Lexicon of Sustainability

This is one of the most intriguing and graphically stimulating projects around food sustainability I have ever seen.  Truly beautiful images about some of the lesser known (and well known) movers and shakers in this movement.  Go to the site itself.

I need a Farm Fairy.

http://www.lexiconofsustainability.com/pop-up-art-shows/farmfairies/

Cheese Results

The first Pollo Loco Homestead try at hard cheese was a success!

The caerphilly has a nice, slightly sharp, cheddar flavor. Everyone tried some tonight with dinner. My sixteen year old, the cheese connoisseur, aka Sassafras, loved it, so I guess I did good:

Here is the finished Caerphilly:

To see how to make it, go here.

Just two and half weeks aging time. It turned out really well, despite some mold issues early on and it is a bit dry. But I will fix those issues for next time, because I now have my very own cheese cave.  In my urban basement. I will post more on that later.

                                                                                                                                                                

Top Ten Toxin Sources to Eliminate from Your Life

When I started growing my own food in earnest and starting keeping chickens, it was like we had opened Pandora's box.  I started reading blogs about people doing the same thing and all of a sudden I became aware of all these other toxin-laden items we used everyday.  Studies have shown that exposure to toxic chemicals has been linked to increased cases of developmental disabilities and diagnosis of cancer.  We have slowly been eliminating them one by one from our home and our lives.  Some are easy no-brainers, some take a bit of extra work.  But I am a full time working mom, so the things we have taken on had to fit into our busy lives.

Here are my top ten toxin sources to eliminate, in the order we have addressed them:

1. Pesticides and herbicides - Start growing your own veggies, or buy them from the local farmers market or natural food store. There are many studies about all the chemicals that have been found in mother's breast milk.
2. Processed foods - Make sauces, breadings and mixes from scratch. You don't need all the extra ingredients that you can't pronounce included in your food. A stock of flours and baking soda in your pantry can take you a long way.
3. Factory farm eggs - Raise your own chickens, or buy pasture raised, organic, locally grown eggs.  Note that pasture raised is different than the label "cage free".
4. Dryer sheets - We don't really need them.  Add some white vinegar to the rinse cycle, it helps to cut the static cling on the few synthetic clothes we still own.  If you need a scent, use a few drops of essential oil on a rag and toss that in with the clothes.
5. Shampoo - Stop buying chemical laden shampoos. Make your own shampoo and conditioner from baking soda and apple cider vinegar, or buy all natural products. Shampoo touches your families heads almost every day, eliminate that exposure.
6. Household cleaners -  Stop buying chemicals to clean your home.  Make your own household cleaners.
7. Laundry detergent - Stop buying chemicals to wash your clothes.  Make your own laundry soap or buy all natural alternatives. Most detergents are packed with phosphates that in addition being bad for us, are also bad for our waterways and the lives of fish.
8. Dishwasher detergent -  Stop buying chemicals to wash your dishes.  Make your own dishwasher detergent or buy all natural alternatives.
9. Body products - Stop buying chemical laden products and smearing them all over your skin where they are readily absorbed into you and your children's bodies.  Make your own lotions, healing salves, lip balm and deodorant.  I will post soon with my own lotion and deodorant recipes.
10. Honey - Buy local honey straight from the farmer or your local natural foods store. There has been a lot in the news lately about less than pure-not-really-honey sourced from Asia.

Obviously,  you do not need to follow the same order, however, this order corresponds pretty closely to how easy they were to implement based on cost and time. Except for the chickens.  Starting your own flock has some up front costs and time associated with it.  On a daily basis though, we only spend a few minutes a day tending to them.  And the honey, I have found that if I buy honey by the half gallon from a local producer, I can get it at the same price (or less) as you would pay at the store for the same size.  Soon, hopefully this year, we will have our own honeybees.

dreaming of summer

Spring is Springing

My crocus have been shoving their way out of the ground for a week or so, and look there are flowers!

