Oyster Mushroom Chowder

AMAZING!!! Enough said...

2T butter
1C onion diced
1C oyster mushroom chopped
2 garlic cloves

Melt butter in soup pot, add onion and garlic - cook for 5 - add mushrooms and cook some more.  Remove from soup pot.

5 potatoes diced
2T butter
1T salt

Melt butter and add potatoes and salt to soup pot.  Cover with lid and stir often - cook potatoes until tender.

2C milk

Add milk and bring to a slow boil, make sure you stir often.  Remove from heat.

2 cup milk
2 egg yolks

In a separate container mix 2 more cups of milk and 2 egg yolks.  Slowly add this to the potato/milk mixture already in the pot.  Keep mixing and make sure it is off the burner to keep the egg yolks from cooking.  Once incorporated to rest of soup place back on the heat.  Add the mushroom/onion mix.

2t thyme
pepper to taste
salt if anymore is needed
hot sauce to taste

Add seasonings and bring up heat to eating temperature.  Serve immediately.  Garnish with paprika.


We ate this incredible chowder with cheddar cheese melted on flatbread.  Sorry for being repetitive but...

AMAZING!!!

Chicken Coop Improvements

New and improved nesting boxes at work!

After a month of having daily Easter egg hunts, looking for where the chickens were laying their eggs, I decided it was time to improve the nesting boxes in the mobile coop.  I knew they were lacking and in need of improvements from the beginning, but like everything...there were so many other things that were more important, necessary, or fun than figuring out what to do.  I had two issues to resolve as far as I could tell.  The first was the nesting boxes were too big.  This was resolved by going from two boxes to three.  I think that alone was the best improvement.  And second was the issue of bedding material.  I was using pine shaving shavings which worked well when they were young and sleeping/pooping in the boxes.  But I figured it was time for some straw.  Once I made the boxes smaller and added the straw, the eggs just started pouring in!  I get between 7 to 11 a day now.  Woohoo!!!!

Beautiful sea grass basket Montana gave me for my birthday!

Mini Cooper - she lays the gorgeous green egg pictured above

More Mushrooms! October 2012

Mushrooms are an amazing thing.  One minute there is nothing and "poof" the next you almost missed the harvest! We have been getting these awesome sporadic mushroom harvests.  A few weeks ago, I walked to the back side of the woods to the creek where we have our 2nd set of inoculated logs to see if there was any action.  Lo and behold and to my great excitement there was...

SHITAKES!!!

Shitakes from the logs located in the woods

 So in classic permaculture fashion we decided to do things the "lazy way".  A lot of people spend time dunking their logs in bath tubs and bins, hitting the ends of the logs with sledgehammers, and a whole host of other business.  Not Chris and I.  We got all excited about having our own mushrooms because we are too chicken to wild harvest (me more than Chris).  Last year for my birthday I asked for mushroom logs and in September we set out to make that happen.  We harvested some trees downed by Hurricane Irene (can't remember if that is the correct hurricane name - when you get old it all seems to run together) and made a garden bed out of some of them.  The south side of the bed we inoculated the logs with shitakes and oysters.  We also downed an oak tree in the woods and dragged it to the creek and inoculated those with shitakes.  We thought the garden logs would have access to water because we would be watering the garden that the bed was holding.  Makes sense, right?  It is also high and dry, roasting in the sunshine in the summer.  Not exactly what one would think of as a great mushroom spot.  The one in the woods is exactly what I would imagine a mushroom spot to look like.  I thought...this is perfect and I can use the creek water to water the logs.  Hahahahaha!  I hardly ever made it back there to even look at the logs much less water them.  And the garden ones didn't fair any better due to the fact that we hardly ever watered the garden.  We really do suck at these things!  So basically, the mushrooms just did whatever they could with exactly where they got inoculated.  Amazingly, we are getting mushrooms! Either this is idiot proof or we could have a crap load of mushrooms if we really tried!

Oyster mushrooms from today!

