chicken pictures

For those of you purchasing chickens, here are some pictures taken a little while ago. (they’re quite a bit bigger now)

chickabaygo

Made in the shade

little guard dog

I miss the rain!

It’s weird to call home and hear about how much it’s been raining.  I had all but forgotten rain existed here in sunny california.  The closest we’ve really come to rain in the past two months has been some fleeting clouds.  Like the sun is bearing down on them from much too close, chasing them away.  They can’t stand the heat.

Erin is off at market today.  I’ve done market the past two weeks and figured she could have a turn at it again.  I miss it though, so many people and so much good food around to buy and/or trade.  Trading is my favorite part.  It’s a great feeling to get a jar of olive oil, or homemade bread, or stone ground wheat, or some awesome sprout salad for a few fruits and veggies you’ve been tending.  In a way, almost entirely more satisfying than eating it, at least to me.  I cut more zucchini this morning.  It’s slowing down alot, and instead of spending six hours on that particular section of plants, i might only have to spend an hour and a half.

But i’ve been thinking alot about people back home lately, and other places.  I’m glad we decided to do the six month term here instead of a whole year.  Not that i’m anxious to leave or anything.  In fact, i’m going to miss this place terribly.  The people here are wonderful and it’s like an oasis of information on self-sustainability.  Lisa offered me the offspring from the goats in the spring from this next round of breeding.  I really want to take her up on that offer, but i can’t imagine hitting the road with a couple kids strapped to the trailer.

At last…

“Lets leave the sound of the heat for the sound of the rain

It’s easy to sleep when it wets my brain

It covers my rest with it’s saccharine sheen

Kissing the wind through my window screens”

 

Oh it’s raining!

Hallelujah

Hey, We’re Alive!

“Sweet summer night and i’m stripped to my sheets,

Forehead is leaking my A.C. sqeaks,

A voice from the clock says, “you’re not gonna get tired”

My bed is a pool, and the walls are on fire”

 

It’s been quite a while since i’ve written an actual post for every/anyone.  I hope you’ve enjoyed the few pictures i’ve posted to date.  Today i have more for you, lots more in fact.  Our time in california has been wonderful so far.  We got to drive along scenic Route 1 pretty much all the way up the coast.  I can’t really do the drive justice here typing on the keyboard… maybe erin can.  It was fantastic though.  The views are incredible, the land is gorgeous and there’s so much to see.  We went through Big Sur and stopped at the Henry Miller Memorial Library.  We travelled through mountains and hills and redwood forests and eventually arrived in our destination of Chico, CA, though not without some small misfortune.  While driving through extremely curvy steep hills on our way to Chico, one of our tie-downs for the trailer finally decided it had worked long enough.  It gave loose and most of the stuff on the trailer slid backwards and dragged along the ground (we have no idea for how long).  When we got to a gas station and realized what had happened we had to rework the whole rig.  Both our bike tires were destroyed (which is unfortunate because Chico is SO good for biking), along with the centrifuge system that i worked so hard to put together.  The way i look at it though, is that it needed to be rebuilt anyway, and i’ve got some good ideas for the new one, so this just puts me one step closer.  We were very lucky not to have anything else go wrong.

Once we arrived in chico, we almost immediately set out for Cincinnati via rental car to visit family for easter.  It was a non-stop 34 hour drive straight across the continent.  We took turns sleeping and driving and amazingly made it there with no delays.  The way back however, was a different story.  In the middle of Wyoming we ran into a snow storm at night.  We parked at a truck stop and slept in the back seat for an hour or so until the sun came up.  In the morning i trudged in through the snow, intending to get some fast food breakfast and discovered that 3+ feet of snow had been dumped on the highway immediately below us, and that all the highways around us were shut down.  My first thought was, “Like hell they are, i’ll drive ‘em anyways!”  But no, they were literally blocked off by gates and walls of snow.  So we were stuck there for a day, everywhere full of cars with nowhere to go and hotels, motels, and restaurants filling up fast.  We found a quite (dirty) place though that wasn’t too expensive and holed up for the night.  The next morning the highway we needed was still blocked off so we decided to try a detour.  This was a bad idea, because was basically drove several hours south, and then several hours back north to where we were and just got on the same highway.  But we didn’t care, because soon it was back to chico and no snow.  All in all that drive took like 45+ hours.

And now we’re here, Pyramid Farms in Chico California.  The weather’s been nothing but sunny since we’ve been here, and recently it’s been around 90˚.  The work isn’t bad, the people are great, and you get so much fresh food, it’s amazing.  Everything grown here is certified organic.  There really is nothing like going to pick your food for dinner instead of going to the grocery store.  

