Porch Pullets

I transplanted some kale plants from the community garden to my garden. I had heard that kale gets sweeter after the frost and I wanted to taste the difference.
I still have lots to learn about kale, especially how to cook and enjoy it.  I haven't really been able to enjoy it.  Seems too bitter for my taste buds, so I need to try different methods to make it more appetizing for me.  Plus learn how to cook it.
There were 14 rows of kale at the community garden this summer and not many people took advantage of those prolific, free, vegetables. We could of paved the streets with it as we tons of it.

Anyhow, I brought 5 robust plants home and dug them into my garden.

Here they stayed and thrived for an entire week.......

The hens ignored them.

Until yesterday......

They stripped them clean 5 minutes before I went out to harvest some leaves for lunch.

Oh well......On to the next project.

Part of getting ready for winter is moving my chicken tractor Winnebago to the near side of the chicken coop away from the path of the snowplowers.
The advantage of doing this is that it is now in the sun for most of the day.
The Winnebago also mates up to the back end of the chicken coop so the hens can come out on the worst of days and have protection, sun, and a place where they can have lots of hay and scratch to peck around for.

Soon I will have to roll up my final 100 feet of poultry netting before the ground hardens.
But right now I like that it is up and I can pen the hens quickly when I see the coyotes too close to the farm.

I also had an additional nest box put up higher than the floor models so my new pullets have a choice of where they put their eggs.    My resident engineer brought his drill and had my old milk crate in place in 60 seconds.

As soon as he exited, the flock came in to check out his work and have a snack.

In just 5 minutes, the new pullets left a massive gift in the floor nest boxes.

I always love finding eggs.

Having been egg-less since September 7th, this is a thrill.

Today was kefir day and the flock just loves the magical drink.
I always make extra and I think this healthy drink has helped my moulting hens get their feathers back much sooner.

 Then it started raining.

  And the entire flock ran for the porch.

They preened themselves and ate window bugs and made funny little noises.

Here they stayed all afternoon while the rain came down in buckets.

This side porch seems even larger now that I have removed all the hanging plants, fall flowers and other objects of summer.

The hens appreciate that, I am sure.

Where do your flock friends hang out during wet weather?

Closing the Community Garden

This was our first year creating a community garden, and will be our last year at this location.

This fertile garden space is soon to become a parking lot for the expanding health care clinic.
The bulldozer is coming soon to dig it all up and level it for 20 parking spaces.

We are busy digging up rhubarb and asparagus to transplant in different locations.

Everyone is sad that this particular magical, fertile garden of the late, great Dr Harry Rowe will come to an end.

Its been a learning experience and an extremely successful project.

This 100 x 40 foot garden fed dozens of people in 3 villages plus supplied the local food shelf with fresh food every Tuesday.

We are still harvesting kale by the ton, broccoli and lettuce too.

With Tropical Storm Karen about to impact New England with several days of rain, I thought it prudent to take down the fencing and start to organize the garden for its final closure.

One final look before we start taking it all apart:

A few photos of the broc and kale. The tomato plants have already been unstaked, pulled up and put on the massive compost pile.

The asparagus ferns sway gently in the wind.

The garage for the health clinic is on stilts and we use the underneath as a garden shed.

My garden friend, Mev, helped me take the zip line off the insulators as I rolled the 5 strands up.

It was the most time consuming since the last 2 lines were buried in the tall grass and weeds. Pulling it all out was a back pulling experience.

Of course I remembered to shut the solar charger OFF before we attempted this.

I hate black plastic.  I hate it even more when people who had plots move away and leave it behind.
Plastic is hard to pull up when it is covered with tall grass, soil, giant weeds and "other stuff."

We stuffed 2 plastic trash bags full of black plastic.

There will be a NO PLASTIC rule at the next garden.   Grain bags, mulch and cardboard only to keep the weeds down.

Other plot owners came down and cleaned their plots, down to the soil, this weekend.

I took apart the solar charger and took it off the post and collected all the wooden stakes we used to mark off garden spaces and  the asparagus beds.

The garden shed was starting to get filled up with poles, tomato cages and other garden items.
Everything will be stored here until we find another location for the next community garden.

I am so glad we chose the finberglass posts and insulators. It was easy to put them up, move them around and take them down and store away when we were done.

They were 100% effective against the deer, woodchucks, bear, neighborhood dogs and rabbits.

I had to pull off the special cedar post corner insulators before I pulled the heavy posts out of the ground.

Mavis supervised.

I stacked the posts on the gate as I went.
I only took down half the fence so that it would send the message that we were "still gardening" and not to bulldoze it yet.

