Tag: homesteading

Food System

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

Warning: This post includes a brief discussion of processing chickens for food.

This morning, we began processing our last batch of meat chickens for the year. We normally do one batch for our family and one batch for our dogs, but we did three batches this year because our Pyrenees, Bairre, has decided he really only likes to eat chicken for dinner. We can either buy meat from the food system where we know the animals are abused or humanely raise and process the chickens ourselves for our dogs to eat. We choose the latter.

And, when I say “we” process these chickens, I mean mostly Ron. I am just the assistant. Ron humanely culls, cleans most of the feathers, and then cleans the insides. It is my job to then get the chicken looking like one from the grocery store, so, when cooked with vegetables from our garden, our family just sees a beautiful chicken dinner as the end result.

I get the final feathers and hairs, clean the chicken super thoroughly, and process the internal organs for the dogs. We try to avoid waste. After all, a life was given for that food. Waste seems sacrilegious.

Even with my assistant job, I get so worn. I am up and down our stairs a lot, as we keep the chickens in the basement, and I spent a lot of hours leaned over our deep sink. It feels worth it though when I think about the alternative. The “humanely raised” is really important to me, but food safety is becoming more and more an issue.

Recently, it feels more and more important that we choose to live this way.. I have known for a long time that our American food system is in some trouble, but the recent listeria and E. coli outbreaks remind me of how important it is to build our own food system–at least as much as we can. The FDA and the USDA both regulate our food systems here in the United States, but they apparently do not communicate well and are also quite backed up and overworked. On top of these issues, apparently, some states, specifically I read about Texas, have simply quit complying with some required testing from the USDA. This was related to the bird flu, but who knows what else states or companies will decide to not comply with. It’s already quit a bit. Self regulation is not a great plan, at least if experience has taught us anything.

We also have a lot of inexperience and arrogance heading into our government, and in my other life working as an academic administrator who worked with federal agencies to secure grants, inexperience and arrogance are not a great combination when it comes to dealing with the giant bureaucracy that is government.

Yeah, I have some worries. I think we had better start working hard to get our food from a more local system.

I know it’s not possible for everyone who reads this to start raising meat chickens, but it seems important to start trying to remove ourselves from a broken food system in whatever ways we can. Maybe we get chickens for eggs and compost their poop to fertilize our organic vegetable garden. Maybe we connect with local farmers and join a CSA. Maybe we support any local markets that keep their supply chains local. I don’t know how common those are in other states, but we have a lot of them here in Maine. Maybe we work harder to create low-ingredient homes, cutting down on or eliminating processed foods (more on that later).

Pay attention. Wash your food well. Organic carrots were a recent culprit for E. coli. Cook your meats thoroughly. Make sure they reach the proper temps.

I wish I had more answers, but I do think we are on our own more than I feel comfortable with. I’ll always share what I learn to help us get through it all, and I hope you will as well.

photo credit: Anna Jakutajc-Wojtalik, Unsplash

Beautiful Beans

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

I can just write a little tonight, but I wanted to share one of my favorite photos from my seed-saving work this fall. Look at this bowl of green beans! Have you ever seen anything more lovely? Well, maybe you have, but these beans have to be up there.

I have the best story about these seeds. It was the end of the harvest season, and I had been working so hard to seed save so many things. I am not super skilled at some of the smaller seeds, so I had some trial and error. I was determined though and worked diligently all fall to save as many seeds and as many varieties as I could. I just had this strong feeling all fall that it was important this year to really step up my seed-saving game. I wanted enough for us and enough to share.

Green beans are the easiest to save and, somehow, I nearly forgot them. The night before our first big freeze, I suddenly woke up from sleeping and remembered I had not saved the green beans.

“There’s time in the morning,” I told myself as I went back to sleep, thankful I had not forgotten.

The next morning, when I got up to collect these seeds, there weren’t as many as I had hoped because I waited so long, but I was in awe of these beautiful beans I was able to collect. What a gift?

Green beans are the food that made me fall in love with garnering and growing food. They are magic, just like in the folktale–only all of them are magic. You plant one little bean and get all of that food. What is more magic than that?

And these look magic, don’t you think?

A Little About Circe–and Why She Hates Me

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

Circe is one of the most beautiful chickens we have, and I realized as I was looking for a picture for this post that I do not have a single picture of her since she was a baby. She can’t stand me. For a long time, she couldn’t stand anyone–except her brother. She now has a few friends in the flock, mainly Pumpkin, but she still hates me.

Circe is named after the minor goddess in Greek mythology who makes a famed appearance in Homer’s Odyssey. I was reading Circe by Madeline Miller the year she was born, so we have a Circe and a Penelope. Both of them are strong-willed hens, but Circe acts like I am a monster. Maybe I am.

