The Halpern Homestead

Furniture Building: Front Entrance Bench and Shoe Cubby- Painting/Priming

2012-02-05T16:59:00.002-08:00

I have been patiently waiting for a warm day to paint our 'Mudroom' style bench/cubby. Today was the day. We had a really nice warm and sunny day here in Spokane, so I decided to paint outside.

This is the bench after a coat of primer applied the week before in the shed on a decently warm day.

First coat of paint. It is much easier to paint outside than it is to paint in the shed. I was glad for the opportunity!

The back.

The photo above shows the bench with the top piece. It is lifted up because I had extra time and was able to paint the seat before it got too cold. I was able to do both coats of green paint as well. I just need to paint the front trim with two coats, apply one more coat to the bench top, and secure the top to the base. In the middle cubby, 2 pieces of laminate tile are shown; we are going to use these to cover the surfaces that come in contact with the shoes. I haven't ever done tile before so it will be interesting.

I put the bench away for the night in our crammed shed. I wish I had a woodshop, but I am happy to have a saw and be able to work outside. We are nearly done!

Thanks for reading!

Simple Idea For Winter Feeding of Chickens

2012-02-04T21:03:00.000-08:00

Here at The Halpern Homestead, we are always looking for ways to substitute the chicken's diet in the winter. Winter for many chickens is fed based on a packaged chicken feed offered at all hours of the day. Us, as well as many of our blog friends and local friends, choose not to follow this practice as the only source of feeding during the winter.

Summer around our home is a great time for the chickens. The hens are free range. Meaning they have unlimited access to all the bugs and vegetation that they can forage in the daylight hours. In addition to extras we provide our chickens with: garden overgrowth/weeds as well as produce damaged by the voles, daily kitchen scraps/spoils that they love so much, and any other 'human' waste that the chickens just love (rinds, cobs, seeds, anything too bitter or sour).

The winter complicates things since we aren't growing extra produce in the garden and the vegetation in the fields is limited. One idea that I really like, is buying organic produce at sale prices and feeding it to the chickens. Now in an ideal world, we would grow enough food in the garden to support us and our animals throughout the winter. Someday this will be our goal, but for now we are doing the best we can with what we have.

I was at our local natural market 2 weeks ago and found a 25lb bag of organic carrots for only $15. Screaming deal on carrots!

Now carrots may not be a 'complete' feed for chickens in terms of needed proteins, fats, carbs, and minerals; but they have a lot more minerals and vitamins than one would think.

Nutrition facts according to the USDA

Vitamins according to http://nutritiondata.self.com.

Minerals according to http://nutritiondata.self.com.

Plenty of trace minerals such as: calcium/manganese. Electrolytes such as: potassium and magnesium. Vitamins such as: vitamins A/C/K/B6, thiamin and the wonderful folate. Small amount of protein, a large amount of dietary fiber and even iron. What more can you ask for in a low carbohydrate snack?

Carrots are well tolerated among our animal friends from the dogs to the geese, they all enjoy them. We have found that the carrots are better tolerated by the birds if shredded first.

Luckily we have a food processor with a shred blade.

It makes quick work of pounds of carrots. The usual batch is 1.5 gallons of volume.

The shredding power is almost excessive. Even the largest of carrots are gone in seconds.

Every time I take a late night snack to the birds I feel like they know I am coming.

It is well past bedtime and these birds are cruising the floor like they knew it was too soon for bed.

All birds from the hens to the ducks come running and flying for carrot time.

May not be a common practice for most, but the extra produce and attention shows in these beautiful eggs!

Thanks for reading!

Gardening Season 2012 Starts Today!

2012-02-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight Kelsi and I started our first seed trays of the year.

We planted 4 open flats of onions.

Gladstone- Long day white onion.

Newburg- Yellow onion with sweet white flesh.

Stuttgarter- Yellow onion, known for keeping all winter.

Violet De Galmi- Bright pink/purple onion which also keeps well.

We also started our peppers and eggplants. We decided to start them earlier this year than we did last year. We usually start them around March 1, but they have been pretty small still by the time we have the plant sale. So, we are trying an extra month earlier this year to see what happens.

We are growing more varieties this year.

Black Beauty Eggplant

Long Purple Eggplant

Corno Di Toro Sweet Pepper

Cal Wonder Orange Bell Pepper- Awesome producer! Grew last year, fantastic flavor

Pepper Quadrato d'Asti Rosso- Italian Red Pepper known for it's massive size.

White Habanero Pepper

Pizza Pepper- Mild Jalapeño

Mirasol- Hot Pepper

We also bought a two flat seed warmer and thermostat to help the peppers and eggplants germinate a little better that last year. Haven't used a warming mat before so we are hoping for the best.

Thanks for reading!

Furniture Building: Front Entrance Bench and Shoe Cubby

2012-01-18T17:53:00.002-08:00

I recently got a table saw from my wonderful wife! I decided to build a shoe cubby first, since our front door is always cluttered with a variety of shoes and boots. I am making it out of birch plywood with pine trim on the face.

Here I have the base assembly all put together. I have the top drying behind(not shown), after gluing the boards together. Everything has been sanded down and the nail holes are all filled. Just need a warmish day to apply the primer and start painting.

I haven't ever done woodworking like this before. I am learning a ton and can't wait to start my next project.

It has Started

2012-01-16T06:40:00.002-08:00

Spring FEVER!

Getting our seed stock sorted by start dates.

We went through our seed stock yesterday. Ordered what we needed from Baker Creek and bought some that we know worked well for us from Irish Eyes. All Organic or Heirloom or both. It's going to be a big year for our veggie starts business.

We will be starting our first seeds in 19 days.

Warming Mat For Seed Germination

2012-01-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

We are getting ready for seed starting and after reflecting back to lasts years results, I remembered we had terrible germination rates for our peppers.

This is what happened last year.

I was wondering if anyone has used a warming mat before and whether or not it worked?

They have this one here at our local seed store for 31.99. I am hesitant to buy it without knowing how well it works.

That's for reading! Hopefully someone has some input.

Friendly Deer

2011-12-05T08:05:00.000-08:00

This fall a nice fellow was right outside our door nibbling on the orange tree.

This is probably the reason the orange tree hasn't grown very much yet.

He doesn't seem to mind the birds at all.

Then he moved to the tree with the orange berries that are supposed to be inedible.

Doesn't seem to care.

They must taste alright.

Thanks for reading.

Fall Walks on the Farm

2011-12-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Kelsi and I are lucky enough to not have to leave home to take the dogs on a walk. During the fall is especially nice, since the field grass is not as tall and the tics have long since disappeared from the blades of grass along the deer trails.

We usually head up the upper field since there are many game trails. On this walk we kept hearing a noise behind us. We looked, but did not see anything.

Weird, what was that noise?

Was it you Julies?

Julies: "Not me"

I see something coming down the trail; what is it?

Hard to tell.

Matilda!

She likes to follows on walks!

Once we start heading back all the animals run for the bottom of the hill.

We found Matilda waiting on this old farm tire.

And Khma was anxiously waiting near Matilda.

Thanks for reading!

Fall Photos

2011-12-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

Sunset over the greenhouse

9/11/11

My sister Emily had a baby. Asher James 9/13/11

Lemon Cucumber. My new favorite cucumber! We have had problem with bitter cucs in the past, and this one seems great for our area. It did well with the high heat when grown in the greenhouse. It also did well in the garden despite some drought conditions in the bed they were grown in due to a plumbing problem. The flavor is great too!

Walter snuggling my sneakers.

Walter and Matilda holding hands.

We had our first good year for eggplant. The long purple were plentiful and delicious. The skins were a little tough though, so they had to be peeled before eating. Black beauty were also good, smaller than expected and not in great quantity, but still tasty. NOTE TO SELF: plant more eggplant next year.

Winter squash for the year. Pretty disappointing. We had some irrigation issues in the lower beds this summer which resulted in smaller squashes. The one that did the best was the large green one above. It is called Underground Sweet Potato, we received it as saved seed from relatives in Iowa. Definitely growing it again. It had a root system unlike any squash we have ever grown. One plant literally had several feet of root. Those who plant no irrigation gardens should consider this one.

Walter has become quiet the bed buddy and he has taken a liking to Khma

We did put the peppers and eggplants in the greenhouse at the end of September. We had an extra 3 weeks in the greenhouse before a freeze hit compared to outside. It helped the peppers and eggplant grow a little more and the peppers all changed color in time for harvest this way. The labor involved in planting peppers/eggplant in pots in the spring, digging and planting the pots into the ground, then pulling the pots back out of the ground in the fall may not be worth the extra 3 weeks, but it was a good experiment.

