A Walk in the Garden

Even with a cooler, wetter summer on hand this year, the pollinators were still happy and hard at work in the garden!

Busy bee pollinating some Valerian blossoms

Bee pollinating chive flower

The first Speckled Roman paste tomato of the season!

Ancho chiles ripening on my plants

I planted over 100 heirloom tomatoes this year, and here is a shot of about 50 of them, divided into three different rows in front of the greenhouse.
After just over a year of hard work, Ryan and I finished building the formal herb garden where the old baby goat pasture was once located! Here is a shot of the 4th and final stone raised bed, with tomatilloes and peppers planted in it for this year.

Comfrey in bloom

First eggplant blossom of the season!

Birthday Celebrations & A Bite of History


I normally have horrible birthday luck. And I mean horrible. In years past, I have had beloved (pregnant) animals die on (or around) my birthday, lost my job, had all of my friends completely forget to show up for my birthday party, had to go to the hospital, or had been working in the middle of nowhere and completely out of cell phone range. I have begun to actually dread my birth date with something akin to superstitious paranoia. I don't think you can blame me... This year, my darling husband decided to banish my birthday bad luck! Secretly, several months earlier, he had sold off some stock at the height of its value, and squirreled the money away for my birthday celebration. On the morning of my birth, I was awakened by happy kisses from my excited husband (and thankfully not from either wet-nosed kitten). He presented me with gifts from himself (a book on herbal veterinary remedies) and my mother-in-law (a vintage hair piece and antique Wedgwood cameo brooch).


Then, he did morning farm chores and milked the goats, and took me out for coffee and breakfast at the Good Bean in downtown Jacksonville. After breakfast, we wandered over to Harry & David to browse the wine section while we waited for stores to open. Once 10 am hit, we visited numerous used book stores around Medford. My favorite was the one located directly next door to Harry & David. They were a bit expensive, but they had a very good selection, and I managed to find an informative herbal that I did not yet own (rather difficult to do these days!). After hopping around to all of the bookstores, we went walking around the Main Antique Mall (one of my favorite places and where, tellingly, they know us by face). I had a feeling when I entered the store (a place where I have scored many previous amazing finds!) that I needed to carefully browse through all of the books, and lo and behold! I was correct! Amongst the dust and books, wedged in a forgotten corner of the store, I found a gem: an 1882 2nd edition of "Gardening for Profit."


Why am I so excited about this? The book not only talks about the basics of gardening (preparing soil, conrtrolling insects), but lists popular commercial vegetable varieties (along with woodcuts of some of them) grown at the time. Thus, not only can I research heirloom (or extinct) vegetables grown in the past, but I can identify unknown heirlooms if any ever fall into my collection! I am so excited to begin my research!

After the antique mall, Ryan took me out for a sushi lunch at Bonsai in downtown Medford. Then, we headed over to the Madrone Mountain tasting room in Central Point, where we were treated to a complimentary birthday wine tasting!

After wine tasting, we went home to relax before beginning evening chores and milking (a bit early in order to make our dinner reservation). Dinner was a lovely little candlelit affair over at friend David's 38 Central. We had a delicious little Prosecco to start while our main red (an absolutely spectacular '08 Baco Noir by Girardet Wine Cellars) aired. We both ordered steaks, which paired grandly with the tobacco, leather, and berry notes of that big, bold red wine! For dessert, a lovely chocolate pot de creme! Thank you, David and the staff at 38 Central, for a very enjoyable evening!


Ryan and I drove home, slipped into our jammies, and curled up in bed with an old edition of "The Velveteen Rabbit." Ryan read out loud to me until neither of us could keep our eyes open.

And that concluded the happiest birthday I have ever had.

Here's Hoping...

I have planted roughly 2/3 of my tomatoes outside this week. Yes, it's a bit early, but I have been keeping my eye on the weather report, and I think things are going to be okay. May 15th is the average date for our last frost in the area, and as that is today, I'm hoping the numbers play out. Tomatoes can survive down to about 38 degrees - it sets them back, but they can make it to the morning alive. Ideally, your nights should be 45-55 degrees for maximum tomato (and pepper!) happiness! However, with the recent trend of high 70 degree weather, my plants (except the peppers who LOVE it) are frying with the heat inside of my greenhouse. So I had to weigh the choices of possibly losing plants to heat stroke or losing plants to frost. I figured that frost was the less likely danger, and thus the reason that over half my tomatoes are already outside. Unfortunately, with the recent thunderstorm predictions, I now have to worry about hail!...sigh...

I have been busy gardening, weeding, and filling out last minute plant orders this week. There is actually space to walk around inside of my greenhouse - I had forgotten what that felt like! Yesterday, my Georgia Jet sweet potato slips arrived in the mail, and I spent the day planting them in pots until the nights are warm enough to set them outside. I think they made a mistake on my order however: instead of 12 slips, they sent me 24! Ah well, more potatoes for me! I am also still eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Purple sweet potato slips.

Speaking of potatoes (well, we were technically speaking of morning glories, but whatever), I have discovered a fascinating new "potato!" It's call the Negresse Potato, but it's technically a wild relative of the potato and not a true potato. The Negresse is a little known and under-appreciated tuber! It is jet black in color, and tastes like a truffle! Unlike the black potato,
"Congo," it does not have a bitter skin. Negresse is the cheapest "truffle" you can grow, and also one of the easiest! It is very difficult to track down, but I finally did manage it (thank you, Seed Savers!). I am on the waiting list for my own set of seed tubers in 2011. In the meantime, I have ordered seed tubers for the Ajawiri. This tuber is thought to either be the same, or the parent of, the Negresse. Thus, I will be able to grow both plants over the next two years and make comparisons. What is rather exciting is that, because of how little known these varieties are, I will be sharing notes with others about the two tubers!