This is not Circe. This is her biological sister. I have zero pictures of Circe as an adult.

When Circe was little, she loved her brother more than her mother. I have never seen two chickens be so close as Circe and her brother. I kept praying Circe’s brother was a girl, but he was a he. We already had two roosters, so there was no way he could stay. I tried to find him a home but was unsuccessful. It was during the pandemic–EVERYBODY had gotten baby chicks, and EVERYBODY had too many roosters. I knew he was going to have to be food, but I was reluctant because of how close he was with Circe.

“It’s just like in the story,” I told Ron when he asked me about “that extra rooster.” “Her only friend is her brother, just like the real Circe,” I explained.

“The real Circe?” Ron asked.

“You know what I mean. If we take her brother from her, Circe is never going to be same.”

But take him we did, and Circe has hated me ever since. She doesn’t trust people, and you can’t blame her at all.

She keeps her distance from me most of the time. Of course, she comes for treats, but she’s in and out and never hangs around too long. That poor baby.

She is an extra poor baby right now because something is wrong with her. She is having a pretty hard molt, and last night, we heard her with full on rales in the coop. I am constantly terrified of the rales because of all of our trauma with the respiratory infection that hit our flock in 2019. Ron said he thought it might just be something in her throat. I hoped for that to be the case, but I had to isolate her just in case.

I got the dog crate ready for her and then swiped her from the roost last night. Oh, she fought me, and no matter how much I tried to help her feel better, she wasn’t having it.

I took her to the guest bathroom, which is also the animal hospital around our house, and while I was away getting a little olive oil and a syringe to put a little oil down her throat in case something was stuck, she went from the floor to the toilet to the sink and was trying to get on top of the light fixture above the sink.

I got her down with much ado and then had to give her the olive oil. I managed to get it in her. She was shocked at first and when she gathered herself, she leaned in and bit me so hard.

She is also very upset at having to stay in the crate. It’s a big crate with tons of room. but she is the closest thing to a wild chicken we have. None of this medical care is sitting well with her. I was devastated when I woke up this morning to find her still with some rales. They were quieter but still there.

I spent all morning while my son was in his college class looking for some way to get access to antibiotics without going to the vet because we really can’t afford a vet right now, and I know what she would need if it’s respiratory. I need the water soluble version of Tylan. I have all the natural remedies, but her rales were so bad last night that I was thinking we might need the big guns. Of course, no one wants to sell you an antibiotic without a prescription, and that’s understandable. I mean, people have run fast a loose with antibiotics for a long time, I suppose. I think I wouldn’t. I think I would be careful, but I’m sure everybody thinks that.

Thankfully, we may be in luck anyway because, when we got home from my son’s class, she didn’t have the rales–at least not very much. And, this afternoon, when I took her a snack, all was quiet. Maybe it was just something stuck in her throat. I hope so. I hope so.

I really need that little hen to get better, and as soon as she is, I am going to get a really good picture of her. Maybe, hopefully, through all of this, she will find a way to forgive me for my awfulness.

Maybe. Hopefully.

Ball Jars and Weck Jars: A Comparison

~ Crystal Sands ~ 5 Comments

I am in my tenth year of canning and just wrapped up my fourth year canning with Weck jars. I think I now have enough experience with both Weck jars and Ball jars to write a comparison. If you preserve food via canning, or are thinking about it (and I hope you are), I hope you will find the following information helpful. 

To begin, Ball jars are the typical mason jars we commonly use in the United States. Mason jars were invented in New Jersey in 1858 and are known for both their usefulness and aesthetic. These are the jars with silver bands and lids and the ones most of us are familiar with, as they are, in normal years, readily available in grocery stores, discount stores, hardware stores, and more. I say “in normal years” because there was a shortage during the pandemic. The lids have a rim of thin rubber, which is used to seal the jar when you engage the seal through your canning process—either via water bath or pressure canner. 

Weck jars originate in Germany. Its simplistic design was created in 1895. Also known for their aesthetic, Weck jars are glass with glass lids, and you use thick rubber rings and clips during the canning process. These jars are not often seen in stores in the United States and generally must be ordered online. These jars can be straight or tulip shaped. Both the glass and the rings on Weck jars are quite thick and sturdy, and I read that the Weck company has not changed the way these jars are made over the years. They do feel quite “old school,” and I am fond of that.