We are also trying to grow lettuce in the greenhouse during the winter. So far the growth is minimal. We planted in late August. I think next year it would be better to plant at the first of August.

Red pepper ripened in the greenhouse.

We brought the orange tree inside for the winter and Matilda likes to keep it warm.

Hopefully her warmth will help it grow tall and strong this next summer.

WARNING! GRAPHIC IMAGES BEYOND THIS POINT. I blurred out the parts that I can't really see again, even though I was there.

We bought a turkey this spring to have for Thanksgiving but he died when he was really young for some reason. I really wanted to eat turkey for the holiday, but we have been only eating meat that has lost its' life at my hand for a couple years now. So I went through the process of trying to find a live bird in time for Thanksgiving. I was lucky enough to get in contact with Palouse Pastured Poultry. They raise organic pastured birds. I bought the turkey live and processed it a few days before Thanksgiving.

The turkey was butchered in a peaceful way that not only abides by the Jewish way of slaughter, but also Kelsi and my morals about how an animal should be treated in the end of life. I won't go into the details, but it was peaceful from start to finish for myself and the bird.

After hanging for a while once dead, I plucked the bird. It took time, but the turkey cleaned up well.

I used a torch to get the 'Pin Feathers' and that was that.

Matilda came out to visit while I was working.

The turkey tasted great, and I can sleep at night knowing that it died a peaceful death and lived a humane life. It was our first meat consumption in 4 months, so we got a good protein fix. Who knows when we will eat meat again?

Thanks for reading!

Canning Photos and Thoughts on Peppers

2011-12-02T07:28:00.006-08:00

We take a ton of photos and I am finally just starting to have the time to post them since school is slowing down before winter break. We canned all summer long. It seemed like we were at it every other day. We canned a lot of food that we grew or picked ourselves, but we also bought a lot from our favorite farmer's at the Spokane Farmer's Market.

Here is a good sample of the tomatoes we grew. A variety of color, sizes, and flavors. We used them in all of our summer cooking, but they worked especially well for canning.

Pasilla Pepper. Extra hot! Good growth per pepper, quantity was lower than other peppers.

Mirasol Pepper. Great growth per pepper, good color change, and great quantity per plant. Hot, but not too hot.

Gypsy pepper. Prolific! Sweet! Changes color from light green to bright red/orange. Delicious at any stage. My new favorite sweet pepper. Definitely growing this one again. Fresh was great, but sautéed really well too!

Sweet pickle pepper. Not worth the time. Fun to look at, prolific with small peppers, and great growth all around. The peppers lacked in flavor. The flesh was thin and bitter. Not the best pepper I have ever had, in fact store bought peppers probably taste better.

Seeds of Change Cal Wonder Orange pepper! Oh yea! This one was great! Our biggest pepper grown, color turned reasonably fast, and the flavor was outstanding. Excellent sliced on a piece of bread with sprouts, cheese, and mustard. Cooks well too. Will definitely grow again.

What do you do when you have so many tomatoes and peppers?

Make salsa!

This recipe was more than 75% grown here. We had to buy more hot peppers and a couple other ingredients.

Beautiful Color! Bright.

The flavor is outstanding as well. Hot and complex, yet sweet at the end. We used multiple different spices, really takes the taste buds for a spin. Probably the best salsa yet.

We also did a boat load of pickles.

So fun fun to can!

The brightness of the green is really highlighted after the ice bath.

Packed in jars in halves and quarters.

Filled to the brim.

Extra hot spice mix. 1/2 of a Mirasol, 1 whole Jalapeño, red pepper flakes, and peppercorns.

Another variation with a dried Pasilla instead of the half of a Mirasol.

Standard. 1 Jalapeño halved, garlic, peppercorn, and dill.

I now know from this year of canning that we need to plant double the tomato plants, as many cucumber plants as we can fit, triple the pepper plants, and we need to start an orchard in moveable containers. We aren't going to be at this house forever, someday we will move to our forever home. It would be really nice if we had 10 or so fruit trees already fruiting when we move (SPRING PROJECT!).

That's it! Thanks for reading!

Off to the Woods We Go.

2011-12-01T21:19:00.001-08:00

We have been going to the Colville National Forest to get firewood for a couple of years now. Never have we gone in conditions like this. There was over a foot of snow on the logging road, and my car which has four wheel drive and never gets stuck, got stuck. I had to chain up, and even then, it was treacherous.

We brought the dogs, and Juliette had a blast. She loves to look for squirrels.

Running and jumping through the snow.

Despite the snow, it was beautiful up there.

Khma decided to stay in the car for the most part.

Our trailer holds a half cord of wood, so it's not a lot of wood for the effort. The scenery is nice though.

Thanks for reading!

Preserving Food 2011: Canning, Freezing, and Dehydrating

2011-12-01T12:30:00.004-08:00

We have had an extra busy fall. Kelsi started graduate school in September and I am still in nursing school. We haven't had a lot of extra time for the blog. Our free time was spent harvesting the garden and getting it ready for winter. We preserved more food this year than ever before. Here is last years canning as a comparison.

This entry is not only to share with you guys how much we have done, but to document and compare with for next year. We doubled our canning from last year.

Crushed Tomatoes: 19quarts left. 10 already eaten!

Pickled cucumber chunks: 3 quarts. These make a great addition to any sandwich!

Spicy pickles: 14 quarts

Extra Spicy Pickles: 8 Quarts

25 total quarts of pickles

Peaches: 29 quarts

Apple Pie Filing: 4 quarts. 4 already eaten

Applesauce: 9 quarts. 2 eaten. NOTE TO SELF: should have done more of these.

Cherry Pie Filling: 5 quarts. 2 eaten

Pears: 9 quarts

Spicy Salsa: 14 Pints

Garden Salsa: 16 pints

Assorted jams/jellies: 26 half pints.

Pesto cubes: 2 bags. You can just add these to your noodles and you have instant pesto noodles. Tastes great too!

Peas

More peas.

Lots of beans: Bags and bags full.

3-12oz jars of dehydrated tomatoes and a 1 quart bowel.

Apple fruit leather. It doesn't look like a lot, but each container is 1.75 quarts

I had to play around with the consistency of the mixture so each batch turned out a little different. One batch was more like apple bark, but they all taste really good!

We also have 11 loafs of zucchini bread in the freezer made by Kelsi.

Hopefully we can double our canning again next year.

Thanks for reading!

Conclusion to Potato Experiment: Bin vs. Ground Method of Planting

2011-09-13T06:24:00.000-07:00

We pulled out our potatoes on Friday and would like to share the results. I had discussed in an earlier post that we planted potatoes the conventional way and also in bins to see which method does better in terms of:

1. Ease of harvest

2. Yield per area planted

3. Size of the spuds

Ground Method: These potatoes shown above are from the control group which was planted in the ground. We planted 6 linear feet of bed space, containing 3 rows of potatoes. This yielded two 5gallon buckets full of large potatoes.

1. Ease of harvest- They took a while to dig up since I didn't want to damage the potatoes. It took me an hour to dig this very small section and even though I was slow and careful, I still stabbed many potatoes.

2. Yield per area planted- The plants yielded so much more than we expected. 10gallons for 6ft of bed space was really good yield for us.

3. Size of the spuds- the spuds were very large, most were large or extra large in size.

This method was a great success. Great results in all three categories that we are judging by.

That's a lot of potato soup!

Bin Method: It the photo above, in the left lower tray. You can see a small amount of little potatoes. This is all that we found between the 3 bins that we planted. When pulling out the straw in the first bin, I found a fat field mouse who had clearly eaten his share of our potato crop. The next two bins were the same. Very few potatoes that could be kept. Most had been chewed on , or were eaten all the way.

So for us, in our location, the bin method is not a good place to grow potatoes. The vermin ate most of the crop and probably started early since the plant growth was minimal as well.

I wish I could have been able to compare the two methods without the interference from the mice. So, as a conclusion: We don't know which method is better for growing spuds because the test method was destroyed by field mice. Fat little jerks!

Thanks for reading!

Itty Bitty Little Tomatoes.

2011-09-11T19:36:00.002-07:00

We are loaded with cherry sized tomatoes right now. Every 3-4 days we pick another large bowl full.

We had more than we can eat and we don't want them to go bad. Tomatoes this small are a pain to can because they have to be peeled, so that's not a fun option. What we are left with is fresh salsa or dehydrating. We have already made some salsa, so we started drying them.

