    One day old babies...

 

                                    Chicks at an Art Opening, everyone's a critic!

Three new one-day old baby chicks, so adorable!! My older chickens are now 3 years old. Production places would "cull" the flock but I've nurtured my chickens since they were a day old and I just cannot kill them. Not sensible farming, but what the heck. So, I'm adding to the flock. I now have 8 different types of chickens, 10 total.

 The first night when the one-day old baby chicks were in their box with everything they needed: heat lamp, water, soft rag, food, they wouldn't stop peeping. And they got very loud and insistent.  So, to be a good mother hen, I wrapped them in an old soft dishcloth, went back to bed and tucked them under my chin. They instantly fell asleep, very content chickies. I put them in the box later and they just fell back asleep.  

I do this every day both in the am & pm. It's too funny...they immediately close their eyes, their little heads start nodding and then they out sound asleep. It's very, very peaceful for all of us. Even the 2 dogs sleeping on my bed seem to like it! 

May, 2013

Just planting seeds at this time. Used flattened cardboard boxes on the paths for free weed control. Planted: swiss chard, corn, 3 types of beans, cucumbers, winter squash, herbs, tomatoes, radishes, turnips, pumpkin, summer squash, sunflowers.

Swiss Chard

July, 2013

I was worried that I wouldn't have a garden at all this year due to the severe drought and the hungry animals eating everyone's gardens. I felt sorry for the rabbits, mice and squirrels so I put out water and bird seed for them. Turns out - they didn't eat my garden! Have a gopher, tried the usual gopher sound sticks, repellants. Nothing really worked.  I couldn't bring myself to kill the gopher. My philosophy is one of cooperation and harmony with nature, like www.Findhorn.org. So when "Gophie" pulls down a plant (and it's really not that often), I make sure the whole plant gets down into it's tunnel for it. In other words, I'm feeding the gopher, too. Gophie and I work as a team: I over-plant and Gophie thins out the plants. Call me crazy.....but I'm one of the few people who has a great garden this year!

Incubation of Possiblility

This painting is part of my new series "Elemental Forces". The nest is made of dried corn silk from my organic vegetable garden. My friends nicknamed this painting "Chicken Mama" because I had just gotten my beautiful 10 "Gypsy Chicks".  I have 6 different breeds of chickens and I just love them all. And I have lots of eager buyers for their organic eggs....

Big Announcement: this painting has been selected to be in Nancy Reyner's newest art how-to book!! (www.nancyreyner.com) Nancy is a best selling author and her new book, "Acrylic Illuminations" demonstrates techniques with examples of artists work. In this painting, if you walk from side to side, the skirt will change color and will shift from white to an iridescent violet. I used Golden's violet interference paint and it's pure Magic! I also used gold leaf and iridescent bronze, gold and silver paint. Very exciting to be part of Nancy's newest book1

My Beloved Dog Sage

My beloved best friend, my dog Sage, age 15.5 years old passed away on Dec. 14, 2012. Sage was loved by all. He took great care of me and my other dogs, cats and my son and his dogs, too. He was a big gentle Godfather kinda dog with a smiley friendly attitude we all loved.

My son Keith helped me bury him on my farm on a snowy overcast day. The sun broke through the clouds right after we finished the burial. Keith gave a beautiful speech about how much Sage meant to all of us. It was a comforting ceremony on a lovely site and I visit his grave every day.

Sage and I spent years camping every week up at lake near Colorado. My world always felt safe, full and warm with his loving being around here. I miss him unbearably and will always remember him.

Glorious Fruit Abudance!

Peach Pie, yum...

Yipee!! Tons of gorgeous, beautiful tasty apricots, apples, plums, pears, cherries, etc. this year to make jams, crisps, cobblers, sauce, and of course, pies! Our fruit trees bloom in succession here in the high desert, beginning with apricots and ending with apples. Most years, we get a late frost that kills the blossoms, which means no fruit that year. Every 4-5 years, we have a warm spring and then we get fruit and this is one of those bonanza years!! I picked 26 lbs. of plums from one tree on my land, my hands are still stained purple from pitting those beauties. I've made 60 jars of apricot and plum jam and of course,  a few pies also..... Here' a pie from some Colorado peaches that friends gave me!

The organic vegie garden is in!! Whahoo!

