i'm being taken over by okra.

Did you know that once okra starts to come in, if you don't harvest it every day, the fruit will get huge and it will take over your life and your kitchen table.

a new blog, a new look, a new start

Head on over to Grow Lettuce Grow on WordPress to see a more visual based blog regarding life here at Chubby Chicks Farm.

More of the text based info will continue to be posted here.

Lots of links to lead you back and forth no matter where you start.

That's how I am doing it now. A little complicated, but heck, it's my blog and I'll do what I wanna.

Thanks for stopping in.....

Dear Blog, I miss you.......

Dear Blog,

I miss you.
Shall we rekindle the flame and have fun with each other again?
Shall I charge up the digital camera battery?
Shall I dust off my dearest friend film camera and get down to it?

I think I shall.........

A few changes.....

with the new year comes new plans for the new house and backyard, and a new direction for this here tiny blog. this morning i changed the web address causing google to think i have deleted my blog, which of course i did not. (with only 8 followers (all of which are totally awesome) i don't see that as a huge problem.) and it deleted a few of my side bar items, which again is ok since i am changing the direction of the blog a little bit. no more 3G project start and stops, and no more weird recipes with no real measurements. instead i will be giving you a peek into my tiny urban yard as i attempt to transform it into a little sustainable farmlette that i christened Chubby Chick Farms, complete with the following....

* CHICKENS!!!!
* worms
* organic veggie and herb gardens
* some edible landscaping in the front yard
* compost for yard waste and chicken manure
* cold frames and mini greenhouses
* a few craft projects thrown in here and there
* and whatever else i can think of........

first on the list is to build a brooder box for the baby chicks i hope to get in the next month or two.

not my chicken

              

and not to worry, there will be plenty of dog pictures as well. especially when we try to cohabitate the muddy paws gang with the chickens. now that alone is worth staying tuned folks!

Still here......

I know, I know. It has been a really loooooong time since I posted anything. But I'm still here. Slowly working on the garden, and still planning on getting chickens in the spring. So for now, I'll quickly post some pictures as to what is happening in the two garden plots.

At the community plot down the street I am trying out a few new items in my first ever over wintering project. Here we have two rows of fava beans, some garlic starting to sprout up, left over scallions still hanging on from the spring/summer season, and in the bottom corner two swiss chard plants.

community garden plot december 2012

I had planned build a hoop house over the plot this winter, but time just slipped by me. However, I needed to do something to protect the favas and garlic through the winter, so I went and got some straw to mulch the bed. Of course, I choose the windiest day of the year to lay down the straw, so I placed a few pieces of lattice over the bed to hopefully keep most of the straw in place till it rained a bit.

community garden plot december 2012

As to the garden in the backyard, it's doing ok. I planted some turnips which are doing really well. Turnips are pretty much my go to veggie at the moment. They are easy to grow and always seems to work out for me in both the early spring and fall. I also planted mustard greens and collard greens, which grew a bit, but then stopped growing all together. I still plan on harvesting a bit of those two in the coming weeks. I put out some cabbage, fennel, and kohrobi seeds that failed to really get going, so I'll try those again in the early spring.

backyard garden plot december 2012

Well, that's it for now. Time to walk down to the community garden plot and see how the straw is fairing.

hey little garden, why you so sad?????

my poor little garden. it's so sad. the hubby, champion for all things underdog, said it's never gonna improve if i don't stop talking crap about it and to give it a chance. i, of course, am ready to yank it all out and get ready for fall. but then he screams that it is only july and i should stop being so negative. so, i gave the little bugger some fish emulsion yesterday to see if it could bounce back from the terrible soil i planted it in and the retched heatwave we're having. only time will tell. i give it to mid august before i tear it up.

third round of the littlest harvest.  
the two cherokee purple tomatoes that we ate were awesome!!!!

the tomato and pepper plot.

peppers on the right.... soooo small and only two tiny peppers so far. 

thank goodness the juliet tomatoes are doing something.

waiting for the third cherokee purple to ripen.

very small green zebra.... waiting, waiting, waiting for them to also ripen.

plot #2: squash, one pepper, two eggplants.

one tiny little eggplant is a coming!!!!!!

hey, here's another one!!!!!!

the littlest harvest

like i said before, this year's backyard garden it a bit of a bust. but it's trying. it really is. as not to get to depressed about the situation, i am not weighing the produce this year (except that from the community garden plot, cause we are supposed to record it in the notebook down there). so here is the evidence from what i like to call the littlest harvest......

2 overly mature eggplants, 1 juliet tomato, 1 cherokee purple tomato.

i should note here, that this is my first year doing eggplant. the hubby loves them, i find them barely  tolerable, although the plants are pretty. which explains why i unknowingly took to long to harvest them and the bottoms started to turn yellow. i read that they may be to mature to eat at that point and very bitter. and boy they were right.... yuck!! so folks, take my word for it. if your white eggplant has started to turn yellow on the bottom, toss it into the compost. as for the cherokee purple tomato, i really wanted to let it ripen further on the vine, but it was my ONLY sizable tomato out there, and i was terribly concerned that the squirrels would get it. so, after standing in front of the tomato plant for about 10 minutes, rocking back and forth, debating should i pick it or shouldn't i, i went for it. i'll slice it later and let you know how it tasted. assuming that the neighbors haven't called the law in regards to the crazy lady outside in her rob hovering nervously over a tomato plant. 

a few days later.......

two, yes two, actual zucchini!!!!! and one small white eggplant.

all delicious!!!!!

today i harvested a handful of juliet tomatoes an another cherokee purple. there is also a one more small eggplant (along with one turning yellow.... sad face), a zucchini, and a yellow squash getting ready to be plucked sometime tomorrow (picture to follow soon). i'm thinking i will try to make some veggie chips with a yogurt or white bean dip..... we'll see.