Life on the Urban-Farm and Lacto-Fermenting

Things are going well on the urban-farm. The cats are earning their keep catching things. Mostly lizards. I haven't seen any dead mice, but I'm choosing to believe they dispatch those in a discreet location, and leave their more impressive kills (large spiny lizards) around our picnic table. Because who wouldn't want to display their hunting trophies? Either way, the gatos have kept busy. And don't get as many pets after we find dead critters.

The lovely spring weather turned the hens into egg-laying machines. We were getting seven to sometimes nine eggs a day! Now that it's warmed up, we can usually expect a half dozen. Not that anyone is complaining about THAT! Here's one of the ladies inspecting the freshly mixed feed. I still haven't figured out exactly what laying rations are both best, and the most bang for our buck. Aside from free-ranging all day, the girls seem to do well with a mix of layer pellets, whole oats, sunflower seeds, with a splash of split green peas thrown in. Peas are high in protein, but I also like them because they add a splash of color. Doesn't it look appetizing?!

Here are the ducks, Niles and Daphne. They are a few months old, and sadly, since their arrival, we have constantly been questioning their genders. At first we thought we had a drake and a hen (hence the names), and then reasoned we had two females.

After some excellent gender-identification help from a couple of friends, we learned that the larger duck was really the female, and the smaller, more flighty duck was the male (because of his curly tail feather)! Good to know, right?! Well, as time has marched on, I'm a little sad to say that this week the second, larger duck we assumed to be Daphne, has ALSO sprouted a curly tail feather.

Yes, my friends, it is best assumed that we have two male ducks. Of which we have NO use for, since they won't be producing any eggs. Bummer. Possessing and feeding two free-loaders does not bode well. I may be looking into a local butchery-shop. Maybe.
Probably.

This post wouldn't be complete without an update on the garden. This photo below was taken two weeks ago. Since then, we've been grateful recipients of some good rain, which has made the garden double. And brought a hoard of mosquitoes, too. Despite my efforts to ward them off, I've served as a mosquito pin-cushion each time I retrieve our produce. Running breakneck speed through the garden hasn't lessen my bite count by very much either.

I've been able to monitor the cucumber vines from my kitchen window, and can report that in the last couple of days, they've now exceeded the height of the metal trellis (pictured in the center). Where they go from there, I do not know, but they've been producing some tasty cukes!

Here's just from today's pick.

It's been quite the treat to eat from our garden. Different salad greens, spinach, radishes, cucumbers, yellow squash, and zucchini... We're still waiting on tomatoes to ripen, but did I mention the bounty of squash and zucchini?!

Or the zucchini and squash?!

Oh my stars, those things grow quickly. We've been happy to share with friends, but alas, we still haven't been able to keep up with giving or consuming as fast as they're ready for picking. It's certainly a good problem to have, but a little overwhelming. Especially with blood-thirsty mosquitoes after you as soon as you step foot outside. Texas mosquitoes are viscous, y'all. West Nile virus? Malaria, anyone?


Today I was inspired to be proactive, looked up a few lacto-fermenting recipes, and got to work. Since receiving Sally Fallon's revolutionary cookbook "Nourishing Traditions" a few years back, I've enjoyed trying my hand at fermenting different foods. I like to laco-ferment because of the beneficial probiotics it provides my fam, not to mention, it's easy. Easier than canning will ever be, on a hot day, cooking the enzymes out of those precious veggies we've worked so hard to grow. But I digress...

I pulled out a few sterilized Mason jars from my stockpile glass jar supply, grabbed the sea salt, and started cutting herbs and veggies.

From what I picked today and had on the counter, I was able to do 3 quarts of basil and garlic-infused squash and zucchini, 1 quart of pickles, 1 quart of peppers. What kind of peppers, you ask? Well, they'll be pickled peppers of course! But enough goofy punning. These beauties will need to be burped everyday, lest they burst in a salty brine eruption, like my last batch of spicy carrots, and will be ready to eat or be put in the fridge in 3 days time.

Oh yeah, and lest any of you overly-generous readers think I know what I'm doing, I do not. I'd love to claim that I intrinsically know how to do these things, or am channeling my grandparent's farming and food preservation abilities, but I cannot. I winged it with the fermented carrots after seeing an inspiring-ly delicious recipe online. My family and I happily munched away when the carrots turned out so well, so I'll wing it again. Because as I told you, it's easy. Like stupid easy. And we have squash coming out of our ears. And because it'll be delicious.