The Pros and Cons of Ball Jars

Ball jars are the original to most of us who can in the United States. I remember my great grandmother canning with Ball jars, and they are iconic to me. I like that they are so readily available. One key perk of Ball jars is that they are less expensive than Weck. They have certainly grown more expensive in recent years; still, they are a bit cheaper than Weck jars, which have also gotten more expensive because Germany struggles with inflation too. I can usually purchase jars, lids, and bands for Ball jars without having to order online. 

A con of Ball jars is that there can be shortages when everyone gets the urge to can. I don’t know if we will ever see this happen again, but I argue that one never knows. I feel that one such period may be upon us.

There were also a couple of years that there were rumors the seals were not working as well on the Ball jar lids. During that year, I did have one full batch of strawberry jam go bad because of bad seals. I realized later that every one that had gone bad was from the same little box of lids I had bought new that year. Though I continue to use some Ball jars in my canning and have never had this happen again, the experience is always in the back of my mind, especially since I can now see the powerful seal of Weck jars, which I feel more secure in. One other con of Ball jars is that I have broken a couple during the process of canning. Because Weck jars are so thick, I have yet to break one, though I knock on wood as I write these words. 

One other con of Ball jars is that you won’t find as much variety in jar designs and shapes as you used to. Apparently, the Ball jar factory in New Jersey was purchased in 2016, and the new company decided to streamline production. The idea was to improve production, but a drawback of this is that we get fewer designs. Still, just this year, Ball jar released an anniversary edition that was quite lovely, so I don’t know how much of a con this item really is. 

The Pros and Cons of Weck Jars

One of the biggest perks of Weck jars is that seal. It is a thick rubber ring, and the seal, when done correctly, is so sturdy, which leads me to another perk of Weck jars—general sturdiness. The glass jars and lids on Weck jars are so thick that I have never broken one, and I am pretty clumsy in the kitchen.

I also love the beautiful design of the Weck jars. The tulip shapes are my favorites, and they all have a little strawberry stamped into the glass. I love strawberries so much this makes me love Weck jars more—and don’t get me started on how much joy it brings me to put strawberry jam into Weck jars with that little strawberry on them. 

I think my favorite thing about Weck jars though is that I only have to replace the rubber rings. The rings are inexpensive and so easy to store in a drawer. It’s very easy to stock up on the rubber rings, and they will not rust in the long term like Ball jar rings. I have also read that you can reuse the rubber rings, though Weck does not recommend this. I did try it with a batch a couple of years ago. I made a batch of jams and reused the rubber rings. I think I put up seven or eight jars, and one of them didn’t seal. Since that had never happened to me before, I decided for a time that it wasn’t worth the risk to reuse the rubber rings. 

However, after hearing about more people reusing the rubber rings, I tried again and reused the rings for a whole season of canning. All of them sealed, so I feel like my advice is that you can probably reuse the rubber rings, which is awesome. Just keep a close eye on them to make sure they seal.

There are some cons to Weck jars too. First, they are heavy. The heavy glass plus glass lids add some weight when you are canning. I have had some struggles at times lifting the big jars out of the hot water. Related to this, I had some smaller canning tools that did not work with the Weck jars. The larger Weck jars have really wide mouths, so you have to have canning tools that will work with the larger sizes. 

Another drawback is that you do have to order Weck jars online, at least for the most part. I have never seen them in stores, outside of decorative stores where the jars are marked up quite a bit. The good news is that you can purchase them directly from the Weck website, and at the online store, the jars are quite a bit cheaper than you might find elsewhere. I recommend staying away from Amazon because, well, it’s Amazon, but also because I have read a lot of stories in canning groups about people buying knock-off Weck jars or rings that aren’t exactly right. 

My Conclusions

I have been on the fence with my Ball jars and Weck jars for some years, but last year, after how well the jams and fruits I canned in the Weck jars held up compared to my Ball jars, I decided to make the shift to Weck jars. Because they are expensive, I have just been buying them when I can. I get Weck jars for my birthday and Weck jars for Christmas. Finally, after four years, I almost have enough Weck jars to meet all of my canning needs. 

Because the jars are so sturdy and it’s so easy to stock up on the rubber rings, I feel like Weck jars are going to be my go-to. But, even if you are more of a Ball jar fan, it might be worth checking out some Weck jars just to see what you think. 

Either way, canning food is the way to go, and here are some resources on canning that I hope you will find helpful. 

Canning Safety: The Science of Safe “Putting By”

How to Can: A Beginners Guide to Canning Food

Penn State Extension, Let’s Preserve: Basics of Home Canning

On the Importance of Chickens

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

I know I am biased, but I think a good place to start in prepping for the future is with chickens. They are so versatile and not only provide food but also provide fertilizer for a garden. They are also a joy, and that’s going to matter.