Everywhere:

First Try at Hard Cheese

Ever since I read Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" years ago, I have been making her 30 minute mozzarella.  Fresh mozzarella is divine, and so expensive to buy.  Yet it was so easy to make that it inspired me to learn to make creme fraiche and mascarpone as well.  We use them just like cream cheese, and add them to sauces and desserts.

To make cheese, you need either raw milk or pasteurized LOCAL milk.  If the milk is transported from too far away, it is usually shipped in really really cold refrigeration trucks, and this can alter the natural enzymes in the milk, even more than the pasteurization.  I have had good luck with milk from the local dairy, Alpenrose.  (Note: ultra pasteurized milk usually will not work.)

I have really wanted to branch out and make some hard cheese.  What has been holding me back has been trying to find an affordable source of local raw milk.  Let's just say that I have now found a friend of a friend with a cow and I have a source of local milk!

So I have made my first crack at a hard farmer style cheese, called caerphilly (care-fill-y).  Named after the town of its origin in Southern Wales.  Suzanne McKinn of Chickens in the Road explains the process really well and clearly, so I will provide her link here.  This cheese was fairly easy to make, although the process did take a few hours in total. But it was intermittent...it really only took a few minutes at a time - then it was time to go do something else while letting it sit - then come back and do another step that takes a few minutes.

Here is my "clean break".  Was so exciting that this happened so easily with this fresh milk!  I have had to throw out a couple gallons of mozzarella before because the milk just did not work - most likely because it was over-pasteurized or too cold during transit.

Curds and whey:

When I heated the pot of curds back up to 90 degrees, it did not take 30 minutes.  However, it did not seem to make a difference to the cheese, we will see how it turns out.  I discovered during this process that my cheap thermometer was really cheap and is already not working...so from that point on in the process the temp was a crap shoot.  Shhhhhh.....

Since this is my first hard cheese, I am not ready to invest in a cheese press, so I made do.

DIY cheese press = pot with colander holding "cheese mold" made of plastic to-go container with bottom cut out.  Press made from jar of marshmallow creme (for making fudge at the holiday's - NO, I do not just eat it out of the jar - that would be gross) that happened to fit inside the to-go container perfectly and lots of books.  I stood on the scale adding books until I came to the correct pressure that was called for in the recipe.

Note the books are leaning on the upper cabinets and the back wall.

Close up of cheese press:

Caerphilly after brining for 24 hours, drying on a DIY "cheese mat".

For my first try I am not as concerned about the shape, however this experience has made me want to buy some cheese molds.

Since I just learned that I won the gift card giveaway on Chickens in the Road, I just may go and buy some!

Caerphilly wrapped in cabbage to age for a few weeks in my basement/cheese cave:

Ideally, it wants to be stored at about 55 degrees.  I think my basement may be warmer than that, so I am already trying to find a better solution in the garage.

I won't leave you hanging on the mascarpone and creme fraiche!
They can both be made with cheese cultures you can purchase (there are lots of recipes online) but the following recipes are so easy and do not require any special ingredients:


Creme Fraiche
1 cup heavy whipping cream (or regular cream or half and half)
2 Tblsp. buttermilk


Combine the 1 cup whipping cream with 2 tablespoons buttermilk in a glass jar. Cover and let stand at room temperature (about 70 degrees F.) for 12 hours, or until thickened. Transfer to sealed a container of your choice and keep in the refrigerator. Lasts about 10 days.

Mascarpone
1 cup heavy whipping cream (or regular cream or half and half)
2 Tblsp. lemon juice


Combine the 1 cup whipping cream with 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a glass jar. Cover and let stand at room temperature (about 70 degrees F.) for 12 hours, or until thickened. Transfer to sealed a container of your choice and keep in the refrigerator. Lasts about 10 days.


I have had great success with these recipes, enjoy!

Seedlings!

We have sprouts:

It's the little things that excite me.

