The Wet Coast

The furnace kicked in this week, signaling the end of sleeping with the window open at night, and planting a suggestion that I think of pulling my electric blanket out of the closet to warm my bed before I get into it at night. We keep our thermostat at 19.5, which is not 'comfortable' for most people, but electric blankets and space heaters take up some of the slack.  Our house is drafty, and I don't want to pay for heat that I won't really benefit from.

The change in temperature also signalled that there were some chores that needed attending to.  I did a full hive inspection on Thursday afternoon, when the sun was shining and the bees were going to and from the hive as fast as they could. (A few actually bounced off me when I got in the way of their mad scramble).  I removed a couple of unused bars of drawn comb, to tighten up the interior chamber a bit, noted no queen cells (thank goodness!) and only about a dozen drone cells (so, no worry that the colony was thinking of moving out).  Though I could not locate the queen, here were larva in various stages, in a brood nest that spanned the top of five bars, and pollen and nectar being stored -  with some capped honey. Still, not enough.  I moved the remaining bars to the center of the hive, to make room for the feeder at one end of the hive body, and today I made a thicker-consistency syrup that I will quickly put into the hive tomorrow, assuming there is a break in our rainy weather.  With the way the hive is now set up, it's not too difficult or risky to quickly lift the lid and switch out new syrup bottles as needed over the next week or two.

 

As with my Spring feeding, this syrup includes chamomile tea, thyme, a dash of sea salt and some apple cider vinegar.  This time, though, rather that an 1:1 ratio of sugar and water, the ratio is 2:1.  The less water the bees need to evaporate for storage the better right now.  Hopefully they will bulk up their stores a bit to make it through the colder months.  The lack of drones shows that the queen is already streamlining the colony to make it through the winter.  I put the bottom board on today, to cut down on the inflow of cold air, and will wait until it gets a bit cooler to limit the entrance holes from 3 down to 1, so the bees can still go out to forage as needed, or make cleansing flights on sunnier days.  Ideally, we will be physically moving the hive back to its original position, where it will be more protected under the branches of the apple tree, and where I will ideally do a visual check each time I go to see the rabbits. Once the real winter weather is here, I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that the colony has enough food stored to survive.  I'll hang a branch across the entrance hole so that any bees emerging will reorient and make it back to the new hive site (fingers crossed). If we were concerned about larger predators, I could also tie the hive to the tree for stability.

 

The chickens are not impressed with the rain, and hang out under various tables, benches, in the gazebo where my seeds are drying, and even under the bee hive - but close quarters are leading to some lost feathers, telling me that not everything is peaceful.  I continue to have all four girls settling into the chicken tractor at night, so I just have to hope that no one is getting seriously hurt when I see a pile of wet feathers scattered on the ground.

It seemed to take forever this year, but the Monkshood has finally bloomed, though the rain is doing a good job of pounding the tall stands of flowers.  Still, they look lovely in contrast with the orange/yellow of the Black-eyed Susans which are still glowing in the rain.

 

I trimmed my potted perennials and berry starts back, checked labels, and tightened up most of my containers in their little corral.  I removed several empty pots, which had either failed during the gardening season, or been eaten by curious chickens.  I dug up a couple of new sorrel divisions, and will *not* be leaving them here where the girls can eat them... again. Some of the extra divisions, and some garden volunteers were planted out in the front yard, to help fill in spaces between existing plants and berry bushes.  When it rains, it helps new plants settle right in.  My seeding of winter rye is coming up nicely thanks to the weather.

 

I made some additional 'Greek' and lasagna casseroles to use up fresh herbs from the garden, before the cold turns them to mush.  Chard stood in for spinach.  Lots of chard.  The final harvest of apples was sliced for a full load in the dehydrator, and the nicest fruit will be making a Dutch Apple Bread for sharing this weekend.

 

A quick grab of tomatoes in the hoop house today became an all-out harvest at the sound of the rain increasing.  Because the fruits have taken so long to ripen, many have succumbed to blight or mildew.  I quickly dunked the harvest in a bowl of water with a squirt of castile soap, and spread them out on a towel to allow them to dry and get some decent air flow while they ripen.  The fully green tomatoes may not colour up, but I might finally get around to trying a fried green tomato recipe or two, just to use what we have managed to grow!