5 dehydrator trays produced 4 cups of dried tomatoes.

I picked another large bowl yesterday.

Today the dehydrator is loaded again today and will give us 4 more cups of dried goodness.

These tomatoes are a great thing to have in the cupboard. You can add them to pastas or pizza and they will plump up a bit. Or drop them in the food processor with a little water and you can make your own tomato paste for spaghetti night.

Thanks for reading!

Yellow Pear: A Force to Be Reckoned With

2011-09-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

When I was driving home from work yesterday I noticed something on the roof of the greenhouse. It had been a long night shift and I was tired so I forgot to check it out before I went to bed.

When I woke up, I went outside to pick some tomatoes for work.

There it was again. Hmmm.....

This is our tomato bed in the greenhouse. 3 tomato plants, all of them taller than 7ft. The highest point inside the greenhouse is 8ft4in.

This is the yellow pear. It has grown to the roof, wiggled it's way through the plastic liner and popped out of the top. That is more than 10ft of vertical growth. It gets better.

The parts that haven't made it out of the top have fallen over on the shelf next to the tomato bed. This section of the plant is more than 11feet tall. We use companion planting in this bed. We planted lots of carrots around the tomato plants. I am not sure if that has helped them grow so tall or if it is the heat and protection of the greenhouse. Either way, we love the results.

The carnivorous plant Herman is also growing very well. Soon it will be as tall as the tomato plants.

Have your tomatoes ever busted free? Tell us about it.

Thanks for reading!

Garden photos.

2011-09-07T20:47:00.002-07:00

It has been a busy end of the summer or start to the fall, however you look at it. Nearly every day the of the last two weeks Kelsi and/or I have been preserving foods for the winter. Whether that is Kelsi's homemade breads, canning, or freezing veggies. We are busy.

We plan to post pictures of the canning we have done at the end of the season. It is more impressive that way.

This pile of tomatoes represents 2.5 gallons of freshly picked deliciousness. A gallon went to fresh salsa that we made yesterday, and the other gallon and a half we dehydrated today.

The beans have finally made it to the top of the trellis which is an 8foot climb.

The trellis sure makes for some easy picking. They just dangle down from between the holes of the trellis.

This is a volunteer squash that grew next to the bean trellis. It trailed up the trellis about 4ft and here grows a nice looking squash. It appears to be a spaghetti squash crossed with a zucchini.

This is the 1.5gallons of cherry/yellow pear tomatoes that are dehydrating right now

Hope your garden is doing well also!

Thanks for reading!

Product Approval by Test Subject: 07112010

2011-09-06T22:01:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: The Halpern Homestead in no way supports or encourages animal testing. Please do not repeat the tests you are about to see.

Test Subject: 07112010 A.K.A. Matilda
Purpose of Test: To determine comfort and safety of baby related items.

Item: Rocker/Glider

Result: Approved

Item: Crib.

Result: Approved

Item: Bouncer

Result: Approved

Item: Changing table

Result: Approved; Additional approval provided by Canine 06162006(Khma)

Thanks for reading!

The Difference Between Ducks/Geese vs Chickens

2011-08-31T19:15:00.002-07:00

It is storming in Spokane today. Heavy rains. Good for the garden.

When ever it rains the flock splits into two groups.

The chickens hunker down under something sturdy.

The geese go for a swim.

The ducks look for worms.

The webbed gang loves the rain.

Wonderful rainy days. A welcomed refresher for the webbed footed gang.

Thanks for reading!

Garden Bounty

2011-08-31T10:05:00.001-07:00

Our harvest today.

10 pounds of tomatoes, we have an additional 20 pounds sitting on our counter.

35 onions

20 garlic

We have some canning to do!

Camping at Priest Lake

2011-08-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was my last weekend of freedom for a while. I started back at school on Monday.

So, we took the opportunity and went camping at Priest Lake in northern Idaho. It is a place we have been to a few times in the last two years, but never like this. We loaded up all of our gear into a 12ft aluminum boat. We traveled to the upper lake of the Priest Lakes. You have to boat through a 2-mile long thoroughfare to get there which is a no wake zone, so it takes a while. After we finally made it out of their we continued to four mile length of the upper lake to the northern most part where we made camp.

We made camp just a few feet from the water on a nice sandy beach.

Kelsi took this neat picture of the fire.

While we camp, we still try to eat like we do at home. Fresh ingredients and good food.

This pesto pasta was made from our homegrown basil.

Turned out pretty tasty too. Kelsi froze cubes of pesto in individual sized portions, so you can just add them to warm noodles.

Breakfast. Veggie scramble. Spinach, peppers, mushrooms, and onions with eggs from Halpern's Happy Hens.

Veggie pizza! With wild edibles!

BBQ whole corn, my personal favorite.

We also had to have some tomato juice, just to make sure we had enough veggies. With some spirits of course :) and cayenne and pepper too.

We also found this giant huckleberry bush behind our camp site.

It was loaded!

It really got us excited for finding more wild edibles.

I tried my luck at catching some fresh lake trout. Ended up catching my share of perch and small bass. I didn't catch anything worth filling though.

We went on search of some hiking trails in the boat. On the way we found these. Wild chives, lakeside.

Picked picked enough to sauté and add to our pizza that night.

We found a nice mountain trail that followed a stream for a while before diverting into the mountain.

We found hundreds of huckleberry bushes up this trail. We were too late by a couple weeks for most of the bushes. However, in the shade we did find a good amount of bushes with berries still on them.

We ended up with one small bags worth. The other two below it are from the last camping trip earlier this year. We found a huge patch.

Now we have two picking locations that we know are loaded. We will return next year!

The girls had fun too. Khma basked in the sun.

Julies played in the mud.

Good trip. We look forward to harvesting more wild edibles in the future. So much fun!

We Have Mites. Updated 12/2/11

2011-08-23T13:51:00.006-07:00

Gross, ugly, disgusting, nasty mites. Let me show you what I am talking about.

Perhaps, now you are thinking.. 'That's it? It's not so bad.'

Perhaps you need a more detailed photograph.

SICK.

Those repulsive and foul creatures have infested my poor birdies.

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

Anywho, we lost little Myrtle yesterday and noticed that the coop was covered in those vomitous little creatures.

Poor little Myrtle.

It was time for a little defensive action. Mike did some research and we decided to try putting garlic in their water to make the chickies less desirable to the little bastards, as well as, sprinkling some diatomaceous earth in their feathers, roosts, coop, and dust bathing areas.

I bought this at Aslin-Finch. It was pretty pricey, but since I am in a bind, I didn't mind.

The chickies have taken over this area in front of the living room window to use for their hygiene facilities. They dust bath here, and I am hoping they will dust themselves with this beautifully fine powder meant to kill those little jerks by cutting them up and drying them out. Take that, you stupid mites! BRING IT ON!

Update 12/2/11:

The D-earth worked very well.

All of the mites were gone in 2 weeks.

We did two separate dustings, 7 days apart.

There has been no sign of the mites since then.

If anyone out there tells you that this stuff doesn't work, don't listen. There is no reason to use harsh chemicals on your hens when this works just as well. Just don't forget to wear a mask. The dust can irritate your lungs due to the sharp edges on the little dust particles.

We now use D-earth each time we clean out the coop as a preventative solution. Azurestandard.com has the best deal on D-earth. 20 bucks for 50pounds.

Hope this helps those out there with the same problem. Feel free to comment and ask us questions about it.

Crafting

2011-08-22T07:59:00.001-07:00

Mike's little sister is expecting a little boy. When these opportunities arise, I have noticed that I take full advantage of these situations and go a bit sew crazy!

I have found that I love sewing. It find it really quite relaxing. Above is the little baby blanket that I made for little Asher James.

One of my favorite parts is picking out all the fabric. I love the cute skulls and crossbones with the peace signs. I had to include the little doggie bones!

I also made some burp clothes. These were SO freakin easy.

Again, I used the skulls and crossbones. I just can't get enough of them!

I bought Emily a little bag that I turned into a diaper bag. I had a bit of a hard time finding a changing pad to go into the bag. So, I decided to make one! Its pretty long and she should be able to use it for 1 or 2 years.

It folds up nicely and fits into the pocket of the bag that is suppose to house a laptop.

I had a really difficult time with these bibs. I used iron on vinyl and I dont think I will ever use that ever again. It was really hard to work with. The back is terrycloth and I was trying to make it so that she can just use the back of the bib to wipe off the tray or the child. I will do a few things differently next time.

