Late afternoon, evenings are grazing times for the chickens. There is a distinct ripping sound they make as they tear grass with their beaks. Sit quietly on the grass and they will come over to see what you’re doing. It’s impossible to be sad or upset when they are milling about.
Month: June 2014
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A Herd of Chickens
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Out of the Ground Today – June 5, 2014
It’s egg and salad delivery day. In the cool, early morning, the produce in the vegetable beds is awake and succulent. Picking the greens in the quiet of the morning is almost a meditative exercise. It’s an opportunity to clear the mind and think of nothing as I snip, snip, snip away. It’s much better than toiling away in a corporate cubicle, staring into a monitor for hours on end.
Once washed and stacked, the fresh produce has a beauty all its own. If you’re eating at Tweets this weekend, you may be lucky and enjoy some of these fresh greens. Currently, I’m making a single delivery on Thursdays, but in the near future I will be making deliveries of produced picked that morning on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You’ll enjoy salads at Tweets made from greens picked just hours before. You can’t get that Mickey D’s or most any restaurant.
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Peaceful Evening
So what is life like for chicks being raised by a mother? It’s nothing like growing up without one. Chicks this small would never be safe darting about in the evening. But with a mother looking out for them, they are free to run about without a worry. Watch the video and you’ll get a good idea how important mother hens are for chicks.
[wpvideo IvhZtuBY]
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The Joy of Weeds
Play the bird song above and you can experience what it is like to spend an afternoon weeding here at a man and his hoe®. That is the song of the Black-headed Grosbeak, one of the more colorful birds that are in the woods this time of year. The weeds have such beautiful flowers, even if some are tiny, that it’s a shame to dig them up … but I have customers who want their fresh vegetables, so the weeds will have to be satisfied with blooming on the sides of the vegetable beds.Tourists from all over the world make pilgrimages to Tweets Café, and they are expecting to savor fresh, local produce. Some of it will come from this special spot where the Black-headed Grosbeaks sing. When you’re at Tweets having a salad, close your eyes and imagine those salad greens listening to the singing of wild songbirds.
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On the Board Today – June 3, 2014
This time of year there is an endless supply of fresh greens to eat. I’m not even sure what the first green is. I found it growing amid the garlic. Besides the mystery green, there are dill and onion scapes, kale and mustard blossoms, oregano and sage and lovage, and finally garlic scapes, the first of the season.
Recently I read, in disbelief mind you, that some consider cooking and eating such a nuisance, that they have developed a powder you mix with water to make a liquid meal so you don’t have to fuss with getting food and cooking. According to their website, solvent.me, creator Robert Rhinehart and team developed Soylent after recognizing the disproportionate amount of time and money they spent creating nutritionally complete meals. Their catchphrase is what if you never had to worry about food again? Hmm, now wouldn’t that be a boring life.I’ve never considered the amount of time I spend growing, gathering and preparing food a chore. Going out into the vegetable beds to see what is good to eat is pure pleasure. Watching apple blossoms turn into buds turn into small green fruit turn into ripe red apples is living.
Gathering food, preparing meals, and eating are so much fun, I can’t imagine subsiding on quick, liquid meals. To each their own I guess.