So the front garden logs produced some more oyster mushrooms today.  They are gorgeously beautiful!  I have been making the most amazing meals with all of them.  Here is one of my most favorite soups to date...

cut up bacon - uncooked

garlic cloves - minced

diced onion

Shitake - sliver sliced

kale - sliver sliced

chicken broth

water

lemon juice

cooked rice

cayenne pepper

garlic powder

salt to taste

Directions: In a soup pot cook bacon, onion and garlic together.  Before bacon is completely cooked add the mushrooms.  Cook until bacon is cooked through.  Add kale and cook for 5 minutes (do not overcook kale, beautiful green color and holds its shape).  Whatever broth you have you match with water.  I had 4 cups broth and added 4 cups water.  Add lemon juice and cooked rice. Add cayenne, garlic powder and salt to taste. Serve when it reaches adequate temperature.

I am notorious for not measuring ingredients.  I am the worst cook in that I can't hardly ever reproduce anything but I am the best cook in that I use things creatively by combining what I have available rather than shopping by a recipe list.  So you won't find amounts with my recipes usually because it is what's in it that counts and can usually be very flexible.  If you like mushrooms then load up on mushrooms. If greens are your thing then have at it.  If you don't have much then skimp on the broth and water and just make less soup.  That is the beauty of soup...it is hard to mess up.

Another favorite recipe of mine is a mushroom/kale open faced sandwich...

Olive oil/butter

garlic cloves

mushroom

kale

salt

spread - mayonnaise, garlic, basil, worcestershire sauce mixed together

flatbread

Directions: Melt butter and olive oil together in skillet.  Add garlic and sliver cut mushrooms.  Saute mushrooms.  Push mushrooms to the edge of the skillet.  Add kale (I cut the leaves into strips - like cole slaw), more olive oil and some salt.  Let kale get that beautiful rich green color but retains it's structure.  Mix mushrooms and kale together.  Add some chopped garlic and basil to some mayonnaise.  Add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and mix it all together.  Spread mayo mix on top of warm flatbread.  Lay the mushroom/kale mix on top of the bread.  And prepare for the taste bud happy dance!

Okay, can you tell I'm hungry???

Yeah for the bees - Eleagnus is in bloom!



Far view of the beehives Fall 2012

In the Spring of 2012, Chris bought three beehives (3 nucs - 1 with a queen, 2 without) and we set them up on the north side of the property facing the southern sun.  It is now fall and the one with the queen is doing great, one of the nucs is doing okay and one did not make it. 

The right one did not make it. 

Some of the struggles we have had is how much to intervene.  Chris and I want really strong bees and we want really strong bees to make more strong bees.  We have seen a lot of die off that appears to be pesticide poisoning and Chris started off giving them sugar water and then decided that even that would be too much intervention.  We have no intentions of harvesting honey from any hive unless we are sure they can make it so probably we will look spring to see if there is any to spare.  But it is nerve racking to see the summer blooms die and having no nectar for bees to forage.  Until the other day.  The air was thick with a flowery sweet scent and I walked over to the Eleagnus run that the park planted in front of our yard across the drive.  It was in full bloom and thick with honey bees. There is almost a mile of this stuff along our drive. Most people are scared of the invasiveness of the Eleagnus but from our point of view....YIPEE!



Picture of scale of Eleagnus - it runs along the drive for almost a mile

Honey bee on the Eleagnus










Jeruselum artichokes are blooming

September 10, 2012

Apollo the chicken god

Can you believe that this chick... 

Is now this rooster?





Apollo (started off as Iris before she became a he) is a gorgeous Silver Pencil Rock Cockrel.  This has to be the luckiest rooster on the planet.  So when we got our 12 chicks on Easter, we planned on harvesting all but one rooster.  We figured we would like one more than all the rest and that lucky rooster would be spared to take care of the remaining females.  Not only did Apollo win, but he was the ONLY rooster!  He now has a harem of 11 beautiful young hens (only 1 he is related to in any way) to protect and serve - and serve - and serve - and serve!  He is a chicken god.  You can't see it in the picture very well but he has enormous feet.  And he is a really nice bird.  Win for everyone indeed.



Milkweed or Dogbane?...that is the question!

So the catepillar has been identified as the tiger moth catepillar which feeds mostly on milkweed or dogbane.  Milkweed = good, Dogbane = bad.  I'm leaning towards milkweed on this one but I would have to return to the patch and break the stem to see if it is hollow (milkweed) or filled with milky white creamy stuff (dogbane) to be sure.  If it is milkweed...I read it is delightful!