Other plants that I am trying out in my garden this year for the first time: Crosnes, Lemon Verbena, Purple Cowhorn Potatoes, Oaxacan Green Dent Corn, Violetto Artichoke, Lazy Housewife Pole Bean, Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Bean, Camellina, and more!

Attack of the Purple Sweet Potato Eater!

This year I have decided that I simply do not have enough blue and purple foods in my life. I decided to remedy this by planting several varieties of blue and purple potatoes (Adirondack Blue, All Blue, Purple Cowhorn) as well as purple artichokes and beans. Now, I have finally managed to track down the greatest prize of all (and here you thought that my purple "bear poo" cowhorn potatoes were the most sought-after prize! *grin*): the "Purple" sweet potato variety. This sweet potato is not like the Okinawa Purple, which has purple flesh but brown skin. Oh no, the Purple variety has light purple skin with deep, gem-purple flesh! Thanksgiving sweet potatoes will never be the same! Many thanks to Duck Creek Farms in Oklahoma for reserving some of these slips for me (you can also find them at Sand Hill Preservation Center, but they are sold out for 2010). I look forward to the much-anticipated arrival of my slips in the mail soon!

In other news, my Aji Limon peppers, Litchi Tomatoes, Naranjilla, and Borage seeds have begun to poke their heads above the soil. The first three will be grown as perennial container plants, and brought indoors for the winter. Now that it appears as though the weather has mellowed out enough, I will also begin planting my Cordao and Moldavian Dragonshead starts outside too.

Look for more pictures and plant varieties as the gardening season progresses!

A New Life & A New Set of Memories

Meet Jugi 2.0

Many thanks to Danielle at the Del Norte Humane Society in Crescent City, CA, for her amazing help in bringing Jugi 2.0 to me.

It was love at first sight when I viewed the picture of Jugi 2.0 (formerly "Benji Button") on the petfinder.com website. There was something so...familiar...about him. He reminded me strikingly of my beloved Jugi (whom we lost to cancer in November 2009).
See if you can understand what I mean:

Image courtesy of Crescent City Animal Rescue

When I brought Jugi 2.0 home roughly 2 weeks after first beginning the adoption process (it's a long story and the reason that I am SO thankful for Danielle!), there was an immediate connection. I had only ever seen him in a single photograph up until that time, but upon bringing him home, we both bonded. He slept curled up on my side all night, and every night since then has slept with us in bed (very atypical for a young, active kitten!). He is a sweet & precious baby who loves to play but yet is very polite and only needs to be told "no" once in order to stop. This has been a paradise after Adso! Speaking of the "Meowosaur," he is happy, FAT, and doing well! However, because we need to take Jugi 2.0 into the vet tomorrow for testing and a general post-adoption exam (the Del Norte Humane Society does not test for FiV or any of the other contagious diseases), Adso has been relegated to the barn and given strict mousing instructions until he can be safely introduced to Jugi 2.0 back at the house. I think Jugi 2.0 will test negative for all of those awful diseases, but it is still important to get the testing and exam accomplished. Every new pet owner owes it to their animal to do this!

In the meantime, Jugi 2.0 is loving his new home, and we are loving the completion of our furry feline family! I think that Jugi 2.0 and Adso are going to be the best of friends someday soon, and I look forward to having two wonderful cats in my life for many years to come.

What's For Breakfast?

We were blessed to have some truly spectacular guests staying with us this weekend! The weather was gorgeous, the herbs and greens were in full swing, and I had faaaaaaar too much fun playing with my food! Here are some of the breakfast creations:

Farm fresh scrambled eggs with butter-fried sage & chives, and garnished with strawberries, orange slices, and spring chive flowers

Ryan's famous sourdough rolls and Maple-Ginger Waffles with maple syrup, strawberries, and a Moroccan Mint sprig, and garnished with an orange wedge over a fresh sorrel leaf


As I have been told yet again that I absolutely MUST publish a cookbook, I have decided to post the recipe for my famous farm fresh scrambled eggs:

FARM FRESH SCRAMBLED EGGS W/BUTTER-FRIED SAGE & CHIVES

Ingredients:
6-8 fresh chicken eggs (or 1-2 goose eggs)
1 handful chives
1 small handful garden sage leaves
1 tbsp fresh butter
fresh strawberries, chives (both leaves and flowers), and orange slices for garnish

Instructions:
Coarsely chop chive and sage (remember to set aside some chive leaves - and flowers! - for garnishing). Place butter in small frying pan and set on med-high heat until melted. Add chives and sage, and saute until browned (roughly 1-2 minutes). Pour off butter and fried herbs into a a small bowl, and add eggs, stirring mixture vigorously. Pour mixture onto frying pan and cook egg mixture until scrambled. Remove from heat and put on plates, using strawberries and orange slices for a side garnish, and chive leaves and flowers for a top garnish.

Serve warm and enjoy!

This easy, delicious breakfast will always be a huge hit!

Four Sisters Gardening

After much delay, we finally managed to get the pasture garden tilled last weekend (or at least a large portion of it). Every year we expand our garden a bit further, amending the soil with our own "home grown" compost. When we first began gardening on this little patch of land at the back of our property, it was nothing more than rocky, hard pan clay soil. After 3 years of amending, it's finally beginning to look like good garden soil. I estimate that it will take another two years of soil amending before the ground is the quality that I would like it. The good news is that we will never run out of compost!