Urban Farm Challenge 2012

Another blogger and author, Annette Cottrell, has initiated an Urban Farm Challenge for this year, and YOU should join in! Here is the link - Urban Farm Challenge 2012

Have you ever wanted to grow some of your own veggies but did not know where to start? Each month she will be addressing another urban farming issue; composting, seed saving, preserving etc.

"Yes, yes, urban farming is about vegetables and chickens and putting up but what it’s really about is changing the food stream. It’s about a hunger to connect with what you eat, and what you feed to those you love. It’s about being mindful of the impact you have on this life, both on and off the farm."

She also wrote the "Urban Farm Handbook", which I do not yet own, but I think I may be adding it my library.  I have read many positive reviews, one from Food in Jars.

February is all about the soil.  I already compost our kitchen and some yard waste in our backyard composter. The City of Portland also picks up yard debris and the kitchen waste I do not place in my garden compost (meat, cooked food, greasy food etc.) curbside along with recycling and garbage.

We used to have one of these barrel type composters that sits on the ground, but developed a vermin problem.  A family of rats moved in - chewed right through the barrel - so we had to come up with a different solution.  Aside from the fact that rats carry disease, they were eating all my kitchen scraps before it could compost and I did not want them to try to get into the coop and start eating my eggs and chicken feed!  Our coop has hardware cloth buried 12" in the ground all around, but I was taking no chances.

My aunt actually got us the composter you see here.  It sits up on metal legs and as soon as we converted to it, the rats moved away!

The other composter was really difficult to manage...it was next to impossible to stick a shovel or fork in there and get any leverage to turn the soil.  This one is hinged and it takes some effort, but it can be turned regularly to mix up the compost.  Some people in dryer climates have trouble with compost tumblers drying out....this is not a problem here in the northwest.

The Hubs came across an article about Hugelkultur garden beds.  We are going to try this method out this month and plant it this summer and see how it goes.  I will keep you posted.

http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

Be sure to sign up for the challenge and then post about your efforts on Annette's site.

February Events

Some events around the Portland area this month:

February 11th 

Backyard Beekeeping Basics, Zenger Farm
10am-12:30pm

Join the Zenger Farm Beekeepers to learn the basics of backyard beekeeping. Learn about city regulations, bee needs as well as the various hive options, equipment needed, and seasonal tasks. If weather (and bees) permit, we will be taking a closer look at the Zenger Farm hives.
Cost: $35-50 sliding scale
Taught by Laura Dalton

February 14th
InFarmation and Beer - Genetically Modified (GMO) Crops, specifically from the viewpoint of a farmer and seed grower, a local food processor and a professor that has done extensive research on genetically modified crops.

Sponsored by Friends of Family Farmers
Location - Holocene (1001 SE Morrison, Portland)

February 15th
Love Your Farmer Day: February 15th, 3:30-7: Stop by the Farmers' Market and warm up our winter farmers with some love. Warm drinks will be flowing, seeds will be swapping, and vegetables will be abundant.
Location - People's Food Co-Op (SE 21st and Tibbets, I block north of Powell, Portland)

Seed Swap: 3:30-5:30: bring your seeds - old and new - to swap with other garden enthusiasts. We will provide small bags to carry your new seeds home in.

Garden Planning Workshop: 5:30-7pm: Taught by our friends at Growing Gardens, learn the basics of starting and maintaining your own vegetable garden. Free and open to the public. Call the store to register.

February 26th
Backyard Chicken Keeping Basics, Urban Farm Store
5:30pm
Details and tickets: http://urbanfarmstore.ticketleap.com/basic-chicken-keeping-class/

I have chickens too!

Please forgive me for encouraging more meme, but I cannot resist:



One of my co-workers said to me yesterday "Mel, you should so be on Portlandia!".

But in our defense, and yet not that I think I need to defend how I choose to live this life - we are not an isolated phenomenon, there are thriving pockets of Portlandia-like people all over the US and around the world.  I know, because I read their blogs.  Check out my list on the right hand side of my blog!