So alot of people have asked me where i’m living, what’s it like, etc etc… I’m going to post a lot of pictures now and hopefully you’ll get the general idea.

So let’s see… where to start?…..

 

Japhy!

Of course!  A post without japhy?  no way…  Japhy is doing great!  This place is like dog heaven.  He does nothing but run around and play with other dogs and chase animals all day.  Plus, he’s great for the farm.  I’ve never seen a dog catch as many animals as Japhy does.  In a single day, i’ve caught him with 2 gophers, a mole, a squirrel, and a bird.  (how does a dog even catch a bird?)  And that’s only the ones i’ve caught him with… who knows how many others he scarfed down before i noticed?

 

Chickies!

In addition to the fresh vegetables, Erin and I are raising 30 organically fed chickens.  They’re so cute, …and delicious!

 

Goats!

These beauties are Lisa’s responsibility.  They provide us with fresh milk, yogurt and cheese.  Also lots of noise, they’re needy

 

Bacon!

Git in meh bellah!

On top of their normal food, these guys get a lot of the zucchini’s i’ve been picking that aren’t beautiful enough to go to farmers market / local organic food stores.

 

Bees!

These guys belong to Angela, she’s the other intern working here on the farm.  It’s really great that she’s learning all about bee’s now because i get to tag along and get some experience for my future hives.  Haven’t tasted the honey yet, but apparently they’re rockin, so shouldn’t be too long.

 

Chickens!

This is where my breakfast comes from.  That’s all i know.

 

Garlic / Onions

 This is the garlic and onion patch.  Erin and Angela just started harvesting them today.

 

Rows

Ok, i know it’s hard to see, but on the left we have:

Cherry tomatoes, Asparagus, Peppers, Eggplants, and more (different) Tomatoes

On the right there’s:

Garlic, Onions, Spinach, Beets, and Lettuce

 

Zucchini

This is the zucchini patch, it’s the first thing i pick in the mornings.  Lately though, it’s been taking me till late in the afternoon to get them all into the cold storage.  There’s just so many of them.

 

Garden

This is the garden Erin and I are working on.  It’s going to contain a lot of medicinal herbs not currently found on the farm.

 

Patio

This is the Patio immediately outside of our trailer.  It’s currently under construction and when finished will have an outdoor shower / bathroom, stove, washer, sink, and large counter top.  Mainly i’m just excited to be able to stand up in a shower.

 

Erin!

This is who makes really good birthday meals for me.  

And now that i’m done waiting for all those pictures to upload, i’m gonna get back to work.  By the way, if you don’t know, Erin’s blog is Here.  You should check it out for more pictures and (better) writing.

-=more to come=-

miscellany

 

 

More later when i have time…

Utah was beautiful, but california feels like coming home.

Texas, New Mexico and beyond…

Our path out of austin was slightly different than what i had anticipated earlier.  We are on somewhat of a schedule now, trying to make it to Chico, CA by the beginning of April which would leave us just enough time for a quick trip back to Cincinnati to visit family and friends.  Friends in New Orleans had recommended San Antonio, TX and other places but we decided to make our way westward and northward in an effort to conserve time and money.  We took I-290 west out of Austin and hopped on I-10 west most of the way across Texas until we passed Ft. Stockton and turned south for a brief detour on a beautiful I-17 towards Marfa, TX.  The landscape on 17 was truly amazing.  It started out driving along a nice flat road with a good view of the “mountains” and ended up winding it’s way through them with gorgeous drop offs on both sides.  After stopping at a picnic area for dinner, we drove the rest of the way to Marfa and were delighted by an amazing sunset behind the plains and mountains in the distance.  It really was beautiful, the pictures i post can’t do it justice.

Once in Marfa we found a quite place to sleep for the night (and a pizza shop that was too stingy with their crappy pizza that wasn’t even that good).  The next day we explored the entire town on foot.  Marfa is a very small town and after about an hour of wandering around i felt like i had seen pretty much all of what the town had to offer.  Half of the town seemed to be old-timers that had lived their most of their lives, and the other half seemed to be vacant houses owned by rich new yorkers who only visited them occasionally.  We met another traveller during our stay in Marfa who was biking from California to Florida.  His name is Clay and we had some good chats with him during our 2 night stay in the little town.  (thanks for the cigarettes btw)

