And from the refuse grew...

I was shocked to find these tomatoes growing in our compost heap. They have since been transplanted to a temporary pot. Soon we will be experimenting with vertical growing options.

Quick Chicken Update

The chickens are about four months old now. On the advice of a friend, we made a small pen out of snow fence behind the chicken house. We are allowing the chickens to acclimate to the whole "free range" idea, while establishing a home base. I sat with a video camera awaiting their first steps of freedom. However, all that we captured was twenty minutes of chickens ignoring us and then ten minutes of my hysterical laughter as Bryan attempted to "toss" chickens out of the chicken house. A week later the chickens are finally excited enough to come out. Although I must report that several have still never ventured into the light of day.

If you live in Iowa City be sure to support the IC Friends of Urban Chickens.

Operation Search and Rescue

There is a new sheriff back in town. While I was in Florida, teaching at UF, Bryan may have lost track of his inner farmer. My homecoming was dwarfed by button weeds that were taller then myself. Over the last week I've taken stock of what can be "rescued" from and weeds and what is a total loss. I was actually surprised at the seer tenacity of the vegetable crop and it's ability to grow right through the weeds.

I debated not photographing the garden from this point, however perhaps there is hope found in even the most overgrown projects.










We spent the last week unloading the u-haul and freezing 16 pints of sweet corn. The button weeds may have grown taller then the corn, however the ears are still delightful.

With a Sigh She returned to Florida

After two wonderful months on the farm I returned to Florida for six weeks to teach summer classes at the University of Florida. Leaving Marty was overly dramatic, I think I was more traumatized then the dog. Bryan is now in charge of blogging, Marty, the chickens and tending the plants. Watching my plants mature from afar fills me with mixed emotions. I am so proud of our crops, yet sadden because someone else will be consuming them.


Here are the photographs Bryan has been sending me from Iowa.


Here are the last of the peas that Bryan shelled.








The chickens are growing up so fast.

Jamming With Jill

Our friend Jill has been staying with us for the last week. The three of us pooled our collective intellect and attempted our first canning exercise. The result was eight lovely jars of strawberry jam. We of course borrowed all the supplies from my sister in law, Jenny. Which was amazing, since she had received all the canning supplies last Christmas and had not even removed the tags yet. We traded a small bowl of strawberries for the equipment loan.







This will not be the last batch of jam since the small patch of strawberries my mother planted two years of ago is pumping out strawberries like mad.

A Quick Chicken Up Date

The chickens are about three weeks old now. We have lost two turkeys, however all of the chickens are healthy and happy. All of the literature I've read cautions against raising turkey's with chickens because chickens are carriers of diseases that are more harmful to turkeys. Our friends have raised the two together and suggested that the turkeys would be useful for fighting off snakes and weasels when the flock was older. I wonder if we had medicated our turkey's if they would have survived. We really wanted them to be organic, but now they are just dead. Oh well, "so goes the livestock business", Papa Steve said during his postmortem consult.

And then there was Marty

Bryan and I had discussed rescuing a dog from the pound when I returned from Florida in August. Bryan had said that he would like to find a lab or larger mix that would function well on the farm. With that conversation in the back of our minds we headed out on a farm forging trip. A trip where we go to all the farms that surround us and pick through junk piles to find wonderful things like old chicken waterers. As we left that afternoon I had just told Bryan that instead of buying supplies we should just wait and see if the universe (another farmer really) would provide for us.

And then while at my brother's farm there was "Marty". Marty is an abandoned stray dog that had been living on my brother's farm for a few days. After a trip to the vet we believe he is a lab husky mix. If you look closely you can see that one of his eyes is partially blue.

Marty has some severe emotional problems which manifest in separation anxiety. However, when you are home he can be an extremely loving companion. He came without any basic training, and now after three weeks and a quick neutering Marty understands many commands. The first week we learned NO and OFF. Then week two we worked on Wait (at doors and roads) and Come. Then after a few chicken/pig incidents we learned LEAVE IT. Now we are working on establishing the boundaries of the farm and heeling on the leash. Honestly I've given up on sit and down. We are also struggling with leaving him in the house with out him tearing everything up (or breaking his metal crate for that matter). Marty hates treats, and won't eat any thing but his dog food. If anyone knows any tricks for training a dog who won't even eat a hot dog lying on the kitchen floor please let me know.

In short we love Marty and are happy to have him in our lives.