One last thought before I sign off: Today I learned that if you add an oak, grape leaf, or even black tea leaves to your fermenting brine, they contain tannins that will keep your ferments crisp. Neat, huh?! We don't have a vineyard yet, and I didn't feel like hunting for oak leaves, so I threw in a pinch of black tea leaves to my ferments. I can't wait to see how everything turns out in a few days!

The Hallelujah Dance

Yesterday we went to a grocery store on the far east side of town. It's a really fun place (albeit a bit on the grungy side at times), where higher-end brand groceries come to rest just before their expiration date. I went with some friends a few years ago, and have enjoyed the treasure hunt of "What's here today" each time I've gone.

While shopping yesterday, a lady perusing the same aisle as us, saw my girls and asked Olivia how she was doing. It's become a bit of a joke amongst our friends to ask this of Olivia, because she always has the same answer. Not missing a beat, she smiled at the lady and said in her chipper voice: "I'm doing berry well!". I'm not sure what the lady expected, but when she heard this, her jaw nearly hit the floor. Once she'd collected herself, she went into a dance right there in the aisle, hopping around and saying: "Oh, praise you Jesus! What a polite little girl! Umm-ummm...gotta do a hallelujah dance over this!" She then turned to me and said: "Gimme a high-five for raising that one right, baby!"

I high-fived the joyful woman, and giggled a bit after she'd moved on. What took place in those moments has caused me to do a bit of reflecting this morning. I'm reminded that for all of the craziness of parenting, that we are getting somewhere. I'm encouraged to keep fighting the good fight in training our girls, because Olivia didn't come up with that phrase on her own. It's a product of our daily working with her. It's HARD work, but the fruit is showing up.

I've also been reflecting on what a healthy does of charisma can do for one's parenting. It isn't often that someone is physically moved because of my girl's good manners. Talk about encouraging! For as much child-rearing advice can be given and received, maybe it's time we let loose a bit and did a little more dancing in the grocery store aisles when we see that good fruit appear.

To my Mama friends, keep up the good work! Be diligent. Be consistent. Hang in there. The fruit is coming, and growing in sweeter ways as these little ones receive Godly instruction. You're doing well! And if you happen to meet me in the grocery store someday, I'll be sure to praise the Lord with a little hallelujah dance of my own.

Wedding Bells and Dinner Knives

Hello friends!
This past weekend, the kiddos and I trekked down south to be in one of my long-time friend's wedding. The wedding was so beautifully done, the bride, absolutely gorgeous, and our enjoyment of it all, very great. What a blessing to celebrate a Godly marriage!

When my friend asked me to be a bridesmaid, and Olivia to be a flowergirl, we were both honored and thrilled. Olivia was especially elated when I told her that Ms. Rachel was going to be married, and that she would get to wear a princess dress, and be in the wedding. I made the mistake of informing Olivia of her role, ohh, about a couple months too soon. On a weekly basis, the child would randomly gasp, sending me rushing to her to see if something was wrong, only to be informed (always as if for the first time): "Ms. Rachel is going to get maaaaarried, and is going to wear a princess dress! And I am going to wear a princess dress, too!". While my exuberance over hearing this wore off more quickly than her's, seeing her excitement over this grand event made me smile.

When the big day had finally arrived, I went to wake Olivia up with the big news that all the "sleeps" had past, and it was time to put on her princess dress. For all the months of talk, and shrill-voiced excitement, wouldn't ya know that she would wake up a grump and inform me that "I don't WANT to be in the wedding.".

What?

It took a hearty breakfast, and some attitude adjusting, but sooner or later, she came around to her formerly excited little self. Before said attitude adjustment, my Mom may or may not have overhead me threatening: "If you don't straighten up, you won't get to be in this wedding!". But as I said, she snapped out of grumpy-ville and happily munched on a rice cracker while I did her hair in ringlet curls. Despite 1/4 bottle of hairspray and tried and true Mom saliva , the humidity took it's toll and threw her curls to the floor before the evening was over, but my darling girl still looked beautiful.

I too was able to pretty-myself-up, too. Anticipating a long day, and the other bridesmaids looking stunning, I put on a little extra make-up to hold me over. Eyeliner was my friend. And either to my credit or as a confession, probably wore more makeup than I did on my wedding day. When I went to feed my sweet Emma before we left, she stared at me wide-eyed, a bit confused as to who this Mommy-resembling woman really was. I guess this is what happens when you only wear make-up on Sundays for church, or the occasional mascara if you're going somewhere nice. Like Target. *cough* I digress. Anyway, in the end, Emma was successfully fed (under a blanket), and with the make-up and some trusty Spanx, I felt pretty nicely put together.