At the back of the garden plot (the west end), our grains will be planted: camelina, amaranth, quinoa, etc. Next will come the usual corn, beans, squash, melons. This year, I am excited to be growing Oaxacan green dent corn (used for making green corn flour!). I will also be growing two different heirloom pole beans, and training them to grow up the corn stalks, in the traditional manner. There will be plots of heirloom bush beans, and black beans, giant sunflowers, four different varieties of heirloom winter squash, three types of heirloom melons, and two heirloom watermelons, of course spread out over my two different garden plots to try to prevent cross-pollination. For those who have been following my previous posts, I have begun converting an old goat pasture at the far east end of the property into my second garden plot. I will unfortunately not have the time to complete this 2nd garden this year, but I have it about a 1/3 of the way amended/planted (and filled with onions, leeks, artichokes, and herbs). It's going to be a great gardening year!

My tomato plants are doing fantastically! I have had to replant most of them into gallon pots, and many are flowering already (one even has a little green tomato on it!). I feel proud for what I have accomplished thus far.

I have converted two raised beds into heirloom potato patches, and am waiting for Ryan to build me a third bed. This year, I am raising All Blue, Red Norland, Russian Banana Fingerling, Kennebec, and (the one I am most excited for) Purple Cowhorn (whose true name translates into "Bear Poop" - it hails from Scotland, go figure!)*. I am also excited to see if any of my potato plants go to seed this year. Raising potatoes from true seed is a fun and interesting way to discover new potato varieties. However, potato seeds do not reproduce themselves true to form, but will often produce throwbacks to ancient potato varieties, or sometimes the seed simply won't be viable. Still, with a little time and patience, it can be a fun way of growing potatoes (though you should never rely solely on potato seed for the following year's crop! Always save tubers from your harvest for planting.).

I will also be raising the now almost unknown pot herb, Good King Henry. This versatile plant - one of the earliest greens in summer, and one of the last greens of fall - is great for extending your salad season. The leaves taste like spinach (and are high in vitamins A & C as well as calcium), and the stem can be eaten just like asparagus (& tastes similar). Good King Henry was once very popular, but is now almost impossible to track down (I managed to find seeds for it at Fedco Seeds and Bountiful Gardens). More people should grow this plant in their gardens, and help to preserve this valuable herb from our past!

Lately I have become absolutely enamored with two books written by Seed Savers Exchange member and Master Gardener, William Woys Weaver. I discovered him through the local library (where I checked out his Heirloom Vegetable Gardening), and scrimped and saved until I could afford to purchase a copy of my own. That book has now become one of my most treasured volumes, and recently I also purchased his "100 Vegetables and Where They Come From." Both are what I consider the Bible on heirloom vegetable gardening. I absolutely recommend reading them!

* = Cowhorn is also known under the synonyms Purple Cowhorn, Purple Cow Horn and Seneca Cowhorn. Though listed as a fingerling in most databases, its name comes from its general appearance. It is oblong, thickest at the far (apical) end and curved to a narrow end at the stem attachment. Skin is dark purple. Flesh is cream colored. Eyes are shallow and few in number. It has large spreading plants. It is valued as a 'quick bake' baking potato. Specific gravity is 1.069. Maturity is mid-to-late and it is low yielding. It is a heritage variety with uncertain origins. It has been grown in New York state since before 1853. There is some speculation that it might have been developed in Vermont. There is further speculation that it might be identical to La Crotte d'Ours (Bear Poop), a Canadian heritage variety, thought to have roots to Scotland.
- Cornell University's "Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners" website

Apothecary Farm's Palak Paneer

INGREDIENTS

• Paneer Cheese

(we make our paneer using our own fresh goats milk roughly 2-3 hours before we plan to cook the meal)

• 2 cups cooked Rice
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
  
• 4 Egyptian Walking Onions, chopped
  
• 5-8 (dried) Chiles de Arbol, finely chopped
  
• 1 large colander of freshly picked salad greens (we use a ratio of half spinach, and the remainder made up of Good King Henry leaves, Garden Sorrel, and Wild Arugula - but we encourage you to try your own greens combinations!)
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the olive oil in a small stock pot, and fry the onions until clear (about 2-4 minutes). Add salad greens, cumin, coriander, peppers, and paneer and saute until greens have wilted and cheese has begun to melt slightly (~1 minute). Add rice, and serve hot!

For a carnivorous take, try adding one pound of cooked ground lamb!

CAPTAIN FLOWERS

February 26th - April 13th, 2010

We had such high hopes for this long-awaited little girl, but even from the beginning, we knew that there was something not quite...right...with her. She failed to thrive like the other babies, and even though the entire family did everything they could for her, a sudden and dire case of pneumonia struck, and the joyful flame that was Captain Flowers was snuffed out before it even had a chance to burn brightly. Thank you, Dr. Lea at Pacific Veterinary Clinic, for going above and beyond the call of duty in an effort to save our beloved little baby goat.

A baby lost - a life cut short - before it even had a chance to begin.

In this time of darkness, we await the return of light...

It has been a dark and dreadful winter, and though the calendar may say it's spring, the occurrences here as of late demonstrate that the time of light and hope are anything but near...

