La la la la .... not paying attention!

What did you first think when seeing this photo? Has Blackberry been a bad girlie-goat and is in a "time out" or is this her preferred view of the world?

Talk to the hoof 'cuz Blackberry ain't a' listenin'!

Hi Blackberry! What's that you say? You're overwhelmed? Too much killing, hate, economic troubles, famine and war? And maybe if you don't see the world, it doesn't see you? Well, those are my thoughts exactly. Sometimes, it all just gets too TOO MUCH.

Say, Blackberry... can I join you?

(After her breakfast, morning exercise, belly-scratches and general all around lovin',  Blackberry has made it a habit to find a corner to stick her face into where she'll spend the rest of the day contemplating her role in the universe and the meaning of her existence.)

Coffee chaff in the animal compound

With hard economic times, here are a few ways to pinch those pennies.

There are some advantages to living in the city.  Goods and services are more readily available and nearby as compared to living in the country.  The various shops around town always have some discards for which they usually have no more need.

Did you know that coffee roasters have burlap bags that once contained coffee beans, grounds and chaff as a by product from roasting and that they want to give away both for free? They only need someone to haul them away.  That would be us - thank you, very much!

Chaff, the dry, scaly protective casings of the beans, is cast aside after the bean is ground for roasting.  The chaff from coffee makes a great bedding for the hen house & "mulch" for the animal compound.    I just open up the huge bag and dump it into the compound – smells so yummy! MMMMMMM

:: Resource ::

Coffee Chaff Chicken Coop Litter

Burlap bags in the garden

The discarded burlap sacks come in handy for uses in the garden for soil erosion and weed control.  Not that we need ANY weed control, but the sacks come in handy when we are turning over the beds and don't want the fresh dirt to attract all the cats from the neighbor to use.

:: Resource ::

Uses for Burlap  in the Garden

Coffee grounds feed the worms

And, last but not least, coffee grounds  will perk up your compost pile with much needed nitrogen.    Our blueberries thrive on the caffeine fix! Sunset Magazine did a soil experiment and it turned out the grounds also provide generous amounts of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and copper.

Also worms also love coffee grounds!

So you see, there are lots of creative uses for "throw-aways."  Somebody's trash is another's treasure!

:: Resources ::

Coffee in the Garden
Compost Coffee
Give your Garden a Jolt
21 Ways to Use Old Coffee Grounds
Coffee Grounds, Coffee chaff, and Burlap Sacks

Orach

"Strawberry Spinach"

Purslane

Chard & kale

New Zealand Spinach

Collards

Come summer, growing lettuces and tender greens can be a challenge.     We  do grow a "patch or two" in our movable planter boxes that we move to the northwest side of the house to keep the sun's rays from beating down on the poor things.    Sure, we'll get a few cuttings before they expire; bu twe  rely more on their hardy counterparts for our summer green crop.

Over the last 25 years of growing food in the city, we learned many things - sometimes the hard way.  The main lesson is to  adapt, growing along with the season and not against it.  Trying to coax things to grow out of their season means you just create more work for yourself.

In summer there's a higher turnaround  with the greens, like lettuce and arugula, because of bolting .   In summer, our salad mix has more hardy (less likely to bolt) summer greens like dandelion, purslane, tetragonia, orach, amaranth, mustards, etc.

Don't think your chances have wilted for growing  nutritious greens in the heat of the summer.  Grow out of your comfort zone!  There are  plenty  of different and exciting greens  from which to choose.

What's your favorite "hot weather" greens?

Hosing off. Playing in the water, feels mighty fine

Time to dry off

Twist n shout!

Almost dry

Sitting pretty

While Jordanne is hard at work making upgrades  (looking good btw!) on our blog, here's a little pictorial interlude for your enjoyment of one of the many hummingbirds to visit the garden each morning.

This time around, I was prepared and had a camera ready for the action!  While watering the garden, they enjoy a fresh drink and morning bath from the hose.

