Harvest Monday

Happy Monday everyone!!!

We didn't harvest a single thing all week until last night when I harvested some greens and carrots for lunch today (adding a couple boiled eggs makes an almost perfect salad)!

I spent a lot of time last weekend cleaning, blanching and freezing all the greens we harvested last week.  I always forget how a huge harvest cooks down to just a few freezer bags worth of meals!  All those greens will be sure to help make some yummy lasagna in the coming months, though :-)

Oh!  I have a garden mystery for you all!  Can anyone tell me what's up with my beet leaves?  A few of them are doing this funny bubble-like thing...

I've never seen it happen before now.  Very strange, indeed.  It doesn't seem to be affecting all of the beets, or the beets themselves, for that matter...just a few leaves.  Ideas?

This weeks totals:

• Carrots = 4 oz
• Chard = 8 oz
• Kale = 2 oz
• Spinach = 1 oz
• Eggs = 30

Happy harvesting!

Linking up to Harvest Monday @ Daphne's Dandelions

Urban Farm Economics

Alright, as part of my urban farming goals this year, I wanted to write down all of the expenses we've accrued since we began our little adventure a few years ago.  Little did I know how greatly it would stress me out to see the actual numbers in black and white.  Holy hell, we have spent a lot of money on our veggies, chickens and bees!

How much?  Well, here's the honest answer:

$4,686.52

Now, this number includes just about everything!  It includes the lumber and hardware for all the raised beds, the soil, the straw, the seeds, the berries, the lumber for the coop(s) and top-bar hive, the actual bees, the chickens...everything we have put into our little farm except for the fence (which we would have built anyway) and the plants we put in on the outside of our fence (drought resistant perennials that we planted to "make nice" with the neighbors after putting up the first fence in the neighborhood). Oh, it also doesn't count our garden chairs, but I think that's OK :-)

Also, and this is very important...we believe that everything we've purchased, is an investment in our future.  Not only are we eating better, but we're learning so many tools that will help us not only now, but way into the future and eventually on an actual farm of our own!

OK...So, how does this all break down?  Well, given that we've been at this for a couple of years without keeping perfect track of everything, here are our best guess-timates of all our investments to date...

Veggies:

raised beds	310
soil	700
grow light set up	225
mulch	200
grass	50
weedcloth	150
edging	100
trees	500
berries	50
hoses & garden tools	200
seeds	200

Chickens:

coops	350
light & feeders	150
chickens/chicks	60
organic feed ($35/bag X 1 bag/month until they started paying for         themselves last fall)	840
straw/bedding ($5/bale X 3 bales every 3 months)	120

Bees:

top bar hive	$75
bees & queen	$125
hats, gloves & basic supplies	$100

Crazy, right?  Now, you have to remember that there was nothing in our yard when we moved in but rocks, weed cloth, half dead junipers and completely dead soil.  We did our best to purchase things on sale or on craigslist, but that doesn't account for everything.  Also, I won't pretend that we're done adding things to the yard...we'd like to invest in some more perennial fruits and veggies...but this is definitely the majority of the spending...I mean, how many berries could we possibly fit in our remaining space? ;-)

      

Alright, now...So, how do we pay back our investment?

Well, I've done some more calculations about the "income" we've made and will continue to make from our farm productions in the form of fruit, veggies, eggs, honey and the occasional chicken (when culling is necessary) we won't have to purchase from a grocery store and have figured that:

1.With the chickens now paying for their feed in eggs...

2.With our seed saving and our veggies producing wonderfully in the warm months and nicely throughout most of the rest of the year...

3.With our bees producing a bit of honey from time to time for our (happy) consumption...

4.With amortizing the costs starting in 2010 and running through the end of 2014...

...we can do it!!!

By using this tool, I've created a spreadsheet that has allowed me to estimate how much we saved/made in income from our garden last year (2011) in veggies, chickens and honey ($1032.90) and I gave us a credit of $100 for 2010 (a few tomatoes, blueberries and squash...I'm totally low-balling this number, but I really didn't track anything at all so it doesn't feel right to say it's more).

What does this give us to "earn" this year?  $1427.70.  Yeah...I know...that's a lot of eggs and beans and butternut squash, but I really think it's doable!  Especially since we almost hit that mark last year, we've learned so much from the past couple of years and we're smarter about using our growing space now!

As of right now, we've earned $177.49 in over-wintered veggies and eggs.  As we go, I'll track all our "income" and any new expenses, adding them to our spreadsheet and the new little spot on my sidebar.  If we don't make our mark, I'll roll over any remaining balance onto next years amortized total.  If we surpass our total...well...I'm not sure yet, but I'll probably credit the amount to the next years amortized total  :-)

Now, it's your turn!  I'd love to hear about your garden, urban farm or regular farm economics!  Please share your stories, ideas and tools so we can learn from each other!