Whether you have chickens already or are thinking about chickens, I thought I might share some advice and things I have learned about keeping chickens over the years that might be helpful. I will go into more detail about some of these topics in the coming weeks and months, but I thought a list of ideas this morning might be helpful. Then, others can add to the list, as I am sure there are things I will forget.

This is Petty and her brood from last fall. By greatest luck or some kind of blessing from the chicken gods, every single one of her six babies was a girl. In this picture, we have Annie, Clara, Jacqueline, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Lenore.
  1. I recommend starting with a good coop. If you have to use a cheaper little coop you can buy online, I think that’s a good place to start, but most people I know end up having to make modifications to those, especially if you live in a colder climate. A sturdy coop can make a big difference in the long run. We converted an old shed, and it has been great.
  2. To cut down on predators, I think it’s important to think about placement of your coop. Ours is close to our house, and I am so thankful for this. If you have farm dogs who protect chickens, then this may not be a worry, but I am a big believer in coop placement near your home if you can do it. Yes, there will be noise in the summers, but those egg songs equal good food.
  3. I think it’s more important than ever to get heritage breed chickens. I lucked into a heritage rooster, and his genes have been so good for our flock over the years. I have tried purchasing from local and reputable breeders but have not had good luck in the long-term genetics department. Our sweet Rooster is nine years old now and has had the best genes. We need a similar rooster to add to our flock. Rooster gets to stay, but he just doesn’t make babies too much anymore. We have a rooster, Dvorak, who is also a great boy and will get to live out his life, but he is only about three years old and clearly do not have the best genetics. I will not get babies from him anymore. This spring, I will be purchasing some heritage breed chickens from the most reputable breeders I can find online. I think it’s going to be about tracking down people who specialize in the breeds I want, and I am going to be looking for people who have been breeding these chickens for decades, not just a few years. I have found that people who have been in it for just a few years may be doing good work overall, but they may not know about longevity. I will share what I find out with others.
  4. Get or keep broody hens. If you know someone who has a broody line, ask them for babies or hatching eggs. Even though I curse the way our flock goes broody every summer, there are some perks to this. When we need more chickens, we can get them easily and efficiently. I think it’s a good idea to get an incubator as well, but with some good broody hens, you can have baby chicks without using electricity. Broody hens will also raise ducks for you. I have read that you never want a mama duck to raise a baby chicken because she will accidentally drown the baby chicken, but a mama chicken can raise baby ducks. Ruby and Petty, it turns out, who go broody all summer and will raise babies so well, are worth their weight in gold.
  5. Start saving scraps to feed your chickens. Keep a bowl in your refrigerator and save every little scrap. It will add up and help you cut down on feed costs. Affording feed may be an issue, so making good habits related to scraps right now seems like a good idea to me. Plus, it eliminates food waste.
  6. With the cost of feed in mind, I think it’s important to think about the size of your flock. You want to think about your needs, what you can share, and how much you can feed. Depending upon your area, you may also want to consider bird flu outbreaks. Here in Maine, we had a terrible outbreak two or three years ago, and we got lucky. However, the outbreak reminded us that we do need a smaller flock in case our flock had to be locked down in a covered run to protect them from bird flu.
  7. My final thought for this morning is that you definitely want to learn how to compost your chicken poop. Chicken poop is one of the best fertilizers for your garden because it is complex, but it does have to be composted. A few years ago, I got my husband to make this video to show people how he does it. There are other ways, of course, but this one works very well for us. It is a shame to waste good chicken poop! Just keep in mind, if you grow an organic garden, you are going to want to feed your chickens organic food.

I would love to hear your tips for keeping chickens. What advice do you have for others who are new to chickens or who just want to step up their game?

PS It felt important to add that, while I was writing this post, I was also putting a dinner on. I put potatoes, turnips, carrots, and onions underneath a roast in a large pot to cook on low all day. All of the vegetables came from our homestead. The roast came from a local farm and was expensive because it was humanely raised and grass fed. It cost about $25. That pot of meat and veggies will feed our family for two meals, so that’s $12.50 per day for our family of three to have a really nice dinner each day.

Where do we go from here?

~ Crystal Sands ~ 6 Comments

I think we have to keep doing what we have been doing–only extra.

It has taken me a bit to get to where I felt I had something to say. I have been worried about the 2024 presidential election for some time, and well, it didn’t go as I had hoped. It’s not like I think Democrats have all of the answers; in fact, they disappoint me most of the time, but I have gradually learned that my standards for what a government should and should not do are different than most Americans’ standards. I have been coming to terms with that lesson in the most profound way the last couple of weeks.