Grow Op Update - First Planting

I planted some seeds last weekend.

NW Edible Life has fantastic lists for projects to do in preparation for your garden, check out her Monthly To Do Lists.  I love that she is also in the Pacific NW, if a bit farther North and so our to-do's are in sync.

I already have rhubarb and asparagus growing in our garden, so that was done!  (I also love checking things off of lists)

Under the grow lights went the following: cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, green onions, leeks, tomato's and peppers.

We have onions and garlic growing that I planted last Fall, they all have nice green shoots coming out of the ground.  Hopefully any frosts do not harm them.

I am going to get some lettuce and other greens going in large pots to set out on the porch. My plan is to plant greens every month so I have a continuous supply this year. I need to get some peas in the ground, and also decide where I am going to set up the cold frame this year.

Most of my seeds are ordered from Nichols Garden Nursery, because I like their selection, although I do buy a few from Territorial or Seed Savers Exchange. This time of year it is hard to resist the seed displays when at the farm store getting chicken feed. I long for warm sunny days and the brightly colored seed packages seem to make me feel better.

Egg Anomaly

Sometimes they just don't come out quite right.

My Americauna, Godzilla, laid this little bitty egg yesterday.  Inside it had just a wee spot of yolk surrounded by whites. It became part of some yummy french toast the Hubs made!

Chickens do not always lay perfect eggs. This is something that in concept makes sense - nature is not perfect, but is hard to fathom until you see it for yourself. Sometimes the eggs comes out elongated, sometimes much more round.  Sometimes they have odd calcium formations on the ends. Knowing how many eggs my girls lay that are odd, the factory egg farms must throw out a lot of eggs in order to fill all those egg cartons with perfectly formed eggs.  What happens to them, I wonder?

The little brown one with spots was laid by our Dominique, Pepper.  Her eggs are almost always spotted, but occasionally they are not. They are all usually this same size, small (in comparison to regular sized supermarket eggs).

The white/pinkish one on the right was laid by S'mores, our other Americauna.  She should lay green or blue eggs, but she instead lays pink ones. Nature is not perfect, or she may be a cross, who knows. I do know she lays the biggest eggs of all my current girls.  They are about the size of the supermarket "extra large" eggs.

My younger girls should start laying in the next few weeks, it will be fun to figure out which hen lays which egg.  It may be a challenge to keep track of eight layers!

Life and Death on the Urban Homestead

Disclaimer:  This post is a bit graphic in nature.  Please make your own decision as to whether you really want to read about the real life slaughter of chickens.  There will be some photos that some people may not want to see.  However, this is a part of my journey and the reason this blog exists, so I am going to share my experience.


Read on at your own risk:

Yesterday we culled our first chicken.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about eating animals, let alone killing them myself. I was vegetarian for over seven years in my twenties, and it was really only in the last few years that I have fully embraced and accepted being a meat eater. However, now that I do eat meat more regularly I am even more acutely aware of the adverse impact that industrial agriculture has on our planet and our society and the quality and sources of the meat available for our consumption. One of the purposes of my urban farm journey is to lead my family to a place where we are producing a majority of the meat we consume.

The first step is actually being able to slaughter my own animals and prep them for our table. We enlisted the help of a friend of ours, Greg, that spent some time in the Peace Corp in Tonga, an island in the South Pacific, where he had a lot of experience slaughtering chickens (along with many other meaningful experiences, I am sure).

As I posted about a few weeks ago, turns out we had a rooster in our last group of chicks. You may recall......I KNEW IT. In the City of Portland, it is illegal to keep a rooster, so one way or another he had to go. We decided we needed to learn how to slaughter and process our own chickens, especially since we want to get some meat chickens this summer. My friend also has a rooster she needed to cull from her flock as her and her six year old son could not even go out in their backyard anymore without being harassed and chased by him. They had considered keeping a rooster in their flock as their lot is in a bit more rural location outside of Portland, but he was becoming a nuisance. Unless you are going to breed chickens or have enough space to add to your flock using your own rooster, you need to either re-home your roosters or cull them from the flock. It is difficult to find farms around the Portland area that actually want your accidental rooster, there are just too many backyard chicken keepers trying to find non-kill options for their 90% sexed chick that happens to be a rooster.

