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I am the vine

"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon."

John 15: 5-7
The Message

All natural chickens

One of the many joys of raising these wonderful chickens is knowing exactly what they eat. That's in addition,of course, to being privy to how they spend their days, how comfortable they are and their general happiness level on a day to day basis.

One of the treats that we give our chickens from time to time is organic plain yogurt. I know, I didn't believe it myself when I first read about it. Yogurt to chickens! Bah! But believe it or not, it provides the very same benefits to chickens that it does to us humans--beneficial bacteria. And if there is anything the world needs more of.... it's beneficial bacteria.
I have been committed from the get go to raising these chickens as naturally as possible. That's meant no vaccinations, non-medicated feed and general common sense regarding cleanliness of waterers and feeders. I believe that our practices have worked. Out of 52 chicks we have only lost two-- one within the first two days from what must have been genetic issues and the other due to unknown reasons. That's a pretty good track record.
So, to be able to offer them something so simple that is also so helpful, well, it just makes me glad.
And they LOVE it! I mean full on, out and out devotion. I do believe that if they could get away with laying down and rolling in the stuff, they would do it in a heartbeat.
As you can see in the second picture, heads and tails are in the air, yogurt is flying, they eat it off of each other and they keep looking up at you to see if you are going to give them some more.
Soon, chickies, soon.

Some more first peeks at the garden

Well, we're beginning to see the beginning fruits of our labor (John's loving attention to all of our seedlings all spring and my tilling contributions as well as seed planting). We have a gazillion green tomatoes all over our plants--Beefsteaks, romas, a yellow variety and several unknowns, as they are volunteers that shot up in our small kitchen garden just off the back porch. We are battling some end blossom rot on a couple of plants but John thinks that can be solved by adding some lime. The crookneck squash and zucchini (a very pale Italian green variety) are also emerging, however we are also having some blossom issues with them that we don't understand. John has scoured all of his grardening books, to no avail. If anyone has any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated. We've staked the tomatoes with both good old tomato cages, as well as "bamboo" stakes and some are just left to make do on their own. The cucumbers have two kinds of stakes, one created from fiberglass poles connected with twine and another arch support created with salvage something or other that John found in our barn. I like it the best because it is the most aesthetically pleasing thing in our garden, asied from the plants themselves.
We finally got the melons in the ground and they have lots of room to sprawl. The boys are most excited about them.
All in all, it is starting to look like a real garden. We're learning tons everyday about what we did right and what we could most definitely improve upon next year. But it is incredibly exciting to watch things come to life and to know that you had a small part in that.

A true Sun Flower

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own,
And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear,
That the fervor and faith of a soul may be known,
To which time will but make thee more dear!
Oh the heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sunflower turns to her god when he sets
The same look which she turned when he rose!
- Thomas Moore

First tomatoes

"Oh, what I wouldn't give for a plate of fried green tomatoes like we used to have at the cafe. Ooh! "
-Ninny Threadgoode, Fried Green Tomatoes

Well, we simply couldn't wait for our tomatoes to ripen and since it looks like we are going to have a boatload of tomatoes to contend with, we decided to go ahead and harvest a few. Plus, who couldn't go for a grilled chees sandwich with fried green tomatoes and roasted red peppers? Yummy.

My version of prayer flags

"Prayers go up and blessings come down."
-Yiddish Proverb quotes


As I was hanging our cloth napkins on the line yesterday I was struck at how much they resembled Tibetan prayer flags. I've never thought about my laundry on the line in that capacity before. I suppose it was because it was our napkins, which are a variety of colors and uniform in size, but still, the resemblance and, more importantly, the significance of it, was remarkable. It is exactly these simple acts, done on a daily basis and with a humble heart, that can and should be my offering to God.

"We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love."
-Mother Teresa