We arrived at the historic Magnolia hotel at 11:30am, and from there, partook in a whirlwind of happiness upon seeing the beautiful bride, ohhs-and-ahhs over her stunning dress, dashing around downtown for picture taking with the wedding party, and general excitement for getting to take part in the wonderful event. The dashings-around were aided by the service of a large limo bus that hauled the wedding party around town. As Olivia had never been in such an enormous vehicle before, this was a VERY exciting way to travel. She didn't have to be sequestered in a car seat, had a vast picture window to look out at the town, and was the only little kid in our company. She loved every second.

The wedding took place in a lovely limestone I may be totally making that up church with cathedral ceilings. It was the kind of place that is so aesthetically pleasing that it requires no extra decorating. After pictures, and some munchies for the wedding party, it was time to hide in a small room while the guests took their seats. Once seated, we all lined up, and the wedding began. Up front in my place with the other "maids", it was time for the flower-bell girls to come down the aisle. (Bell girls because they carried baskets with bells that jingled as they walked.) Though I couldn't see at the time, I was later informed that the older flower girl, holding Olivia's hand took a few steps down the aisle, then decided to go sit with some folks. They ushered her back out, but she got no further than a couple more rows before grabbing an attendance card and pencil to mark that she'd been there. With a little more help and much laughter, the girls finally made their way down to the front. Very cute. Leave it to kids to lighten any nerves.

On the arm of her father, Rachel entered the room. She really was breathtaking. Every since I met her at 16 years old, she's been the detailed gal who knew how she wanted her wedding. All of her planning paid off, because she truly was a stunning bride, and had such a sweet ceremony. She and her hubby were married by the same pastor as his parents, who were married on the same date 39 years before. Neat, huh?!

After the ceremony, that long awaited kiss to seal the deal, and more pictures, we headed off to the reception. I had planned to let my growing-ever-tired-Olivia ride to the reception with my parents. It was a bad idea. I'm afraid I held up a few last minute group photos because my Mom had to come find me to say that Olivia was having a melt down. No, it wasn't solely because she was tired, or had missed her nap, or had floppy curls. It was because she realized she was missing out on one more chance to ride the limo bus. Poor kid. She sobered up and returned to her happy-self when I got her and took her with me on the bus once more.

**As an aside, I've been in a few weddings before, but none as a mother of two. Participating is greatly different when you're keeping to the regular nursing and nap schedule of two little people. Yikes. I would like to offer a huge THANK YOU to my folks who helped me with the girls all weekend (while my hardworking man was detained...working).**

At the reception, there were a host of old and new friends to say hello to, food, dancing, and lots of celebrating the beautiful newly married couple. Olivia was seated next to me during dinner, and by that point in the evening, she was pretty much done. The music was initially very loud, so I shouted to catch up with friends, got Emma to sleep in her carrier, and tried to keep tabs on Olivia while we ate. After dinner I was alerted to the fact that Olivia was playing with silverware, and began using it to press against her tired face. Dinner knives aren't exactly friendly materials, so I confiscated those. With that entertainment gone, she asked to see my folks, to which I agreed. She wandered back and forth between my table and the one where they were seated. This was an acceptable form of coping with her exhaustion...until my friend with a better view of her walking behind me began laughing really hard at what she saw. Evidently in her post-wedding-ceremony-stupor, my child chose to get a sip of water from my Mom's glass, then walk to my table with it held in her mouth, then spit that water out into my glass. She did this a few times. I'm still uncertain if I drank from that cup, but that's beside the point. My Dad came to my rescue and took the kiddos home for a timely meeting with their beds. Thank goodness for him!

With the tired babies safely on their way back, I got to visit with a few more friends, admire the bride and groom some more, and blow bubbles at them as they left for their fabulous honeymoon. What a memorable day, for me, and my eldest, who had earlier informed some folks that she was a "flower" in the wedding. We returned home well fed, thoroughly partied-out, and for me, so happy to have seen my dear friend become a "Mrs.".

Here's a selfie of me and my "flower" on the ever-exciting limo bus.

Side note: While at the wedding, a few folks took me aside to say how much they love my blog. I was blown away by their kind words, and a tad embarrassed that I've kept up so poorly on here. I have a readership?! Anyway, thanks to those of you who encouraged me to keep on bloggin'! I will strive to better chronicle the craziness, so y'all can enjoy it, too!