Random musings of a rookie suburban farm missus….

• If you want to be really successful in growing things, plant directly into a compost pile. I bought a tiny two inch potted pumpkin plant for the kids at the store and we put it in a pile of composed leaves and grass behind the barn. It’s a monster now stretching at least 10 feet or more in all directions. And at least a dozen pumpkins that I can see.

• We haven’t had a goose egg in almost two weeks. Thought maybe it was the heat. So no challah, brioche or cheesecake (not that I’ve been in the baking mood in this weather). They’ve also been getting a bit uppity, taken to honking at the neighbors and such. It’s really rude. As it turns out, they’ve been hiding the eggs underneath the neighbor’s deck. My husband dug up about seven last night. No wonder they were honking so furiously… protecting the nest and all.

• I know where the expression ‘nice weather for ducks’ came about rainy days, and it’s not because they like the water. It’s all the bugs and worms that surface after a good storm. Them’s good eats for a duck.

• And I’ve also realized why they call it ‘chicken fights’ when you get on someone’s shoulders and horse around. Chickens fight with their feet and jump up to scuffle with each other.

• And sadly, Peanut Butter (one of the chickens) was lost to the fox last night. We let them roam the yard during the day and put them in the house inside the fenced area at night. Maybe we shouldn’t let them free range but they love it. It was about 7:30 and I would have been putting them to bed shortly when I heard a commotion, not even as loud as the ruckus they make when the neighbor comes home. I could have ignored it but went out and saw the fox had isolated one chicken. I ran after it and the chicken took flight but when I rounded the blueberry bushes, the fox had Peanut Butter in his mouth and was running off. I’m kind of sad. I like the chickens. I guess we’ll have to keep them in for a while, at least until our Fox Relocation program is successful. At least they have a swimming pool.

… but hanging on the clothes line, it reminds me of Tibetan prayer flags. Only on this windy day, it looks more like a crazy dinosaur flag. I chain-stitched the nine patches together with the focus fabric blocks in long rows and now I have to sew those rows together. A ‘pieceless puzzle’ my quilting teacher calls it. The chain-stitching holds everything in exactly the right place. Super simple is good sometimes.

Grilled Marinated Spicy Shrimp

This is the most addictive recipe. We grilled a pound of shrimp the other night. My husband and I finished it off between us. So, so yummy. You just can’t stop. Maybe it’s the hot sauce. (My only substitution is a squirt of ketchup in place of the tomato paste. Who can bother fussing with a tablespoon of the stuff, or less because I halved the recipe.)

Flat Iron Steak and Spinach Salad

Even substituting the major ingredient (I couldn’t find flat iron a.k.a. top blade steak) I have to heartily recommend this dish. I got a really nice rib-eye instead and the beef combined with the amazing spinach and sautéed veggie salad is just delicious. I’d make the salad again on it’s own any time.

I really should have a picture of these dishes but I’m not usually thinking blog photos at dinner time. We’ve just passed the four (and five) o’clock fussies and I just want dinner on the table so bath and bed can happen at a decent hour. I’ll try to remember next time.

I needed a clock for the kitchen. I perused Target and BB&B and hated everything. Then it dawned on me…. Etsy. Of course I could find something cool there. Appropriate considering our egg production, dont’cha think? The artist is Sandy Mastroni and her Etsy shop is here. Great contemporary folk art. Check it out.

At least I think so. The Fabric Place had a 25% off everything sale last weekend. I found some fabric to back the dinosaur quilt that was 50% off and these fat quarters. Not bad for a fabric addict. (I got some thread and needles too but they don’t count.)

My husband found these a few days after the geese arrived as he was putting in the flock. (I guess it’s more impressive informative if you can see the comparison with a chicken egg.)

My husband made a frittata with just one of these lovelies this week. Fed the both of us. I read they’re the equivalent of three or four chicken eggs. And when I went to make cupcakes for the boys birthday party (from a box, sorry) and the directions called for three eggs…. I figured, why not? They baked up fine and were gobbled up. I’m sure the chocolate frosting and sprinkles were also well received.

If this is the pace that they’re laying, we’ll be getting 3 or 4 a week. What kind of recipes call for that many eggs besides omelettes and the like? Challah, brioche, cheesecake…. mmmm.

This is the first queen sized quilt that I made. It’s been on our bed for the past six years now. It’s a wonky and scrappy Broken Dishes pattern from Jan Mullen. I love it and it’s been well loved but I can see how much I’ve learned from mistakes I’ve made early on. For one, it’s not sized very well. You can see how it comes down on the sides but not at the foot of the bed. It’s now been retired to our guest bedroom that I had painted a lovely lilac color to coordinate with it.

This is the latest quilt that I finally finished binding and is now gracing our bedroom. This one is professionally machine quilted and much more intricate than the first. Still lots to learn though. I guess I need to keep working.

Doesn’t that mean I need more fabric?

About a month ago when we moved here, these were little fuzzy buds that looked like pussy willows. In another month or two, it will be peach cobbler. Yum.

I’ve completed the nine patches for the dinosaur quilt. Last night at class, I was barreling through these giant nine inch blocks while my classmate Jackie was painstakingly chaining one inch strips and squares. Like I said before, sometimes you just need an easy, breezy project to get your momentum started again. Next time, Jackie says.

Over the weekend we added two geese, two roosters, two hens and another duck to our flock. My husband found all these animals on CraigsList. We were supposed to have about a half dozen more chickens but the guy gave them away. I was pretty mad about it. I wasn’t thrilled about the geese but thought I could deal with them in order to get the egg-laying chickens. After all, if you’re going to care for all this fowl, you might as well get eggs, right? So we’ll have two hens laying eggs and I hear the geese are laying too. Once again, I’ll have to figure out the goose egg thing.