Urban Farming in 2013

The plants are doing great. Our little garden has really taken off with all the recent rain and warm temps. We have four tomato plants, four potato plants, five heirloom bean vines, three watermelon plants, one eggplant, one sweet pepper, six garlic plants, and a variety of herbs. I am particularly pleased with my Thai basil and hope that I will be inspired to prepare more Thai and Vietnamese cuisine! One of my faves. So far I've made a bean sprout stir fry and lettuce wraps, but what I really want to tackle is Pho.

I am really proud of how we have pulled our garden together on a shoe string budget and with stuff we have laying around. I'm not sure what I enjoy more, saving money or the creative process that ensues from working with what one already has. Its been a lot of fun! While its fun to build something out of nothing, we are also considering investing in nicer materials so we can build a new raised bed in the front yard, where we get full sun.

We've also transplanted several agaves into the ground or larger containers, they are much happier now. Casey built me a large planter with lumber left over from Gavin's fort.

I even have a wildflower patch emerging. They are looking scraggly right now, but I have hopes for next spring, they just need a season to establish their place in our yard first.

We're down to TWO chickens. Yes, only two.

We started with four baby chicks and in the past week we have lost two. How? Our dogs. Everyone we know who has chickens and dogs has a story about losing chickens to the dogs. We were very hopeful in the beginning, as our yellow lab had zero interest in the chicks and our boxer, while curious, never displayed any aggressive behavior toward the chicks.

We have since learned that if left alone in the backyard with the chicks, boredom will get the best of the dogs. I think its my boxer. Now we know that the chickens and dogs cannot be left unattended in the backyard together. Bummer.

Both our Americaunas are gone. We're down to the Buff Orpington and Rhode Island Red. I am sad to have lost the other two, I had grown quite attached and accustomed to seeing all four of my adolescent hens roaming the yard. They each have their own personality and mannerisms. Its not clear at this time if we will wait until next spring to replace our chickens or replace them sooner. If we replace them now, we will have to get older hens, which is not a bad thing! In the meantime, Casey has built a new enclosure for our coop, this gives us more flexibility when we're away for the day and our dogs are left outside.