Stewardship...

::Refers to our responsibility to care for our natural resources- land, air, wildlife, and water- sustainably, so future generations can enjoy them::

This is what we are working towards here at our urban homestead and now that we are nearing the end of the year it seems important to take a look around us and think of all the possibilities and directions we want to engage for the future. I know that, as a whole, the garden has grown more than ever and seeing the progress has inspired me to extend my own reach as far as possible. Here are some of our new year's resolutions:

-Upgrade our grey water system 

-Experiment with raising bees for honey

-Expand our urban garden

-Preserve more and shop less for food

-Utilize more solar energy

-Plant more fruit trees and bushes

-Always always keep learning how to garden organically and do things ourselves

There are many more but these are the big ones. I have a personal resolution to maybe get a few ducks to raise for eggs so I'm crossing my fingers... Here are a few photos of recent garden scenes. (by Justin of course!)

Little pea plants

First attempt at Fava Beans is lookin' good! These versatile beans are amazingly healthful and even the shoots can be eaten. Having never grown these before, I am amazed at this extremely cold-tolerant plant. The tender budding sprouts withstood our frigid snow-day this year when temps were all the way down to the teens!

Going strong

We finally got around to planting these tulip bulbs today in a brand new flower bed in front of the house. When spring comes, these rows will be bursting with beautiful color. Plus! they are edible and can be used as garnish so they fit in here in our all-edible garden. There are such a wide variety of edible flowers that I intend to grow as many as possible (another resolution).

Bucket of bulbs

Well, that's it. It's been a fantastic year here and I am SO excited to do it all over again! Really, growing food has been the most super duper thing ever. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

La Dolce Vita

Been Baking..

Choc. Chip

Last minute post before spending time withe the rest of the family! Over the past year we have all been so enamored by Nature and the beauty that working with the land has taught us. Going to be taking a short break but I thought I would put up a few photos of our recent holiday baking and kitcheny things. Enjoy.

It all starts with butter...

Thumb Print cookies with homemade jam.

So Good!

Our citrus harvest from the backyard.

Buddha Hand, Grapefruit, Meyer Lemon...

Candied buddha.

Finished Jam

No Knead Bread #1 

No 2

Thank you youtube

.:Heart Beet:.

.:by Justin Chiaratti:.

Just Us Kids...

Fall Winter Harvest Cont...

I am so happy to share this amazing little photo with everyone. This is our lemon/grapefruit/ buddha hand harvest of the season. I can hardly believe we planted these trees just a few months ago!

Amazing!

Just us...

 Crafts time!

Hot Glue/Me

Sometimes, when no one else is around, I get into a flurry of crafting and other assorted activities. Justin loves to sneak up on people when they're not paying attention and he caught me in the act! This is me recycling some branches from the tree Bryan cut down last week. I thought I'd craft a couple of wreaths for holiday decorating. Better not tell the parents... they'll all want one! ;)

Back to work gardening:

We are finally back to normal with the rainy weather melting the last of the snow and bringing much needed water to our winter crops and native plants. I'm looking forward to wildflower season already! Today's tomato plant removal was only slightly chilly in the drizzle and cloud cover (thank you carhart vest and work boots) and, other than that, most of the activities took place indoors. Speaking of which, the ants have really been stepping up their invasions as per usual when things get cold and wet outside. Likewise, we have been stepping up our winterization of the garden by doing lots of mulching, cleaning up, replanting, and getting the row-covers in gear asap! We've learned that it is never too soon to get started when it comes to farming.

The noblest of all fruits:

Mandarin season is in full swing and our friend Leo brought us a whole bag full of them! I doubt I can think of too many things more delicious than sweet sweet holiday mandarins. I can eat an entire bag full of them without even trying. These ones were reported to have come from one of the first orchards in Nevada City from a tree close to 50 years old! They are beauties! 