I knew taking my rooster's life was going to be difficult for me, and it was.  Taking a life should never be easy, and today was no exception.  I shed tears for Coco today, surrounded and supported by the Hubs, and my friends. I will take solace in the fact that his short life was filled with days free ranging in my yard with his ladies. We did the deed as humanely and as quickly as possible using the kill cone.

Goodbye Coco, you were a beautiful bird.

Goodbye Lucky.

We started by setting up the kill cone, set the water to boiling in our large tub, and gathered large stainless steel bowls, knives and ice to the station we set up in our backyard.

The kill station.

As usual, I prefer not to buy things I can construct or put together from stuff I already have. So in true DIY fashion, we "obtained" a slightly used traffic cone and cut off part of the end.  The sawhorses and wood are from our garage, and we just have lots of buckets.

Coco was a very large bird, it did take two of us to hold him.

Going to find and capture the rooster was the point where I just had to get into the zone and get the job done. Coco and I said our goodbyes and then the Hubs and I placed him head first into the cone, our friend Greg was ready with a very sharp knife to slice off his head.  The whole thing took only seconds and it was over.  The hard part for me was the death throes and this is when I shed the tears. However, the cone prevented him from running around and it was all over in a few minutes.

Next step was dunking the carcass in very hot water to loosen the feathers.

It was surprising how easily the feathers came out.  At this point we were all reminded that yes, chickens are carnivorous and cannibalistic left to their own devices.  Note my older girls hovering behind us.

We removed the feet and then placed the bird in a tub of ice water to chill it quickly.

While Coco was chilling, Brit said her goodbyes to Lucky.  Lucky was dispatched just as quickly and after plucking we set him to chilling while we butchered the other carcass.

We did not have a scale, but I think that Coco after gutting, weighed in at about 7 pounds.

When butchering a chicken the main idea is to keep the digestive system in tact as much as possible so you do not soil your meat. Use a very sharp knife and make shallow cuts.

First you remove the oil gland just below the tail and throw it away. We then carefully separated the esophagus and the windpipe from the neck, removed the crop and threw it away.

Intestines and gizzard.

The next step is to remove the organs by slicing a hole directly above the cloaca (vent). This part was a bit tricky, but the Hubs performed admirably, slowly separating the organs from the skin and tail.  At this point it was handed to me to reach inside the cavity and separate all the tissue from the body. Once all was separated you can just pull the entire organ package out of the bird - carefully, trying to keep all the organs in tact. This entire process was a fascinating biology lesson for me. I learned a lot about my chickens today, that will likely serve me well in caring for their health in the future. The last thing we did was to remove the neck and save it for making stock later, it is in fact bubbling away on our stove as I type this post.

We saved the gizzard, liver and the heart, many people enjoy these organs, however the Hubs and I are not those people. Greg intends to take them home with him.  The gizzard has to be split open and the inner lining removed.  The lining of the gizzard is really tough as it has to be to hold all that grit they use to grind their food.

Here Brit is holding the gizzard and you can see the yellowish lining.
As you can see, Pepper is lurking - again.

The Hubs made our bird into a fantastic Hungarian Paprikash, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Now that the pesky cockerel is gone, the girls can get back to their leisurely life foraging and sunbathing at the Pollo Loco convent.



Eureka says "Rooster, what rooster?"

Three Egg Day!

This is what I found in the nest box last night:

Of my older girls, three of them laid an egg today! I have not had a three egg day in over a year, so this is grounds for celebration. Well, maybe not, but is was exciting for me! I still have another month or so until my young girls start laying, they are about four months old now.

And it is the first green egg of the year from my Americauna, Zilla. Thanks Zilla!