My large organic vegetable garden is all planted with corn, beans for drying, green beans, 300 onions, carrots, turnips, radishes, cabbage, greens, summer and winter squashes!! In a couple of weeks, I will plant the very tender tomato, eggplant and cucumber seedlings. This year, I tried the "three sisters" planting of a corn and pole bean seed in the same hole with winter squash around them. The pole bean grows up the corn stalk, both using the corn for support, and in return strengthening the corn in the wind. Also, corn is a heavy feeder and beans replace nitrogen back into the soil. The winter squashes (this year, Ambercup and Buttercup) are a live mulch.
Also, I've been reading The Findhorn Garden book: I LOVE their spirit of cooperation with nature. For instance, I'm not killing my gophers, who provide the service of aerating the soil. I do use gopher sticks that are metal 8" poles that go into the ground and emit a sound that annoys the gophers. The gophers and I dance around the garden that way all summer. Yes, they eat some of my plants but I just plant extra for them. I don't want to spend the whole summer killing gophers as when you kill one, another fills their spot.
Last Fall, I fed a hungry bear that came to my porch and ate dried dog food before it went into hibernation. It clearly didn't want any trouble, it was starving from last year's drought. I'm glad I did. And the bear hasn't returned this year. Can't do bees though, now can I?!

Chicken Tips

I live next to a wilderness area, had a bear come 6 times to my porch last Fall. I haven't lost any of my 10 Gypsy Chicks yet and here's some tips I found helpful...

 My son, Keith Yohai, built me a rock solid fortress, there is the hen house and the chicken run, together it makes the total chicken coop. Poultry netting (chicken wire) is too flimsy but you can get a roll of stucco netting for about the same price. The lower the number of the gauge of the wire, the stronger it is. Stucco netting is #17 gauge and easily twice as strong as chicken wire. Also, dig a trench a couple of feet down at the fence line and angle it away from the fence. Put the stucco netting wire into it. It discourages wild animals from digging down under the fence.

I was going to build a conventional hen house but it was too expensive. I saw online hen houses that were off the ground. It turns out that for so many reasons: safety, ease of cleaning, chicken warmth and comfort, it is great to have it off the ground. I can also store hay and feed underneath it.

We had a really strong, double walled, insulated dog house that Keith had made, but the dogs liked lying on the covered porch better. So, Keith made a 3' high "table" and we set the dog house on top of it. The chickens love going up the ladder to roost at night! It's so warm in the winter I don't have to heat it and it keeps animals from being able to dig into it. Plus, it's very easy to clean!  I got a piece of cheap linoleum to put on the floor (keeps the wood dry). There is a convenient waist-height door on one side of the hen house where I can sweep the straw from the hen house into a big plastic bucket and take it to the compost heap. Keith added nesting boxes onto the outside of the dog house/now hen house and I can lift the lid and reach in and gather eggs. Inside the hen house are 2 wooden perches 2 ft. up from the floor. Keith put wooden blocks on either side of them so I can lift them up to clean. I have a 6-12" layer of pine shavings (the mites don't like the turpentine smell from the pine shavings) and straw on the floor.

One other tip: we put a tin roof on and I highly recommend that if you can afford it. It keeps it dry in the outside chicken run, keeps the flying predators out, and provides shade. I keep a plastic chair inside the chicken run so I can go hang with the "girls". When I sing "Summertime" to them, they get really peaceful and then start singing with me. Hysterically funny, I've gotta make a video of it someday...

Arise the Film

Lori Joyce has made an amazingly uplifting and empowering film about women all over the world (Kenya, S. Bronx, India, Pakistan, Denver, Ecuador, etc.) healing the earth and thereby also healing their families, communities, the whole planet! The women are shown planting trees in Kenya to raise the underground water levels so they can plant crops. In India, they send women to go to the Barefoot College to learn solar so they can return home and create solar lights in poor rural villages. In the South Bronx, a woman transformed a dump to a beautiful, safe park for children to play in. Urban farming in Denver, and lots more. This film is a MUST SEE!!!
I am humbled and honored that Lori contacted me and asked to have my painting, Sunflower Days, in this film.

Arise the Movie Trailer - YouTube
► 2:35► 2:35	www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1MCAzQMmjE

My First Egg!

My chickens are starting to (finally!) lay eggs. This was the first egg and it was delicious! It was an abundant garden this summer and I just have to (rather proudly) share what I have harvested and preserved: Zucchini bread; green tomato jam; frozen green beans, corn, swiss chard, pesto; dried corn, chicos, cranberry beans; onions, garlic, all the herbs, sunflower seeds; ambercup winter squash; sun dried tomatoes packed in oil; and from the Farmer's Market honey and potatoes. Wahoo!!!!