Most importantly, I think, I have been coming to terms what we can do in order to get by during tough times. If you are a person who thinks the economy is going to be great under the upcoming President’s policies, then this blog is not for you, and I will just say you have no idea how much I hope you are right. But if you are a reader who listens to the economists and who understands who works in the American agricultural system, you might be pretty worried about what the future holds economically, not to mention socially. Please read on.

I am gravely concerned.

I deeply understand that Americans were frustrated and worn from high prices for groceries and other goods, (Interestingly, we did not feel the inflation on groceries as much as others because we grow so much of our own food and live by a buy-it-once system that I will talk about later.) but two things that will absolutely make things worse is deporting our agricultural work force and tariffs. Every economist I know or have read says so. Obviously, there is no point arguing that I think this is a mistake. The deed is done. America has spoken. We have to accept that these things are likely to happen–and we have to prepare.

I think we are going to be looking at some very high prices for groceries, even more so than we are experiencing now. Things may get better for a time, but the economist I spoke to said it won’t last long, if at all.

And climate change isn’t going anywhere. Natural disasters are going to continue to destroy crops at alarming rates. If deportations happen, losing 40% of our agricultural work force is going to do a number on grocery prices. On top of this, I worry about bird flu. We have already seen outbreaks in the U.S. impact the prices of food. These outbreaks are not going to magically go away. In fact, according to scientists, bird flu outbreaks are likely to get more common because of climate change, and we are starting to see cases of it jumping to humans.

In the coming weeks and months, I plan to start sharing more–and more specifically–about what we already do to be self sufficient on our homestead–and what I am learning as well. I have much to learn, and I will share what I find out. In the immediate, it is also important to look to your community. What resources can you share? How can you work together? We are going to need each other.

I watched a video made by a woman who lives in an area of North Carolina devastated by Hurricane Helene. They had no running water, no electricity, no internet, no cell phone service, and no roads. She said, when the outside influences were gone, people came together. She said everyone organized, shared food and generators, and helped the elderly and children. She said MAGA people were working side by side with people on the far left. When the outside world was no longer influencing people, they came together. This is in us. I hope we can all find it.

I think it is also important to start assessing. What skills do you have? What skills do you want to develop? What resources can you share with others? What do you need to buy before tariffs are implemented?

And, of course, hopefully, I am wrong about all of this, and things are going to be okay. If that’s the case, in the coming weeks and months, the things I share with you will help us all save more money, make our households more inflation-proof, take greater advantage of the resources we have, and avoid processed foods, which are just terrible for us and our children.

I am going to make a promise to write every day for the next year. The journal is also coming back in the Spring with a focus on education more than ever. This is how I am going to keep my hope alive. Please share with me what you are doing to be prepared and remain hopeful.

photo credit: Elaine Casap, Unsplash

Late Fall

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

I realize it is not really “late” fall. But I am looking out the window this morning at my maple tree friend, and all of her leaves are gone. Only the oaks still have their leaves. The yard is full of leaves, and the chickens are so happy. The love digging through the leaves.

It has been a strange fall in many ways. The weather has been quite hot by Mainer standards most of the time, with a swing into the chilly every now and again. Today, it is chilly. I think this one might stick. Ron has the basement full of wood and wood stacked near the garage for this coming winter. He is now on a mission to find wood for the coming years, and it seems like his work in that area never ends. We have had our wood stove since 2020, and so far, a storm brings down some tree some where every year in order to provide enough wood for the following year. It could be, however, that the strong winds have cleared out all they are going to clear out, so Ron is wondering if maybe we will have to buy wood to heat our home next year. We’ll see though. Who knows what the winter storms might do.

The chickens have mostly stopped laying. We are getting just three to five eggs per day, and we have feathers everywhere from the molt. I got this picture of Ruby the other day because she looks so cute. She’s still being her Ruby self. She’s very busy and still very vocal. The ducks had completely stopped laying last week, at least I thought. This morning, there was a single egg in the duck house. I was so happy because duck eggs are my favorite. Our plan is that we will not get ducks again after our flock passes away over time, but it will be tough to never have duck eggs again. We talked about how we could just buy some, but I have not seen anyone in our area who raises organic duck eggs.

I have been really busy wrapping up fall classes and processing more food from the garden. The long summer meant an epic tomato crop. I think I have made enough sauce for two years. I was gifted some organic grapes and made grape jelly. Ron planted a fall crop of greens, so today, I will be gathering spinach and lettuce and bagging it up to have it for just a little longer. A big freeze is coming tomorrow night. We have had a couple of light frosts, but the greens can handle that. Ron says they may not handle this one though, at least not the varieties he has planted. I guess it really is late fall.

