The Rain it Raineth Everyday

Still rainin', but that's okay.

Lettuces are doing fine and the beets and carrots are making great soups. I even found a few onions I didn't know I had. The cover crops are thriving and the chard is looking better than it did all summer.

I pulled the pumpkins in out of the rain. I got 3 big ones a few little ones and lost several to rot. 6 acorn squash.

Still waiting for the radicchio to sprout.

It's windy too today so the leaves are dancing and spinning in tiny twisters.

Fall has it's charms.

Fall Rains Falling Almost Everyday

I'm a believer, summer is over. It's been raining off and on for a week now I think. The Buckwheat cover crop I planted got a head start on the rain and is doing fine. But the mixed cover crop, containing Austrian Field Peas, Vetch, Clover, and Rye is kind of drowning and hopefully will catch up during the next few dry days.

I remind myself, that most of these cover crops are extremely hardy, survivors, weeds almost. They'll be fine.

I grudgingly brought in the rest of the green tomatoes. They'll have to complete their ripening in the comfort of the kitchen. I took out the pepper and cucumber plants. And planted Spinach, Radicchio, and Giant Radish from New Dimension Seed.

So here is the chicken coop, almost finished. It's all made from scrap and recycled wood. I'm trying to get the caging finished around the bottom, so I can plant some cover crop around it. We are supposed to get rain in the next few days, so I'd like to be finished by then.

The hens will be able to go in and out of the coop as they please, while still secure. And they will have access to dry ground under the house, even when it its raining. And I plan to build a chicken tractor that can be moved around the yard to let the hens work in the raised beds.

Fall is Coming

After one last burst of bonus summer it seems fall is settling in. The tomatoes and beans are starting to look a little tired, cucumbers have slowed down. And Ive been clearing out faded flowers and planning my cover crops.

Cover Crops are plants you can grow in the off season. The goal is to protect the soil from errosion and to enrich the soil with organic matter. Many cover crops will also fix nitrogen, which means add nitrogen which has been depleted during the growing season back into the soil.

The idea is that you grow the cover crop in your gardening beds and before it goes to seed you till the cover crop into the soil. In just a few weeks the soil will be ready for seeds or starts.

Suitable cover crop plants include:
Buckwheat
Clover (especially white clover and crimson clover)
Annual Rye Grass
Fall Cereal Rye
Austrian Peas
Fava Beans
Common Vetch
Hairy Vetch
or a blend of several cover crop plants

Try it in part of your garden to start. You will probably find that you can use less compost and fertilizer by using cover crops as part of your sustainable practice.

Chicken Coop Under Construction

Here's the coop under construction. I'm making it out of pallets and recycled wood. I hope to house 3 happy, productive hens. It sits at the back of the yard.



So you see not all of the zucchini have ended up as bread. Meet Grave Digger or The Widow Maker, I haven't settled on a name yet. It's almost 2 feet long...so far.

HELP! I'm drowning in zucchini!

Every year it's the same thing, the plants start out small and then they take over. And the zucchini are the worst. They hide under their own enormous umbrella leaves. Don't blink, don't look away even for a minute...they will be double in size when you look back.

I have one in the backyard right now that has totally gotten away from me so we're just going to see how big it gets. It's as big as a thigh now. I'm calling it WIDOWMAKER. I intend to set the record.

But for the zucchini that don't get to epic proportions what can you do? Well you can give them to your neighbors. My neighbors are nice people, but these days they draw the drapes and turn off the porch light when they see me coming.

Zucchini bread? Yeah, that's another god way to get rid of it. But how about something you can pull out of your freezer in the dead of winter? Something that will make you feel like you are out in the garden on a warm day harvesting nature's bounty. Something that will warm you from head to toe?

Inspired by Viana La Place's Cucina Rustica I whipped up a batch of summer vegetable stew. I sauted onions, zucchini, eggplant, green beans, garlic, tomatoes, basil and oregano, salt and pepper. I let the mixture cook together for a little while, then cooled it and divided it up in freezer bags.

I envision pulling it out of the freezer and serving it with crusty bread, a piece of cheese, and a glass of wine. Or as a pasta sauce, or stirred into risotto right before serving, or as a topping for bruschetta, or as the base for a rustic soup, or with Italian sausages, or for slow cooking chicken in, or...

I love having versatile, delicious, healthy foods on hand. Now is the time to put some goodies like this in your freezer or in canning jars.

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Housing Chickens (and their friends) in Style

So this past weekend I toured some of the finest in poultry accomodation in the Portland Metro area.

Without exception the coop owners were a gracious, gregarious bunch. Most of them had a whole sustainable, green gardening scene going on in their backyards.

Here are some of the highlights.

This Japanese / Craftsman coop was ingeniously constructed and the hens seemed to love it.



Lovely hens.














And not just hens, but ducks too. Runner ducks and French geese.

All hard working employees of this remarkable mini-farm. They all help control kitchen leftovers and slugs. And they all contibute fresh, delicious eggs.