GOOD EAT' N GARDEN

what to do with our future

2011-01-19T07:32:00.000-08:00

Well we have been researching options for different jobs for this upcoming year. Chris finally decided that enough is enough and quit his job on Monday. He is so much happier knowing that he never has to go back to the onion sheds again. So Chris quit Monday morning, so to offset money we went and racked leaves at a friends that day and made calls to local organic farms looking for more work. Which we did. Well I guess Chris did for the beginning. It seems like it will be work for one person for about a week then I should have some work too. Tuesday we did computer searches and made calls to farms outside our area. It was such a good feeling to see how many people out there value the skills that we possess. We have gotten some great offers including the offer from Judy up in Montana where we had apprenticed together in 2006. We are thinking Montana is the way we are headed. Now for the fun of dismantling a garden we have poured our hearts into. I guess now is as good of time as any to learn another lesson of letting go. They seem to be one of the hardest lessons to learn, but also seem to bring the most rewards. The last time I decided to let it all go I was blessed to find a more beautiful me, a loving man, and a new start with my family. I can't wait to see what will happen next. We love and are so thankful for all of our family who is standing behind us and supporting us in our new adventures. Thank you. We will keep you all posted with any new news of our plans.

Wow a new year already

2011-01-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has been another year already. Lots of ups and downs and looking forward to many more in the next year. I love my family and am so grateful to know that they love me. I am very thankful for all my little nephews and nieces, and their parents of course. They have given me so many lovely memories. We are hoping for big changes this year, so everyone keep their fingers crossed.

Cats???

2010-07-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

We had thought about getting some cats before to do some mousing for us. Well, I guess it was time. We just got ourselves two kittens. The black one is Midnight she is super rambunctious, she reminds me of a feline Chris. I even caught her balancing on a stuffed ball on her back feet, then she did a dive roll off,and she just kept going back for more. She is hilarious. The gray one's name is Ocean she is a lot more calm but has been a little sick, so we will get to know her personality more when she feels better. I have never really liked cats all that much. I hate to say it, they're growing on me quick. I might become a cat lover...... if this does happen..... I hope all of you will find it in your hearts to still love me as much as ever.

Back to the Market

2010-07-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

We went back to the farmers market again. It was really nice to see other farmers we know and to dress up a little and get away from the farm. Come and see us every Saturday from 9:30 to 1:30pm on the corner of 8th and Bannock. We will also be selling at a new Tuesday market which will be held at the new Northend Organic Nursery located on Hill Rd. in the site of the old Hillside Nursery. We hope to see a bunch of you there.

When the Rooster Crows at the Break of Dawn

2010-06-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

Chris and I were out working in the chicken house cleaning it out today when Red wanted to lay an egg. Her and Sue always do this crazy calling while she gets prepared to lay. It is hilarious to hear and see. I hope you enjoy. We did!

The New Local Petting Zoo

2010-06-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

So, Chris and I may be having a little too much fun this summer. Meet our two newest farm members. We haven't named them yet. Suggestions are welcome. They are twin brothers(although they don't look much alike). They are two months old and a lot of fun. And no, we aren't really going to do the whole petting zoo thing, but the list of animals is definitely getting longer!!

Teenage Chickens

2010-06-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

Our chicks are growing up. It has been so much fun to watch them grow and change. They have been going out to forage for the first times this week. They love it. They run around scratching and pecking. We can't help ourselves. We sit and watch them for a while each day.

Progress

2010-06-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

We have been doing tons of work at Linnie's Place. Here is a picture of our veggie garden over there. It is 62 x43. Another nice addition for this year. These are a bunch of hot crops tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumber, and melon.