Since I was the one throwing the shower, I made a little centerpiece for the table that she can take home and use in the baby's room.

CUTE!

We have some baby stuff that we needed for our own house, because we plan on babysitting quite a bit. I bought a changing pad on craigslist for $3 and since it was just awful, I decided to make a cute cover for it.

I love that fabric.

Pardon the cork board on the wall. I am still working on the room. We bought this crib for $30 off of someone on criagslist and I used an old full sheet and pillow cases to make the crib sheet and skirt. I have a few little adjustments to make on the skirt.

I also made a nice neutral crib quilt.

I tried to do everything for us in neutral colors, so that when a it is time for baby Halpern #1 we will still be able to use it.

I hope you enjoyed!

Harvests

2011-08-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy summer. We snap photos of our harvests when we can. I have a couple below.

Kelsi is holding our first ever cabbage!

It was massive!

The sunflowers are doing really well this year!

First bean of the year.

Garlic and onions drying on the garden shed roof.

Thanks for reading!

Halpern Homestead Vacation

2011-08-16T17:25:00.004-07:00

Kelsi and I went camping in the Colville National Forest a couple weeks ago. Kelsi took some nice pictures of the dogs that I want to share.

Fishing, family and sun. Couldn't have been a better week. It's good to get away from the farm ever once in a while.

Making Your Own Chicken Feed

2011-08-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have experience mixing chicken feed from whole grains? We are going to try it, just looking for some pointers. We found a good Organic source to buy whole grains from.

Watering

2011-08-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here at The Halpern Homestead we try to reduce and reuse as much as possible.

This mess of hoses above is our effort at conservation. We have our garden on soaker hoses to minimize waste due to evaporation which occurs with overhead irrigation. So far, each year we have doubled the amount soaker hoses we own. This requires a lot of hoses feeding into them. We have also added 2 separate timer units to aid in more consistent and effective watering. Looks like a cluster, but it is working for us.

One thing I have learned is that the soaker hoses are not effective when joined and the length exceeds 100ft. The hoses after 100ft are usually very low flow and pretty ineffective.

Preserving Food: Peas

2011-08-02T07:40:00.002-07:00

We picked 2gallons of peas the other day.

The peas with good shells were frozen whole.

The peas with bad looking shells were shelled and frozen.

Not a lot of food for all that work! But it'll be delicious!

Cute Little Squirrels

2011-08-01T06:34:00.001-07:00

Was going through the camera and found some pretty cute pictures of the squirrels Jules is always barking at.

Garden Photos

2011-07-31T06:38:00.002-07:00

Over head view.

Peas grew up the trellis nicely this year.

Sunflower wall

Bring in the bees!

The Halpern Homestead Forest

Kelsi has a lot of nice flowers mixed in with the veggies. Makes for a very pretty garden.

The squash are taking to the little trellis we made for them.

Giant sunflower.

The cucumbers are climbing the trellis we made for them as well. Hope they make it to the top!

Beans are finally starting to come along.

Beans

Gypsy

Sweet Pickle

Mirasol

Thanks for reading!

Preserving Food: Canning Cherries

2011-07-30T10:28:00.001-07:00

Kelsi and I have a large cherry tree in our backyard. It has to be 40 or 50 years old. We haven't ever seen it really produce anything worth climbing the tree for.

Well, not this year!

We ended up picking 5gallons in about an hour.

This is about half of them.

We decided to make jelly out of them. We had some success last year with grape jelly, but I was a little worried about how much sugar the pectin required. It came out pretty sweet when we tried them, but still good.

So, this year we used a new pectin. There is a recipe card inside with all sorts of different ways to sweeten the recipe. We tried them all!

Since we were experimenting with different recipes we opted to use the smaller water bath shown above. Im not sure if that is what it is for, but it holds 5 half-pint jars perfectly! We made a small test batch of several recipes, each of which produced 4-6 half pints. So the smaller water bath worked well!

I had to bring out the big water bath and the big pot for the next recipe. We made cherry pie filling with the remaining 10lbs of cherries we had. It is from the Ball Canning Book and it is delicious! We ended up with an extra half quart which I have been snacking on! Yumm.

Cherry Pie filling- 6quarts

Cherry Jelly sweetened with 1c honey- 5 half pints

Cherry Jelly sweetened with 1c sugar- 5 half-pints

Cherry Jelly sweetened with 2c sugar- 5 half-pints

This was a cherry recipe my mom used to make when I was a kid. We made it because I used to love it! We used our pectin, so we halved the sugar. Family Cherry Jelly sweetened with 2c sugar- 6 half-pints

Thanks for reading!

Something Disturbing in Las Vegas

2011-07-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

Last month Kelsi and I went to Las Vegas for a relative's graduation. It was good, we had fun.

A friend of my father-in-law showed us around one night. He took us to a really nice restaurant/shopping center that must have cost a fortune to build.

He walked us through this fish market style area within a restaurant in order to get to a balcony with a nice view.

It was a nice concept. Pick your fish.

Pick the vegetables to go with it (from the Hollywood Farmer's Market I was told)

What a great idea!

Until this lady came by with a spray bottle.

When she sprayed the lobsters they would start moving their tentacles and flailing about. This was pretty disturbing to us.

Kelsi and I treat the things we eat with respect, especially when it comes to something that is living. Seems pretty cruel to keep these live lobsters on ice until someone chooses them for dinner. We believe in treating the living food you eat as you wish to be treated. Imagine being kept on ice for days on end waiting for someone to eat you.

Sorry for the rant, was just disgusted by this practice and wanted to share.

Thanks for reading

Donald Duck

2011-07-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

We recently adopted a new duck. His owner was headed off to the military, so we took him in.

His name is Donald and he is pretty cool! He is so tame, he doesn't mind being held and he usually doesn't freak out when you get close to him.

He is little, and has a small voice. So no noise from him

He tried to say hi to the webbed footed flock on arrival. The put their noses up at him.

Then pretended to be busy and not notice him standing there.

When that failed, they all ran!

All alone for the first day.

That didn't last long. Took a couple day, but now donald is a happy member of the webbed flock. Welcome to the homestead Donald!

Food!

2011-07-26T19:48:00.006-07:00

I work in a pretty busy place. I run a lot and I am usually hungry.

So I pack a big lunch. It's a good time of year for my lunch. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies from our garden or the farmer's market. My coworkers are always interested in what I pack for lunch since it is usually healthy and has a great deal of variety. They also love to make fun of me because I always have my food in glass bowls. Lots of bowls. Oh well, it's good to be different.

Sprouts, mushrooms, and jalepeno sandwich

I have been eating two cups of these a day, all week at work. We picked a huge bowl of peas earlier this week and they sure are good eating!

This recipe is a must try. It is a spaghetti with grilled ratatouille. We have had it twice in the past week and it sure is good! Since we have made it twice, there have been plenty of leftovers to take to work. Pretty healthy too, a little oil and a little cheese, so not too much fat.

What To Do With a Lettuce Tree?

2011-07-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

We grow a lot of lettuce and sometimes they get away from us.

Like this one that Kelsi is holding. The only problem is that when lettuce gets this big, it gets really bitter.

So we give it to the chickens!

And ducks, and geese.

Big party! Everyone's invited!

They love lettuce! Even though it's bitter.

Garlic Scape Pizza

2011-07-24T06:43:00.002-07:00

We pulled the garlic scapes off of our plants.

We picked a good amount. They have a mild garlic flavor, and a creamy flavor in a weird way.

Somewhere a long time ago, I read of garlic scape pizza. I couldn't find a recipe, so I just went for it. Spinach, mushrooms, scapes, and a jalepeno.

Probably the best pizza I have ever had. Yumm!

Automatic Chicken Coop Door

2011-07-23T16:50:00.001-07:00

I spent yesterday installing an automatic chicken coop door. I have been wanting one since we first got chickens. Imagine being able to sleep in or stay later at dinner parties without saying "sorry we have to go now, have to lock the chickens up".

I am becoming handy when it comes to tools and building, but I still have a lot to learn. I had a door on a vertical slide in place as of yesterday morning. The door motor can only lift up to 4pounds so I had to pull out the old door, it was more like 10pounds. So after making a smaller nice looking door out of 1x4's, I had to make a smaller frame to accommodate a smaller door. Unfortunately, I weighed it, and it weighed too much. I needed to make another smaller door. I settled on an old 1/4in piece of scrape plywood we had laying around. It looks like garbage, but it is the only thing I could get to work.
There was a lot of fixing a readjusting yesterday. So, I called it a night and came back to it today. I took the whole thing down and started all over.