Best cocoon picture ever!

Culain enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon!

Walnut Harvest: September 9th, 2012

Daddy with his baby girl Vivian

Today Chris wanted to try his hand at black walnut harvesting.  It's a messy job and I am glad he wanted to do it this year!  He walked around and collected the freshest walnuts that recently dropped from the trees.  He also harvested the spent ones in the hopes of discarding them to a different location to help minimize the black walnut toxicity. We definitely see a difference in the garden with the plants that are located closest to the walnut trees.  We had tomato plants growing one year that looked like it could be in that Verizon commercial showing the bars.  They were in a line with one end near the tree where the growth was very small and unproductive - leading further away to large, more productive plants.  

Here is how we harvest walnuts at the Blue House...

Taking the husk off the walnut

Step 1:  Only harvest fresh walnuts on the ground.  Completely green in color.
Step 2:  Use some sort of mallet/hammer (Chris used a brick hammer and I used a maul in past years) to break through the husk/hull and remove nut
Step 3:  Remove as much of the yellow fibrous material as possible (WEAR GLOVES and old clothes unless you like permanent stains on everything)
Step 4:  Lay walnuts out to dry in the sun for a few days.  Make sure they are completely dry before you put them up for long-term storage.
Step 5:  Let them cure for about a month before eating them.

Sunflower Harvest - September 8, 2012

Sunflowers were planted behind a row of corn that has already been harvested.

Sunflower harvest time!  I read that when the yellow petals drop, and the back of the sunflower turns pale yellow, and you can see the seed heads pretty good, then it's time to harvest for drying.  I think we are a little late (what's new?!!!) but it should be a nice start in getting some sunflower seeds for us and the birds.  This is definitely something I hope gets expanded at the blue house in the future.  Sunflowers everywhere!  We planted a lot more than actually came up but the birds kept taking them out before they got big.  But the row planted in with the corn actually made it through the scratch fest.

Drying upside down in the bunkhouse

It's difficult to keep this caption PG rated!

So today was harvest day.  Chris cut them with two feet of stem remaining and I hung them up in the bunkhouse to dry.  I'm not sure what will happen from there...seed-wise I mean.  I keep thinking I am going to walk into the bunkhouse and seeds are going to be all over the floor.  I figure I can just sweep them up.  The magic of having chickens.  They don't care where the seeds have been!

Moving the crew, a chicken update - September 8, 2012

Australorp "Jackie"

Black Copper Maran "CC"

 Today was chicken moving day.  They have been hanging out in the side yard in the perennial garden for a few weeks.  We finally doubled the electric fence so they can stay in a spot for a longer period of time.  This area was thick with bindweed and morning glories and I thought they would have a hard time getting around in the area.  They did just fine and to my great happiness have cleaned up under a lot of the plants.  The blackberry bushes are opened up as that was their favorite hang out space during the day and I don't blame them.  Perfect cover and fun sandy soil to toss up on themselves.  The bindweed was definitely trimmed away from the plum trees and sunflower/rosemary/asparagus area was cleaned up as well.  A definite win. 

Front yard garden

So where to next?  The winner is the front garden area with the hazelnut trees (actually I should say hazelnut sticks because they are so small and young), herbs like lemongrass and basil, serviceberry bushes (they don't look very good right now at all) and lots of amaranth, lambs quarters and bindweed.  I can't wait for them to work their magic in that garden!  Go chickens go!

When we moved the fence and coop I noticed that I couldn't find the old buff orpington named Honker.  So I started looking in the perennial garden for her and look what I found buried in the rosemary...

Clutch of eggs in the rosemary bushes in the side perennial garden

Those little boogers have been holding out on me!  I've been waiting and waiting for the eggs from the paddock crew.  I've been getting one or two here and there.  I kept saying...just be patient.  All along they were secretly laying in a cozy spot in the rosemary bushes.  I don't blame them.  I would like that MUCH better than the coop myself if I were a chicken.  Oh well, gotta rethink the nesting arrangement.  That is the thing I love about this whole permaculture thing...you just wing it and whatever isn't working you just tweek it until it does.  Chris and I have talked about having portable nests that we can place in strategic locations.  Might be a good idea.  For now I think I would like to focus on making the nesting boxes in the coop better.  