Linking up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways #25

Combining Flocks

Well, I think it may have been over due, but we put the newest Newbies in with the Ladies today!  The only catch is that we haven't expanded the run yet!  I think it'll be fine for a couple of weeks, though.  We'll get to it...just not right now :-)

 

Hungry babies!

Isn't she pretty!?

The Ladies and the Newbies pretty much stayed away from each other...they're definitely two different flocks...but no one attacked anyone either, which is always a good sign :-)  I think that having them together out in the yard a few times and having the brooder and the chicken run right next to each other gave them some time to get to know each other without being in each other's faces.

Our 7 layers

The 9 newest pullets

The Newbies didn't, however, make their way up into the roosting space tonight when the sun went down.  Instead they're sleeping on the ground level, tucked into a corner.  We'll have to help them figure out that there's a second floor to the Chicken Mansion tomorrow.  Silly pullets!

Now, have you noticed anything funny about any of the pictures?  Yeah...that's right...all that comb!  I do believe we have ourselves a Little Man!  Only one so far out of nine, which is awesome, but a rooster none-the-less.

On a bright note, he is much kinder than the one we had last spring.  He is protective but quite gentle and he actually feeds the the other pullets!  Yes, you read that right...he picks up pieces of lettuce in his little beak and gives them to the girls!  Amazing!  I've heard of such things, but didn't really believe it until now.  

His behavior is actually leading us to consider keeping him instead of turning him into stew!  However, this brings up a whole lot of questions like...Can we even keep a rooster and not piss off our neighbors?  Maybe we need to wait to hear his voice!?  How do you keep chickens and roosters in the same space without always having potential baby chickens?  Yeah...I know...we're new at this!  Never did we think we'd keep a rooster in the city, and we still might not, but these are some valid questions!  I'd love to hear your thoughts!!!  Please share your experiences, ideas, warnings...all of it :-)

Photo Project - Flowers & Leaves

Linking up to the 2012 Color Photography Project 

hosted by An Offering of Love and Insert Metaphor

Independence days

Do you ever have one of those weeks that simply escapes you?  Yeah...I've had one of those weeks.  Not really sure where the time went...homework...regular work...life in general...yada yada yada.  Luckily though, at the end of the week, now that I add it all up, I can remember that I did, actually, accomplish a few things!  It may not be much, but it is something :-)

Plant something: With the continues warm weather I've decided to play with a few plantings.  Normally I would play it safe and just not plant anything in the actual soil until our official frost date has passed, but since we didn't really have a winter and it's been so warn, i figured I'd sow a few seeds into the ground and just see what happens.  Either we'll get a few early veggies, or we won't.  Time will tell.

• sweet bantam corn
• chard
• kale
• cucumbers (lemon, northern pickling and beit alpha)
• bush beans (black, trio and soy) 

Harvest something (from this Harvest Monday post):

• Chard = 5 lbs 13 oz
• Kale = 3 lbs 7 oz
• Lettuce = 3 lbs 12 oz
• Eggs = 34

Preserve something: Ummm...nothing.  I still need to process some of the chard and kale form the big harvest last weekend, but I guess that'll have to count on next weeks post

Waste not (beyond the weekly composting and kitchen scraps to the chickens): I gave a lot of misc. greens and turnips and radishes to the chickens this week as I started clearing out the over-wintered veggies.  Not sure what happened to the turnips and radishes, but they did not do well at all this last planting.  Ah well...the chickens loved the greens :-)

Also, we sold some of the excess lumber we had lying around on craigslist last weekend.  The woman who purchased it was great and she asked if Tool Lady would be willing to build her some raised beds of her own...for a price of course!  So, Tool Lady's currently looking into the cost and time that would be involved.  We just might be able to help someone new grow their own food!!!  More to come when I know more...

Want Not: Nada.

Eat the Food: Lots of eggs and greens.  Lots and lots and lots.  Oh...and we ate a lot of challah :-)

Build community food systems: We gave a couple of huge bags of greens to one of Fish Girls friends, sold a bag of chard and a dozen eggs to some friends of ours and we made tortillas for another one of Fish Girls friends who's been requesting them for months ;-)

Skill up:  This is small, but fulfilling...I learned a new way to braid bread so it bakes up beautifully!

Independence Days Challenge is hosted by

Sharon @ The Chatelaine's Keys

I'd love to see what you've been up to!  If you'd like to join in simply leave a link to your Independence Days post and I'll pop on over!  If you don't have a blog, feel free to let me know what you've been up to in the comments below!

The Promise of Strawberries

I hope your day is full of promise, too :-)

Braided Challah

A couple of weeks ago I found this post on braided Challah made on the BBQ and knew I had to try it!  It was just so beautiful!  On Sunday I finally got around to throwing it all together, but I decided to throw it in the oven instead of on the BBQ since I was also attempting to focus on homework and didn't want to have to watch it very carefully :-)

It took me a minute to figure out the whole braiding thing (sometimes I'm a bit special in that way...always trying to over think everything!) but once I got it down I was very excited!  It's almost perfect!  This just might be the easiest and most beautiful bread I've made yet!  

