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7 October 2015 -- A neighbor could no longer care for their ducks, so we’ve taken them in. They’ve adapted very easily to their new home and the other ducks! Say hello to these friendly five-year-olds: Beaker (female Pekin), Ya (female Buff), Smittiana (female Rouen), and Scooter (male Rouen).
October 20th post-harvest meal cooked by Cara and Nick using food grown in our gardens: potato gnocchi, roasted tomato sauce, bruschetta topped with roasted sweet peppers and olive oil, and fried white eggplant.
On October 20th we helped Nick harvest the last of the summer vegetables from his garden before the temperatures drop. We brought home ‘Nyagous’, ’Siletz’, and ’Violet Jasper’ tomatoes, sweet red and bell peppers, white eggplants, bunching onions, rainbow carrots, Lacinato kale, amaranth seedlings, ‘Prescott Fond Blanc’ cantaloupe, cured ‘Queensland Blue’ and ‘Winter Luxury’ squash, marigolds, and overripe tomatoes, melon, and cucumber for the ducks.
We halved the ripe ‘Violet Jasper’ tomatoes and put them in the dehydrator for dishes all winter, and the rest of the green tomatoes will be turned into salsa or canned diced as they ripen. The rest of the afternoon was spent turning some of the harvest into an Italian feast.
(Photos from 18 August + 20 October)
This season our friend Nick created a beautiful and productive organic garden in his family’s yard, starting from scratch. We helped out with some fertilizer, some seeds (with extras from a seed swap), and advice and he got fresh produce all summer -- more than our garden yielded this year, actually, and we took extras from his garden to fill some of our losses.
The garden included: marigolds; ‘Nyagous’, ‘Siletz’, ‘Violet Jasper’, and ‘Yellow Pear’ tomatoes, white eggplants, sweet red pepper, bell pepper, and garden huckleberry; lemon cucumbers, ‘Prescott Fond Blanc’ cantaloupe, and 'Cotton Candy’, ‘Sweet Meat’, ‘Winter Luxury’ and ‘Queensland Blue’ for our Squash Landraces Project; mixed Lacinato and Siberian kales; ‘Four Stars Explorer Mix’ amaranth; mixed rainbow carrots; bunching onions; mixed lettuce; and sweet corn.
On August 6th, Crumpet -- a stray who shows up here annually, starving and pregnant -- reached out to us and decided that we were trustworthy. We housed her overnight and the next day she gave birth to five kittens. Since then we’ve helped her care for the kittens... It’s much easier than bottle feeding babies like we did last year. Crumpet has to be the friendliest stray we’ve taken in, up to letting us watch her give birth and handle the newborns. Her kittens are just as beautiful and friendly as she is. We’ve been calling them Creambean, Willa, Andouille, Pyewacket, and Chococat.
Corn harvesting time! This season we decided to prioritize two flour corns from Siskiyou Seeds: ‘Apache Red’ and ‘Hopi Blue Star’ (breeder’s selection). We’d also received seeds for a few exciting landraces from Joseph Lofthouse, but we weren’t able to prepare enough growing space by planting time.
The corn was planted on June 21st (with replanting on July 10th to fill in empty spots) in mounds with beans, and with squash, sunflowers, and an insectary strip nearby in the same area. Lofthouse’s tepary bean was paired with the ‘Apache Red’, his dry bush bean mix with the ‘Hopi Blue Star’, and later replants were a gamble -- an unknown heirloom variety bought at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market in 2010. Other details about this polyculture will be posted separately.
Overall the corn did very well! We planted 75 plants in 15 mounds and the survivors (after irregular water, no hilling, competition from bindweed, pillbug predation, etc.) yielded 37 ears. A few ears grew huitlacoche, but interestingly only one large ear grew the fungus and it primarily targeted the small, immature, secondary ears lower down on the plants, as did the earwigs. We also saved a large pile of corn silk -- some of it burgundy! -- to use in teas for cystitis.
The ears are gorgeous and some of them have fascinating variations. We plan on either borrowing or buying a small hand mill and tasting the flour this winter, and we look forward to planting these varieties again in the future.
You may have noticed that we haven’t been posting on our social media pages the past few months. We’re still here, we’ve just been dealing with a cluster of bad circumstances that fed into each other throughout the growing season. Things are bad for us as we approach winter. Life isn’t always glamorous, and we try to present a balanced view of our projects rather than just sharing the positive results and the pretty photos.