Holiday Cheer

Green Goodness:

Another experiment is underway here at our Urban Farm. Like I said earlier, our tomato vines had come to a point where they didn't want to cooperate with the weather and we were left with about 25lbs of green tomatoes and a ton of ideas! This is a green tomato relish in progress. The recipe was given to me by my Aunt Judith who was given the recipe by her mother in law. I am now the recipient of a great family tradition and I am crossing my fingers that all goes well! Tomorrow I'll can it up and get everyone's opinion. 

In fact every time someone hands me down a family recipe I feel like I've been entrusted with a wonderful secret. I've been meaning to compile a family cook book and maybe someday I will get around to it. So many projects!

Home-grown green tomato relish!

::all photos by Justin Chiaratti::

Cooped-up

Jilly Bean on ice

Over the course of our snow-encrusted week here on the homestead we have gotten a chance to know our lil' animal friends a whole lot better. First of all, everyone seems to be adapting to the crazy weather beautifully. Jilly, our little winter wild cat has made herself quite at home amidst the frozen drifts and shows us her natural animal instincts are still intact. 

Miss Josephine

At first our backyard chickens were not sure of what to do with themselves and mostly just stayed in their coop where they felt safe. As I added straw to the sides and around the edges of their lil house they were slowly tempted to come out and scratch around a bit. They had enough of being "cooped-up" and eventually took to flapping around the yard, landing on anything that wasn't snow covered. The extra hay on the ground really helped them feel like things were back to normal and are scratching and clucking as if nothing were different. The good thing about chickens (especially our heirloom varieties) is that they are extremely cold-tolerant and adapt even in areas known to have long, frigid winters much colder than California. Still, having a dry, draft free place is essential.

Chilling on a newly constructed garden bed for a better view

Since this is the first flock of chickens I've raised on my own I kept a careful eye on them during the snow storm and tried to make them as comfortable as I could. Covering the ark with a folded tarp and stuffing it full of insulating straw was a good start but I wanted to add a little heat just in case and ran a light out for them. 

Still not sure if this is cool or not. 

Here you can make out the extension cord running into the chicken ark. They might not need it, but I wanted to be sure the girlies were extra cozy at night. The lamp and piles of rice straw make a big difference when temps are in the teens! Having fresh room-temperature water to drink is also very important when there's ice and snow about. The water dish actually froze solid over-night so we have been refreshing it with water from the house periodically so they aren't drinking icy water. 

Gotta get out of the coop!

Details.

Hi Everyone! It's me, Lin, again and I'm just butting in on Justin's lovely photo post because he said I should add a few descriptions to go with them. As you can see we woke up Monday morning to TONS of snow everywhere! This is the first time I remember it snowing this heavily in about 20 years living in the foothills of Auburn. At about 1500 feet, we don't usually get snow like this but when we do it is absolutely beautiful. 

Snowy Rose Buds

Loquat...

Unfortunately, the rarity of heavy snows in our area also means we can be quite unprepared. This is a picture of our poor Loquat tree that snapped under the weight of all of that snow! Seems like we will be redoubling our fruit tree planting endeavors for the next year. 

What would we do without farm boots!!

It was certainly good fortune that led me to buy a pair of trusty farm/work boots a couple weeks ago that I saw on sale. Now we are all geared up for any weather; rain, shine, or even snow. Not only do they keep our feet dry but having a pair on hand for trudging through wet earth and mud is a farm and garden must. No more ruined shoes that's for sure!

Front yard covered!

Another fact of urban micro-farm life is that unless you have the proper equipment to keep young and cold-sensitive plants from being damaged. This time we unfortunately have been too busy working on the back yard construction and, for me, college finals to get everything under cover. We aren't too sad though, the tomatoes have stopped ripening in the chilled air and it is high time to pull out last seasons plants anyway. The thought of having all those lovely green tomatoes to experiment with in the kitchen makes me even more determined to come up with something delectable. 

Saying goodbye to the tomato vines

Every last one.