Mostly, things are going well here on the homestead. Boudica and Bairre, our Pyrenees are busy and healthy. It’s cool enough that we can take them for walks every evening now. In fact, if Bairre doesn’t get a walk, he pouts and refuses to eat, so we are sure to walk. The evenings are just gorgeous, and the walks are good for my soul.

The only bad news is that after over a year with no rats, they are back. I just saw one last night, as I was getting the chicken food to put up for the night. Just a few weeks ago, I was feeling a little smug, thinking that being so neat and careful with the chicken feed has really worked to keep the rats away, but then I remembered that there is a garden full of food, our neighbor’s compost exists, and we had owls living right by the house last fall. I thought it was probably really just a matter of luck that we had no rats. I guess that was right. I am so bummed. They are beautiful, intelligent creatures, but they are so, so destructive. My teenage son loves the owls, and last fall, they hung out with him in the evenings. I told him I needed him to summon his owl friends. He looked at me like I was a crazy witch lady. I get that from him fairly regularly.

I guess that’s all the news for this morning. Stay cozy, friends, and stay sane. It’s a tough time for our culture. There’s a lot of instability. I am just trying to remind myself that, no matter what happens, it’s a good idea to keep learning to be self sufficient. In so many ways, it feels like we are on our own. In so many ways, it seems like we need to stick together.

top photo credit: Ronan Sands

Fall Is Finally Upon Us

~ Crystal Sands ~ Leave a comment

This is Tuesday, Ruby’s offspring. Like Ruby, she’s the special, only I think she is even smarter than Ruby. Well, maybe it’s hard to say about that, but I will say this: I think Ruby is so high strung that it limits her at times. Tuesday is calm, cool, and smart like Poe was. We have been trying to keep the chickens from hanging out in the driveway because I caught Kate just as she was about to take a step into the road a few weeks ago. Ruby is not thrilled about this, but Tuesday has figured out how to hop onto the top of their covered dust bathing area, jump into the pine tree, and then make her way out front. From there, she charms even Ron out of treats all day long.

This picture was taken the other day after she had been given some extra treats from all three of us and was feeling bold, I guess. I heard a noise at the door and when I went to see what the noise was, I found Tuesday with her best begging face on. With the pumpkin next to her, she totally looked like she was trick or treating, so I went to get both a treat and my phone and got this picture of that beautiful girl. Isn’t she fantastic?

The picture looks like fall to me–Tuesday in her orange and black, pumpkin on the porch–and fall is finally here in our part of Maine. We had a long summer, and we have yet to have our first frost, which is just wild. It was nice getting to eat from the garden for so long, and even tonight, we ate greens and tomatoes fresh from the garden. But there is a chill in the air. You can feel the fall finally coming.

Plus, today, we got just three eggs from the girls. I assume tomorrow will be a little better, but we are definitely well into the molt. The girls are beginning their rest for the winter. I’m going to miss the fresh eggs, but I am glad they get to take a break. Our girls work so hard.

Rooster is having a particularly hard molt. I’m so worried about him, but he seems determined. Yoshi is also molting pretty badly, and Lenore had a tough year for her first year too. Thankfully, she’s all done and looks beautiful. Ruby hasn’t started her molt yet. I’m not looking forward to it. I mean, she’s grumpy on a good day.

Interestingly, Marshmallow is STILL broody. I swear, that hen has probably not laid an egg all year! She was broody all summer, and when I finally got her to let it go at the end of August, she started to molt. She had a solid molt and looks great, but about the time she got all her feathers back, that hen was right back in the nest box being broody again. There is a part of me that just wants to let her have another clutch of chicks; however, I will never forget the summer of 2019.

I let that hen have some babies, and she was like a dinosaur attacking me every time I had to bring the food and water. She was wild. I bled. I had to start wearing oven mitts, and she would then just go for my arms. I swore never again. So she continues to sit, hopeful, and I have to resist any urge to give in. She might live forever this way.

Interestingly, she is Broody Hen’s offspring, who was the sweetest hen in the history of the world. I don’t know what happened to Marshmallow.

Anyway, that’s the update from the chicken yard for today. I just finished teaching way too many classes, but I am now working less for a few weeks. I hope to write more. I hope you’ll leave a comment and write back.

Free Seeds (or How to Save Seeds for Next Year)

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

I have been so busy with harvest this season that I have had little time to write, but I wanted to share a bit about something extra special I have been harvesting this fall–seeds.

Seeds have grown so expensive over the years. Last year, we spent about $250 getting all of the seeds for our homestead. It all adds up–the lettuces, spinach, beans, carrots, melons, and so many tomatoes. I have always saved a few seeds in the past, but I have never had good rigor or organization in my process. Let’s just say I have been more than a little scattered when it comes to my seeds. Sometimes, I when spring comes around, I can’t even remember where I put some of the seeds, and I haven’t had a good track record in saving all the seeds I could during harvest season. Some years, I manage the green beans. Some years, I manage the tomatoes. This year, I have been saving them all!