 

There are still some cherry tomatoes from the last picking, to enjoy with lunches over the next few days; some will be sliced and frozen, to be thrown into sauces over the winter.  The other night we had a lovely treat of homemade, fresh salsa.

 

 

During the next break in the rain, we need to get the garlic, shallots and multiplier onions in the ground. 

 

 

Emergency Tomato Harvest

We were due for some rain over the weekend, but though the clouds closed in on Friday, the rain failed to show - until Saturday night when I was woken by the sound of a deluge!

Sunday morning, Adrian and I were in the hoophouse, where I've been keeping an eye on the oh-so-slowly-ripening tomatoes, and gathering everything that had a blush of colour, lest the rain cause splitting, and the loss of our small tomato harvest.

 

There was minimal splitting - possibly because we still have the plastic down around the growing area to minimize water absorption. The ripest have been eaten, the splits given to the chickens, and the rest set in a single layer to colour up on the dining table. Today I picked a smaller basket of tomatoes showing a bit of colour.  Soon I'll have enough ripe tomatoes for a batch of homemade salsa, with sweet onions, tomatoes and the last of the Fall cilantro thrown into the blender. I just have to figure out how to grow citrus and the limes will be accounted for..... Better late than never! 

Jodie and her foster mom.

The chickens, who are notorious for hanging out under the picnic table in the rain, enjoyed a break in the rain to run about. Jodie is getting big and testing her wings, though is quickly put in her place by the two elder hens.

Birthday Update

A sad end note.  Yesterday afternoon I discovered that Rose had finally given birth, but three of the 4 kits were apparently stillborn.  Two of the large kits were out on the wire, so I assume she was having some birthing difficulties, possibly given their size. A third dead kit was in the nesting box, inches away from the last, squirming kit with a very full belly of milk.  Rose seemed calm, though she must have been mildly stressed at her largely unsuccessful labour.

I quickly pulled Sweetie's nesting box, and chose her two smallest kits to add to Rose's fur-lined nest, beside her healthy kit.  Since I could not be sure what had actually happened, I decided not to risk moving over any more of the babies and possibly losing healthy rabbits from Sweetie's litter. The two chosen were much smaller than the rest of the litter, and could use the advantage of less competition for resources.

Rose was easily distracted with some kale and cabbage gleanings, and that gave the new kits time to nestle in beside their adopted sibling, taking on the smell of the nesting box at the same time.

Last evening, and this morning, every baby was warm, cuddled into the nests with full bellies, and both mothers happily accepted their breakfast grain, comfrey, lemon balm and celery leaf.

This is why I breed two does at the same time - in case of emergency or the need to foster.  Rose should have plenty of milk to share, and Sweetie won't be under constant stress from the demands of a litter of eight.  A sad time to find three kits lost on their birthday, but the remaining baby rabbits should grow up healthy.

Apple Butter and Applesauce

I cooked down two full crock-pots of apples this week, and allowed the fruit to cool before putting it through a food mill (this one a mere $5.99 at the thrift store.  I used to see them all the time but I have been avoiding shopping therapy of any kind to save money).

 

Two full loads of apples became one full crock of milled sauce, which I cooked down for several hours (lid off to help evaporation), which then became 16 jars of Apple Butter and 3 jars of unsweetened applesauce.  I left them on the table overnight to make sure they cooled and sealed.  They still need to be labeled and put away in the pantry, but for now I can appreciate the results of a bit of work, backyard apples, a bit of sugar, and some spices.

I've condensed the plum slices I put into the dehydrator the other day - almost 20 pounds - and added more apple slices to the vacated trays.  The last of the apples, I picked from the trees, though some needed a bit more of a forceful tug than a gentle lift off the branches.  No more fallen fruit with bruises or nicks!  I shared a bucket with my neighbour, and the rest should keep over several weeks at least for baking, dehydrating or preserving.