So, this morning I went back to it. I made a really nice frame with an internal area for the door to slide. It took a long time, but it came together well. Take a look!

It is operated by a standard outlet timer which has been set to open in the am and close at night. I am probably going to replace the door when something better comes along. It will do for now. Fun project and I learned a lot while doing it.

Thanks!

Bok Choy

2011-07-07T07:31:00.001-07:00

We are growing bok choy for the first time this season and are having mixed results. We had a huge harvest from the greenhouse with large stalks and leaves.

The plants out side are a different story.

They have all become leggy and went to seed before the produced anything that is really edible.

Do you grow Bok Choy? What varieties have you had luck with? Especially in warmer temperatures?

Thanks for reading

When Do You Harvest Your Potatoes?

2011-07-06T19:42:00.003-07:00

Our potatoes have flowers?

When would you dig them up?

We have heard mixed opinions. Just wondering what our blog friends have to say.

Might as well tell us about onions and garlic too!

Thanks. Any input is good input.

Pepper Pest?

2011-07-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

Something has been eating our pepper and eggplant leaves. Little nibbles here and there. It is not killing the plant, just makes the holy.

I have checked the plants from top to bottom. Cannot find any insects. What's eating them?

Any ideas would be helpful. We had no issues like this last year.

Sunset Over The Garden

2011-07-05T21:30:00.001-07:00

Garden on 7/3/11

2011-07-05T07:31:00.010-07:00

Spokane had an unusually wet and cold spring this year. This has delayed the growth on a lot of the plants in the garden. Seeds took longer to germinate and plants grew more slowly. Things are finally starting to look good around here. So, I wanted to share some photos of the progress.

The Alaska peas are over 4ft tall and are loaded with peas. They are one one side of the trellis shared with sugar snap peas.

The Sugar Snap Peas are really doing well. I don't think they were bothered by the cold spring. This one above is over 7ft tall.

They are growing so well that they are starting to take over the path.

The garlic is the best we have ever grown. They are massive.

As are the onions

And this 2ft tall lettuce bush!

Our cabbage plants are huge. We haven't grown them before, but the look larger than what would be normal.

Unfortunately, Johnny, our apple tree died sometime this spring.

At the base of Johnny we have a ton of volunteer marigold plants growing from plants of the last year.

Our potato bed is more like a forest. It appears the growth in the raised bed has been greater than the ones we planted in the garbage cans.

I'm the king of the potato forest!

Our first zucchini of the season

The strawberry bed is nearly as massive as the potatoes

We have two Roma plants that are loaded with big green tomatoes already

A couple of the plants are over 4ft tall already.

The cilantro I planted two months ago finally sprouted.

That's it. Thanks for reading!

What is Wrong With Our Chard?

2011-07-04T07:39:00.015-07:00

We planted a ton of chard this year since it is so delicious.

Unfortunately a lot of the leaves have browned entirely or just in certain locations.

The body of the plants seem fine. New leaves are coming in around the browned ones.

Our spinach has encountered the same fate.

Do you know what causes this? If so what is a good non chemical treatment to remedy. Any thoughts?

Thanks for looking

First Tomato of the Season!

2011-07-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight Kelsi and I picked our first ripe tomato of the season. Forgive the photo quality, it was getting dark. This tomato came from the greenhouse, so it is probably 2-3 weeks ahead of the same plants that are outside.

It is a Tigerella tomato.

Sweet, but a little sour too. Just the way I like them.

It is one of the more beautiful colored tomatoes that we grow. The next one that ripens up I will photograph. These photos didn't turn out that well.

Let us know when you get ripe tomatoes if you bought one of these tomato plants from us.

Thanks for reading.

First Broccoli of Our Gardening Career!

2011-07-03T21:32:00.001-07:00

Last week we picked this bad boy from one of our giant broccoli plants in the greenhouse. We are pretty happy because we have not had the best of luck with them so far. Last year the plants got really leggy and just fell over.

This year we had 4 giant plants in the greenhouse. Two of the plants had huge heads on them which quickly turned into hundreds of little flowers. We fed those plants to the chickens.

The plants we put outside are laughable as well, since the spring here has been pretty poor for growing.

This may be the only broccoli we get this year so we'll take it!

Matilda

2011-06-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

Meet Matilda.

She is our new farm cat.

Walter was a very sad boy after Henry passed, so we decided to get him companion. Lets see how their introduction went...

Matilda is released from her travel kennel and begins exploring.

I call for Walter.

He comes running because I am his favorite. Even over Daddy.

He spots an intruder.

He cautiously approaches the trespasser.

She is clearly unimpressed,

Walter doesn't care. He just wanted to play.

One thing we have learned about our Matilda is that she can often be found in some strange places.

Exhibit A

Now, I may not have owned many cats, but Im pretty sure they shouldnt be on the counters.

Exhibit B

Its cool, Matilda. I wasnt trying to watch a show or anything.

Exhibit C

Pardon the messy linen closet.. Wait.. What IS that?!

Exhibit D

Naughty Cat.

Exhibit E

NAUGHTIER CAT!

Yes, folks. That would be hamburger that she is eating. You will be interested to know that following the taking of this photo, we found an empty hamburger wrapper. Hmm.. I sense some cat/dog cooperation.

Exhibit F

She is fearless!

Exhibit G

Is it a cat thing to want to get into the dryer? Henry used to do that too.

Silly cats.

My First Quilting Adventure!

2011-06-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this year I got the coolest Pfaff sewing machine. I was a little hesitant at first because I had never sewn before. But I chose to dive right in and begin my first quilt!

My baby sister (youngest of 4 daughters, my poor dad) was graduating high school this year and I decided to make her a quilt for her cute little dorm room at my alma mater, Washington State University.

This is what became of it.

Lindsey's favorite colors are bright green and gray. I decided to use these colors as the window panes in my quilt and chose to use different fabrics that reminded me of her. It really gave it a 3D effect.

I then used some of the remnants to create a little border.

I gave it to her last saturday at her graduation dinner and I'm assuming she loves it, because that night she sent me this picture of it on her bed already!

Here is my baby sister on her big day! So proud!

I also attended a baby shower and for that, I chose to make a baby blanket for the birth of the little girl. This is the result of that.

I had a bit of a difficult time at the end with the fringe, but I think it came out pretty cute.

As you probably read here, we went to Oregon recently to meet our new nephew, Jonah. I thought that since the last blanket came out pretty well I would make him one too.

I wasn't as happy with the way this one came out, but I think that had a lot to do with the type of fabric I purchased. The checkered blocks were made out of something other than the standard cotton and I found it quite difficult to sew.

When it was done, I threw it in the wash to make sure it would al stay together. Good thing too, because it did not survive. That checkered fabric decided it wasn't going to stay in place. Needless to say, it is now a dog blanket. Bummer deal!

In hindsight, I probably should have washed and dried the fabrics before hand.. Oops!

Anywho, I am having a lot more fun with this whole sewing thing than I thought I would. After seeing Lindsey's face after getting her quilt, I decided to make her a matching pillowcase from some of the scraps. I'm just winging it on that, so it should be interesting.

Can You Grow Cotton?

2011-06-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

We can!

Lots of it!

We are in the middle of our annual cottonwood storm. Every square inch of or yard, the garden and the front field are covered. It is terrible! The tree is huge and nice to look at. However, the cotton pieces are so light that when you inhale a breathe, all the pieces in the air quickly turn towards you and go right into your mouth or nose! If there is a cottonwood tree on the land that we will eventually buy, we will quickly cut it down.

Hope you don't have a cottonwood in your yard.

Thanks for reading

Big Egg vs. Little Egg

2011-06-12T12:03:00.001-07:00

Look at this Halpern Homestead record small egg, looked more like a small golf ball.

3/8 of an oz!

The quarter was just an eighth less.

Poor lil guy must be cold in the big carton.

Compare that to this monster! Our biggest egg yet. Looked like a triple yolker

It weighs ten times as much as the little egg!

As big as my measuring tape.

Thanks for reading!

First Pea of the Year

2011-06-11T20:41:00.001-07:00

And it was delicious!

Plenty more are growing. We love peas, and we are hoping for a huge crop this year. Freeze them, eat them and enjoy!

The Down Side to Being a Long Haired Hippie Chicken

2011-06-04T06:28:00.006-07:00

Meet Roberta AKA "Bob". Bob is a Black Crested White Polish, or a long-haired crazy chicken.