Shitake! September 8, 2012

Back in October we cut down a small oak tree in the back woods and dragged it down to the creek with the idea that it would be perfect mushroom territory.  We busted our humps and managed to innoculate 4 logs (don't laugh til you try it...that took a long time).  We drilled 1 inch holes in the logs and hammered in sawdust that was innoculated with shitake mushrooms.  Then we sealed them with beeswax and arranged them in a square elevated off the ground.

 Since Chris and I take the "natural/lazy" approach we let good ole mother nature do her thing.  We didn't dunk them in water or hit them on the ends with a hammer.  We didn't even visit them very much.  Funny thing about the natural way...definitely way less productive and other mushrooms joined in on the fun which I find a little scary.  But low and behold...almost a year later...we got one!  Ha ha ha ha! 

The shitake is on the right side top log, closest to the camera

Yes, a lone shitake finally reared it's head out of one the holes in the log.  Of course there are mushrooms popping up all over the place right now and the only way I even trust it is the fact it was coming directly out of one of our drilled holes.  So in one week we got an oyster mushroom at the house and a shitake from the woods.  Funny thing is that I think these very items are growing wild in our woods but I am way too chicken to go there. 

Tonight, we have to feed 9 people and that little mushroom will be placed lovingly on top of one of the homemade pizzas. 

May Pop! August 2012

Pole Green Park offers a lot of diversity in "wild edibles".  On one of our outings with the dogs, Chris and I noticed a strange vine growing only the edge of one of the fields.  Later we identified it as May Pop, otherwise known as the passion flower.  Of course we decided to keep watching, anxiously awaiting the fruit that comes with this vine, and on one of walks in mid August we actually saw blooms.  What an awesome flower!  The bees were loving on these UFO inspired blooms!  I will let you know if any changes...

September 10, 2012 - FRUIT!!!

Corn Smut - August 2012

So it appears we were able to grow a true delicacy - corn smut!  This little fungus supposedly is worth a lot more money than corn.  I'm a little afraid of cooking with it for now though.  Maybe one day.  It is just interesting to see it and know what it is. 

First egg from the pullets! August 20, 2012

So the chicks we got in the last week of March before Easter finally started laying on August 20, 2012.  That puts them close to 5 months old.  I do believe based on the color and chicken behavior that this egg is from one of the Australorps named Goose.  Apollo has been paying particular attention to Goose.  Since this photo we got a few more eggs and then a week break.  Then two green, leathery, soft eggs possibly from the olive eggers and two eggs yesterday, September 3rd, one light one (lavender orpington probably) and one a little darker which I suspect is from our silver pencil rock Gaylord (thank you Stella for the name).  I guess they are slowly coming online while the house crew is going offline.

The house crew has one broody silver pencil (10 months old), one silver pencil that just got over being broody, a wandering Rhode Island Red and two chickens - a Rhode Island Red and a Buff Orpington - that won't come out the coop at all right now.  They seem to be coming out of a molt and definitely do not want the attention of Owl, the Americauna rooster who desperately needs some hens to love.  I feel bad for him. 

I'm thinking about switching around the paddock crew and house crew.  I think the australorps are designed for foraging.  They are very good at it and would do well with the house crew which is true free range. I'm just worried about upsetting the balance we have now.  You know how it is...mess with a chicken's world and you won't see an egg for weeks!

Harvest Photo - beginning of September 2012

Harvest photo: September 4th, 2012:  I lost my color picture ability on my phone today.  Bummed.  But it is important to note that there are oyster mushrooms in that basket.  With some asparagus beans, close to the end of the tomatoes (mostly romas) and a few peppers.  Also, after a long hiatus, Ginger, our Rhode Island Red started laying again today.  I suspected she was laying elsewhere but everyone stopped and appear to be molting or broody or both!  We have a ton of chickens and very few eggs!  I'm sure we will get swamped soon!  Oh yeah...and lets not forget our first tomatillo harvest.  Volunteer plants along the outside of the fenced in garden.  Now that is easy food!

Harvest Photo - End of July 2012

Harvest July 20, 2012 photo:  Looks like squash, peppers and an early sunflower from a rogue chicken feed seed.