From what I can tell, this one looks to be a young female Rufous Hummingbird.

My sisters tease me because I seem to attract our resident hummingbirds while I'm outside.  They often remark that the little hummers probably have a crush on me - whatever.  What's with my sisters anyway?

After two years of being screened at many film festivals and community viewings throughout the world, we have published (in its entirety) our award winning short film Homegrown Revolution for free viewing on YouTube.

It has been a crazy ride and exciting to have an award winning film and we sincerely thank those of you who supported this film in many ways.  A big THANK YOU goes out from our hearts to those  who supported us, purchased this video, screened it, shared it or simply let the film's message lead you to a new way of looking at your yard. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! We really appreciate it.

Our unlikely little film was a surprise success story.  For those of you who don't know the history, I'll recap briefly.  For those of you already know it, go ahead and skip to the end of this post to watch Homegrown Revolution.

Homegrown Revolution was made in a whirlwind three days after a last-minute invite for Dad to speak at Peter Sellars' UCLA class in 2007.  Jules Dervaes was to be the lead-in and local authority on sustainable food to Michael Pollan's presentation.

By now, we had given so many presentations, the explaining of our project and "Urban Homesteading" was becoming a tad redundant - there are only so many clever ways we could explain what we have been doing the last 16+ years.  Plus, the fact that this was a night class had many of us expecting a room of yawning and under-caffeinated students blinking sleepily at their laptop screens and surfing Facebook, content to get class credit simply for being a body in the seat.  Short of handing Red Bull out to everyone, we seriously thought NO ONE would wake up for this Urban Homesteading and sustainable food presentation.

Looking back at the time, I realize how far the movement has come to the point it is today.   It wasn't long ago at all, but in 2007  the movement was just blooming and I was finding out that most students didn't care or know about Urban Homesteading -- or even anything environmental or sustainable.   There's always the usual small but core group of students who were into changing the world and activism but we knew we had to reach to the others in the class that might not even have a first thought about the food they ate or about gardening.

At the family meeting / lunch following the invite, Dad turned to me (since I have unofficially become the tech geek / "electronic gadget whisperer" of the family ) and inquired about a video slideshow we had put together for a virtual tour of the Urban Homestead called "One Step at a Time."  This video brochure had been published on our website at the time  since it was first uploaded in 2004 (soon to be uploaded to YouTube for kicks).

As I am not a video editor and had no training at all, my foray into  messing about with video clips had been a sink or swim experience.   After mucking about in Adobe Premier, I had managed to put together some footage that resulted in One Step at a Time and that short film seemed pretty cool when it was made; but I was now slightly embarrassed about it and wanted to give Dad something newer and peppier for the students.

Anais and I got to work in those three days before the presentation.   We had multiple tapes of footage of the garden, animals and various projects throughout the yard but very little of ourselves.  So, I spliced those with some of the news media interviews for a  narrative effect.

I really wanted to do little interviews on our  own footage; but given the short amount of time and our aversion to being filmed by one another, it just wasn't happening. (NOTE: Seriously, I did try.  I approached Justin with a camera as he did his biodiesel brewing and asked him in  my best TV reporter voice to explain what was doing.   I received an  "are you kidding me?" stare for my troubles.  Turns out, it's hard for  us to be enthusiastic about giving each other interviews.  Try explaining to someone who already knows what you are doing, what you are doing.  It isn't easy. )

For fun and to appeal to the college kids who were my own age, Anais and I added in some well known musical favorites to create a edgy  mash-up type music video.

Turns out, as R.E.M's moody guitar in "Drive" snapped up the students' attention at  the first minute to the final frame of the fist-in-the-sky rallying  image and the drumming strains of "Revolution Cry", we had gained this class' full focus and subsequent and  enthusiastic ovation and shouts.   Yes, even the too-cool-for-school jocks of UCLA's NCAA basketball team were into it.