This is Dr Rowe's chair.
He was the last of the old fashioned horse and buggy rural doctors in this state.  He would sit here and take a breather from his busy gardening chores.
He died last year at age 99, just a month short of his 100th birthday.  He would of been 101 on October 4th, the day I started closing the garden.
It was his death and his families big yard sale last September that started the idea for a possible community garden to continue his 80 year tradition of feeding those who needed food.

It was a lot of work with many disappointments and anxiety about the crazy weather and fear of bulldozers coming in August, but it took shape and grew.

 Senior Independent housing is on the side of the garden and most of the residents were recipients of vegetables from the garden.  Especially the rhubarb and tomatoes!

Today the rest of fencing came down and now only the gate needs to be carefully dismantled and the cedar posts delivered to the farmer who gave them to us and then the garden is 90% closed.

Still harvesting what we can and praying we can find another location within walking distance of the village.

Really looks different without the fencing!

I have my eye on a nice piece of possible garden space on the side lawn at the local Catholic church.
I made a phone call to one of their church members and should hear back soon if its a GO or not.
Please say a little prayer that the church allows us to use the yard space. Its half the size of this garden, but will still feed many many people.

The BEST Present! ~ COLCANNON

Whats the best present you can give an Irish Virgo?  One who celebrates Saint Patrick's Day all month!

56 pounds of locally grown, BIG potatoes.  EARLY.  Of course! 

These were harvested on my birthday last September by my favorite farmers and their recently purchased 100 year old vintage Maine potato picker. (considered a newer piece of equipment by Vermont standards..) 

We will be making Colcannon by the bucket every day during my favorite month of the year!

Don't know what Colcannon is ?

You are really missing out!!!

Please try making it to celebrate spring!  Its so simple, even I can do it!

Colcannon is a favorite Irish recipe and a particular St Patrick's Day favorite. As you can see from this Colcannon recipe, it is quick, easy and simple to make.

Colcannon was traditionally used for predicting marriage on Halloween. Charms were hidden in the Colcannon and any unmarried girl who found one would place socks with spoonfuls of Colcannon and the charms on their front door handle. The first man to enter the house was their intended.

We make ours with turnip and carrots in the winter and parsnips in the spring (right out of my Irish garden).
When my kale comes up in May, we will be using that as well.  Sometimes I sprinkle some cheddar cheese or sour cream in too. Best to use local or Irish Butter. I also use raw milk from the local Jersey herd too.  Big difference in taste when its all fresh and local!

Some families like to bake their Colcannon.   So many ways to make the same delicious dish.

There are lots of recipes for Colcannon online, but here are a few of the more popular ones:

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1lb 6oz/675g potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 4oz/100g curly kale, chopped (or Spring cabbage if kale not available))
• 1/2 cup scallions/spring onions, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup scallions/spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 stick of Irish butter
• salt and pepper

Preparation:

• Simmer the potatoes in lightly salted water until cooked - when pierced with a sharp knife the potato is soft in the middle.
• Blanch the curly kale in boiling water for one minute. Drain and reserve.
• Chop half of the spring onions roughly and the other half finely. Add the roughly chopped scallions/spring onions to the drained kale and pulse in a blender for 10 seconds.
• Drain the potatoes and add the butter. When the butter has melted, mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy. Add the kale mixture and mix.
• Finally, add the finely chopped scallions/spring onions and season to taste.

"While this recipe is good, with an Irish family, we ALWAYS have to have Corned Beeef and Cabbage along with true Irish colcannon which is potatoes, onions and parsnips boiled together (and occasionally carrots) then mashed together with butter.....good anytime."

Baked Colcannon Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes Servings: 8

"A tasty cabbage and potato colcannon is enriched with sour cream and butter, then baked until hot and topped with melted Cheddar cheese. Make it as a side or a meal."

Ingredients:

3 potatoes, peeled and quartered 1 pinch salt 6 tablespoons butter, cut into small chunks 1/2 cup sour cream 1 egg 1 tablespoon milk, or as needed

1 teaspoon butter, or as needed 3 cups shredded cabbage 2 leeks, chopped 1 small onion, chopped 2 cubes chicken bouillon 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1.	Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two. Season the potatoes with salt, and mash with 6 tablespoons of butter, sour cream, egg, and milk.
2.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart casserole.
3.	Heat 1 teaspoon butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the cabbage, leeks, and onion until the cabbage is tender and the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Crush 2 bouillon cubes into the cabbage mixture, and stir to blend and dissolve the cubes. Stir the cabbage mixture into the potato mixture until thoroughly mixed, and spoon into the prepared casserole.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes; top with Cheddar cheese, and return to oven until the cheese melts, about 10 minutes.