The problem with the long hair is clearly demonstrated in this photo. Bob cannot see things above her, which happens to be a lot of the world! Bob has no idea that Julies is standing above her. She seems to be oblivious to any direction you approach her from. She will only notice you when your right under her beak. The white color on the head also makes her easy to spot by the flying predators. This is a problem for free range chickens.

As most of you know, I love the hippie hair. As of this spring I had long hair too, so I understand how Bob feels. The hair really does obscure the peripheral vision.

So what is a young homesteading couple to do in a situation like this?

A haircut of course.

Walter came over to give Bob some kisses during the trim.

Bob had the eye of every animal in the house.

Watching his every move.

Carefully watching.

Here is the after photo.

Kinda of a poopy cut job. Home haircutting is trendy right?

The great thing about Bob is that she has no fear. She'll walk right up to you and saw hello.

Well, curiosity killed the cat right? We have had overly curious/confident chickens before. They don't last too long here. Jump the wrong fence, hang out alone in the far field, and general misbehavior. Oh well. Hope the haircut helps her vision.

Maybe Juliette will keep an eye on her?

Doubtful.

Thanks for reading.

Our Trip to Oregon, Packed Full of Pictures

2011-06-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

This week Kelsi and I had the opportunity to make a quick trip down to Oregon to see our new nephew who was born last week. The city we went to was six plus hours from the homestead. We left Tuesday and came home yesterday. It was a long, quick trip.

Kelsi didn't mind though. Any of you who know Kelsi, know that she loves any excuse to play with baby stuff. Like this moby (baby holder thing).

We have been to this part of Oregon before, but not wearing our 'farm' eyes.

I have decided that this part of Oregon would be a great place to buy land and start a sweet farm! Look how green it is! I realize that the growth and the lush green vegetation is a result from daily rain. But still, I can dream.

In the farm land surrounding Forest Grove, every farm seemed to have an acre or two dedicated to tree farming or potted shrubs/bushes. Maybe a good location for the Halpern Homestead's greenhouse?

We saw some cool animals eating some hay. That pretty much make's a good day, any day.

Most of the farms had some sort of grape vines growing too. This vineyard had acres upon acres of these beautiful rows.

Beautiful land.

We also found this beautiful barn along one of the roads we drove down. We want one just like this some day.

Rich colors.

The driving team!

Can you see the baby fever in those eyes?

Every acre seems to be planted with something different. I really appreciate the vast variety planted here. Much better than Eastern Washington. Brown wheat fields or this?

Columbia River

We came home to this big basket of eggs.

All in all, it was a good trip.

Increasing Plantable Area in a Raised Bed Garden Continued (potatoes)

2011-06-02T07:04:00.002-07:00

Over the past year we have instituted many strategies in our garden in order to plant more, yield more, and harvest more.

The photo above is one of our raised beds. We planted 3 rows at the base of this bed and probably planted between 15-25 potatoes here (way more potatoes than the recommendation in most planting resources). This area spans 6 or so feet along the length of the bed. Consider these potatoes our control group. We will judge the success of the bin method off of the growth that occurs here.

Compare that raised bed to these containers shown above. The black container on the left is a compost bin with the lid removed. Next to it are two old metal garbage cans. We loaded the bottom foot of each of these with compost. Dropped 20-30 potatoes into each bin. Applied a foot or so of hay or straw.

All blue.

Fingerling potato

Not sure what this potato is. We didn't mark the bins.

As the potatoes grow, we add more hay until the potatoes grow to the top. Then we harvest. The only problem that I see with this method involves mice. We planted potatoes in bags last year and the little field mice ate them all!

Compare the planting of potatoes in the ground versus a bin:

The bin holds the same amount of potatoes as 6 linear feet of bed space.

The bin allows for very tall plants, thus increasing yields.

When the plants are finished growing, we can simply dump out the bins instead of digging up the potatoes as we would from the ground.

Have you grown potatoes this way? What are your thoughts?

Featured on KXLY Blog

2011-06-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

When we had our plant sale a nice gal from KXLY came by. She took some photos, asked some questions, and said to keep an eye out for a blog post about us. Sure enough.

http://spokanecounty.kxly.com/news/pets/halpern-homestead-deals-loss/47436

There Goes the Neighborhood!

2011-06-01T07:20:00.002-07:00

This past Feburary we had an eagle visit the homestead.

This past Saturday a Blue Heron came to visit.

It appeared as though the bird was trying to land in our small pond. It happens to be loaded with gold fishes right now. My dad thinks that's what may have brought him over to visit. I was in the greenhouse when he landed in the tree. He flew away when I went into the house to get the camera, but came back a short time later.

Either way, it was a beautiful sight and we welcome a return visit in the future.

He flew away when I tried to get a closer look.

See you later heron.

Do you have any exciting visitors at your place this time of year?

Thanks for reading!

Worst Farmer Ever

2011-05-31T16:02:00.001-07:00

When I was a kid, I dreamt of becoming a veterinarian. I found an injured bunny when I was 10 and tried my very hardest to nurse it back to health. I put the little guy in a crate and watched it slowly die. I was devastated. That was my first experience death.

Since we began our journey through the country life, I have had a significant increase of these experiences. The first chicken we lost was a barred rock named Dolly. She was attacked by a dog and we had to put her down. Others followed suit through tragic or unexpected events and I felt myself handling death better.. When rhonda (our very first chicken) died last summer in my arms, I felt myself taking a step back in my progress.

Again, I healed and again, we lost another pet. Sophie the goose was one of a kind. This time I was vengeful and just wanted to kill the coyotes that took her. Then just as I begin to heal from her, I lose my first puddy tat.

He was so beautiful. He had the markings of a tiger and a coat so soft.

From the moment he arrived, he took a liking to me. He would 'knead' me and cuddle into my neck. I welcomed his affection, even though he would cause my skin to break out in hives.

He was so curious.

And he was always seeking contact with his humans.

Just a few days ago I was playing with him in the field. Today, I am without him. My heart physically hurts. We buried him yesterday. He didn't even look like himself. He didn't even feel like him. Is that strange?

Why do we allow ourselves to love someone so freely, when the pain of losing them is difficult? I think it's because the time we have with them is so worth the pain we feel when they are no longer with us.

So, here is to my boy Henry. I love you and I miss you. I may be the worst farmer ever, but I dont think I would want it any other way.

Tomatoes Are Now Planted!

2011-05-31T08:26:00.004-07:00

It is time for tomatoes. We planted the outdoor tomatoes this past Sunday.

Aren't they tall?

This is probably the best thing I have loaded into the wheelbarrow this season. Some of these tomato plants are nearly 3feet tall. These are the most impressive tomatoes we have ever grown.

This one is loaded with blossoms.

We planted 12 in total. 9 outside and 3 in the greenhouse. 6 different varieties.

Unfortunately, the weather decided to get a little wet and cold on us and we had to cover the tomatoes up.

There is a lot of potential food being protected here.

All tucked in for the night.

How are your tomatoes doing?

Cats In Awe and a RIP

2011-05-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Why are these cats on the table? We don't eat cats so there must be a reason for this behavior.

It must be something good if I am able to photograph up close, these two typically photo shy boys.

Is it a beautiful young female cat?

Or a nice ball of yarn?

Perhaps a bunch of squeaky little mice!

Nope. Just a bug in the light fixture making all sorts of noise.

Silly cats!

This evening we found Henry laying in some grass next to our dirt road. He had been hit by a car. He died there. We buried him amongst the tall field grasses that he loved to hide in so much. He will be missed. He was The Halpern Homestead's first cat, and a great one he was. He caught mice, he chased chickens and squirrels and other birds, and he really loved his momma!

Potted Pepper Method

2011-05-30T07:56:00.003-07:00

The traditional last frost date for the Spokane area is said to be May 15th. So, you should be able to plant tomatoes and peppers on the 15th according to that recommendation. We have found that in our area, this date is not accurate. We have lost warm weather plants to frost as late as June 10th. Because of this, when we do plant our tomatoes and peppers we use great caution. We check and double check the forecast for the week. Then we go for it if all is 'clear'.

Yesterday 5/29/11 was that day. It was beautiful and sunny all afternoon. We are trying a method for our peppers this year that we had some success with last season.

We are planting all of our peppers and eggplant in pots, in the ground. The reason behind this is so that once the flowers are pollenated and we are near the end of the season. We can move the plants inside to the greenhouse. We can extend the growing season by a good month within the greenhouse. We tried this method with a few plants last year and had some success.

This year we went all out. All 10 of our pepper plants and all 4 eggplants are in pots, in the ground.

To underscore the unpredictability of Spokane's weather.