Happy Birthday

This morning I was calmly greeted by Sweetie, our eldest doe, chomping on her morning alfalfa grass.  If I hadn't seen the fur topping on her nest move slightly, I wouldn't have known that she had delivered her kits in the night.  A -very- quick look tells me there are likely 7-8 little bunnies, all dark-skinned but for their pink bellies.  I am happy to see that Sweetie's litter size is 'back to her norm' after a small litter earlier in the year.  I offered her a happily-received piece of plum, and left her to continue her day with some extra grains, fresh comfrey, and grass.

Rose was also looking calm, though surrounded by bits of fur, which I believe she had just pulled to line her own nest.  No bunnies yet, but she allowed a quick round of skritches, and her tummy feels taught with promise.  She went back to lining her nest, and I quietly left the enclosure.

The other litters are five weeks old today, and we will soon remove the mothers to allow them to recover from a busy round of parenting.  Sakura seems largely unaffected, despite having 7 kits to care for, and I am very happy with her personality.  I do not feel that we will be keeping Chun Li, as she has remained anxious, aggressive, and unpredictable.  I was concerned that her aggression was sometimes turned towards her offspring, though I am thrilled with the size and the health of her small litter. I intend to keep back a well-natured girl for future breeding.  We allow our rabbits to fully develop to 7 months prior to breeding, so we wouldn't be breeding until March next year, and I'd like to cross some of our first crosses back with our Florida White males, but will need to do some breeding research over the winter.

 

Totally unrelated, this small bowl of cherry tomatoes was the biggest daily harvest of the year, and tasted wonderful with dinner.

Preparing for Fall

As I sit here typing, there is a dehydrator loaded with floral-smelling plums for the rabbits, and two crock pots full of carefully picked over windfall apples being cooked down for this year's Apple Butter.  The plums have replaced several loads of apples, also from our trees, and also for the rabbits.  I now have a huge jar of apple slices to mark the beginning of my winter preparations, and the house smells wonderful.  Jars need to be brought out of storage and cleaned soon, since it's getting cool enough to think about thawing some frozen backyard berries and making my supply of jams in a warm kitchen. 

Fall has come quickly (though it doesn't technically arrive until this weekend), with temperatures last week hitting record highs of 30 degrees - this week we might just barely break 20.  I've closed up the tomato plants, in the hopes that the fruit will continue to ripen - we enjoyed our first Black Cherry tomatoes at about 120 days after planting the seedlings out, which is almost double the time it should have taken.  They were delicious, but I think I might be taking a break from growing tomatoes next year, as I simply don't have the heart - or the sun exposure they need, since my neighbours doubled the size of their house.

The multiplier onions and shallots are cured and cleaned, and now I need to put aside the bulbs that I will be planting out this month along with our garlic. Kidney and Cranberry bean pods were pulled from the vines last week, to finish drying and be shelled and sorted, and the Borlotti beans are almost ready to be harvested. Parsley, coriander, and Celery Leaf seed are being harvested as the plants mature, for use either as seasonings in the kitchen, or seeds for next year's crops.  The tomatillo fruits are small this year, and none are yet ready for harvesting. Maybe they'll ripen with last of the tomatoes, or we can use them and some of the nicer green tomatoes for a Salsa Verde.

I pulled the amaranth and quinoa plants from the garden, as they were threatening to shatter their seeds on the ground, and they are still drying out a bit. The millet I pulled this morning, because the threat of heavy rain was making me nervous.  I'm not very impressed with the handful of seedheads from my attempts with these grains, but will try to do a bit more research over the winter, and try again next year with better soil preparation. Five row-feet of each variety, and I merely have some extra seed for the garden.

We performed a hive inspection yesterday, and found there are a lot of workers still tending brood (we were interested to see a bee emerging from a cell)  I don't feel comfortable with the amount of stores I'm seeing, so I think I will need to supplement their nectar with some syrup soon, to make sure they have time to prepare it for storage, and to make it through the winter. 

Jodie and Celine slept with the other girls for the first time on Saturday night, so we were thinking that things had finally settled in our little flock.  Sunday night, at the beginning of a thunderstorm, I went out to close everyone in for the night, and found our little twosome again perched on the back stairs, with Celine valiantly trying to shelter her no-longer-little chick.

I quickly grabbed Jodie, not wanting to spend the next hour trying to corner her in the rain if she decided to take flight, and brought her inside to ask Adrian to grab Celine down from the stairs, since my hands were full.