Here is another recipe on a bag of potatoes

The song "Colcannon", also called "The Skillet Pot", is a traditional Irish song that has been recorded by many artists, including Mary Black.   It begins:

"Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?
With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream.
Did you ever make a hole on top to hold the melting flake
Of the creamy, flavoured butter that your mother used to make?"

The chorus:

"Yes you did, so you did, so did he and so did I.
And the more I think about it sure the nearer I'm to cry.
Oh, wasn't it the happy days when troubles we had not,
And our mothers made Colcannon in the little skillet pot."

Now you all know more about Colcannon than you ever thought possible.

So what do you think ?  Gonna try it ?

The Dome

My local garden club went to visit a very unusual solar dome recently.  We extended the invitation to the local dowsers club and many of them showed up too.

We met at the post office and car pooled the 90 minutes to the remote location in the woods.

The day was freezing. The sky was dark and cloudy.

But that all changed the second we walked inside this magical domed structure.

A large green arbor welcomes you as you come in the front door into the Dome.

The air is warm, the smells are sweet and the colors are unbelievable.

The dome is 33 feet across and has lots of garden space to grow all kinds of greens, tomatoes and citrus, berries and trees!

The owners sell bags of fresh salad greens, chives, tomatoes, kale, 15 different herbs and other interesting stuff.    You can "pick your own" here in the dead of winter.  Unbelievable.

I had to keep pinching myself.

Lots of various lettuce and other tasty greens are picked and nibbled on daily by visitors like us.

Look at the GREEN in this place in February in Northern NH!

Even lemons grow here.  I gasped when I saw this lemon bush.  Its hard to believe all the tasty fruits here.

Small frogs hybernate in this dome and eat all the aphids and other bugs.

It is almost a complete eco system in this dome.

The soil is rich from added compost from the owners hens and goats.

Of course there are worms galore and other helpful bugs as well.

Oranges are all around the dome.  Walking around this structure is like a never ending Easter egg hunt.

All kinds of discoveries.  The only sound was that from other people exclaiming over what they had found.

The pool helps to keep the temperatures up in the dome as well as growing fish and cranberries.

We all tasted the cranberries, of course.  They were the appetizer to the rest of the snacks we would soon be taste testing.

Our group had dozens of questions.  We all talked, walked and nibbled.

More discoveries: Tangerines.

The owners had a huge photo album of how they built this dome and the entire progress of it.

Truly fascinating.

More citrus. 

The dowser club was so impressed with our ongoing field trips that they are now going to join our garden club.  Such a compliment!

This dome was complete with pool, reflectors, solar panels, plants, trees, worms, frogs, fish, berries and warmth.  The only thing we saw missing was a coffee maker......

Every time I would walk around I would find more hidden veggies, fruit or herbs.

None of us wanted to leave.

Especially when I found the grape fruit.

The red lettuce was tasty.

The owners answered all our questions and told us all the pros and cons to a dome structure.

The only con was the high humidity in the warmer months making it unpleasant to live in here or be a chicken coop.

Its like a never ending smorgasbord here.  Walk around and eat.

They had just harvested the very last of their tomatoes and had pulled them up.  The wooden structure were the tomato trellises where they were tied as they grew.

Did I mention the large fruit tree?
10 foot fig tree on the left.

Mini rhododendrons, in pots, were scattered amongst the lettuce.

The smells, the tastes and the colors were all amazing to me.

Better than the Boston Flower Show!

Herbs in the background closest to the windows.

More oranges.

Lemons and limes are hidden around the other plants.

Several shelves line the dome and are filled with other herbs and started plants.

Kale.   I nibbled on it.    My first taste of Kale.    It was really good.  Not at all what I expected.

I think I will grow some this summer.

Lettuce, kale and herbs.  Vents automatically open to let warm air out.

Of course there has to be a Buddha here.

Solar panels are in various places on and around the dome.

After we left the dome, so a different group could come in for a tour, we walked around the woods and made more discoveries.

This was their goat house and is now used for summer visitors.

Unusual walking stick trees.
Beautiful and Weird.

No matter which angle you look at this tree, its all twirly limbs and weirdness.

Small birds love to sit on this tree.

Anyone have one in their yard?  Ever seen one of these before?
This thing is real.  Its not plastic.

As we headed back to our vehicles, our visit here to the dome had us all thinking about spring and our gardens and what is possible to do with some creativity.

These field trip are inspirering, educational and thought provoking.

Can't wait for the next one!

~