Shortly after I finished planting, a wind and rain storm came to our area. Strong winds and tropical down pour. Somethings you just can't predict. I guess we should leave the row cover on for a few days.

Least the pees don't mind a little rain.

How is your garden doing?

For Dinner This Week: Bok Choy

2011-05-29T19:27:00.001-07:00

We grew some delicious Bok Choy in the greenhouse this year!

Check out how big those leaves are!

Some of the leaves are even bigger than my head.

That being said. With a big harvest of Bok Choy in hand, it was time to make dinner. The bok choy went from the greenhouse to our mouths in less than an hour. Can't get much more fresh than that!

I choose this recipe from allrecipes.com. Delicious spicy bok choy in garlic sauce.

The sauce is really the best part.

After sauteing the bok choy, you cover it with the sauce.

We served the recipe over brown rice. This is the best recipe for bok choy we have ever had. Spicy, sweet, and mouth watering. A complexity of flavors in each bite. I strongly recommend!

What is your favorite bok choy recipe?

Thanks for reading

Growing Vegetables in the Greenhouse

2011-05-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

The great thing about having a greenhouse is that we can grow beautiful plants earlier than possible outside.

Such as the case with this beautiful Tigerella Tomato.

We planted a lot of rows of carrots in the tomato bed for companion planting. Buy the book Carrots Love Tomatoes to learn more about what plants grow well together and plants that actually help each other grow. Great resource. We plant by this book.

This is our broccoli bed. We have six huge plants growing in here. We are getting better at broccoli. Last years crop failed big time. But we are learning. If you look closely you can see a couple potato plants coming in between the two plants on the left. Oops.

The leaves are massive!

Hopefully the heads grow pretty quick before the plant decides to go to seed.

This is our cabbage bed, which is also doing quite well.

Minus the little nibble marks from the slug, these plants are doing very well.

They are even starting to form heads!

Bok choy is new to us this year. It is one of my favorite veggies, so we had to plant it. It is doing well.

The plants are huge, although the picture doesn't do a great job of capturing the size.

Unfortunately, the plant grew very tall and appears to be going to seed. The stalks don't seem thick enough yet to eat.

Do you grow bok choy? Any thoughts to share?

This is the massive bok choy leaf.

A bunch of sunflowers anxiously waiting to go out side!

Lettuce bed, We are almost out of lettuce already!

How is your garden and greenhouse doing?

Thanks for reading!

Booby Trapped Greenhouse

2011-05-27T22:58:00.003-07:00

This is Herman, Herman is a Venous Fly Trap and North American Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia) plant, planted together. He resides in the greenhouse during warmer months and inside the house during the winter. I bought this plant when I was in Portland a couple years ago. The venous fly trap hasn't really come back yet since over wintering the plant. The Sarracenia is growing strong though and has these long beautiful hollow tubes that attract the insects down. The insect is then trapped and dissolved by enzymes so that the plant may use that insect as food! Learn more about the process HERE

Looks like a great place to crawl into right?

Some days I like to inspect the plant and see if I can see any bugs trapped in those long tubes.

That's when I saw this bee. He had chewed a hole about half way down the tube. In this hole the bee was half in the tube and half way out.

If you click the picture you can see where the wasp has chewed a hole to get out. The bee is still alive in this photo. I tried to help him get out with a little stick. It wasn't helpful, the little bee tried grabbing the stick, but when I pulled the stick the bee was too weak to hold the stick. Since I am not a big fan of being stung by bees, I had to leave him there. Being digested by wonderful enzymes.

This is a wonderful plant for the greenhouse. It helps trap all sorts of little flying bugs that could be eating your plants instead. Very rarely does it catch a bee. I would recommend one to everyone. Beautiful, nice conversation piece, and easy to care for.

I bought it when it was this size for around ten dollars at some sort of street fair in Portland. Here is the website http://cobraplant.com/. They have a schedule of events on the website. I really love this plant!

Do you plant any exotic plants? Any recommendations? I would love to expand to several more varieties of exotic plants.

Increasing Plantable Area in a Raised Bed Garden Continued

2011-05-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

I have talked about this subject in a prior post, specifically adding pots in the dead spaces of the garden.

Since Kelsi and I have a smaller garden, we are always looking for ways to increase plantable area and therefore increasing the amount of stuff we can grow. We have 6 raised beds which are all 4ft x16ft. We really want double or triple that, but this is not the time for that discussion.

We plant a very intensive style in our garden. We usually disregard the spacing recommendations listed on the seed packages and just plant to our needs based upon available space. This works really well for us, some gardeners are more strict with spacing. There are many different theories about gardening. Find one that you like.

We bought this cattle panel last year for our beans to grow on. Unfortunately we bought bush beans instead of climbing ones. So this year we loaded the base of it with hundreds of peas. Sugar snap on one side and Alaska on the other.

Well that left us no where for the beans! So we bought another cattle panel and put it over the next two beds. We again planted lots of beans at the base. The idea behind the cattle panel is that the beans and peas will grow up the panel to the top. Then you can walk on the pathway under the panel and just pick the beans and peas that should be hanging down. Hopefully it works this year! We surely got the right beans this time!

My dad also came across some 50ft rolls of concrete mesh at a job site this past week. He asked if we wanted one. We took it home not knowing exactly what to do with it.

Then it came to us! Squash trellis's! We cut up 6ft long sections and bent them in the middle (3ft on each side).

This allows us to plant 6 squash plant in an area less than seven square feet.

The trellis is bent to only take up 3ft along the run of the bed. We are going to plant some cold weather crops underneath the trellis now because we are thinking with 6 squashes on the trellis, the area in the middle will have some nice cool shade.

We also ran this 12ft long section of concrete mesh up the side of the fence from one of our beds. We are going to grow cucumbers up this. Again the idea being that you can walk under the mesh on the path and pick the cucumbers! Hopefully we can get the cucumbers to grow this tall. We didn't had much luck with cucumbers last year due to some plumbing issues of mine which resulted in a drought for the warm weather crop beds.

I will post an update later this season to tell whether these space saving additions were good or bad.

How is your garden doing?

Thanks for reading!

-Mike

Pierre Gets Some Companions

2011-05-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

As you can see here, we found out how Ms. Pierre was dealing with the loss of her life partner, Mr. Sophie. She seemed very lonely. It broke my heart. So, after perusing craigslist for a over a week and coming up dry, I finally found a nice couple that had rescued two paired geese and were trying to find good homes for them. They arrived the same day I contacted the couple and we made a nice trade by giving them some of the plants from our plant sale for the new addition to our family.

Introducing.... Gloria and Russell!

Gloria is a female African Goose.

Russell is a male Chinese Crested Goose.

They love each other and I think it is so stinkin' cute.

When they first arrived, Pierre was a bit wary. As you can see from the below picture, you can see that Pierre is on the far right and really was not interested in the new additions.

Russell sure is loud, but he is sweet. Gloria is timid, but kind. They havent quite figured out how to get into the pond yet, but enjoy drinking from it. Hopefully, Pierre will soon teach them.

Since their arrival, Pierre has warmed up to them. She now does not leave their side and has since been mated by Russell and allowed it. I think she is getting over the loss of Sophie. Which is good, because it helps me heal also.

Happy spring!

For dinner this week: BBQ Chicken

2011-05-24T06:16:00.015-07:00

Kelsi and I rarely eat meat these days. So, when we do, it is a treat! Most people just figure we are vegetarians, and rightfully so. That's a safe term to describe us, vegetarian, or "vegetarianish". I cannot remember the last time we ate meat before this past Friday. Since we only eat meat that we produce ourselves, or that we buy from a responsible farmer directly, our meat consumption is rare. Very rare. We have very high expectations about the treatment and raising of animals for food. Since we cannot create change in the way meat is produced other than at our own home, it's easier to just abstain from eating the meat we do not agree with. Unfortunately, the meat that we don't agree with happens to be everywhere.

The chicken we ate on Friday was raised here, processed here, and eaten here. Doesn't get more local than that. We barbecued the chicken in a spicy Jamaican Jerk sauce that we got while on our honeymoon last summer. It was the best bbq'd chicken I have had in a long time!

As a side, we cooked potatoes on the grill from Tolstoy Farms, purchased at the Spokane Farmer's Market.

Another side we cooked up was asparagus from Pacific Produce, also from the farmer's market.

For Saturday's dinner we had pizza with the leftover chicken from Friday nights grill.

We also used our own spinach on the pizza! Isn't that spinach awesome!

Homegrown lettuce for the salad. Beautiful!

