Archive for August, 2007
August 31, 2007 – Photo Friday – “Insignificant”
This week’s Photo Friday contest theme is insignificant. Here’s a shot from a cold winter day! one year ago…
August 30, 2007 – Thingamajig Thursday #86
Here’s this week’s “Thingamajig” entry. Also check out the last thingamajig answer. As always, put your guess in a comment below. Hold mouse over this sentence to pop-up answer. one year ago…
August 29, 2007 – Fowl Brooding
We’ve got three separate batches of poultry brooding now – 50 more broilers in the old hog barn, and in one half of the chicken coop, we’ve got the fancy chickens and guineas. The broilers can’t be with any others since they are too pushy and the fancy chickens and guineas can’t be together since ...Read more.
August 28, 2007 – Claire’s 1st Day of School
Today was the first day of school for Claire. Now she’s really a high schooler – a sophomore this year. On these landmark kinds of days, it’s hard to accept that our colicky little baby will be flying the nest in three more years! one year ago…
August 27, 2007 – Passport Ready?
I earlier wrote that Linda was selected to go on an ag trip to Mexico this fall. Now, she’s going on ANOTHER trip, this time, a bit further south -Â to Costa Rica in the winter (winter here, not there). A group from Iowa State periodically sponsors trips for ag professionals and growers to experience a ...Read more.
August 26, 2007 – One BIG Local Meal Arrives
Finally, the meal begins! We’re not sure exactly how many people ate, but it may have been around 110. The first people move through the local food line. We used up all the plates and forks! The dishes all had notecards explaining what the dish is and the source of the food. This is one ...Read more.
August 25, 2007 – One BIG Local Meal Prep
Today the preparations started for the all-Iowa lunch after church tomorrow. As part of the focus on sustainability this month in church, we helped plan a local meal for the congregation – so they could taste what local cooking can be and be mindful of where their food comes from. When you start out with ...Read more.
August 24, 2007 – Fancy Fowl
Claire and Emma pooled some of their money to buy some fancy and rare breeds of guinea hens and chickens. They ordered them from Sandhill Preservation Center, a place devoted to the continuation of rare breeds of fowl and heirloom seeds. This is a Partridge Silkie. This will be a small, fancy chicken with feathered ...Read more.
August 23, 2007 – Thingamajig Thursday #85
Here’s this week’s “Thingamajig” entry. Also check out the last thingamajig answer. As always, put your guess in a comment below. Hold mouse over this sentence to pop-up answer. one year ago…
August 22, 2007 – Dog Agility
Emma loves her dog – Maizie. Here she is working with Maizie on some dog agility maneuvers. For a little dog, she can really jump – she can regularly clear the top level of the jump. She’s now about two and starting to settle down a bit and learning what it takes to be a ...Read more.
August 21, 2007 – Garden Spider
Here’s a nice shot from the garden today. This is a strawflower being used as an anchor for a garden spider to weave it web. I’ll claim arachnid ignorance on knowing what this spider is really called – we just call them garden spiders. They usually first appear this time of year and are striking ...Read more.
August 20, 2007 – 1st Day of School for 2
Today is the first day of school for Martin and Emma! It’s time for a different schedule around the farm now, although with Claire not starting until next week, it will not be all at once shock. Now, I need to think of what the most pressing jobs around the farm will be. It was much ...Read more.
August 19, 2007 – Local Food Resources
I thought I’d post the list of local food resources (many, but not all are specific to Iowa) for those of you asking – where do I find good local food? Directories Local Harvest www.localharvest.org Iowa Farmer’s Market Finder http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us/farmermarket.asp Des Moines Metro Buy Fresh/Buy Local http://71.18.109.16/resources/marketing-and-food-systems-related-resources.html Iowa Vineyards/Wineries http://www.iowawinegrowers.org/ Iowa Apple Growers Directory http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us/applegrowers.asp ...Read more.
August 18, 2007 – First Big Canning Day of the Year
Today was the first big canning day of the season. Â We had made a few batches of jam earlier, but this is the first time we rolled out the stainless steel counter and old cooktop from the house and set up in the shed, since there was a chance of rain and it was hot ...Read more.