Cinco De Mayo

2010-05-08T07:58:00.002-07:00

What a crazy, wonderful day. I woke up to a phone call from Brenda, my sister in law, who let me know that she was in labor and needed some help because my brother was gone out of town for work. I headed that way with Chris. When we got there we got the boys up, and then Brenda and I left for the hospital. After an exciting drive through Boise side streets with speeds reaching about 67 mph on Orchard we arrived at the hospital. We got Brenda up to the maternity section where she was filling out papers while asking to be put in a room the whole time. They took us back to a room and Brenda changed while I filled out her paper work. She was feeling really uncomfortable, and since her contractions were only a few minutes apart we decided I should go ask a nurse to come and check on her. The nurse very reluctantly came with me to check on her, obviously very annoyed at the request. She took her time putting on gloves and asking questions, then when she checked it became a very rushed ordeal. Brenda was beyond dilated. The nurse started making phone calls and we were in a birthing room in a few minutes. We had arrived at the hospital at 7:53 am, and by 8:26 am, Bauer Felix Picanco was born. I had never imagined that I would get the chance to share this with my sister in law. It was a beautiful experience, and I am very thankful that I could be there for her when she needed me. What a fun Cinco De Mayo. And believe it or not, this is their second son born on this holiday. Those brothers sure are going to have fun sharing a birthday.

Beautiful Baby Chicks

2010-04-10T08:38:00.001-07:00

40 baby chicks to make our summer a little more crazy. just what we needed

We have been having so much fun, our new baby chicks have arrived. Here are a few pictures.

Our new baby chicks

2010-04-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

Bare with me, I have a lot of fun thing going on!

2010-03-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

We have lots of new plants growing strong in the green house. You can barely see them in the back, but those are all onions, leeks, and chives. In the front mustard greens.
Here are some lettuce babies. We hope these ones will stick around, the mice have ravaged the last two plantings. We should already be harvesting lettuce, frustrating, but that is life. It is always something.
Baby Artichokes
Greenhouse with lots of new babies with the cold frame still inside. We are rearranging today so we can have homes for about twenty more trays today.

2010-03-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

Guess where I am standing? Guess again....okay most of you could probably guess. On our new chicken house/water tower.
Here is another view from the "top".
Chris with his new haircut, turning his compost pile, and giving me his fake smile in front of the chicken house. He always smiles like this when he really forcing it.

Our happy chickens

2010-03-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist, here are some pictures of the chickens. I am so excited, we should be getting our chicks soon. FORTY, I know that is a ton. Ten of them are going to be for Dick, Chris's Dad. We will see how well it goes. I never thought that I would like chickens so much.

2010-03-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

This is some of our early veggies. Can anyone guess what it is? If you know us very well at all you would know that this is ........GARLIC!!!!!!!!!

Just a view of the garden from the northwest corner of the garden, about thirty feet from the western border of the field.

2010-03-08T11:47:00.001-08:00

The chicken house water tower is finally complete. The best part is the chickens love it. Well actually the best part is I don't have to build on it any more! It is hard work, especially when 95% of the time I was doing it alone. I guess that is part of farm life. Andrew my brother came and painted it for me which was the icing on the cake. I really appreciate the time he took to come out and help. And a big thank you also to my brother David who had the windows for it.

Well Chris and I have decided to try and get a grant for the garden. As most of you know this season we are taking on another acre and a half. Some of which is an orchard. We thought this would be a lot of work, but...... We might be taking on another 10 acre piece. I know, I know, we sound a little crazy but if we are able to get this grant we can set up a system of tons of trees, even bring in some heavy machinery to make swells to catch water, and set up a system that requires very little work after the first year. We still don't know if this is going to happen, but it does sound very likely. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I know mine will be until we see if we get this grant. It could be up to $100,000 over six years. The women from the NRCS (Natural Conservation Resources Service) will be here tomorrow to take a look around the properties and to bring an application.

busy springtime

2010-02-18T10:06:00.000-08:00

We have been so busy this spring. Chris's dad and I built a cold frame for our early crops, and I have been building our chicken house/water tower. On top of all this we have been planting more seed and doing lots of paperwork. Although it has been stressful we are seeing results. Our plants are sprouting like crazy which is always fun to see. I can't wait til I'm eating fresh veggies from the garden again. We should be planting our new plants in the greenhouse within a couple of weeks, and our chickens will have their house complete. The entire building will stand 16 feet high in the front and 15 feet high in the back. It is quite fun to work so high up. Our neighbor Norma is always thinking we are going to hurt ourselves, especially when she sees Chris doing his crazy tricks on the top. I hope she continues to be wrong. Well back to work!!!!!!!