We took a picture of Jodie in the dining room, since it has become impossible to get very close to her during day-to-day interaction.  She is disappointingly suspicious of us!

Future Considerations

This weekend we took a 2-day tour of Vancouver Island, to get a better idea of what the Island looks like geographically, and what the areas are which seem to have the most potential for *our idea* of 'liveability.'  The weekend started with a 5 am alarm, so we could load the car, and make sure all of the animals were provided with enough food, water, and diversions to keep them placated while we were away.  We don't normally leave them overnight, but the neighbour was happy to keep an ear open for trouble.

 

We were shooting for the 7 am ferry, and knew to be in the lineup about an hour ahead of departure (especially on a weekend). One knock against Island living is the unpredictable and costly nature of taking the ferry.  For 2 adults, and a regular-sized car, the cost just to get to the Island was more than $80, and with that, there is no guarantee you will make it on to the ferry you want/need on a busy day.  Most sailings are at least an hour apart, resulting in additional wait time.  There are inevitably break downs, which remove ferries from service, and result in canceled sailings as well.  For our return trip, we chose to pay for a reservation (which is *still* not foolproof), and paid an extra $18.50 for the privilege of saving ourselves a spot (we needed to be sure to get home!).

 

The drive to the Tsawassen ferry terminal, and the boat ride over where quite misty, but the weather reports promised a sunnier afternoon.....

 

Swartz Bay terminal

 

And by the time we disembarked in Swartz Bay and headed into Victoria, the sun was shining.  We took a quick loop around the Southern Island, to see the Sooke area, where friends of ours have fallen in love with the land, and are intending to settle.  It was a bit too hilly and rocky for my vision of life with a garden and some grazing area for animals.  We did stop in at the Farmer's Market, where people were selling all of the produce currently growing in my own garden, but the prices seemed very high.

 

We headed up the Island Highway, since our focus was on the East Coast of the Island, where most of the population and agricultural land are located.  Driving through Duncan meant a view of the first 'farmland' we had been able to view on our trip.  The valley spread out into fields, and we passed several Feed Stores, large animal veterinarians, and farmhouses on the way.  Definitely a possibility.

 

When I moved to BC from Ontario, people warned me of the slower, 'hippy' lifestyle exhibited by the people out here.  True, there are also places in the Interior and the Okanagan that roll up the sidewalks at 5 in the evening, but Vancouver and the surrounding cities are absolutely bustling cosmopolitan places in comparison to Victoria, where we were told at one store 'We close at 8, because of all the freaks that come out..."  In Nanaimo, a city of under 30,000 residents, the mall hours are not too restrictive.

 

We continued our drive along the coast, pulling in for a drive around some of the communities where there were real estate listings in our price range, to see what amenities, stores and services where available, and to get a closer look at the lay of the land.

 

As the day wore on, we realized we needed to make Campbell River, our destination for the night, and pressed on up the Trans Canada Hwy - a more direct, but less scenic route, to our friends' house in Campbell River.  We were happy to have dinner and bed waiting for us after a long but fun day on the road.

 

The next morning, we drove along the water, and went for 'brunch' at a popular local Fish and Chips restaurant, right in one of the Marinas.  The food was delicious, if not the healthiest choice for people about to spend another 8 hours in the car!

 

We drove back down the coast of the Island, having returned to  the scenic route. This time, we stopped to drive on a winding route through the Comox Valley - which includes the cities of Courtney, Comox and Cumberland, as well as many small, unincorporated communities.  The electoral district claims a combined population of 55,000.  The downtown core area is fairly busy, modernized and well-laid out. It reminded me of many farming communities in the Lower Mainland (Abbotsford and Chiliwack). This is another agricultural area, known for wineries and farm tours.  There were views of the water, condominiums and apartments, and beautifully-planted boulevards.  On the outskirts of the residential areas there were equipment, car and boat dealerships, and farmland.

 

 

 

Fanny Bay was on our highlights tour, but the mosquitos chased us back into the car - something to think about when you hear 'tidal marsh.'

 

Our final destination before the return ferry trip was Port Alberni, a city most people travel through on the way to Tofino or Uclulet on the West Coast, or after visiting Cathedral Grove.  The city seemed pleasant, if a bit quiet for a weekend, with many businesses closed.  It is a pulp and paper mill town with a company struggling to survive on an inlet to the Ocean.  The need to have snow tires and carry tire chains for 6 months of the year (per the sign on our way in), and it's hour and a half distance from Nanaimo and the services there, made it seem like an impractical location to settle down.

 

We drove back into Nanaimo as the sun began to set, glad for the beautiful weather, and feeling a bit more aware of what we needed to think about for the future.

 

 

Putting Food By

In keeping with my belief that, if you're going to make a mess, it might as well be a worthwhile one, I started several cooking projects this week which ultimately resulted in, or *will* result in good food, largely from inexpensive, in-season, local ingredients.  The fact that the results included considerable savings was a pleasant bonus for planning ahead.

Half of a $7.00, 25-pound bag of onions went into our slow cookers for 10 hours one day, and we wound up with lovely caramelized onions for use in pizzas, soups, stews and casseroles this winter, frozen in small batches for ease of use.

Most of a 20 pound box of zucchini was quickly shredded in our food processor, measured, divided up into freezer bags, and will make more than 40 dozen Zucchini muffins (or a combination of muffins and Chocolate Zucchini cake!).  My zucchini plants didn't produce for me this year, but I do still have some of last year's bounty in dehydrated and pickled form, so I was thrilled to support my local Farmer's Market and grab this box of squash from their own gardens for $16.00. It's about the timing!

I had thrown a loaf of bread in the dehydrator overnight, to make breadcrumbs, and boiled ten pounds of potatoes.  The spuds made a big batch of mashed potatoes using butter and some of the onion broth sweated by the crock pot cooking process, and I left that to cool overnight in the fridge. 

The next day, onions, garlic, ground, lean pork and beef (purchased on sale), zuchinni, carrots, and spices were sautéed, and allowed to cool.  I made a big batch of basmati rice, and grabbed herbs and greens from the garden....

 

A big pile of grape leaves, sorrel, mint, oregano, and parsley - the windfall apples are being dehydrated for rabbit treats. 

 

I chopped the herbs, blanched, de-veined and chopped the grape leaves, and processed the bread into crumbs, adding dehydrated lemon slices, salt, pepper, garlic and parmesan cheese to the mix, to stretch the meat, bind the filling, and give the casserole a bit of added flavour.

 

Once cool to the touch, I combined the rice, crumbs, greens and meat, portioned it into bread pans, and topped my mini casseroles with a mashed potato crust.  At about $1.00 a portion, this made 35 servings of dolmades, in casserole form - I'm not enough of a masochist to make the equivalent bulk of actual grape leaf rolls!

These were popped into the freezer, and will be removed from the pans and vacuum-sealed for future, minimal fuss meals - and the 'trial' casserole we had last night was delicious.

Busy As Bees

This weekend I pulled coriander, parsley, and dill to dry - and my kidney bean plants, in advance of the rain that I worried would start them moulding where they sat.  I also pulled the cucumber and squash vines from the hoophouse, since the temperature is starting to drop, and I didn't want to close in the tomatoes with a potential for mildew growing right next to them.....

The last of the potato crop was finally gathered (and we had some lovely potatoes with chives and butter for dinner), and the plastic that was protecting the tubers from rot went down on either side of the hoophouse, to slow the uptake of water from the rain - so that all of those green tomatoes don't burst before they ripen!

 

It's like they're taunting me in there!

 

The bees are putting away pollen (you can see the various colours) and nectar, though their reserves of honey are not where I would like them to be.

 

We observed the queen again - the lady in the middle of the pic with the long body.... She's still laying eggs, but there was also a queen cell being built (not occupied), that I broke off of the comb.  We added an additional bar to show them they have lots of room right where they are.

We banded the cherry trees with plastic, smeared with Vaseline, in the hopes of deterring pests from taking up winter residence and damaging the canopy again this spring.

We moved the families into large, outdoor cages and everyone seems to be settling in.

The little kits are learning how to use the water bottles, and are also starting to eat alfalfa pellets.

 

 

Some are a bit more enthusiastic than others.

 

 

And some want to eat with mom.