I love how local we can eat once the weather warms up!

Are you cooking what your growing yet?

Thanks for reading!

How we relax at The Halpern Homestead

2011-05-23T06:22:00.006-07:00

It has been busy at The Halpern Homestead ever since the weather has finally turned for the better in Spokane. With all the work in the garden and the greenhouse, we have been very busy. Our busy spring schedule has been hard on the animals too!

We always have the animals running around, coming, and going at all hours.

So when the time is right, our animals like to rest. Like walter here, taking a break in the lawn.

Or Khma, resting on the sidewalk.

Henry's dirt nap!

Juliette, resting by the tree, looking over the land.

Greenhouse naps are a must when helping mom and dad run the greenhouse sale.

Dust baths and naps.

Hammock naps.

Pillow hogging naps.

Raised bed naps.

Hoses are the best nose pillows naps.

Daddy's lap naps!

Hope you animals are enjoying the warm weather as much as ours are!

The Tragic Story of Sophie the Goose Part 2

2011-05-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

In yesterday's post the world was told about the tragedy of Sophie. Now it's time to find out how Pierre has been dealing with the loss for the last 12 days. The change in Pierre has been kind of refreshing.

Pierre now spends her days following me around.

Everyday.

Whenever I am outside

She is faithfully trailing behind me.

She waddles faster to keep up with me when I get to far away.

She studies me from top to bottom.

She especially loves to do projects with dad. Even wheelbarrow rides!

She waits patiently outside the greenhouse until I finish working. We used to let her follow me in. She is no longer allowed. She likes to taste everything! If I take too long, she starts walking circles around the greenhouse and honking very loudly until I come out.

She stands next to me when I am still, so that I will pet her.

She even gives kisses.

Lots of them.

She likes to rub her head on me too.

She especially likes to have her chest rubbed.

Here is a video of her following me yesterday.

And here is a video of when we were first introducing her into the flock last year. Not much has changed I guess.

I hope you enjoyed the photos! Pierre has been so sweet the past two weeks. I don't want it to change. I really enjoy all the extra attention from her, even though I know it is a result of her loneliness. I hope she stays this sweet after we add new geese to the flock.

The Tragic Story of Sophie the Goose Part 1

2011-05-21T21:23:00.004-07:00

A baby picture of Sophie, and a blog post from the first day we brought her home can be found here.

I am very late on this post. Sometimes it takes a while to talk about something that affects you so negatively. So here we go:

On May 9th, 9:50pm. I go out to close the coop and let the dogs out to go potty. I notice our large male goose Sophie is missing from the coop. This had become a usual thing. Since the sun has been setting later each day, the geese and ducks seem to think it's ok to stay out later than dark! They are usually very good about going in on time, away from danger prowling at night.

I went inside to grab a flashlight and Kelsi to help me look for Sophie. Pierre has been laying eggs so we figured maybe Sophie was in the bushes guarding a nest. We searched unsuccessfully for a few minutes. We then heard Juliette barking a long way off in the distance, up the mountain a bit, and much farther than she usually goes late at night in the dark.

In the photo above Kelsi and I were standing at the "feathers" label and we heard Juliette barking up at "ridge 1". This is a great distance from where we were standing. The photos shown do not do a great job of depicting the distances from where we are standing to the top. It is actually really far up there!

We started running up the road on the right side of the photo above, still following Juliette's barking. This road is 100 or so yards long and very steep. It took us a few minutes to get to the top. When we reached label 'road-2' our lights were shining into the valley between 'ridge-1' and 'ridge-2' and all we could see were multiple sets of eyes that were reflecting from our flashlights, circling the valley with Juliette barking somewhere in the mix of it all. We heard multiple yelps from the coyotes while running up the road on our search for Julies. This was the most intense few moments of my adult life. Hearing the coyotes, hearing Julies barking in the mix of all those eyes. Worried that they were killing our dog! Pitch black out. Very scary stuff.

When we finally reached 'Road-3' we found Juliette at this spot! We sat down to rest for a moment. Still vigilant, shining our lights around, looking for coyotes. While still at 'road-3' we saw eyes reflecting at us from 'eyes-2'. I had my handgun on me but I have little experience shooting at night and I didn't feel confident shooting at eyes of an unknown animal reflecting at me from the flashlight. Just then we heard a yelp from the coyotes and the eyes disappeared.

We retreated down the hill cautiously. Looking for any signs of Sophie.

On the way down the hill we found these. Obviously this photo was taken the next day.

More feathers

The death was confirmed by the discovery of Sophie's wing. We were devastated when we found this.

The last photo or video of taken of Sophie was from the day before.

Kelsi was taking photos of Pierre who had made this wonderful nest out of sticks. Pierre started yelling at Kelsi to go away. When this happened.

Sophie was always so good to Pierre.

Now Pierre lays here in her igloo nest. All alone. To hear how this change has affected Poor Pierre, tune in tomorrow for a long post full of cute pics and a nice video. It will be a lot less depressing than todays post.

Thanks for reading

The Halpern Homestead is about to come onto hard times!

2011-05-19T18:57:00.001-07:00

This jar here is the second to last jar of our homemade salsa that we have left! Notice it is already half eaten!

What are we to do! We canned like crazy this fall, but it was not enough. The only cans that we have left are crushed tomatoes and even those are down to a few. Note to self and Kelsi: Next fall we should double what we canned this year. Especially SALSA!

Plant Sale 5/21/11 10am-2pm

2011-05-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

We will be having a greenhouse sale on Saturday May 21st from 10a-2pm at our house on the top of the south hill. All plants are started from organic and/or heirloom seeds and are grown without the use of chemicals or fertilizers. We grow with basic potting soil(no fertilizer or chemicals) mixed with organic matter from our chickens and other compost, then we add water and love. We sold out of most of our tomatoes and peppers at our sale last weekend, but we have a ton of squash plants which are looking especially healthy!

Email me if you are interested and I will send you my address.

The quantities and prices of each plant are listed below.

Eggplant $2: Black Beauty-9, Long Purple-7

Swiss Chard-3 50cents

Broccoli-5 free

Yellow Onion-3 50cents

Cabbage- 1 50cents

Tomatoes $6, plants are already 18in-2ft tall: Green Zebra-6, Tigerella-1

Orange Pepper-1 $2

Mirasol Hot Pepper-11 $2

Cucumbers $1: Lemon-4, Homemade Pickle-4, Suyo Long-5

Squashes $2-3: Hubbard-20, Butternut-17, Underground Sweet Potato-7, Green/White Crookneck Squash-16, Cocozelle Bush Zucchini-7

Strawberries $3 (cut from our garden)- June bearer and day neutral-26, We also have decorative strawberry hanging baskets for $15

Sunflowers $2.50

If you are interested in coming by send us an email and I will give you directions. If you are planning on coming up and you have extra pots around the house you don't want, bring them up and we will gladly reuse them

Thanks!

27in tomatoes!

Thanks for reading!

The free seeds came today!

2011-05-18T18:53:00.002-07:00

At the end of March I posted a link for free organic seeds. Im not sure if anyone followed the link, but ours came today.

Here's a list of the packets that we got:

Lutz salad leaf beet, chioggia beet, two packages of rainbow inca corn, 2- cilantro, galilee blue double larkspur, arugula, endurance sunflower, 2- corno di toro sweet peppers, 2- pizza peppers, 3- barcarole lettuce, mesclun salad mix, cascadia bush snap pea, 2-black eggplant, 3- champion radish.

All for the price of shipping! Seeds of Change aren't cheap either. They are usually 3-4 dollars a packet. What a sweet deal! Thanks Jennifer for emailing this to me.

Did you get any free seeds? Anything different?

Thanks!

Peek-A-Boo

2011-05-10T06:17:00.000-07:00

I see you!

Rufus the Rooster

2011-05-09T06:02:00.003-07:00

For those of you who have chickens you will already know what I am talking about. Some chickens have a wonderful ability to make you love them.

This lil guy is Rufus. He is a Cochin. He is one of the baby chicks we got this spring.

This is his baby picture.

Not only is he handsome. He is turning out to be quite the perfect gentlemen.

He watches out for his ladies. He finds all the good bugs for them and promptly alerts them when he has a good find so they can come eat it too. He is even practicing his mating dance as well as the actual mating. He still needs some work, but he is getting there.

When entering the chicks yard he usually comes out to greet us and he likes to be held. Can't ask for much more in a chicken.

This is Fancy, she is a cochin. She is one of our very first chickens and one that we adore very much. I hope they become great friends when Rufus becomes bigger.