Getting seeds in the ground!!!

2010-02-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

I am feeling really good about this spring. I know it isn't here quite yet, but I am prepared for it. So far this week I have gotten almost 40 trays planted with all sorts of good things for the garden: artichokes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, mustard greens, and spinach. This is just to name a few, and today I am planting 10 more trays of onions, bunching onions, leeks, and shallots. I am so excited to have things going into the dirt already. We have had some beautiful days here in Boise. When I was planting on Monday I was in just a tee shirt in the hoop house. What a wonderful day! I keep having to remind myself that this is just the beginning of a long hard working summer. Now I will be planting at least once every two weeks until the middle of September. Thank you garden.

EGGS!!!!!

2010-02-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

Aren't they lovely

Well got a great surprise today. I had been thinking that our chickens should be laying eggs already, and I had been hunting for a nest for the past couple of weeks. I noticed that our hen had been hiding out in a corner of the greenhouse that I could not get to. I asked Chris to come and look with me, and low and behold we found a stock pile. Thirteen eggs all in one nest!!!! She sure had been busy. So apparently I had been right. She had to have been laying for at least two weeks. We are super excited. Fresh eggs. She lays one each day. We were so excited when we brought them in that we had eggs for dinner.

Life can be crazy

2010-01-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

Things have been going well for us. We have been working hard on our plans for the up and coming year. You would never think that there is so much planning involved in maintaining a garden. We have gotten most of our seeds ordered now, which is a huge relief to me. This means the money has been spent. We have also got all of our planting schedule marked out on a calender. This means it will be easier to keep track for our crop rotations and our continuous harvesting. We are getting really anxious for this spring. It is finally hitting us that it is almost here. We have also been working on getting our watertower\chicken house built. If it would only stop raining and snowing. We have all our supplies, but the weather has not worked out yet. All we know is that it has got to happen soon so we can move the chickens to their new home and have a place for all our new plants. The work never stops, but we are in high spirits and are really excited about the new season.

2009-12-24T23:14:00.000-08:00

Well getting ready for christmas has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun. I had made all the gifts for Sara and Sam's family, and I just finished my last big project, a quilt for Dick. I think it turned out quite well. the under side is patchwork, and this is the top. It is a look inside Dicks workshop. I really hope he likes it, it took a lot of time. I had to hand stitch around all the fancy stuff (tools, saw, person, pig, bull horn, and the barbwire, which I also embroidered. After it is all said and done, It has been a lot of fun, I had started to forget how crafty I can be.

2009-12-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was so great this year. We all got together over at Andrew and Brenda's house. Everyone made something, and we did sort of a potluck style meal which made it a bit easier for all of us. The food was great and the company was even better. Brenda's parents and brother were there also which was great. We all got to know them a little better. Another highlight was we all got to meet Little Lincoln. It was fun passing him around and giving him love.

2009-12-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

Well we have been pretty busy lately, but I figured I had better fill in some blanks for the past month. The 20th of November was my birthday. Chris didn't seem to have anything planned, so I told him I would like him to take me out to dinner. He had said he would. So all day I waited for our little date thinking Chris was at work. Our friend Kenyan had called, and asked if we could come and help him move a few things over to his new place, I had said yes thinking that this would put us on time to go to dinner. When we were finished Chris told me that he didn't want to go to dinner any more and that he would just prefer to go home. This made me quite frustrated, and luckily for Chris David had called on the drive home to wish me a happy birthday. Chris would have heard my frustration the whole way home if it hadn't been for David. I had talked with David the whole way back from Boise, I got off the phone right as we turned down ten mile. Then I started telling Chris how bummed I was that he wasn't taking me to dinner. We pulled into the driveway and went inside, and of course my sweet Chris had a party planned for me there. Needless to say I felt like a turd and had to apologize. We had a great time. Hannah and Chris had made a bunch of great food, made a pinata, and a game of pin the tail on the donkey. We had so much fun, and ended the night off with a game of Cranium. Thank you Chris for being so sweet to me and making my birthday so much fun. I love you.