Well, we are in the final stages of wrapping up the fiasco that was a distracted driver wreck on our property. On Saturday, March 27th, a distracted driver (ogling at the animals, I'm sure) plowed her vehicle through our two (largest) front pastures, completely destroying the fencing. Thankfully, the woman did not hurt any animals or pedestrians, and she herself and her young son were uninjured. Because of the gaping holes in the pasture fencing, we had to quickly round up frightened animals and create very sketchy temporary pens for them. The donkeys had to be moved into a NON-equine-proof goat pasture, the male goats had to be moved into the baby goat pasture (and share a fence line with the female goats - the thought of any possible unplanned breedings has stressed me out immensely (yes, I know it's unlikely, but goats are wily...)), and the babies had to be moved into a dark empty stall in the barn (with NO pasture). The llamas and angoras had to be housed together in a tiny pasture with a very leaky shelter on the far end of the property. All told, this wreck displaced 21 animals. Dealing with the driver's insurance has been an absolute NIGHTMARE. Instead of treating us as the hapless victims, they have acted as though we were the culprits! Refusing to pay for anything but "patching" the fence at the metal posts (not feasible), we have had to fight with them to reimburse us for numerous other costs related to the wreck. Because of being housed in a non-equine pasture, my beloved little donkey jack, Moonie, got his foot caught in the gate grid, and nearly broke his leg trying to get free. Thankfully, I was able to rush into the pasture, keep him calm, grab a set of bolt cutters, and cut his foot out of the fence! He limped for the rest of the day, and rubbed all of the fur off from where the fence chafed him, but was otherwise okay. I have never been so terrified...while trying to research boarding options for our displaced donkeys (which was nearly pointless with an intact jack and a broken trailer), we discovered that the person we had been in a legal contract with to buy a certain donkey went and sold said donkey to someone else right under our noses! When asked why they broke a legally binding contract (and yes, I have the contract and signatures in my filing cabinet), the person replied, "Well, I thought since you already had a donkey you were proud of that you wouldn't care if I sold this one." So, we are currently involved in a legal battle over that. Next, a wind storm two days after the car wreck downed a large oak tree in another animal pasture, destroying that fencing and forcing me to herd more animals into an already cramped makeshift pasture. The wind storm also toppled our ornamental plum tree in front of the house (which thankfully fell AWAY from the car that was parked next to it!). Ever since that terrible windstorm last September, which broke the oak tree next to the house in half and sent it crashing into the roof above my head, I have developed full blown panic attacks any time there is bad wind on the property. That being said, having more downed trees two days after a very traumatic wreck did NOT help my anxiety disorder.
We finally got a contractor lined up to do the fencing repairs on the pastures, and it seemed as though everything was going well...then my truck died, and required a tow in to the service center. I was about ready to sit down and sob at that point, not only for wondering how we were going to pay for expensive repairs, but also for the fact that I needed to get hay that weekend and had no vehicle to haul it in! Thankfully, employee perks paid off, and we managed to get the truck back before the hay ran out...I thought to myself, "Okay, things are finally looking up." This past weekend rolled around, and my husband and I planned a relaxing day-long date of library visits, wine tasting, plant bartering, and movie/dinner. We had to clean out the barn stalls that morning before setting out on our planned date, and as I was in the barn I heard a terrible crying coming from the baby stall. My grandmother happened to be closer, and reached the scene first. She found our long-awaited Captain Flowers crying on the ground, unable to stand, and acting as though her legs would not even work. We rushed her into the vet, where she nearly died while they were trying to figure out what was going on. The vet finally discerned that it was a nasty case of pneumonia, possibly brought on by asphyxiating on some milk. The vet kept Captain Flowers overnight, and on Sunday called and said that she seemed to be doing better. The vet asked to keep her one more night, and if she was still looking good they would send her home the next day. Well, this morning I got a call from the vet, who told me that around midnight last night, Captain Flowers took a turn for the worse. They had to pump fluid out of her lungs every few hours, and she was currently completely catatonic and barely hanging in there. The vet said that they thought it was some sort of congenital birth defect that caused milk to go into her lungs any time she nursed, because every time the vet fed her, Flowers' lungs filled up with fluid. I have to say, we all thought there might be something wrong with her from the start. It wasn't anything you could put your finger on, but she failed to thrive the way that the other babies did...In any event, the vet is giving her a few more hours to see if she improves, and if not, they are going to have to put her down. I had to break the heart-rending news to my grandmother, who absolutely adored her little "Cappie." It's been a truly awful day, and this is bringing back all of the memories of losing my beloved Jugi, whom I still think about every single day.

I can only hope that this the end in a long string of horrible events. Captain Flowers, you were so loved, I am so sorry to see you come to this sort of end. A life cut short - a baby lost - before it even had a chance to begin.

Missing Time...

I had a feeling that once kidding season arrived my ability to garden, update, etc., would be severely diminished, and - what do you know? - I was right!

The weather here has mellowed out incredibly for March in Southern Oregon (at least to my experience). High 60's in the day, lower 30's at night. My brandywine tomatoes (germinated in December) already have blossoms on them, and I am trying out those water-filled teepees for the first time this year. Can't say that I am too impressed thus far, but it's been less than a week. Overall, I have to say that the better method for me has been to move them into the greenhouse at night, and outside onto the porch during the day. This involves a lot of tedious, heavy lifting, but I think in the long run the results are better.

Speaking of tomatoes, I have completely run out of table space in my greenhouse! I am at the point where I am either going to have to make a lot of plant sales fast, or I am going to need to beg, borrow, or steal some more tables! I have found that I cannot set plants on the floor due to occasional slug that somehow manages to find its way in. Anywho, thus far I have had a lot of people express interest in purchasing my starts, but I have only managed to convince one party to come down to the farm and actually buy anything. At this point, I'm more in it for the table space than the money! *grin* I have been talking with one of the local country market stores in Medford, and they want to sell some of my plants on consignment. The problem is that I want to give the people who have expressed a desire to buy starts from me first choice, because I have some very nice (and large!) starts right now. However, if they procrastinate too long, I am going to be forced to take the best looking ones down to the store...

