The Power of Shade

Peas at the end of June?

Sugar Snap Peas

 This year I planted two beds in the shade and I am amazed at the gorgeous spring crops that are still going strong. I have never had lettuce make it into July without bolting. Right now, my lettuce still looks and tastes amazing. I also have lovely broccoli, kale, radishes, and strawberries. 

hummus and peas for dinner  

With temperatures hitting 100 with a blazing hot, dry wind, I plan to add shade cloth to the bed tomorrow to see if that will drop the temperature more and extend the life of my spring greens even longer. The best part is having ripe tomatoes at the same time as my spring greens.

To celebrate the tender, sweet peas I whipped up a quick batch of hummus in my fabulous Blendtec blender. 

Recipe

2 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Clove Garlic, Peeled
2 tbsp Tahini
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1 Can Garbanzo Beans, drained (15 oz can)
1/4 Cup of liquid drained from Garbanzo Beans

Throw it all in the blender and blend until smooth. YUM!

The Pitter-Patter of 8 Little Feet

Buffy

About a month ago, our hen Buffy became broody. At first I was sure she was dying. She would walk around all puffed up and making a cooing, chirping noise. Then she would throw herself on the ground, stick her legs out, and put her wing in the air. It was very scary. After a couple of days, she started staying in the nest box and we figured out she was broody. Having no rooster, we thought this would be a fun opportunity to hatch some chicks. We went to a local farm and bought 6 fertile hatching eggs (barnyard mix chickens, nothing fancy) then brought them home and stuck them under Buffy. After 4 days we candled the eggs and decided 4 were developing, one was not fertile, and one had a shell to dark to see through.

It takes 21 days for chickens to hatch. Buffy sat faithfully on her eggs for 19 days. 19 days?! At 19 days she decided she was done. In a panic I called a friend with an incubator, rushed over, rushed back, and 2 days later our first chick hatched. It took almost 2 days for the last of the four to hatch. That was a nerve wracking experience! I was so worried about that last egg. Now, two days later, she is the fattest little chick of the bunch. (I keep calling them all she in hopes that they will not start crowing later!)

4 new babies

I'm happy to say all four chicks are very vibrant and lively. Here's to hoping none of them start to crow!

Committed

Well, it seems I'm not very committed to this whole blogging thing. I often settle in and get ready for bed at the end of a long day and think, "I accomplished a lot of great things today, I should start working on the blog again." Then I climb into bed and crash! No blog update yet again.
My amazingly supportive husband and I have been making a lot of commitments in our life lately. Some days are more successful than others, but overall I would say that most days are more successful than not. So, here I am, back at the blog. It is time to make this one of my successful commitments. I believe that if I can become committed to the blog it will help be even more committed to other goals.
This week I will sort through some pictures, summarize all the changes that have occurred over the past year, and talk about all the commitments we have made. I think life is only going to get better from here and I hope to share the journey.

Fall Arrives

Costoluto Genovese

It seems as though summer just started, yet autumn is upon us already. We had such a late start to our garden this year. Most of our plants didn't go in until June. Most summers here in Utah leave you begging people to take bags and boxes of garden produce...especially squash. I'm sad to say that this year we have barely eaten any squash, let alone have any to share. My pretty little peach tree gave me only enough peaches for two batches of jam. I actually had to buy a box of peaches and a box of tomatoes from the Farmer's Market. 

Cubanelle Peppers

We DO have a good number of acorn squash and a couple of my new favorite, Rouge Vif D' Etampes Pumpkin. I love the flattened shape, deep ridges, and beautiful red color. I only hope it tastes as good as it looks. Some of the other plants we tried this year that we will definitely plant again next year include: Cubanelle peppers, Hawaiian Current tomatoes, Garden of Eden pole beans, Thai chilies, Costada Romanesco squash, Costoluto Genovese tomatoes, and Tigerella tomatoes.

Tigerella

This year I had my normal luck with melons...NONE! I guess I need to try one more time with melon plants in the front flower bed next year. I also did not care for our Long China cucumbers. They have a lot more seeds than the varieties I normally grow. We also grew Dragon's Egg cucumbers. They are a lot of fun to look at, but very seedy.  

Miah's Sunflower--no Photoshop! Gorgeous!!

Our Easter Chickens

Our chickens arrived yesterday, just in time for Easter. We are hoping to get at least one egg today for our Easter basket (and our tummies). The dogs are going to take some time to adjust to them. They are having some issues. Jax seems afraid of them and really flips out when I go by the pen. He wants to protect me from the mini-dinosaurs.

****YAY!! This just in....Miah just brought in our first egg!!!****

Happy Easter to all. More photos and adventures to follow.