CHRIS' BIRTHDAY FUN

2009-11-10T12:04:00.000-08:00

I was pretty trixy this year and told Chris that we were going to have a dinner just the two of us at this restaraunt that he loves, where they serve local and organic food, but instead of just us I had got ahold of a few of his best friends and his sister, and had everyone meet us there as a surprise for him. He was none the wiser, which was really hard on my part, since we had hung out with quite a few of them through out the day. He had a great time

You can see the surprise on his face!

I call this one walking on sunshine. Here is Chris doing hand stands on the trail earlier in the day while on a hike with Kenyan and Hannah.

Here is the happy bunch all together. We had six dogs with us too, which was really entertaining to say the least. We were glad that they are all good listeners.

Chris stopping in the shade checking out some mushrooms he spotted in the trunk of this tree.

Chris having a little too much fun on his skateboard going about 20 mph down this hill. I have no idea why he is looking at me and not where he is going.

The 7th was chris' birthday, and we sure did have a lot of fun. I got him new wheels and bearings for his skateboard, and he just had to go and ride down some hills. We went with gage to Brumback hill in Boise, it is in the north end, and they rode down a three mile stretch about 10 times before they were ready to take a break. Chris's speed averages 25-30 mph on the hill!

MORE CANNING!

2009-11-10T11:52:00.000-08:00

well last week i got another large batch of canning done. I made white grape juice, pink grape juice, purple grape juice, apple juice, plum juice, apple sauce, plum chutney, and plum sauce! I sure do love to can, and everything turned out wonderful. It only took one long day, but I got another 150 pounds of food put away.

2009-10-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

This is Chris's pumpkin which he is so very proud of. Notice the mouse eating his carrot!!!

Last night we got together with Chris's sister and her boyfriend (Crystal and Jonathan), and carved some pumpkins for Halloween. I had made home made marinara sauce which we ate with spagetti. We had a great time. It was really nice getting to spend some time with them. Here are some pumpkin pictures. Chris is very excited about his. He keeps telling me how it is the best pumpkin he has ever carved, and the best idea he has ever had for one.

2009-09-29T16:55:00.000-07:00

Here is Gage up on the ridge headed for centerville.

A quick snap shot of Gage and I after picking some elderberries.

And who says that dogs don't blink in pictures.

2009-09-29T16:43:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks Chris and I have been working a ton, that might even be an understatement! Although the work load is tough, we have been trying to go on day trips on our only day off together. It is kind of funny, we get married, now we never see eachother anymore. Has anyone else found this to be true? Well any way. This is Kona looking pretty happy on our last day trip.

This is a look toward the Trinities from the back side of Bogus Basin.

This is Kenyan and Kelly on our day trip to Jackass Gulch, a horrible name for any place, but we found some really cool pieces of petrified wood.

Here is Hannah poking around for some rocks. I don't know why she brought her shovel, everything we found was just lieing on the surface.

Just a nice view from the gulch.

2009-09-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

Well I feel so proud of myself. I have gotten a lot accomplished. Well it feels like it anyway. I have grown a ton of vegetables, planned our wedding, and gotten a ton of food put away. Just take a look! Every time I walk through our mud room I am overwhelmed by my canning success.

2009-09-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

This is us of course, and Chris's dad Dick, who was his best man. He jokingly said later how he waited 62 years to be a best man.

Here we are right after the ceremony got over. As you can see, ALL SMILES!

And here are some congratulation hugs from my best ladies.

These are the two beauties in the flesh, Katie, an amazing girl I've known for years, we met in California, and have been friends ever since. And the fantastic Hannah, as most of you know we have been best friends since we were in school. I don't know where I'de be without her.

I said I would get some photos up from the big day, so they are.

