Posted in Crafting, Homemaking, Learning, Moderation and Economy, Sewing on Jul 31st, 2010
The children went to a Storybook Costume Ball with their cousins last night. We had a two-day scramble to throw together some costumes, but we pulled it off just in time! Here’s a little bit on what we made:
Little Hen wanted to be Amphitrite, the Queen of the Ocean, wife of Poseiden, in Greek [...]
Posted in From my kitchen, Learning, Locally grown, Uncategorized on Jul 20th, 2010
Little Hen’s new favorite jam: Black Currant!
I’ve always loved a little Cassis in my hot tea in the winter, but this is the first year we’ve tried jam made from these relatives of the gooseberry, which have a distinctive, smoky/ musky flavor.
Black currants are full of pectin, so they are perfect for jam – all [...]
Posted in Building Community, Homemaking, Learning, Locally grown, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on Jun 26th, 2010
It’s late June at Salt of the Earth Urban Farm (home of the BCS Teaching Garden)! Finally, some warm weather (mid-upper 70’s) has settled in (the tomatoes, summer squash and bush beans look much happier) and everything is flourishing.
The harvest is increasing – every week, we are taking a few dozen cartons of organic [...]
Another baby wave! Lots of friends are having babies in the next several weeks, so every spare moment, it’s knitting, knitting, knitting (I’ve even been knitting in church on Sundays! I actually absorb the sermon better – multitasking prevents the mind from wandering!)!
My knitting tends to go in a seasonal rhythm – winter babies always [...]
Posted in Changing Seasons, Homemaking, Learning, Locally grown, Nature Table, Our home, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on May 22nd, 2010
The garden has really taken off after a week of hot, sunny weather, followed by lots of rain. (although, the cold nights and wind the past few days haven’t done us any favors). Volunteers have been able to start taking in a few baskets of organic produce to BCS, mostly radishes, mustard greens, lettuce, chives, [...]
Posted in Learning, Our home, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on May 8th, 2010
This afternoon’s project was painting the chicken coop a vibrant blue (although it dried darker).
The girls had a great time, and were sure to get lots of paint in their hair.
Up next? A second coat (after picking up a second gallon), painting the trim and posts, and adding a nice bright yellow sunshine [...]
Posted in Birding, Books and Reading, Homemaking, Learning, Locally grown on May 5th, 2010
After a flurry of chicken-planning activity this winter/early spring, we have our long-dreamed for chicken flock (the three hens, plus three new Speckled Sussex chicks, and three more chicks on order (2 Australorps and a Buff Orpington)). And the chicken run is mostly complete (needs a little gussying up, and a grape trellis up the [...]
Posted in Learning, Playing/ Free Exploration, Spinning on Apr 20th, 2010
We’ve been studying a lot about map reading and map making, and yesterday afternoon I brought out a huge sheet of posterboard and let the children create and label their own “treasure map”. (Little Hen’s idea is to re-create the map in real-life in the backyard and then use their map to find the “treasure”. [...]
Posted in Crafting, Learning, Playing/ Free Exploration on Apr 9th, 2010
Look who decided to help himself to the craft supply box while I was attempting to make dinner (and the girls were having a tickle war).
It’s hard to believe that Tum Tum will be TWO next month…he’s outgrowing so much of his sweet baby-ness. I loved watching him drawing intently and singing to himself all [...]
Posted in Birding, Homemaking, Learning, Locally grown, Moderation and Economy, Working the earth/harvesting its bounty on Mar 28th, 2010
We got chickens!!
After months of scouring Craigslist, pricing materials at the ReBuilding Center and researching plans (not to mention years of wishing, dreaming)… we finally found a used coop that met our super tight budget. (A coat of pretty paint, and the sturdy coop will look quite nice in the back corner of our [...]