Later that week, we decided to publish Homegrown Revolution on YouTube (cut to 10 minutes since YouTube wouldn't allow videos of  longer lengths at that time) and it kind of went viral for a time and gained over 500,000 views.

We started to use Homegrown Revolution for an intro to Jules Dervaes' workshops and presentations and considered it a type of "video brochure" or "infomercial" to Urban  Homesteading.  Fast forward to late 2008 and we received a phone call from the awesome  folks at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival asking if we wanted to  submit our film for consideration.

I seriously had no idea what they were talking about!   Film?  What film? We don't have a film, I thought.

They soon convinced us that they were really asking for Homegrown Revolution which one of their members had seen on YouTube.  This touched off a flurry of more video editing.  Since the original version contained a lot that was not our footage, we began to re-shoot a lot of scenes and I soon had Homegrown Revolution up to over 25 minutes long.  But because Wild & Scenic had accepted Homegrown  Revolution into their program as it appeared on YouTube, we knew we  had to keep it to 10 minutes.

In the end, the final product came out  at 15 minutes after we all refused to cut out anything more.  There was also concern from some of Film Festival folks about remaking  Homegrown Revolution so much that it would no longer feel like the  original version so we felt a little restricted in our creativity.     I did try to obtain the rights to some of the footage / interviews that appeared in the original version but with so little time to  remake the film, it turned out easier to just re-speak most of it  instead of dealing with all the paperwork.    Again, all this had to  be done in a short amount of time - definitely not enough time to be at one's full creativity.

Unfortunately, although most of our words as they appear in the 2009  version of Homegrown Revolution had been spoken to interviewers  previously, it was hard getting family members to say the same lines  with enthusiasm and with the same passion as they had when speaking to  someone "new" and curious to what we were doing.  Looking at the film today,  I can see all the mistakes and where it could all have been better.

But this was a collaborative project done by all of us -- with each family member taking part in the filming, editing and structure of the film.  Neither of us had any previous film editing / filming experience but we hope the passion and enthusiasm show through any technical flaws and other problems.

It's also important to note that the film was made entirely in-house on computers powered by solar/green sources.  All transportation was done in a biodiesel-fueled car and all camera/mic batteries were rechargeable and charged with solar energy.  Waste was kept to a minimum – paper composted or recycled and all publicizing materials printed  on post consumer paper.

We are humbled by the impressive impact Homegrown Revolution had in  the film festivals both nationally and internationally. It  was never created for a film festival circuit but has a true homegrown, homemade story behind its creation. Today,  whenever I am frustrated by learning something new or seeing where I fail in trying to get something perfect, I just need to look at where our little film that could has taken us.

I am compiling a  tally of the festivals and known public screenings to be published at HomegrownRevolution.com but here are the AWARDS and HONORS Homegrown Revolution has gained so far:

WINNER

Best Environment & Ecology Film North America,
Swansea International Film Festival, UNITED KINGDOM

Prize of the Mayor of the Capitol City of Slovakia
Ekotop Film Festival of Sustainable Development, SLOVAKIA

Best Short Documentary
Southern Appalachian International Film Festival, TENNESSEE

El Capitan Film Award
Yosemite International Film Festival, CALIFORNIA

Best Sustainability Film
Green Screen Environmental Film Festival, CALIFORNIA

Robert T. Nanninga Award for Excellence,
Cottonwood Creek Film Festival, CALIFORNIA

-----------------------------

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Westpac Award Best Short Film Runner Up
Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival, NEW ZEALAND

NOMINATED - Best Film, Climate Change & Sustainable Technology
CMS Vatavaran Environmental & Wildlife Film Fest, INDIA

FINALIST
European Spiritual Film Fest, FRANCE

Footage aired on Oprah's 2009 Earth Day show

You can still purchase the DVD here for community screenings or to just own a copy. We're still sending the film out to festivals who request it, so if you know of any film festivals or other opportunities, continue to send them our way. Thanks!

Pssst...!

