Homeschool 2009-10

I’ve finally made my decisions for the coming school year, which will start in early September. Maya (6) will be a 1st grader and Ellery (4) will be pre-K. Asher (21 months tomorrow!) will be terrorizing the house and keeping things lively, and Little Lentil will arrive in late December or early January to shake [...]

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Tomato Count

Maya’s been counting, and we’ve eaten 11 tomatoes so far this season:

2 Glaciers
2 Delicious
3 Yellow Pear Cherries
1 Sungold Cherry
3 Cherokee Purple

There are two more little Sungolds almost ripe, and the girls have put their name on them. Of all the tomatoes I’ve ever eaten, Cherokee Purples have the best flavor. I do love them so.

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16 Weeks, 4 Days – Sustained Movement

I started feeling the baby flit about more regularly last week (15 weeks onward, perhaps once every two days), and since Saturday (16 weeks, 2 days) I have felt it move at least once/day. Wonderful! Beautiful!
Since I first felt movement at 11 weeks and change, I thought for sure that sustained movement would be sooner [...]

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The Tomatoes Come Trickling In (And Zucchini, Too)

I’m still waiting for my table to be overflowing with tomatoes. I want to have so many that I need to complain. But for now, the trickle has started. After that first little Glacier tomato on July 9, there was nothing for a while. Then, earlier this week, I nabbed the first ripe Yellow Pear [...]

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On Herbs

Direct seeding herbs in the garden isn’t an easy task. The seeds are often lightweight, and in my case, they just washed or blew away. I just weeded some paths today, and I found handfuls of thyme, parsley, and oregano seedlings! Not one parsley or oregano germinated in the actual beds where they were planted, [...]

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Chicken Processing

Slightly graphic, perhaps, but I really skipped photographing most of the gore. Plus, I kept the photos small.
First, we packed 12 15-week-old Buff Orpington cockerels into cardboard boxes lined with newspaper in the van (3-5 per box, three boxes):

The first step was to hang them in these cones. The processor (our friend Brian) would then [...]

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First Chicken

We ate our first homegrown (pastured heritage) chicken yesterday for supper. Oh, man. It was good. Quite possibly the best chicken I have ever eaten. I think we butchered at the perfect time (15ish weeks) – most of the chickens are about 3 pounds after processing, give or take, and so very tender and flavorful. [...]

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Well, Garlic, Chickens

Well Update

We have water again, praise God! We are so thankful. The well pump died, so we had it replaced. It was the original from over 30 years ago! I am currently doing dishes by hand and machine, doing laundry, cleaning toilets, etc.
Unfortunately, our home warranty company only covers $400 for well pumps. So the [...]

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Life Without Water

It isn’t much life at all, I’m learning. There’s not a lot you can do without water! Our well broke this morning. We don’t know why. Thankfully, our home warranty doesn’t run out until Saturday. But unfortunately, the company only has one approved well contractor in our area, and they can’t come out until Monday. [...]

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I Need to Weed My Garden.

Oh boy. I just walked out to the garden, and the weeds are seriously taking over. I have hours and hours of weeding ahead of me. Anyone wanna come keep me company? Play with my kids? Make me some lemonade? Or just post with sympathy? I like sympathy.

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