Green Tomato Jam

Green Tomato Jam
4 lbs. of green tomatoes, chopped
2 lbs. of powdered sugar
3 lemons, sliced very thin and quartered
In a large bowl, alternate layers of the chopped green tomatoes and powdered sugar. Put in refrigerator for 24 hours, stir. In a large kettle, bring to a boil and then simmer the green tomato and powdered sugar mixture for one hour. Skim off any foam. Add lemons and simmer for one more hour. Sterilize jars and lids and fill the hot clean jars with the hot tomato mixture. Fasten lids and put the tomato jam upside down on clean towels. Leave upside down for 30 min., or until when turned upright, the jar lids are sealed. When you tap on the top of the lid, it shouldn't give at all and be tight. Enjoy!

Summer Bounty

The rains came and my Russian Mammoth Sunflowers grew 9 ft. tall. So did the corn! Lots of produce this summer, hard at work preserving food right now. Mostly freezing (30 loaves of zucchini nut bread and lots of vegies) and drying herbs, chives, etc. Chickens love the extra goodies from the garden and I made a pallet compost bin to put in all the chicken waste and garden scraps. Full circle now: chickens feed the compost bin that feeds the garden that feeds us, love it! Chickens should start laying any day now, too. Kitty likes eating my organic Swiss Chard!

My chickens have come home to roost!

My Tropicana Beachless Resort for my 10 (6 different types) chickens is finished and they have happily moved into their spacious home. They are pretty easy to take care of and I enjoy hanging out with them. They seem to like me singing "Summertime" to them. They sleep all cuddled together, heads resting on each others backs-very sweet and I'm not seeing any of this infamous pecking order. I really love them. All I need now is some pink flamingos for their yard!

The Eternal Renewal

Nothing says Spring! like my neighbor's goats having babies..... And me out in my 1200 sq.ft. circular organic vegie garden prepping the soil to receive seeds. Hard physical work (that at first I questioned if I would be able to do), but by the end I felt so strong and proud of my accomplishment! Now, gotta do the planting part next weekend.

Bees and The Due Return Show!

Bronze Age Bee Goddess

Just took my first beekeeping class. Wonderful! We wore veils but no gloves. I had to pick up the Queen's cage from a table that had bees totally covering it. I moved VERY slowly and the bees gently parted to let me pick it up. Nothing happened and I faced my fear about being stung big-time!

Then I saw a great movie, Queen of the Sun, about the predicament of bees. Scientist and beekeepers from all over the world sharing information. Pretty alarming information and yet somehow the film was very uplifting and inspiring. And so beautiful!! I'm totally committed to having bees on my Paradise Farm next summer.
Coming soon - 10 day old baby chicks (May 13)!!

That's also the date of my son (Keith Yohai) with Meow Wolf's opening at the Center for Contemporary Art, www.theduereturn.com. An amazing show of a 2500 sq. ft. ship that has been traveling through time and space for 2 centuries and has now landed on an alien landscape! There's a ton of buzz about this show, including 2 national art magazine articles. Can't wait!!

Heirloom vs. Hybrid Seeds

Heirloom seeds are unaltered seeds often handed down through generations of people. They sometimes have interesting histories - "brought over from the old country by Anna and carried west in a covered wagon". Most importantly, you can take the seed from the plant, save the seed, and next year when you plant that seed you will get the same exact plant. Hybrid seeds have been modified by combining several types of the same plant and when you plant their seeds, they can revert back to any of it's ancestors so you can't be sure of what you'll end up with. Heirloom seeds do tend to grow wonderfully delicious vegetables but if you grow several types of say, zucchinis, they can cross pollinate and next year's zucchini could be a mix of types. If you want to save the seeds, just grow one type of that particular vegetable that summer. Hybrid seeds can be designed to be disease resistant, which can be helpful. They are all good but I love my heirloom seeds as they are jewels of the garden passed hand to hand from one earth lover to another!

Daydreaming through the Seed Catalogs

Took this picture a week ago from my porch. And while it's (very) cold outside, I'm doing one of my favorite things to do in my organic vegetable garden: going through my seed catalogs and daydreaming my future garden. It's so easy, no hard work digging, weeding, planting! The seed catalogs I prefer are: Seed Savers, Johnny's, and Territorial. I never can resist trying something new, something exotic. But I have my tried and true favorites also. Like costa romesco zucchini, the old fashioned zucchini with the ribs, best texture and flavor! We often take for granted that which comes easily to us, like the abundance of zucchini. But I treasure them as zucchini is so versatile in recipes, from pickles to casseroles and breads!

Why Pioneers Didn't Pay For Gyms, Part 2

Snow shoveling, like gardening, is a full body workout. I'm continuing my quest to learn how to bake good bread. One of the most successful ones I've tried is Debra Madison's challah bread. I'm finding that the trick is in getting hearty healthy whole wheat bread bread to lighten up and not be a very dense brick. Kinda like my lesson in life right now.