Sharp eyed or observant readers might notice we now have a new YouTube address:  http://www.youtube.com/urbanhomestead

We'll still have the http://www.youtube.com/dervaes one but we might FINALLY be getting into sharing how-to videos.  We are launching this new channel for video clips showing snippets of life from the Urban Homestead as well as some how-to videos.

So be sure to subscribe to this new channel to get all the latest videos - thanks!

Applying the liquid beeswax

In they go into the box

Bigger is not always better, even when it comes to beekeeping.   Natural (smaller) cells are better, especially for those of us who are choosing chemical and antibiotic free hives.    Modern thinking is that bigger bees would give more honey; but the downside is that bigger bees are susceptible to a pesky mite called varroa.

This year, we are experimenting with downsizing giving them a smaller pattern cell from which to draw comb.   Most commercially available combs measure around 5.5mm; however, bees left to their own devices, tend to make smaller cells averaging 4.9mm in diameter.

By using smaller comb,  we are hoping that smaller cells and bees will help lower the varroa mites levels.

Small cells alone will not save bees from varroa mites, but we sure can help give the bees a fighting chance!

:: Resources ::

Bee Natural: Small Cell

Small Cell Foundation and Varroa Mites

The Way Back to Biological Beekeeping

Wacky weather whiplash pattern continues.  Last week it was a scorching 95 degrees; then quicker than you can say  "summer's here?" a  few days later it's cold, overcast and raining (what a BLESSING!).

The poor plants are totally confused and so are we - sweater on, sweater off, on, off?

In the garden, the elephant garlic is just about ready to harvest and we've been digging up pounds and pounds of tasty potatoes!  Just today made a potato salad with home canned pickled carrots and homegrown celery - so yummy!  Can't beat the flavor and texture of homegrown potatoes!

The summer crops are slowly replacing the spring greens and brassicas. Justin informed me that they already spotted the hated (invasive) bagrada bug due to the heat. Bugger!

As head manager of the front porch farm stand, my duties include not only managing the operation, taking orders and such but also  filling them. Think that's my favorite part: to be out in the garden early in the morning harvesting the lovely bouquet of greens.   I do declare that one morning we all picked nearly 30 lbs of greens to fill the orders that morning!  Whew!

Bouquet of greens, indeed.  One of our customers exclaimed, "If I ever got married, this would be my bouquet."  Awwww.

APRIL HARVEST

276 lb produce

Eggs 141 (Duck) 73 (Chicken)

2011 YEAR TO DATE

939 lb produce

Eggs 486 (Duck)  190 (Chicken)

Jamboree!

Guess what sis & I been doing?   We kicked off the fruit season with a medley of jams - sweet grapefruit, strawberry rose, strawberry lemon verbena and just plain ol' strawberry.

With all the wonderfully fragrant roses and herbs growing in the garden, I pick a few hand fulls and infuse them in with the fruit preserves.    Turns ordinary jam into extraordinary!

What sorts of canning activity are you doing?  Do you like to go beyond the same old and experiment with adding herbs, flowers and spices?

Here's one of my favorite "outside the jar" canning blog

Sorry for such a short post, love to write more but we have a BIG produce (edible flowers, salad and lots of greens) order to fill this morning and major world news outlet coming at noon to do a story about our urban homestead.

More later!

The Carter Family

It’s been awhile since I picked up a guitar. This new year was just about as good a time as any to scratch off some things on my  "to do" list.  (Doesn’t seem to get any shorter, does it?)

I’m hardly an expert; but, I can say if you are wanting to play an instrument, start easy with a song you like to sing that has easy chords.  Basically, don’t bite off more than you can chew – admit you aren't going to be Neil Young anytime soon!

The first week my poor fingertips hurt like heck.  I made sure to practice chords every night. But, the next morning, I could barely feel the keys to the computer keyboard.   After about a month rubbing alcohol on my tips after each practice session, as sis prescribed, my fingers have calluses. Now, the chords don’t hurt as much (well, except for the durn "D").  Yeehaw!

