tomatoes

Thanks to my new “lighting studio” I built for my business (see this post about how to make your own), I decided to photograph some of our tomatoes- we’ve got a bumper crop this year, and all of us (the chickens too) are quite pleased that almost all of the varieties we planted are bearing fruit! I’ll post a few photos and notes about the varieties over the next few days…

Stupice tomatoes – This is orginally a Czech heirloom variety. We’ve been growing this type for years- both here, and back when we lived in Seattle. Its an early bearing variety, with fruit about 2″ in diameter. Although we’ve noticed that the fruits are getting smaller and smaller, the hotter it gets outside- the ones pictured above are about 1.5″ in diameter- cherry tomato size- although when the plant first started fruiting, we did have the typical 2″ fruits. These are tasty- sweet, but a little tart, with a full tomato flavor.

Yellow Pear tomatoes- This is another heirloom variety- with fruit about 1.5″ long. The plant is very prolific- and is quickly taking over the space alloted to some of the other tomatoes we’ve planted! The fruit is sweet, with a good “tomato” taste. These are best picked when the color is starting to deepen from yellow to a golden orange.

More tomatoes to come…

salad for chickens, not chicken salad

For the past few days, the chickies have been snacking on some fresh, organic, local baby lettuces from a friend (thanks J!)

The greens were a little wilted for our friend, but once we refreshed the leaves with a little rinse and spin, our girls thought they were a tasty treat! And why wouldn’t they, when the farm that grew the lettuce supplies some of the best restaurants in town?

We always like to joke that our chickens eat better than most folks- since almost everything they eat is organic, and sometimes local to boot.

Here’s what they eat:

organic layer pellets – This is their primary source of food. (Layer pellets are formulated for chickens who lay eggs- there is a higher percentage of calcium in the food, to help them produce eggs with nice, strong shells. You can’t feed the same food to baby chickens, or chickens that are not yet laying- since their bodies don’t rid themselves of calcium by making eggshells, the calcium buildup in their bodies can cause liver damage. You can actually mix up your own chicken feed from a variety of grains and other food sources, but with the way our chickens like to “pick and choose” what they eat, they’d probably just eat what tastes the best, and not everything they need!)

grass + bugs – Whatever they forage when we let them free range around the yard in the afternoons and on the weekends. Grass and other wild green plants (uh, weeds…) give them lots of Omega3 fatty acids,  and bugs give them protein and calcium.

organic yogurt – A few times a week they get a couple of spoonfuls. We give it to them both for additional calcium and for probiotics (just as important for chickens as humans)- but they also love the taste! They lap it up and Sweetie often ends up with it all over her comb and wattle…We just give them the same stuff we eat- its easier than buying a separate container for them, since we don’t eat that much of it.

scratch – a mixture of seeds and grains such as millet, corn, quinoa, etc… (It’s their morning treat- we scatter a handful around in their run, when we let them out in the morning- picture Laura Ingalls feeding the chickens – I like to pretend that I’m wearing a long calico dress + bonnet). Its especially good for them in the wintertime, because all of the cracked corn in the mix provides additional fat to help them keep warm.

organic rolled oats - We mix a couple handfuls in with their scratch in the summertime- its supposed to promote healthy egg laying, and also cut back on the amount of fat that scratch provides.

grapes – Their favorite treat- generally only provided on the weekends- whenever B. and I have snack time, the girls have snack time too! You should see how high they’ll jump for grapes!

garden produce – You can’t get any more local and organic than the stuff right out of our garden! Sometimes its lettuce – they love frisee and escarole…These days, its tomatoes from the garden- we have a bunch of cherry tomatoes, and I can’t resist Spotty-Dotty’s begging- she stands outside the garden when I’m harvesting, and makes a high-pitched kind of whine- so I end up tossing her a tomato, and then next thing you know, everyone wants one!

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Of course, if you ask the chickens, they don’t get nearly enough treats, so they like to supplement on their own by sneaking into the garden! We still blame Tweetie for the fact that we didn’t eat any yellow tomatoes last summer..

spotlight on tweetie

Tweetie is our other red chicken- the alpha to Sweetie’s beta. She’s the biggest chicken out of the bunch, but despite her physical size, she’s at the bottom of the pecking order…and usually the hungriest… looking for Tweetie? Usually you’ll find her in the middle of the tomatoes- eating away… When Tweetie was a mere ball of fluff, she was always the one that would stay awake the longest- and would begin “tweeting” loudly, upon finding herself the only one awake. She’s always active, and definitely a go-getter – especially after tasty morsels! She loves to follow us around when she thinks we might have something delicious hidden up our sleeves- constantly asking us for a little bite- “bok-bok-bok! bok-bok- BOK! “  She’s also the strongest flier we have- and able to make quite a few leaps/jumps – between her powerful wings and strong legs and haunches, she’s managed to land on my back when I’m bent over, or on my shoulder when I’m standing straight. (Granted, I’m only 5′-2″, so its not as though she’s landing on the moon…) But you should the height she’ll go for a grape!

She’s also very fond of “helping” us refill her feeder- she’ll jump up on the bench next to me, and will “help” pour the chicken feed pellets- basically using her beak to kick them out of the measuring cup, in order to get to the bottom, where are the tasty little crumbles are hidden. It reminds me of when I used to eat sugary cereal – I’d always try to dig down to the bottom of the box- and either pour those tasty sugary bits into my milk to turn it pink, or, when no one was looking, tip them straight into my mouth…

Tweetie is also one of our best layers- consistently producing big, light-to-medium brown eggs, that are also sometimes speckled. She’s very fond of looking at what she’s laid- she’ll stand up in the nest box, and use her beak to tuck her egg underneath her, moving it this way and that. Once, she was trying to move it so far beneath her that she actually lost her balance, and ended up on her back! I panicked and quickly turned her right-side-up, but she was unfazed- still busy looking at her accomplishment!

what’s growing in the garden right now- april 09

ready to eat right now:

arugula

beets, bull’s blood

beets, chiggoia

beets, dutch baby balls

beets, early wonder

beets, yellow

broccoli – last bits

carrots, scarlet nantes

celery

escarole

fava beans

kale, tuscan

leeks

lettuce, frisee

lettuce, red oak

mizuna

onions, red

peas, english wonder

scallions

snow peas

snap peas

spinach

strawberries

swiss chard, rainbow

turnips

herbs: basil (italian sweet), bay (laurel), burnet, chives, garlic chives, cilantro, dill, english thyme, espazote, garlic chives, lemon thyme, marjoram, mint (spearamint), oregano (greek), parsley (italian flat-leaf), rosemary (barbeque), sage (purple), tarragon (french), lemongrass

growing, but not ready to be eaten yet:

asparagus

beans, lima

carrots, kuroda

cucumbers, armenian

cucumbers, english

cucumbers, pickling

eggplant, japanese (ichiban)

figs, genoa

figs, kudota

figs, mission

grapes, red flame

grapes, thompson seedless

horseradish

melon, charentais

melon, canteloupe

melon, eden green

melon, minnesota midget

onions, red

onions, cioppolini

peppers,chocolate bell

peppers, red bell

peppers, jalapeno

squash, butternut (winter)

squash, zucchini (summer)

tomatoes, black krim

tomatoes, red grape

tomatoes, red zebra

tomatoes, stupice (heirloom)

tomatoes, early girl

tomatoes, yellow pear (heirloom)

tomatoes, black krim

tomatoes, crimson carmello

tomatoes, costuolo

we’re back….

again… sorry for the long hiatus! but we’re back now- and a lot has happened since the last time we posted- the chickies had their first birthday (lots of grapes and yogurt all around) – so now, they are officially, “hens”.  Apparently any chicks before the age of one are considered “pullets”.  Here’s a little video of some of the girls in action- just in case you’ve forgotten what they look like…

Did you notice that Brownie was only in the video for a little while before she wandered off? 

It might be because she was busy producing one of these:

 

Brownie finally started laying 2 weeks before her first birthday- about 6 months later than everyone else!  Who knows why she was such a late bloomer- but she’s pretty happy with herself- beautiful light green/olive eggs (not that you can tell from the photos…)!

But you should have seen her face after she laid the first one- since all the other chickens started laying when they were younger + smaller, their first eggs were also younger + smaller- but Brownie laid a full-size one – she looked shell-shocked (ha!)…To give you some sort of perspective, if you were a chicken, it would be the equivalent of laying a NINE POUND EGG!

blondie

passed away on Saturday, November 15, just nine months and 2 days old. She started having reproductive problems about 2 months ago, thus the long hiatus from posting on this blog.

Blondie was our sweetest chicken, and definitely our prettiest- everyone likes blondes! We were, and still are heartbroken over losing our favorite chicken. Once her health problems started, we moved her inside- and any remaining dignity we had as aloof non-pet people definitely went out the window. “Pookie” or (sometimes “pumpkin”) became a house chicken, or, we liked to say, a “chat” (chicken-cat) because she would follow us around the house, and sit on our feet and take naps in the sun. She would cluck softly at us in the morning, when we’d peek at her on her perch, ( a comfy towel-wrapped stack of wood 2×4’s, next to another cushy towel that served as alternate bedding and her favorite egg-laying spot), and wail piteously when we’d leave her alone to step outside. She still had plenty of time outdoors- in the afternoons, we’d let her out along with the other chickens, to free-range around the yard. Oftentimes, she’d have the special privilege of getting to hang out inside the garden (everyone else is fenced out, as they are too fond on eating all the same things we’re fond of eating…). She would find her favorite space snuggled between the marjoram and the romaine lettuces and happily take a dirt bath and lie in the sun… We like to think that’s what chicken heaven is like for her now- a big sunny yard, an eden where she can happily wander and peck, nap and bathe, and sample endless amounts of her favorite treats.

We’ll always love you and miss you Pookie!

blondie preening in the sunlight

blondie in the house

blondie in the garden

* look for a separate page about Blondie, full of photos, coming soon…

freedom

Who made a bid for freedom this morning?  Who decided to scamper out through the sliver of door that was open, and between the legs of the gatekeeper? Who knew the gatekeeper would have her hands full while struggling with the key in one hand, and a bowl of chicken food in the other? Who nimbly hopped, clucked and fluttered about, enjoying the morning sunshine and breeze? Who had an unprecedented 15 minute free-range around the yard while everyone else watched from behind the chicken wire?

Thanks to my ahem, graceful speed, agility, and uncanny hunting abilities, Polka-dotty was finally caught, and unceremoniously dumped back into the coop. This is the story to which we’re sticking- or, at least, to which I’m sticking. If Polka-dotty could speak human, she’d tell you she decided it was time to go back home after a merry little jaunt involving fresh air, tasty grasses, a neglected peach, a handful of grapes, and pity on the red-faced, grabby-handed, panting girl that she keeps around as a pet…

harvesting

Just some photos of what we’ve been harvesting lately- usually we take a photo of the first vegetable/fruit off a season’s plantings…

japanese eggplant – I think the name of the variety is “ichiban”.

armenian cucumber – actually a variety of melon that tastes and can be used interchangeably with a cucumber- it does a lot better out here in the desert heat than a normal cucumber does. they are huge- this one is over 24 inches long…

heirloom tomato- costuolo genovese

heirloom tomatoes- black krim (left) and costuolo genovese (right)

genoa fig

egg!

Every day I have a new favorite chicken- it’s probably not fair, I know, but since each chicken is a favorite one day or another, they all get their turn. Sometimes its because of something one of them does- a funny dance, a long hug, a little sneeze, but other times, its for who they are- each separate personality quirk. But today, and probably tomorrow, and heck- maybe even for the whole week, the favorite is Polka-Dotty2. She laid the first egg out of the flock! And not only that, but she actually laid it in the nesting box! Chickens don’t just know that they’re supposed to lay their eggs in a storage-bin-from-Target-that’s-been-adapted-and- filled-with-straw! Usually, chickens have to be “encouraged” to lay somewhere specific- if they are new chickens in an existing flock, they’ll see where the older hens lay their eggs and follow suit, or sometimes a rooster will actually demonstrate where to lay, or, in the case of a new flock, you basically trick them- placing a golf ball, or fake egg in the nesting box will make them think that its a safe place to lay an egg. Otherwise, chickens will find their own places to lay their eggs- and you’ll have to hunt for them. But not Polka-Dotty2! We’ve always maintained that she’s the cleverest chicken out of the bunch, and yesterday she proclaimed it! (All afternoon, and loudly, at that)! “Bawk, bawk, Bawk, BAwk, BAWk, BAWK, BAWWK! BBBAAAAWWWWWWKKKK!!!”

spotlight on sweetie

Sweetie insisted on being in this photo- and she wanted it to be a close-up!

One of the things we’ve been most amazed by, in our duration as crazy-chicken-pet-people, is the amount of personality the chickies have. I don’t know what we were expecting- just some fluffy feathered cuteness, and quiet clucking? Instead, each chicken is her very own individual- quirky and endearing in a unique way. We’ve decided to highlight each of the girls in separate posts- to give them each a moment in the spotlight, so that you, dear reader, can get to know each chicken, up close and personal!

Sweetie is one of our two reds, and probably the smallest and sleekest chicken of the bunch. Physically, you can distinguish her from the other red, Tweety, by her size (smaller), and by the coloring of her beak (darker).

(See photo below- Sweetie is on the left).

Personality-wise, Sweetie is really a sweetie. Since she was little, she’s always liked to take naps- and she still does. Every afternoon, in the heat of the afternoon, when the chicks slow down, and find a nice cool spot in the shade (or rather, in front of the evaporative cooler (that’s another story for another post)), she’s the first one to start nodding off. She also loves picking at the seams of your clothing- when you’re sitting down, and you feel someone poking at the stitching on your back pocket, or the cuff of your pants, chances are its Sweetie. The good thing is that she doesn’t really do any damage, and she does seem to stop when instructed! As far as her place in the pecking order (which is still being determined), at first she seemed as though she was at the bottom but she seems to be moving her way up. She’s become more aggressive about getting treats (grapes and cherries), and has discovered tenacity as a means of keeping her place on the perch. (Basically, she chooses her place on the perch early on in the evening, and then holds on for dear life, while other chicks try to push her off, or shove past her towards the primo spots. She’s a little slow, always a little behind the other chicks- the other five will run off, and she’ll still be standing in the same place. Half a minute later, she’ll realize everyone’s gone, and she’ll go running after the others to catch up. But better slow and sweet, that quick and ornery, right?