Basil, Chickens, and Sheep

By Sherri, October 22, 2008

Hello everyone! This is our first GRUB newsletter directly blogged into our website. It is very exciting for us to be able to use less paper and to give easy (hopefully) to all o our CSA members and anyone who wants to check it out.

This “issue” is more of an update on what’s going on at the GRUB house than our usual spotlight on a veggie or herb. Things have been moving quickly around here and just want to keep you informed since you are a part of our community.

But first I want to let you know that this is the last week for BASIL! It is another sign of the season passing…but that means that a new season is beginning. Make your pestos now to save for later or you may regret it! You may try canning it if you use a pressure canner or add acid, but the easiest is to freeze it.

Also we have noticed that folks aren’t taking their share of turnips. If you straight out don’t like them please let us know so we can plan for next year, but Lee will be very disappointed as it is one of his favorites. If you are just intimidated and don’t know how to cook them, go back to the previous issue that focuses on turnips. I will post it here just in case you didn’t get it. Lee says that he loves them simply roasted with potatoes. Frannie says that fennel is her favorite complimentary herb to mix it with. A member has passed on another easy recipe where she slices them and cooks them with parmesan cheese on top. mmmm.

Lastly, beets are on their way! We are hoping that next week we will be able to offer them to you! If you have any favorite beet recipes, please share here.

Back to the homestead updates..

So you have seen by now that we have moved and what a place this is! Forty acres and a gorgeous, spacious home. It may be obvious just by looking why we chose to move, but some folks had not even seen the place before they signed on. We made this move as a group to begin our Intentional Community here. No, its not a cult or a commune as some of our co-workers have suggested. We share a sense of wanting to live in a more sustainable, efficient and responsible (to the planet, to our community, to ourselves) way. This is our vision statement that we collectively developed:

Through our individual and collective passions, growth, and vibrancy,
we intend to live in a peaceful, conscious, peaceful, and loving
community. To live within our means in a manner of sustained life,
agriculture, respect for the environment, and to ultimately contribute
more than we take from the land. To enrich each other by creating a
bond of love through honesty, communication, and trust in order to
foster a working relationship between ourselves, the community, and
the earth. To focus our way of living through healthy eating, local
relationships, and to exemplify a simple life in terms of waste
reduction, riding our bicycles, growing food, and economic
independence. To overcome challenges through the ongoing support and
love that we create for each other. To understand the
interconnectedness within a finite planet and to value all living
things. To inspire and to be inspired, to teach and to be taught, to
feel and to be felt. And last but not least, to find a family and to
know that we are home.

It is pretty exciting around here as we gather around the kitchen while two folks each night make dinner for the whole group. There is much to talk about in general, but with so many projects planned there is always some exciting news. Some reports have been about local producers wanting to sell their goods to us in bulk and with out the packaging that they are required to use when selling to the general public. Some have been associations with local groups (i.e. the Peace and Justice Center’s event tomorrow). And a lot have been about projects on the land, and that is what you might be most interested in….

Chickens!

We have 31 laying (well, not much since the move and getting used to the new flocks) hens, 1 small, ineffective rooster I call “Fancy Pants”, and 60 chicks. The breeds we have are

• Ameraucana — multi-colored (rust, black, silver) feathers, blue eggs
• Rhode Island Reds — rust colored feathers, light brown eggs
• Plymouth Barren Rock— black and white feathers, brown eggs
• Buff Orpington — buff/tan feathers, very light brown eggs
• Jersey Giants — black or white, brown to dark brown eggs
• Black and Golden Sexlinks — mixed colors, brown eggs

Our girls get to roam around in a fenced off area during the day and by night they go to sleep in their coop. They get to feel the sun and scratch in the dirt for some extra protein. They get to play games with each other and with us (the how did you get out silly girl? game, or the how did this egg get here? game.) And they get lots of love from the whole household.

I let you know this because a) we are planning that come spring we can offer eggs regularly to you our members and b) Proposition 2 is an important but small step toward humane treatment of our feathered friends and our food.

Sheep!

Thursday we will welcome the newest addition to our family, two Dorpers sheep. None of us have experience with sheep but we have a good mentor (thank you Cheetah of Turkey Tail Farms). We have built the electric fence (solar, of course) and a shed for them. We will enjoy their company as well as their eating habits and their fertilizer.

According to Eliot Coleman in the New Organic Grower, sheep and chicken make fine penmates. The sheep will nibble the grass and weeds down to a stubble. The chickens then will have the part that has the highest amount of protein and is easier for them to digest. They help us out by clearing the weeds and by leaving their fertilizer behind. The system we will employ will allow us to move the pen around making more land ripe for farming. We certainly welcome their help on this acreage!

Next week let us know if you’d like to know more or to get a little tour around. Maybe we can plan a time (let’s say 5:30 during next week’s pick-up) where we can have all of the young members come meet and have an animal meet and greet.

And lastly if you are interested, the This Way To Sustainability conference is coming up really soon. GRUB will have a couple talks and a tour of our farms at Riparia.

Have a good night, a good week and I’ll see you tomorrow!

~Sherri