We like “folksie” music  - grew up listening to Joan Baez, John Denver, Peter Paul & Mary, Gordon Lightfoot, Cat Stevens and many many more.  A few years ago, I  got hooked on Gillian Welch and loved her simple song "Winter's Come and Gone." It turns out that it is an easy song with fairly simple chords changes.   Although I would like to think I have pretty good hand/eye coordination, changing chords and strumming was as challenging as patting my head and rubbing my tummy.  URGH.

Original music tracks are great but they are done in a studio.  If you can search YouTube for someone who has done a good “raw” cover (like this one), you can copy the strumming style.  Jordanne is up to the finger picking level (she does an awesome Redemption Song on guitar).   But, for now, nothing fancy for me!  I’ll just continue to "pat my head, rub my tummy!" Er, I mean, stick to the Three P’s (practice, practice, practice), plain strumming and working on faster chords changes.

What I learned is that when I think I don’t have enough time to do something, it’s all about MAKING time.  It’s there, you just have to find it.

Love this UK site full of lyrics and chords to traditional tunes

There are loads of helpful how tos on YouTube, too.

What’s new on your Re-Skill /To Do List this year?

The portion of the post is "sponsored" by the fictitious product "Powdermilk Biscuits" "Made from whole wheat raised in the rich bottomlands of the Lake Wobegon river valley by Norwegian bachelor farmers” --Garrison Keillor

The other day, a regular customer to our Front Porch Farm Stand got to talking about raw milk – how expensive it is for a family with kids.   Of course, the conversation turned to how I grew up on raw goat's milk and how our dietary habits have changed over the years.

She wondered what we drank.  I said that we really don’t drink milk at all. Our family has never been big on drinking milk. But when we use milk, we found a way to stretch it.

Stretch Your Stores

I remember my grandmother mixing  powdered milk into regular whole milk as a way of making the milk go further.  She used the instant dry milk and, back then, that did help to make the price of milk more economical.

We rarely use whole milk, but use (Organic) Non-Instant Powdered Milk in our coffee and when baking.  I like to mix up a enough powered milk in a quart canning jar and store it in the fridge for a week's worth of use.

Powdered milk is a very good source of protein and we use the non instant (and, thus, more expensive) kind for more nutritional value.  We find that having fresh milk around when we don't drink or even use that much tends to be a waste as it will spoil.  Having powdered milk around solves the dilemma for us.

Here are some ideas for using Dry Milk:

1. Add to pancakes.
2. Mix in muffin batter.
3. Add to scrambled eggs before cooking.
4. Mix in biscuits.
5. Mix dry milk ahead and refrigerate for drinking.
6. Cook hot cereal in dry milk.
7. Prepare hot chocolate.
8. Make Rice Pudding.
9. Make easy vanilla pudding.
10. Make cold chocolate milk.
11. Make the night before to pour over breakfast cereal.
12. Whiz a milk shake.
13. Prepare macaroni and cheese.
14. Make cream of potato soup.
15. Mix in bread dough.
16. Mix in casseroles.
17. Mix in cornbread.
18. Use in cake batter.
19. Add extra dry milk powder for added protein and calcium.
20. Add two tablespoons to fortify liquid meals with more protein and calcium.
21. Add to mashed potatoes.
22. Make into buttermilk.
23. Add to hot drinks instead of creamer.
24. Use in cookie recipes.
25. Take on trips to use for breakfast cereal.
26. Take camping.
27. Take backpacking.
28. Add to master mix for baked products.
29. Make a cream sauce for pasta.
30. Reconstitute and add to regular milk to reduce cost.
31. Make potato soup.
32. Make evaporated milk: one cup dry milk mixed with 2/3 cup water is the equivalent of 1 can of evaporated skim milk.

List Courtesy of BePrepared2Day

:: Resources ::

Dry Milk No Longer A Frugal Alternative

Powder Milk Biscuits

Recipes Using Powdered Milk via Recipe Chic

and last but not least!