2009-08-31T06:27:00.000-07:00

well we made it through the wedding, and know both of us are back to work. It has really been a great summer for us, I wish it could go on for a bit more, but back to the grind it is. I was so thankful to see so much of my family at the wedding. I couldn't have pulled it off without you guys. Thank you so much for all the help and love. I truly have an amazing family. I will post pictures of the big event once I get them.

2009-07-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

This is Chris at one of the onion sheds this spring.
A cheesy grin from both of us, taken by Chris's dad Dick.
Here is Dick relaxing on the quilt he made Chris and I for Christmas.
Selling some produce at the Saturday Market.

This is Chris and I at one of our first markets. Dick took these pictures for us. As you can see, we have a lot of fun.

2009-07-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the garden, this is some of our potatoes.

This is part of our summer squash patch, that is riddled with squash bugs, the only good thing about that is, our chickens love them! I have been catching them in a jar and taking them to the chickens as their snack!

This is the side view of our movable chicken house. I am going to paint it and put a sheet metal roof on it. I just need to find the time!!

This is of course the front, you can see the roosts, and they walk up the ramp at night and put themselves to bed. Way easier than putting kids to bed. All I need to do is shut the door at about ten o'clock.

This is Black Beard in front and Irene snuck into this shot too.

This is Splashy, we were going to name her splash because of her coloring, but she is pretty sassy, so we figured Splashy was a great name.

This is Lacey, posing for the picture. She seemed to really like the camera, funny huh.

Farming Life (exhausting)

2009-07-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty exciting lately. We have started to go to the farmers markets in Boise on Thursday's and Saturday's. Woohoo! Even though it is a lot of fun, it continues to be an overwhelming amount of work. We never seem to get ahead of the weeds, and we are still trying to get our next phase of plants in. We have a lot of produce that we are enjoying.(tons of squash, cucumbers, kale, garlic, potatoes, beets, a few kohlarabi, a variety of herbs, turnips, and still a few peas on the vines) We can't wait for more. I have been canning a lot lately also, which is also a time consumer. At least I can say we are uping our food storage day be day. Today I am working on zucchini chips. And last but not least........are you excited........WE GOT 9 LAYING HENS!!!!!!!! This also has been a big project. We have built them a movable chicken coop, and have been moving them around the front yard in a pen. They are so cute, and they have been eating a ton of bugs and helping to keep the lawn down, so I guess they are a just another member of the garden team. Hopefully we can get the dogs used to them so we can just let them run around.

2009-06-07T18:19:00.001-07:00

HI!

Still Working In The Garden

2009-05-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

Things are going well for us in the garden. We have over half our acre planted which feels great, but we still have a lot to do. Just keeping up with the weeds is a full time job. We do love getting to spend a lot of time with each other, and out in the sunshine. It feels so good to be active every day, and to see the garden develop. We are considering starting a business where we organize local organic farmers, and produce organic chicken feed. We know there is a lot of potential for making good money. Well I better get back to the garden, like I said, there is a lot of work that still needs to be done.

Making our raised beds.

2009-04-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is our garden progress so far this year, we are transitioning everything into raised beds. It is a ton of work for this year, but it will make the work lighter for years to come. This is David, he comes and helps us in the garden. This is Chris trying to use a mini shovel to make the raised bed, after he broke the large shovel he was using.

A look at our green house and our first section of raised beds. This is the home of our potatoes peas, radishes, leeks, onions, and carrots.

I set up a blog for mom and dad!

2009-04-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

Today was a nice day, but a little windy for my liking. We got to spend some time with Chris's Sister Crystal, which was really nice. After dinner I decided that I would set up a blog for mom and dad. I was honestly surprised at how easy it was. Thanks again to Brenda for teaching me how. Well I have a ton to do tomorrow in the garden so I bid you Good Night.

Another Day At The Farm

2009-04-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of work to be done today. We are making more raised beds, and planting more cold crops. The wind has been slowing us down for the last couple days, and we hope to get our planting accomplished. We want to thank Brenda and Andrew for helping us get our blog up and running. You two are amazing. Back to work!!!

We Finally Did It

2009-04-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our Blog! We are actually not in the garden at the moment, an occasian that rarely happens.

Update coming soon.