I have set my watermelons and musk melons germinating this week. I know that the local extension office doesn't recommend starting the seeds until the end of April. However, I followed their time table last year and my watermelons barely had enough time to produce a single fruit before the fall frost set in. This year, I am giving them an extra month of growing time. I have also discovered (thanks to lessons learned last year), that about the end of March to beginning of April is the latest I can successfully germinate things in the greenhouse. After that, the heat gets too much for tender sprouts. So, I am germinating like MAD these remaining few weeks, in order to get all of my seeds going on time!!

Ryan has been making a great deal of cheeses and yogurts. He made the most amazingly delicious 1-lb. wheel of Manchego that I have ever tasted, as well as many pounds of queso fresco for pizzas and other tasty dishes! I made a large batch of my cherry-fennel granola to go with the fresh yogurt, and as soon as I get a chance, I am going to get my kefir going again.

So much to do!!!...

The (Un)Usual Insanity...

Things are a bit more insane around here than normal...we had our final goat (Apothecary Farm GO Poit) kid on Friday evening without a peep. Ryan had checked her ligs the night before and that morning (still present), and we had looked in on her at 3 pm (everything normal)...I went to feed the goats at 5 pm, and had quite a shock. There was one more goat in the stall than there should be! Poit, in typical Zilla-like fashion, had kidded without warning, without a peep, and thankfully, without any trouble. The baby is a beautiful, bouncy, and healthy girl we have jokingly named "Captain Flowers." She, like her mother, has inherited Zilla's gorgeous moon spots, but I am hoping that the cross with Piddlin Acres BZ Suede Boots improves Poit's conformation in her offspring. Captain Flowers makes a total of 7 female babies for the 2010 kidding season (and 3 boys - now wethers). Not too shabby.

Speaking of babies, we had a very nice couple come out to the farm on Saturday and purchase our three baby wethers. They will be picking them up in about 2-3 weeks. It's so hard to see the babies go (especially Muffin!!), but I really liked these people, and it sounds like the boys are going to have a very wonderful home where they will be loved and spoiled. I am trying to comfort myself with the knowledge that I get to keep pretty much all of the girls (we are only going to sell 1 or 2), but I love all of my goat babies and wish I could keep every last one of them!!

On the gardening front, I found a fellow gardener nearby who bartered with me last weekend (my plants for her seeds). She has a strain of okra that she has cultivated to specifically grow very well in southern Oregon, as well as two heirloom tomato varieties (one of which I have a suspicion may be an unknown - or at least VERY rare - variety). I also obtained leek, celtuce, garlic, pimento pepper, corn, and lavender poppy seeds from her, as well as boysenberry cuttings and more walking onions to add to our patch. I was pretty happy! I planted a large section of my new 2nd garden patch yesterday, and can hardly wait for garden fresh veggies!! She also gave me quite a few artichoke sprouts, which also inspired me to go out and buy 2 packets of artichoke seeds (which are currently germinating in my seedling trays in the greenhouse). I had no idea that artichokes grew well in Oregon! For some reason I thought that they could not grow here...I am excited to be wrong on that front!

Next weekend is jammed full of all kinds of farm chores and errands (including an appointment to do our taxes...bleh), and the 2nd weekend of March my mother-in-law is flying out to visit us for 4 days. Hard to believe that 3 weekends from now is the first official day of spring! Where does the time go?? I am so excited for spring though, and for my garden to begin producing. My goal this summer and fall is to not have to go the grocery store for any vegetables, eggs, or dairy products.

The chickens have begun laying again. We are now averaging 3 eggs every other day. I am loving having the eggs again! Nothing compares to FRESH!!!

Back to the insanity!...

Ice Cream in a Cup

Well, Milking Season is finally upon us! We have 4 does "on line" and only one more due to kid any day now. Last count was 9 voracious "milk-pire" babies (all adorable and healthy) and roughly 2 gallons of goats milk per day! Cheese and yogurt and cream, oh my! Yesterday, I had my first cup of coffee with goats milk in it since last August - it was like Ice Cream in a Cup! SO delicious. I forgot how absolutely amazing fresh goats milk is. With 2 gallons of milk coming in each day, Ryan is going to be making a LOT of cheese (both soft and hard, now that he has a cheese press!), and I am very much looking forward to all of the delicious varieties that I will get to eat.

My first small asparagus shoot has poked its head out of the ground - very odd to see in February, but I figure the weather has been so strangely warm this year that spring must be coming early. I also noticed my first burdock, pea, and fava beans poking their heads out of the soil. My spinach and arugula sprouts are roughly 2 weeks old and getting bigger each day. I can hardly wait for garden fresh salads in a month!!

Yesterday, I planted 5 "Adirondack Blue" seed potatoes, and I have 5 more that need planting. I have only heard of the "All Blue" potato variety, and am unfamiliar with this type, but I love blue potatoes and am more than happy to give it a shot!

I put out all of my large plastic plant containers and did a head count: 50 in all, which means, besides the raised beds, I will be able to have 50 tomato, pepper, and eggplant plants! YUM! Speaking of which, my germination trays of Black Krim tomato (my personal favorite), Ancho Chile, Eggplant, Habanero Chile, Wood Betony, and Mexican Tarragon are all sprouting, and my Mary Washington asparagus sprouts are getting big too! All of my Walla Walla onion seeds have sprouted, along with my parsley. I love spring!