I still do not have the skills to save carrot seeds, but I learned how to save spinach seeds this year. I have also saved green beans, two types of melons, three types of peppers, and five types of tomatoes. The squash is still coming, and I couldn’t save our corn because Ron got hybrid seeds this year (a delicious hybrid, I might add). I think when I get the squash seeds finished, I will have saved about 2/3 of our seeds for next year. That’s a pretty big savings! Plus, these seeds are free–just looking at me every time I cut open a pepper or a melon reminding me they are there for me. It just started to feel so wrong to throw them away. And I have saved so many seeds that I have plenty to give away as gifts. I brought some little envelopes for the seeds, and I have been in the seed business all fall. This year, I am organized!

I wanted to share some strategies for saving seeds because it is really pretty easy and can save a lot of money. And, truly, it’s just so satisfying. I hope you find these tips helpful, and I hope you’ll save some seeds this year!

Spinach

I always thought it was tricky to save spinach seeds until Ron accidentally replanted the spinach from seeds after he mowed down the spinach that had bolted. Essentially, you just let the spinach bolt and go to seed. When the seeds are developed, cut the plants and hang them upside down to dry. When they are dry enough, remove the seeds and store in a cool, dry place. I also read you can store them for the winter right on the stalk.

Melons

Melons are so easy. When you cut open a melon, they are just right there for you to save. The only trick is just getting the seeds separated from the mushy insides. I spread the seeds on a plate and remove as much of the slime as I can and then rinse. There will still be a little slime, but progress is good. Then, you just let everything dry for a couple of days on the plate. At this point, the seeds are easier to remove from any leftover pieces of melon. The seeds will still need to dry a little longer before being put away. Let them dry a few more days, and then they are ready to be put away until next year. Just store them in a cool, dry place, as you would any seeds.

Green Beans 

To save green bean seeds for next year, just leave several beans on each of your plants to grow big at the end of the season—the more plants, the better the genetic diversity. When the beans are big and lumpy and start to yellow, they are easiest to save. Just shell them and put them in a cool, dry place to dry. 

Peppers

Peppers are the easiest! When you cut open the pepper, the seeds are already clean and pretty dry. Just pluck them from the inside core of the pepper and place them on a plate to dry. In a few days, they are ready to be put up for the season. After saving pepper seeds this year, I cannot imagine ever again having to buy pepper seeds.

Dry Beans  

Dry beans are the easiest because you are going to get them into shape for saving and storing anyway. After you harvest your beans, make sure you have a cool, dry place for your beans to dry out. Also, make sure you give them enough space. Mold is the enemy here. Once the pods start to feel a little bit dry, you can shell the beans and then spread them out to continue drying. Don’t put them away until the beans are completely dried. As an alternative, instead of picking the beans and then drying, you can also just hang your plants to dry and go from there. 

Squash and Pumpkins 

When you cut open your squash and pumpkins in the fall, simply remove some of the seeds for saving. Wash them to remove strings and such and then let them dry on a towel for about a week. Once they are good and dry, they can be stored in a cool, dry place, just like other seeds. Just be aware, if you have planted multiple types of squash near each other, you may not get pure seeds. Squash seeds, if stored well, can last for several years. 

Tomatoes 

To save seeds from your favorite tomatoes, all you have to do is choose some tomatoes that are big and scoop out the seeds with the little jelly that comes with them. If you are looking for saving tomato seeds that will be good for several years, you should use the fermentation method. Add water and the squished tomatoes to a glass jar. The water helps the seeds separate from the tomato. Then, place the jar in a warm spot for a few days. You should see a layer of moldy stuff start to form on the top of the mixture. Once you see the mold at the top and seeds at the bottom, you can remove the icky mold and run your mixture through a strainer to wash your seeds. Be sure to clean your seeds well and let them dry on a towel for several days. Then, just store your seeds in a cool dry place like your other seeds.

I have also learned from an interview with The Heirloom Gardener, if you are planning to use your tomato seeds the next year, all you have to is wipe the seeds from your favorite tomatoes onto a paper bag. Let them dry for a couple of weeks. Then, you can just fold up the paper bag and store the seeds in a cool, dry place.

