Monday, June 28, 2010

Summer Garden

It’s almost July, and summer is in full swing.  That means BBQs, Saturdays at the lake, late-night dog walks, and summer gardens.

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Unfortunately we got going on ours a few weeks late.  We planted everything in early June when we should have planted it in early May.  But when it comes to a garden, it’s better late than never!  Here’s what we have:

Tomatoes

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By the time we got around to starting our garden, all the tomato starter plants in Austin were gone!  We clearly missed the ideal time to plant.  Fortunately we found a couple of Cherub tomato plants for sale at a local restaurant.  They’ve been struggling a bit, but they have gotten bigger in the last few weeks.  I’m not holding my breath, but hopefully they’ll take off soon.

Squash

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We planted both Crookneck squash and Zucchini squash.  So far they have grown a ton.  They plants are healthy looking and should provide us with as much squash as we can eat all summer long.

Beans

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Last summer we had tremendous success with our beans, so this summer we decided to use the leftover Mixed bean seeds from last year.  They should give us both purple and green beans.  They began “climbing” the bean pole about 2 weeks ago.  These guys should be quite fruitful in a few weeks.

Gardening is a useful and rewarding hobby.  Just make sure you do your research and start your garden on time!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Our New Chicks

Sadly we lost two of our original chicks last week – the Ameraucana and the New Hampshire Red are gone.  We were letting them free range during the day, and they either escaped and/or got eaten by something while we were not home.  We had definitely grown attached to them, so it was quite a loss.  RIP Red Baron and Peanut :(

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The chicken coop was quite a sad sight with only 2 birds left in it.  Spanky and Honey were clearly missing their buddies, so we decided that we needed to get more chickens.  We found a “mobile chicken lady” on Craigslist, and she delivered them last night.  Here’s what we got:

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Cinnamon Queen:  Cinnamon Queens are noted for their tremendous egg production.  They lay large light brown eggs that are similar to the expensive ones you find in Whole Foods.  She’s about 4 months old and should start laying in a couple of weeks.

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Golden Laced Wyandotte:  These birds are quite sweet and easy-going.  They are dependable egg-layers of large brown eggs.  She was pretty shy at first and spent most of the morning hiding in the roosting box.  She’s about 8 weeks old.

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Ameraucana mixed with Black French Copper Maran:  This little girl is a hybrid chicken.  I loved our other Ameraucana (Peanut) because she would lay blue eggs.  This chick will end up giving us olive-colored eggs, although they will tend to be on the smaller side.  She’s about 6 weeks old.

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We introduced them last night after dark, so it was hard to see what was going on.  This morning, however, the Cinnamon Queen was trying to establish herself as the “top bird” by chasing the other chickens and pecking at them.  They’ll supposedly settle in to the pecking order soon, but for now we’re going to have to keep a close eye on them to make sure no one gets bullied too much.

Friday, June 18, 2010

How to Select the “Best” Seafood

Yesterday was the 3-month anniversary of my killing and eating my own chicken.  Since that time I’ve eaten fish once, but I’ve had no other meat.

My objection towards eating land animals is based primarily on how they are raised and slaughtered.  My objections to fish, however, are based less on the humane aspect and more on the environmental impact.  Since overfishing has huge ramifications for the environment, it is important to know where your fish comes from and how it affects the world.  For a quick look at the best types of fish to eat based on environmental impact, check out the Environmental Defense Fund’s Seafood Selector.

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I, like many of you, have cravings for meat.  Chicken, beef, and pork are not options, but using the Seafood Selector, I found that Pacific Halibut is a good environmental choice and a tasty way to satisfy my craving.

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Last night I cooked dinner for me and Laurie.  I got 2 portabella mushrooms, some asparagus, and the aforementioned Pacific Halibut.  I marinated the mushrooms in balsamic vinaigrette, seasoned the asparagus with lemon, salt and pepper, and seasoned the fish with cilantro, lemon, salt and pepper.  Then I put them all on the grill.

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Meanwhile Laurie cooked up some Israeli couscous, which are basically little balls of wheat flour.

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She also sautéed some yellow and green bell pepper with onion to add to the couscous.

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And of course if you have fish you also MUST have margaritas!

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The final result was quite tasty, healthful, and environmentally friendly.  Next time you eat fish, try using the Seafood Selector to make sure you are getting the best overall product.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Dirt Remedy

This June Pure Austin is hosting a 4-race mountain bike series on Tuesday nights called the Dirt Remedy at City Park.  I missed the first one, but Max and I made it out for last night’s second race.

Start

We both raced in the “B” division which is equivalent to intermediate.  There were 24 of us at the start line.  The course is a short, sweet 4-minute loop that you do continuously for 40 minutes.  The winner is the one who finishes the most loops.

Max winning

Max finished 2nd last week and was going for the win this week.

Adam

Unfortunately I got a flat tire on the second lap and had to take an 8-minute break to get it fixed.  I was pretty much out of the race at that point.

Max finish

Max showing off at the finish line with after his first win.

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40 minutes of all-out pedaling is tough, but the race is definitely an awesome way to spend a Tuesday evening.  We’ll be back next week for the third race in the series.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Potluck & Keg-tapping Party!

I’ve recently demonstrated how to brew your own beer the easy way and how to keg it.  Well now that that process is complete, there is only one step left:  drink it!

Last weekend we decided to have a potluck party to drink my Texas Blonde Ale.  About 15 of our friends came over, and we finished off the entire keg…all 48 or so beers!

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The beer turned out pretty well.  Here’s Jarod finishing one of the last few cups.

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We also had PLENTY of food.  Quinoa salad, spinach salad, grilled chicken legs, potato salad, homemade salsa, 7-layer dip, mac ‘n cheese, guacamole, and tons of other stuff I’m forgetting.

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We even had s’mores for desert on the open gas range. 

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Mmmmmm, s’mores.

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Lots of food, lots of drink, lots of conversation = fun Sunday afternoon!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Chicken Update

The chickens are now about 8 weeks old.  And they are getting big!  They are now each about the size of a football.

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The stay locked up in their coop at night, but in the morning we let them out to free range all day.  Here they are at 7:00 a.m. begging to be let out.

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For the most part they are really comfortable around us.  Spanky (the white one) will let us pick her up without much fuss.  The darkest one, Honey, is the only one that runs away when we get too close.  The other 2, Peanut (the light brown one) and The Red Baron (the reddish one), let us get close but don’t really like to be picked up.

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