Months-late blog post to jot down memories and remember favorite things from family life this summer. Mostly about my Sweet Pie baby James (baby no longer....*sniff*) but some about all of us.
Summer has been Awesome with a capital A this year. I've loved hanging outside with our active, busy little boy. The backyard is sort of "my" space that I get to myself in the house, and I've put in a lot of work into making a fun, happy space to be in. First of all, the garden is pretty off the chain this year. EIGHT tomato plants, currently in high season giving us more than we could hope to eat each day. Pumpkins - two big orange ones ready for October. Sweetmeat squash - meh - fickle plant she is, I still like her. Doesn't give much but if you've ever bit into the bright orange flesh of this minty green, bumpy ugly squash, you know why it's called SweetMeat. The best. For the second year in a row I've put in peppers that did practically nothing. Not necessarily their fault - I'm a lazy gardener and haven't done much homework on them - but still, we're talking like 5 pimentos all summer. It's not really their climate here. Green beans were a new addition and we've made short work of those...and of course, zucchini....always the abundance of zucchini. Much of this year's zucchini crop was repurposed into Christmas presents as jarred pickles. So I have a headstart on Christmas gifts. How amazing is that?
I tried my hand at canning for the first time, and had a fun time learning the basics, but am not sure I'd take up the hobby on my own. There's a lot that goes into it; I don't have the supplies nor the desire to spend much money on them. It's hot business in a summer kitchen and both my friend and I burnt ourselves, cracked three jars, and did some good sweating that night. It's pretty time consuming, and while I loved doing it to visit with a girlfriend, I wouldn't sacrifice hours of an evening alone for the cause. That said, I am interested in pickling green beans, canning some of my own spiced rhubarb sauce to give away, and doing peaches. I have tentative plans to do a big "can" of peaches next month. We'll see how it goes!
So that's the garden. In anticipation of long summer days outside, I acquired some great stuff for James off Craigslist one weekend last spring when I had my dad's truck available. We bought a great-condition slide/playstructure and a toddler picnic table. We also have multiple tricycles from James's Nana and my mom who are garage sale fiends, a toy car, and toy sprinkler attachments. And a turtle sandbox which hasn't yet been filled with sand so currently acting as a wading pool. Add in some camping chairs, and a firepit, and it's good living, I tell ya.
The other big change to the yard is that we've now fenced off part of the backyard that used to just be filled with moss and weeds, and turned into a chicken yard. I've always dreamt of raising chickens since it was something I loved growing up with as a little girl. My dad is a big chicken guy and helped me build a pretty swanky coop one weekend for my 30th birthday. We started with 4 chicks - small, manageable, but still enough to have a little flock. In a series of comical and random events, we ended up with 9. I did a lot of research and reading on the breeds I wanted to have and how I was going to set everything up. In the end, I think I overthought it. They are really very simple. We got out in the morning, open up the coop to let them out and sometimes give them new water. At the end of the day, they hop up into their roost about dusk, all on their own, just as nature tells them to do. We close up the coop and say goodnight. That's pretty much it. About every 3-4 days I add feed to their trough, or carry out kitchen scraps to supplement their diet when I remember. I add in extra pine shavings once a week, and once a month take it out and fill the coop with clean shavings. That task is dirty and unpleasant but actually only takes 20 minutes. We often spend time playing with them or watching and hanging out in the chicken yard, but only when we feel like it. I love how low maintenance they are. James is very interested in them (they in him, not so much) and I love teaching him how to care for them. We talk about how they need water, feed them extra zucchini, talk about being gentle when we pet them and put them to bed at night. As he grows I know he'll appreciate and learn a lot about the cycle of life, where our food comes from, and how to take care of animals. So far, no egg laying has happened yet but I expect we'll have some eggs before October. They probably won't lay at peak rates during the winter months but by this time next summer we could have as many as 2-3 dozen/week. Once friends and coworkers heard we were getting chicks they started saving up their egg cartons and I will be glad to finally put them to good use.
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