Hidden treasure...

Garden Guardian on patrol.

This stuff is FUN!

Cabbages are a cool weather crop after all...

Having never tried cabbages before, we expect to have a few casualties before finding the right balance for our newcomer veggie. Still, they seem to be doing fine and I will post an update on the survivors of our sudden snow day tomorrow. 

A few of our garden residents don't seem to mind

Bring on the row covers!!!

Yep, winter is here for sure

It's only sleeping...

Snow!

It snowed! Details soon!

SQUASH!

Tonight was one of the coldest nights so far this year. As usual, I always start thinking of something tasty to bake when its this chilly. Lucky for us there was a massive bowl of cooked squash in the fridge that needed to be used up. It was lovely to dispatch the mound of assorted squash and bake some squash cookies...

And...

Turkey/home-grown squash soup! (almost gone)

After tonight I really feel like I have hit an all-time record in squash recipes. I love to bake them, puree them into magical soups, smother them in honey and butter, make them into casseroles, and now baking them into tasty desserts and breads! Who would have thought that you can do so much with these things? There must be even more uses that await our squashes in the future that need a little attention. More to come!

Aquaponics!

One of our very first aspirations here on our urban microfarm was setting up an aquaponics system. Basically, it is the reconceptualizing of waste water into an edible food source. The fact that we can lower our impact on the earth and provide fresh organically grown vegetation at the same time is not a new idea. The ancient Aztec and Egyptian cultures have been utilizing integrated vegetable and fish farming polyculture long before us. 

An aquaponic home-cultivation system is a symbiotic relationship between fish and plants in a recirculating environment. Think of it as a large fish tank coupled with a hydroponic vegetable crop. The nitrogen produced by the fish waste is recirculated and consumed by the plants who, in turn, filter and clean the water for the fish. Oftentimes, Tilapia fish are used and harvested as another food source. Both fresh water and salt water systems can be implemented. 

We have been playing around with a few different designs and are planning to integrate this wonderful concept to our daily lives. 

Jammin'

We've been experimenting here at the homestead as of late... Here's a picture of our very first batch of organic// homegrown// homemade persimmon jam!

::love::

Homegrown Hubbard Squash/persimmon jam Muffins!

Along with the jam, I decided to to whip up a few dozen (homegrown) hubbard squash and persimmon jam muffins too. There is nothing like cozying up to a hot cup of tea as sweet treats bake in the oven on a chilly day... 

As the temps drop to near freezing at night the garden is taking on a decidedly shabby/dull look to it. The tomatoes are no longer turning colors and are just hanging green on the vine. Some of them will ripen indorrs and some will stay green. Good thing we love fried green tomatoes for breakfast!! I even have a green tomato relish recipe of my Aunt Judith's I'd love to try out...

For now, veggie season is slowing waaaay down but we are already mulling over the new seeds we want to purchase for the new year. So many new varieties to try and so little space/time! We are just content to have the last of the peppers, tomatoes, and greens from under the row cover. The beets, carrots and other winter edibles will have to last us until spring. Tomorrow is grocery day at the local farmers market to buy bread and other staples. 

Stay tuned for the winter garden update! 

Canning Preperation

With the mother load of persimmons we picked it's canning time! This is my first real attempt at canning and I have a good recipe I want to try out tomorrow so I'll post updates later. 

For now, here's a picture of Justin planting potatoes. This year we figured that we planted a little late so we are doing a test patch of different dates to find out when works best for our area. Potatoes also help to break up the soil for future veggie beds and we have plenty of spaces that need a little kick start. Last season's potato patch certainly was transformed into a beautiful place for our peas this fall! 

Justin's becoming quite the farmer! Rain or shine baby!

Another point of interest are the latest backyard activities. We are finally getting ready to do some DIY construction for a new storage shed and animal enclosure for our chickens. Now that they are grown, it will be nice for everyone to have her own nest box!

Bryan with his chainsaw again..