Our ‘Red Lake’ Currants have started bearing small amounts! Last night we harvested just enough to make two batches of scones, which we topped with homemade rose petal sugar.
A teaser for the dried herb bundles that will be available at the market next week... These are tied and drying. From left to right: English Thyme, Juniper, Juniper + Common Mugwort, Yomogi + Catmint, three Artemisia blend, Wormwood, and Common Mugwort.
Shots from our table at the Caldwell Farmers Market this afternoon!
Our other offerings today included: Duck Eggs; Winter Hardy Kale, 'Wild Garden' Chicory, Feverfew, and Yarrow plants; fresh Yarrow and Feverfew for medicinal use; Samhain Salve; dried Juniper bundles for incense or recaning; and, back for this week by popular demand, homemade Cranberry Bagels, Sesame Bagels, and Gingersnaps.
Pictures from yesterday at the Caldwell Farmers Market!
Our offerings for this week included: Duck Eggs; Winter Hardy Kale and Yarrow Starts; Fresh Yarrow, Feverfew, and English Thyme; Samhain Salve; and Dried Juniper Bundles for incense or recaning.
As always, we had free educational / DIY handouts available for anyone who wanted them. This week we had info on sourdough starter and bread baking, lacto-fermented pickles, kefir, polycultures, and duck eggs. As the season progresses we’ll be adding more fliers, so keep checking back and feel free to ask us questions!
Yesterday was our first day at the Caldwell Farmers Market! We brought: Duck Eggs; Winter Hardy Kale, 'Wild Garden Chicory', 'Osaka Purple' Mustard, and Yarrow starts; Cranberry, Jalapeño, and Sesame Bagels; Gingersnaps, Sugar Cookies, and Chocolate Chip Cookies; fresh cut Wormwood and Japanese Mugwort; dried Juniper Bundles for burning; and Samhain Salve.
The chicory and yarrow sold out before the market officially opened, and the dried juniper and salves also did well! We’ll be sure to have more starts for next week, because after having several people inquire about the sold out stock it looks like our community has a need for chicory.
We have a box out for this month's global Food is Free Day! Our address is 3716 S Florida Ave Caldwell, ID 83605, and the free food is by the mailbox. Please limit harvesting and wandering to the sheet mulched front lawn area, or ask for a tour.
Our main garden still isn't producing surpluses yet this year, but we shared some extra produce from our organic Bountiful Baskets purchases (Junami apples and rainbow carrots), our own duck eggs, and free herb and vegetable seeds with growing information. Dandelion greens are ready to harvest in the front yard garden so help yourself. There are also other herbs available; knock on our side sliding glass door if interested.
Free Garden Update: The peas and Jerusalem artichokes planted by student volunteers are up and growing; we’ve transplanted in a mother of thyme plant and an onion (to reseed); reseeded/overwintered Nigella, ‘All Blue’ potato, Comrade W’s sunflowers, and mystery clover have appeared; and the bird-planted mulberry is leafing out.
Like the page Food Is Free Project- Boise area to keep up with local projects and free boxes.
Weekly Flower Report, April 16-April 29, for Laughing Duck Permaculture in Caldwell, Idaho:
It’s the busy season and we’re having a hard time sticking to any schedule, so here’s two weeks of flowers!
If you would like to participate, post your photos in the #Weekly Flower Report tag.
Yesterday around sunset (duck o’clock) we spotted a bumblebee on an onion blossom! This is the first we’ve seen on the property since we’ve been here, and it’s exciting. There must be a nest somewhere nearby. Hopefully this one will be a repeat visitor.
Do you live in or near Caldwell? Do you want a steady source of duck eggs from a small, local permaculture site?
We're looking for long-term customers to participate in our new egg-centric CSA, and extra eggs will be available every Wednesday at the Caldwell Farmers Market! More details here: http://goo.gl/6fPkiX
Weekly Flower Report, March 27--April 15, for Laughing Duck Permaculture in Caldwell, Idaho:
Your bloggers were struck down by a nasty cold... This “week” of flowers is actually three weeks.
If you would like to participate, post your photos in the #Weekly Flower Report tag.