Corn

Corn is also easy to save. You just have make sure you have heirloom corn seeds. So many corn seeds are hybrids. There is also the issue that hybrid corn is often sweeter and tastier, but heirloom corn seeds still make delicious corn. Plus, you get the benefit of being able to seed save. Just save several ears of corn from your harvest and hang the ears in a cool, dry place to dry. Once they are dried, you can just wiggle the seeds loose and save your seeds for next year. The one issue I had when I first started saving corn seeds is that I didn’t save my seeds from enough different plants, so I wasn’t getting good genetic diversity. Still, even my beginner attempt provided us with corn seeds for three years before we decided to start fresh with new seeds. But it’s best if you can save seeds from at least ten different ears of corn. I had been using three or four.

*Some of this content was originally published in Volume II of the Farmer-ish Print Annual.

top photo credit: Yuliia Huzenko, Unsplash

A Mary Jane Update on the Anniversary of Tom Petty’s Death

~ Crystal Sands ~ 3 Comments

I have had three celebrity crushes in my adult life–a scientist (Neil deGrasse Tyson) and two musicians–YoYo Ma and Tom Petty. When I learned that Tom Petty died seven years ago today, I was devastated. His music had been so central in my life, and I adored his back story. He grew up abused and misunderstood and used his creativity and drive to change his life and the lives of so many others. His life and music just spoke to me.

I was already really down that day in 2017 because it was also the day of that terrible mass shooting in Las Vegas, and to top things off, it was meat bird processing day on our homestead. It was just a tough day, so when I asked Ron to please pardon one of the meat bird hens for me to keep and add to our flock, he agreed. He agreed that we needed something good on such a no-good, terrible day. I understood that, as a meat bird, the hen would likely just live a couple of years, but we needed a layer or two, and Freedom Ranger hens are pretty good layers. I would be happy just to have her for a couple of years.

The bird who was pardoned was named Mary Jane, in honor of Tom Petty’s famous song, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.” Ron said she was the one who outsmarted him all day, so he knew she was a smart bird. We had no idea just how smart she was going to be or how long her dance would be.

I feel certain she must be at some kind of record for a Freedom Ranger meat bird, but Mary Jane turned seven this summer, and she’s still going strong. She is also one of the smartest, if not the smartest, hens I have ever met. Over the years, she and I have formed a powerful bond. She talks to me. She asks me for help when she needs it, and she lets me know when she is just fine by herself. She used to be about the size of a small turkey thanks to those meat bird genes, but in her older age, she is smaller. She’s still larger than our other hens, and she actually talks in a gobble.

Every morning, she waits in the coop for food while the other chickens run out the door for the outside food bowl. Mary Jane is patient and smart and waits for her food bowl. When she sees me coming, she almost always gobbles this cute little gobble talk. I realized this morning, as I was thinking about the anniversary of Tom Petty’s death and Mary Jane’s pardon, that I have to get a recording of her voice. I had another hen who was very vocal and talkative, and I regret that I never got a recording of her talking. I have to record Mary Jane.

The cutest thing is that Mary Jane has a daughter, Petty. Petty is also a fantastic hen and is so smart. She raised a clutch of babies last fall, and she was not just a magnificent mama but probably the most magnificent mama hen I have seen. She did so well. She was chill but loving and so good to her babies. She let me get involved too, so I was thankful to her. When Petty went broody in the late summer this year, I was sad we had decided to downsize our flock and couldn’t let her raise babies.

Interestingly, Petty has a voice similar to Mary Jane’s. Just the other morning, I heard a little gobble run across the yard, but it surprised me because I thought Mary Jane was still in the coop waiting for me. It turns out it was Petty. She doesn’t talk a lot like Mary Jane does, but she has a voice like her mama. How fantastic is that?

So far, both Mary Jane and Petty are doing great. Mary Jane’s health has its ups and downs, but right now, she seems to be in really good health. She quit laying somewhere around age four or five, so she’s retired but helps keep order in the flock. She’s so old for a meat bird that I have thought on more than one occasion that she was surely near her end, but that hen always pulls through. I know she has a heart condition, but it seems her will to live is stronger than her heart condition. I guess a better way to put it is that her heart is stronger than her heart condition.

She has not yet molted for the fall, so I definitely worry about that for her. The molt is hard on birds. Rooster is molting right now, and he’s so tired that I am having to help him off the top roost some mornings. He is also a very old bird.

But the winter before last, I thought surely he and Mary Jane would not make it through another winter. They showed me. I have learned to never underestimate Mary Jane, and though I always open the coop in the mornings with a little bit of worry that today might be the day that Mary Jane passes, so far, she’s always there, greeting me. Usually, she gives me her little gobble.

Every year on this day, October 2, I spend a little time thinking about how much Tom Petty meant to me, and then I turn my thoughts to Mary Jane and think about how much she continues to mean to me.