Harvest Monday

Happy Monday, everyone!!!

Well, I think the warm weather just might be around for good.

This weekend temperatures reached well into the upper 70s and it actually felt hot outside while I was working in the yard...Not the nice yummy spring warmth I'm used to, but an almost uncomfortable heat that reminded me to stock up on sunscreen this spring!

Yesterday, just as I was thinking I should get ready to pull the over-wintered greens before they bolt, I saw that the kale was getting ready to do just that.  So, I spent a couple of hours pulling about 80% of the kale and chard and all of the lettuce.  I haven't processed the kale and chard yet but will in the next day or so...and, of course, it's looking like we'll be eating a ton of salads this week!  I left some of the chard and kale in the beds in the hope that I'll be able to continue harvesting for a bit.  If I can't though, I hope to save some seeds :-)

The clear bags are gallon sized...
4 bags of chard & 2 bags of kale...
with all the air pressed out of them.
The 2 bags in the back are actual grocery bags
filled to the brim with lettuce.

After pulling all the greens, I cleaned up the new holes in the beds a bit and actually sowed a few rows of corn.  It might still be too early, but I thought it was worth a shot...especially if the weather woman is right and we're done with freezes :-)  Time will tell!  I also planted some bush beans (trio and black) and some soybeans around the bases of our fruit trees, which is new, so we'll see how that goes this year, too!

This weeks totals:

• Chard = 5 lbs 13 oz
• Kale = 3 lbs 7 oz
• Lettuce 3 lbs 12 oz
• Eggs = 34

Happy harvesting!

Linking up to Harvest Monday @ Daphne's Dandelions

Mexican Mocha - DIY

Tool Lady and I have a problem.  We both love to purchase coffee and tea from the little coffee shop right across the street from us.  We do it a lot, and while it's wonderful to support local businesses and they're super nice there and their drinks are amazing, at about $4.00 a drink, it all adds up really, really fast!  In addition, while Tool Lady loves the taste of her coffee, it always makes her feel a little sick!

So, instead of continuing this cycle, I decided to try something new and make our own Mexican Mocha mix!  

(Wait a sec...hold on...I guess I shouldn't assume that everyone knows what a Mexican Mocha is...A Mexican Mocha is a coffee, with chocolate (the mocha part) and a little red chile powder for a bit of kick (the mexican part).  I'm guessing you can get them in places other than the southwest, but maybe not...) 

So, when I went to the grocery store a couple of days ago, I purchased:

• Cafix (fake coffee beverage...it's our favorite coffee alternative) - $6.35
• Red Chile Powder (I got the hot stuff, straight red chile, no other spices added) - $2.59
• Cane Sugar - $2.00
• Cocoa Powder - $7.19

Then, Tool Lady and I made a Mexican Mocha using measuring spoons and tweaked the measurements until it was just right.  Once it was just as we like it, I converted all the tablespoons and teaspoons into cups and made a big batch.

Once it was all in the bowl, I carefully mixed it up...

And then divided it into our coffee tin for the kitchen counter and a baggie for taking on-the-go.

Here's the big batch recipe:

• 3 cups Cafix*
• 2 cups cane sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup + 2 tsp red chile powder (this ingredient can be tweaked to your taste, depending on how much heat you like)

If you use 2 tablespoons of the mixture per cup of coffee, this recipe will give you 52 individual servings!

So, how does this break down monetarily?  Well, I didn't use all of my ingredients for this mixture, so here's an approximate based on what I used:

• Cafix -$4.50
• Sugar - $2
• Cocoa - $1.50
• Red Chile Powder - $1

$9.00 divided by 52 servings = ~ 17 cents per beverage!

Wow...talk about savings!!!  Now, even if you add some organic milk (we always drink ours with milk), you're still going to save.  Let's say a gallon of organic milk is $5.00.  There are 16 cups in a gallon.  

16 cups divided by $5 = ~31 cents

This gives us a grand total of about 50 cents per beverage!  Compare that to a $4.00 beverage at our local coffee shop and we're saving $3.50 on every single beverage!  That's a ton of money at the end of day!

Alright,  so once you've made the mixture and are saving a ton of money, it'll be time to make your own super delicious Mexican Mocha...

Take 2 tablespoons of mix and add 1 cup of boiling water and 1 cup of warm, organic milk.  Stir and enjoy!!!

If you want to get fancy, you can even whip up some 

whipped cream, add it to the top of your beverage and sprinkle 

on some cinnamon or nutmeg :-)

*I've never made this recipe with actual instant coffee, but I don't doubt it can be done.  Play with the recipe and make it your own  :-)

Linking up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways #24