EGGS!

I went out this afternoon to clean the chicken coop and put in some new straw for the lovely lady birds, and discovered that they have laid two eggs!
I know which chicken has not laid them (because her eggs will be blue) but I am not positive who did lay them... though I'm pretty sure my favorite chicken was responsible for one of them... partly because I want to give her credit, and partly because she's been laying like she was nesting rather than hanging out on the roost with the others quite often as of late.
As you can see, they are not extra large eggs like you might buy at the grocery store. I put them in an empty egg carton that we've been saving, and they look so little compared to what we're used to... but I bet they will be much tastier than the grocery store eggs, and it's nice to personally know the chickens they came from! (And to know they've been treated kindly!)
I feel like my chickens gave me a gift today... and I'm going to find an extra special treat for them tomorrow. They really like tomatoes... maybe I'll give them some!
I'm totally excited that egg production has begun... and within plenty of time for the challenge (and with opportunity to have enough to trade!) Woo-hoo!

Urban Homesteading

What we are trying to do for a week, this family in California does all the time!! Thanks mom for this video on my Birthday :D

You can also check out their website here.

How My Apartment Garden Grows

I recently returned from a ten day trip to Ohio and was bracing to come back and find my plants kaput.  However, I was pleasantly surprised:  my roommate took pretty good care of them, and a few plants thrived under  his watch.

Greens on the windowsill: spinach, arugula, and swiss chard.

The bush tomatoes grow large in my bedroom.  There is also a hanging planter of tomatoes in the window.

Cucumbers, growing in one of the tubs on the floor.

A zucchini, rescued from a tub that got some kind of mold.  It killed the others, but this guy is doing well.

A tangle of beans growing up and tomatoes growing down.  These are in the kitchen window.

My tomatoes have been making food for me.  I've harvested five bright red tomatoes; straight from the plant and into my mouth!

However, soon after I got back, I had a problem: white flies.  They had come in on the tomato plants, and were now infesting all of planters, crawling around the dirt.  While they don't damage the plants, they are so annoying, particularly in an apartment.  By the the end of last week, they were buzzing around every room, despite my efforts to exterminate them.  I realized it was time to take drastic measures.

The greens were big enough to eat, so I harvesting them and made them into an enormous, delicious, home-grown salad.  Then I cleaned out the planter--less dirt for the flies to breed in.

The cucumber and zucchini were not getting enough light in my bedroom, so I've given them to a good home. They'll grow, and hopefully flourish, on a rooftop in Astoria.

Today, the remaining tomato plants and beans got a Raid treatment.  I had been using soap and water to spray the white flies, but there were just too many, and the soap actually killed my eggplants.  So I hope my remaining plants can take it; the seem to still be doing ok this evening.

Needless to say, I won't be participating in the Week; but I am still glad I did this.  I've learned quite a bit about what is possible in a tiny apartment.

Grapes!

On our morning adventure, Kathy and I also found 2 locations with grapes. We will keep checking back until they are ripe enough to pick.

Foraging - Plums

Kathy and I did a 1-mile charity walk this morning, and on our adventure, we found plums!

They were worm filled - yuck! But according to brave and frugal mama's http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=943805 they are still usable (a couple suggested that they are not treated with chemicals). This was a really gross job because I have a worm phobia. A few were still alive crawling out of the plums. The cleaner, firm pieces I set aside and froze. The mushy more brown pieces, I made into a plum sauce. I cheated and used sugar to preserve them. I consider this equal exchange because of the worm trauma.

Mulberry Mishap :(

The newest batch of mulberries that Mark gave me turned moldy. I checked online and frozen fruit can be dehydrated. If anyone wants to give me fruit to dehydrate, please clean it up and freeze it. You are also more that welcome to borrow my dehydrator.

By the way Mark, in order to make hard candy, you can use the fruit juice but will also need to use sugar & corn syrup http://www.ehow.com/how_4866308_make-hard-candy-juice.html. It won't work in the dehydrator like you proposed. You will get more of a fruit leather.

Ha! Ha! Bunny Rabbit :)

That's all I have to say :)