This past weekend, I finally finished filling up my two most recent raised beds, and in them I planted Garden Sorrel and more Burdock. Yesterday, I began filling up my row boat turned container garden. I didn't realize how much soil that thing could hold! That boat is going to be an enormous planter box!!! I have decided that I am going to turn the boat into another sunchoke bed. Not only will it provide delicious food, but it will also provide a decorative screen to hide the windows of our private "Innkeepers' Quarters." It always makes me nervous to have bedroom windows that guests can easily peer into. This way, I will feel that my "space" is much more private.

The weather report says that it's supposed to be sunny and in the 60's for the next few days - perfect gardening weather! I love being outdoors, playing in the dirt.

2010 Goat Babies (So Far)

Apothecary Farm SB Narf (Doe, Zilla)

Apothecary Farm SB Snowball (Wether, Zilla)

Apothecary Farm SB Muffin (Wether, Cheerio)

Apothecary Farm SB Ebelskiver (Doe, Cheerio)

Apothecary Farm SB Pop Tart (Doe, Cheerio)

Apothecary Farm GO Aa (Doe, Citrine)

Apothecary Farm SB Screech II (Wether, Breeze)

FAR RIGHT: Apothecary Farm SB Banshee (Doe, Breeze)
FAR LEFT: Apothecary Farm SB Siren Song (Doe, Breeze)

The Bottle Babies Have Arrived!

In her usual style, Zilla kicked off the kidding season yet again with the birth of a set of beautiful twins - a boy and a girl - we dubbed, "Snowball" and "Narf" (respectively). Yes, we are still on a Pinkie and the Brain naming theme for Zilla's progeny. Her contractions began shortly before evening feeding time, so I went ahead and did farm chores a little early and locked all of the goats in for the night. After roughly 20 minutes of serious pushing, little Snowball catapulted into the world. He was healthy and active from the get-go, and we were so excited and focused on him that we nearly missed the birth of little Narf! She appeared to have asphyxiated a bit during the birth, and was weaker than her brother, but with a little toweling off and some extra help finding the milk, I am pleased to say that Narf is doing fabulously!

Snowball (a future wether) is an interesting mix of sire and dam coloring: tan with the white side spot on either side (and a large white spot on the top of his head), but with Zilla's gorgeous black & silver moon spots too! Very flashy, and I am hoping that he will make an excellent pet wether for some lucky family! Narf is a replica of last year's baby, Troz, and takes her coloring solely from her sire.

I am so SO relieved that this year's kidding had a happier ending than last year (when we lost the boy twin, who was born weighing under a pound and severely weak). I have a feeling that we are going to have a good and easy kidding season this year, and I only hope that my instincts are accurate.

Pictures will follow as soon as I get out to the barn this morning...

Citrine and Cheerio appear to have lost their ligs, so we may be in for a double kidding tonight!

Stay tuned...

Ask Jillian Continued

Dear Jillian,

I was cleaning out the barn stall today, and forgot to close my mouth. Suddenly, as I was flinging a pile of manure into the wheel barrow, a lone piece landed in my mouth!! What do I do?? I am worried about getting all sorts of intestinal parasites now!

Signed,

Wormy in Wisconsin

~

Well, my dear Wormy, you have unfortunately violated the #1 rule of Farm Etiquette: ALWAYS keep your mouth closed when cleaning out barns and pastures! The good news is that there are several very comforting ways to sanitize both your mind and your body. For starters, pour yourself an enormous glass of wine (or beer). Swish each mouthful for several seconds to sanitize your mouth. Next, begin prep work on a large dinner - something that involves beans (for example: burritos). Grab a large handful of dried epazote, and add it into the bean dish as part of the seasoning. Epazote is a traditional Mexican culinary herb, as well as an excellent vermifuge (that's something that dispels intestinal parasites). Epazote also helps to reduce intestinal gas (so your spouse will thank you!).

Enjoy those epazote burritos! With such amazing medicinal properties, you won't feel guilty going back for seconds...or thirds...

Another Day, Another Barter

I'm so very pleased!: I have managed another fine trade yet again through craigslist! This time it was some of my herb seeds and plant starts for Jerusalem Artichoke tubers. I am going to be converting one of my 9 pear-crate-turned-container-garden into a half Sunchoke half Yacon bed. The nurseries seem to charge an awful lot for the tubers, so I posted an ad on craigslist asking for a barter. A very nice woman from Ashland answered, and today we are making the trade! I am quite excited! They are well-adapted to our climate zone, and can even over-winter in ground here.

Speaking of pear crates, Ryan brought home two more yesterday. One is going to be my second burdock bed, and the other is going to be my new garden sorrel bed. After speaking with a friend (who grows sorrel herself), I decided sorrel was definitely a must-have for my garden! With my addiction to leafy greens, this early spring producer sounded perfect. I can't wait to purchase the seeds (unfortunately, I have to hold tight until payday next week).

Yesterday, I transplanted my Stupice (pronounced "Stoo-pee-ka") and Orange Oxheart tomato starts into larger pots, along with my Jalapeno pepper, Mexican Tarragon, and Echinacea starts. I have estimated that by the time I am done and ready to begin selling, I am will have roughly 500 or more heirloom tomato plants, and about an equal number of heirloom pepper plants. I talked to Ryan about this, and besides selling them to friends and family and people on craigslist, we are also thinking of hosting a "Plant Sale Extravaganza" event in mid- to late-April at the farm. It will be $1 per start for tomatoes and peppers, and 50 cents per pot of herb starts. You can donate a plastic gallon plant pot and receive one free tomato or pepper start of your choice (limit one per customer). Once we coordinate schedules, we will post the date, time, and other details.

