I hate buying eggs

Fall vacation is over, so it's time to come back to reality and tidy up the urban farm for winter. My compost bins are full, so a lot of the plant material has been worked back into the garden beds (burying it under soil, where it can break down over time). The tomato plants, however, always go to the municipal yard waste composting facility. My home compost piles just aren't hot enough to kill all of the disease-causing microorganisms that hang out on tomatoes. And those nasties can survive over the winter in soil, only to infect next year's crop.

Interesting how our city's compost facility is now owned by Purple Cow. (In the past I spent a lot of money buying compost from them.) So it does pay-- except for tomatoes and any diseased material-- to compost as much as possible at home.

All that's left outside are these few kale plants and some leeks that need to be harvested soon. Leek soup anyone?

The hens are also going through their first molt and they have many missing feathers and are very grumpy (and likely a little concerned with so much skin showing and next week's temperatures going down into the 20s). But once their molt is finished, they will look better than before and should have their best year of production ahead of them, which is good, because I haven't gotten an egg from them in well over two weeks.

Looks like I'll be supporting the local egg produces for a few more weeks.

This high protein food should help the hens grow feathers faster. Without added protein, chickens have been knows to eat feathers to add protein to their diet (and losing more feathers is not at all what we're going for!). 

And with the cooler, short days, baking is on my mind...

In Sweden my favorite fika treat were the kardemummabullar, which are cinnamon rolls with an almond and cardamom filling. They are the best things I've had in a long time! With all the cool weather, this is the perfect time of year to practice my indoor homesteading skills and bake my own breads and treats.

Have a great weekend!

Early summer eating at the urban farm

After cultivating, planting, and then spending a few busy weeks weeding, now is the fun time of summer before the tomato plants become large and unruly and the flurry of canning has started. This is the sweet time when you can really begin eating something besides salad.

Due to my locavore tendencies, I've also been thinking more about reducing food miles where I can and eating what is in season and available in my region. Many of the veggies and fruits we now eat are grown in our own plot of land, and if not here, then purchased from local growers. And food miles aside, this food is ripe and tastes better than much of the produce trucked in from some other time zone.

Things we've been enjoying this week: green onions, broccoli, broccolini, basil, cilantro, parsley, and Swiss chard from the urban farm, and homemade bread made from local wheat and homemade sourdough culture (a real treat toasted and smeared with last week's strawberry jam). I also made my raspberry millet muffins (recipe from February 24) and subbed in local sour cherries. (I may now need to plant a cherry tree!)

Some other foods in photos...

Local bread cheese (Juustoleipa), warmed up on a hot griddle.

This is my second week of enjoying local strawberries. These were frozen on a cookie sheet and then stored in baggies for wintertime smoothies and shortcakes.

On a bike ride with my daughter today we found a patch of wild blackberries. They are tiny but perfect (maybe even more perfect because they were a gift from nature with no work involved).

Our cultivated raspberries are starting to ripen. There were only enough red ones today to pick and eat immediately, still warm from the sunshine, but I'm hoping to be freezing and making jam out of an abundant berry harvest soon.

Until our chickens start laying eggs, we're very lucky that a neighbor is selling eggs for a local farmer this summer.

Our first harvested kohlrabi (German for "cabbage turnip"). Very easy to grow and tastes a little like broccoli.

The community garden plots are producing some very nice beets, which I like roasted or pickled.