Category Archives: random thoughts

Look what’s hatched…A new gray water system! Gray water is simply recycling water from your sink or shower or washing machine. I’ve been meaning to install some kind of system for our laundry because it uses so much water, and it’s water that could go to the fruit trees in the lot. First I acquired a handsome, only slightly used 55-gallon drum (full disclosure–this used to be the pig’s home when they were little!). Then I filled a bucket with sand (for biofilteration), lined the barrel with rocks and wood chips, then placed an old fashioned wash bin underneath the barrel. Water flows in, gets filter, then lands in the bin. Of course, I have to scoop it out with a bucket and hand water the trees. Inside, I got some extra long washer hose from the hardware store, connected it to the out-take hose for the washer and viola! I use Oasis soap, which isn’t just biodegradable, it’s biocompatible. Which means it adds nutrients to the water, so the plants are happy. Here’s a view under one of the plum trees of the chicken tractor…happy little hens. Yes, that’s Buddha watching out for them.

It does seems early doesn’t it? But the garlic has scapes–those lovely green curlicues that later turn into flowers–and the leaves are starting to look brown, so indeed it is. We stopped watering them about three weeks ago (much to the dismay of the Melissa cabbage volunteers who appeared one day). The Persian star looks the most impressive–large, red, busting out all over. Pictured here is the German white, which seems a little too compressed, but only time will tell. The garlic is hanging in the laundry room, drying in a cool dark place. Will I braid it? What do I look like, some kind of hippie? Actually, I probably will.

The ducklings and gosling are almost imprinted. That is, they think I’m mom. When they see me, they began howling and quacking, which inspires me to feed them grain, check their water, cradle their soft little wiggly bodies, and hand them bits of bok choy while making strange whistling and kissing noises. So I guess I’m imprinted on them just as much as they are to me.
As you can see, they’re outdoors now, but just during the day. It’s still just a bit too chilly for them at night. I lead them outside in the morning, the sound of their feet pattering on my hardwood floors is very endearing. Still, got the Cottage River Meat Book and the author argues that goose is the most meaty–and delicious–of the water fowl. Can’t wait, too, to make confit. I’m terrible.

The chicks are finally big enough to go to their respective homes. Here’s a proud new parent, my friend Raven, and one of her soon-to-be hens. Raven and husband are yoga instructors and live in a cool apartment building with a large backyard garden–and now a fabulous chicken house. Raven confessed they spent $700 building the coop (it looks just like a mini-farmhouse). Whoa, don’t tell my chickens. My neighbor’s taking 4, and a few other people are going to take groups of three. To be honest, I can’t wait to have my living room back. And yes, it’s starting to smell a little barnyard…what’s next–lambs in the kitchen?

Not sure what kind Murray McMurray sent me. There are three white ones and three brownish ones. I’m thinking the white guys are Hollands or Giant Whites or White Midgets and the brown ones just might be Chocolates. It’s exciting to watch them grow. They are fearless, compared to the chicks (or are they just dumb?), who run away at any strange sound. They also make a “peep-peep-peeeeep” call that is somehow the saddest sound in the world, yet comic at the same time. Like John Belushi.
Last time I raised I turkeys, I wrote an essay about it for Salon.com. It made some animal rights activist-type people mad. But can’t they see that I loved my turkey? It’s just that I was also celebrating Thanksgiving–and my heritage. I’m hoping at least one of the six make it to my table this year.

So how did I get into urban farming?
One book. It’s called the Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery.
I was an editor at Sasquatch Books, a regional publishing company in Seattle when I first encountered the book. It had how-to info for homesteaders mostly, but I realized some of the skills could be applied in the city. That was back in 1999. That’s when William and I first got chickens and bees. Carla and I corresponded every now and again, and then I found out she knew my mom! Carla lived and farmed in Idaho for a long time, and my mom remembered hearing about book binding parties at Carla’s house (the book had a world record for being the longest mimeographed book for awhile). Each section had a different color, so each person would take their colored chunk, walk around the table and pick up the other colors in order, then they would bind the book with tape. That was back in 1969. Anyway, the book is in its 9th edition now, and sadly, Carla has since passed. She was a lovely woman, and an inspiration for a new generation of farmers.