I sat down at the computer yesterday and sketched out a very much NOT to scale diagram of my raised beds on the property. If you are interested, you can view them below. The garden pasture will be planted solely with grain (Camelina, Amaranth, and Quinoa) and squash/melon (Marina di Chiogga and Long Island Cheese winter squash, and Moon & Stars watermelon) crops. Due to poor soil and extreme gopher problems, I have decided that raised bed gardening is the best way to go about things around here!

Ask Jillian

I have been quasi-jokingly informed by a dear friend (yes, that is you, Kailee) that I should start writing an "Ask Jillian" column for local, country living-related advice. It would be like "Dear Abbey" but with barnyard etiquette.
So, here is my first mock article:

"Dear Jillian,

I have an old row boat that no longer holds water just laying around on my property. I want to clean up my land, but I feel bad throwing it away. What can I do with it?

Signed,
Confused in the Country"

~

"Well, Confused in the Country, your answer is a simple one. Merely take your old boat, power wash the dirt off with a hose, allow it to dry, and then white-wash the outside with an exterior primer. Drill drainage holes in the bottom with an electric drill, come up with a fitting name to paint on the side, and move it into the garden as your newest raised bed! You can build a mast out of an old trellis and train grapes to grow up it for an "organic" sail. And of course, don't forget that pirate flag!

P.S. - Don't pay to purchase grape plants! Grow your own using free cuttings obtained from local vineyards. Vineyards usually do their pruning from January to March, so you'll need to hustle to get those free cuttings!"

My Poor Broken Body

Today - instead of relaxing like I should have - I decided to fill up the other pear crate we have turned into a container garden. It's 4 feet long by 4 feet wide by 2 feet deep. I have discovered that it takes roughly 8 wheel barrow loads of compost to fill it to within 6" of the brim. That's a lot of poo. I worked hard throughout the morning, trying to beat the rainstorm I could see moving towards me on the horizon. I managed to finish up just as the first drops started hitting! In this latest raised bed I planted roughly 300 Yellow Dock seeds - a plant that many consider a weed but that I (and numerous other herbalists) believe to be a valuable addition to the medicinal landscape. An ugly but useful plant, if you will.

Ryan brought home my next container garden piece: an old cast iron tub, courtesy of Bill & Barb from nearby Cowhorn Vineyard. This we placed in the Secret Garden to the south of the Solarium, where it will be kept in good company by a decommissioned row boat (repainted and titled the "H.M.S. Zilla" after our favorite goat) and several humorous pieces of gnome statuary.

I spent some time updating the "About Us" page of our bed and breakfast website, built a warm fire, and then began working on dinner. I wasn't in the mood to do a complex meal, so instead I threw together a chicken tagine with dates, onions (out of the garden), honey, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, and rice. It's currently cooking in the oven and smells DELICIOUS (I'm so hungry!!!!). There is also a bottle of Troon '04 Reserve Cab on the counter, waiting to accompany our dinner.

As my back is KILLING me, I am taking it easy in front of the fire, and watching our "Goats Gone Wild" barn camera feed on the TV. For those who have been keeping up with our kidding dates, you will know that tomorrow is the first due date for our goats. Not that any of them every give birth according to MY schedule. Darn goats...

Falling Asleep Over Dinner

That's pretty much what is going to happen later. I am ready to fall flat on my face out of sheer exhaustion! The "kit-tard" (as we - mostly - lovingly call the new demon kitten) woke us up at 2 am this morning and wouldn't let us go back to sleep, so right now I am heading into Hour #14 of wakefulness (and expecting to be able to head off to bed around Hour #19). A man on craigslist was selling old wooden pear crates for $5 a piece, so I convinced Ryan to go down there with the truck yesterday and pick some up. He could only fit two in the truck. Apparently, they are LARGE pear crates. As in 4 feet wide x 4 feet long x 2 feet deep! So today I unloaded them off of the truck and placed them in the back of the property by my other raised beds. I managed to fill one with soil and compost and plant my remaining asparagus crowns in it (which have already begun to awaken thanks to the warmer weather we've had lately). That's a LOT of wheel barrow loads in a morning! In the early afternoon, I had a friend arrive with my old row boat (now my newest raised bed and yard art!). I am going to paint it and decorate it (maybe even put a pirate flag on it!), so it's going to be a very adorable addition to my garden. She also dropped off some yellow dock, gravel root, purple bergamot, and sorrel plants for me. I just finished planting those in their new homes. In exchange, I gave her some Echinacea purpurea, Balloonflower, assorted basils, Hibiscus, and Marsh Mallow plants that I grew from seed over the winter. I love having friends who garden!

Well, the animals are screaming, so you know what that means...

What's In A Dream?

The lovely Christine Collier of the Southern Oregon Wine Blog recently asked me to answer some questions regarding our bed and breakfast. As I ended up typing what practically amounts to a short story, I thought I would repost it here for others to enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I just finished cleaning out the chicken coop, and now have my clothes sanitizing in the washer, so I guess that gives me some time to respond to your questions...

I don't recall exactly what moment Ryan and I decided to open up a bed and breakfast. I know we talked and dreamed about it very early on in our dating. We both love to cook, so I think that was part of it. I remember once my family joked that they should buy us a bed and breakfast because we loved to cook so much! Ryan and I had discussed opening up a little cafe, but decided that we just weren't cut out for the restaurant biz. We wanted something a little bit different...

My grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimers several years ago, and my grandmother was having trouble taking care of him. I was finishing up my degree in geology at the University of Utah at the time. I had no idea what I wanted to do after graduation, and when I found out about my grandfather, I decided moving back to Oregon might be the wisest option. We would be closer to our family, and could help care for my grandfather. So, after graduation, we packed our bags and headed out to Oregon with no set plans and a whole lot of hope. We never expected to move out into the Applegate Valley. Originally, we had fallen in love with a little farm house in Rogue River, and had planned to open up our business there. I grew up in Grants Pass, so I was familiar with Medford and Rogue River, but had never really ventured into Jacksonville or the Applegate. We actually ended up at the house on Upper Applegate Road by sheer Fate. The two other houses we had made offers on had fallen through, and this property was our last resort. It was what my friend April called a four letter word: WORK. This place was a fixer-upper's dream, and a first time homeowner's nightmare. But, it had potential, the owners were desperate to sell, and we were desperate to have a place to live. The rest, as they say, is history...

I remember the first evening we spent at the house. None of our furniture had arrived, so we had to resort to sleeping on one of the old mattresses that the previous owners had left in the master bedroom. There was a spider (not to mention mouse & snake) infestation in the home at the time, and though the sellers had had the place treated, it had not taken full effect yet. So, there were roughly 500 million brown recluse and hobo spiders in attendance as well that night. I don't think I slept at all.

It’s been almost three years now since that fateful first night, and I am proud at how much we have managed to accomplish in that time. In the beginning, things were so financially tight that we could not afford to do more than paint the walls in the house. When we had moved in, the house was completely white-washed. Ryan and I, tired of living in apartment after apartment with beige- and pastel-colored walls, vowed to bring color into our life and our new home! We have collected antique furniture since our early days of marriage, and we wanted to pick out room colors that would compliment our bold antique pieces. In the living room, we picked a metallic gold paint as an accent wall for our large, black antique china cabinet. We wanted that to be the first thing that people noticed when they entered the house. Our wedding china is a turn-of-the-century set by Villeroy and Boch, and we picked out the coordinating red current and dark pink colors to match. Our most recent acquisition – an oil painting by Y.W. Leung measuring roughly 7 feet long and 3 feet tall – completes the color scheme in the living room.

As the months passed, we were able to do little bits of home improvement here and there. Finally, in late 2008, we were able to tear down the old, hideously blue barn and replace it with a beautiful red barn (no more having kidding season in the garage!). Then, we could finally begin on the real remodeling of the house. From January – April 2009, the house was almost completely gutted: new walls, insulation, appliances, electrical, and more! The kitchen and the Duchesse de Portland bathroom are the two most impressive features of the remodel. One thing I will say about remodeling: if your marriage can survive a remodel, it can survive anything! I think the biggest shock about remodeling your house is getting used to having random people in your home at all hours of the day and night, and lacking the use of rooms or appliances that you have grown accustomed to. It can be very stressful. Thankfully, Ryan and I made it through our remodel just fine.

With the Apothecary Inn, we have strived to bring people a unique experience not offered elsewhere in Southern Oregon. It’s not simply about fine breakfast dining – we want to show people where their food comes from. One of our goals is to be entirely self-sufficient. Whether or not we ever manage to achieve that on this property does not matter – this is the goal that we strive for; this is what keeps us going. We raise registered, show-quality Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats, and these provide the farm’s dairy products. Fresh milk, yogurt, kefir, and soft & hard cheeses are produced from our five (and counting) adorable does. We have a flock of chickens (averaging between 30 and 50 birds depending on the year), who provide us with eggs. You haven’t truly lived until you have tried farm fresh eggs – you’ll never go back to store purchased after that! I work hard at maintaining a very large vegetable garden, which grows in size every year. I save my own seeds, so there are no hybrids found in my garden. This past year, Ryan and I have constructed a formal herb garden next to the house. In four raised beds made of river rock from the ravine at the side of our property, I have planted my culinary and medicinal herbs. Besides the obvious personal and bed & breakfast needs, these herbs are also used to produce our line of all natural botanical products under the label, “Sangue di Dragone.” We stock each guest bathroom with samples of our soaps, shampoos, bath oils, salves, and facial products.

With our breakfast menu, we work hard to make a delicious meal using simple, homegrown ingredients and no sugar or chemicals. Breakfast consists of two courses: the first course is generally a lighter, sweeter course, and is followed by a second, heartier course. Ryan has a 250+ year-old sourdough starter, and makes sourdough rolls to set out as pre-breakfast snacks for guests.

Ryan and I love wine, and enjoy being located nearby several Applegate wineries. I can’t honestly say that we have a “favorite,” as each winery brings something special and valuable into the mix. Anyone who claims a favorite vineyard has not visited all of them yet.

Apothecary Inn is still the “new kid on the block.” We opened our doors on May 10^th, 2009 with a lovely Grand Opening Celebration attended by 30-40 friendly faces. Even with our limited advertising budget, word spread, and we booked a fairly full summer. We have had a great deal of positive feedback from guests, and I look forward to seeing this trend continue in the future. I believe that word of mouth is the best form of advertisement. The people who come to stay at our bed and breakfast are doing so because they want a truly unique and rewarding experience. In a time where most people don’t connect that their hamburger comes from a cow, or that their Thanksgiving turkey did not start its life in plastic wrap, we are here to show people that there is something good to be said for going back to basics. It’s about using your hands, working hard, and accomplishing a dream. Each generation walks a different path, but that doesn’t mean that we should forget our ancestors. In a day with Walmart and work cubicles, we traded a 40 hour week for a 60 hour week and came out ahead. There is something to be said for returning to your roots. At Apothecary Inn, we’ll show you why.