After Marfa, we drove back to I-10 and took it until I-25 North.  We veered westward briefly to spend the night near Silver City, NM.  We had a strange experience at the first campsite we stopped at.  It was very far back into the country away from the road and the first thing i noticed when we finally got there was that there were enormous piles of (what could have been) Bear poop.  They were everywhere!  Japhy got out of the car and nervously sniffed around while i cautiously explored the area.  About 20 paces away from the campsite and across a dried up creek, was a flat patch of land.  I walked over there and saw a dead coyote on the ground.  It had been eaten and nothing but the fur was left.  Looking up i discovered another one, and another one, and then the carcass of a similar animal and bones and fur everywhere.  At this point i was beginning to think we had stumbled into some large animals kitchen.  There was more poop and dead stuff around with paths leading to and from it.  It was dusk now and probably about the time that the animal would be returning (possibly hungry!) so we decided to drive back out and find a different spot.  After we got out of there, we found a spot pretty quickly and (despite a few of the same type of droppings) spent a nice night there along with another traveller employing the same sleeping style as we were (in the back of a truck).  So no bear attacks, no mountain lion attacks, and we still have most of our limbs

The next day we drove back to I-25 and stopped to check out a little graveyard along the way.  We drove to Truth or Consequences, NM (which had nothing to offer us save a quick stop in their library update interwebs and such) and then on to Socorro, NM which is where i’m writing this post from.  It’s a nice town with nice people who not only gave us a free pizza and 2 liter of sprite, but made the pizza for us right then and there, free of charge.  (Thank you so much!)

We’ve spent a cold night in Socorro and now it’s on to a free campground outside of Albuquerque.  Soon a visit to Erin’s family there, and on to Utah and westward still…

Trebuchet? (Jason??)

“The Road to Austin”

Erin’s Post

Here Erin beautifully sums up mostly everything i have to say at the moment.  If you’ll allow me to copy and paste from her blog, (lazy i know… but she’s much more well spoken than i am)

Well, it turns out Mardi Gras made all the misery and out-of-placeness of our stay in New Orleans well worth it. Mingling in the streets with total strangers, riding the ferry from algiers and into unanticipated chaos, climbing onto adam’s shoulders to touch the floats like celebrity dolphins on a half-drunk hobo cruise… Yes, this is how i want to remember New Orleans.

We left promptly on Friday, as soon as Adam was released from his place of temporary employment. We were only two hours outside of the city when we reached Lafayette and decided we were far enough away to celebrate a new phase in our journey. New Orleans seems to me now more than ever like a kind of purgatory between the place i’ve called “home” and its uncharted afterlife. That said, stepping onto the porch of The Blue Moon Saloon & Guesthouse was like walking through the pearly gates and being welcomed by an indiscriminate association of family and friends i never knew. The night unravelled with great conversations, live entertainment, fleeting acquaintances, moments of pure joy and the refreshing sense of having finally finally arrived. Japhy made the evening with his magnetic demeanor, officially winning the title “best bar dog ever”. When not flashing his adorable grin and greeting passers-by, he was content to just chill under the table while we socialized. Yup, this one’s definitely a keeper.

We left early the next day, traveling along Louisiana’s Intercoastal Waterway to Houston, pulling over briefly to romp along the windy Gulf shores and comb for seashells. We stopped in Houston, for one reason and one reason only. It happens to be the unlikely home of The Rothko Chapel, a sacred, “total art space” dedicated to contemplation and positive action. Rothko has long been one of my favorite painters and abstractionists. With his commitment to “raise painting to the level of poignancy of music and poetry,” it’s no wonder I perceive his work not as art, but as a viewing experience, a subject of meditation. Rothko’s Chapel is the ultimate expression of this idea. The octagonal space, softly lit by partial skylights, consists of fourteen large canvases, painted black and hung to the artist’s specifications. It’s difficult to describe the effect that this one-room environment has on one’s senses. There’s a headiness, and for me, an almost primal urge to smile or weep–such that I can’t even choose between the two. Indeed, like listening to a song that touches so sweetly on the neglected strings of one’s life.

Rothko Chapel

And that, friends, is how we now find ourselves in Austin. Hungry (we’ve taken to a diet of restaurant leftovers). Broke (the only way to leave New Orleans). Still homeless (joyfully so). With an ever-broadening concept of what it means to be “free”. We sail on the verge of something great.

… There’s the idea of bumping into experience and people while you’re wandering. You really are experiencing life that way. Nothing is routine, nothing is taken for granted. Everything is standing out on its own, because everything is a possibility, everything is a clue, everything is talking to you. It’s marvelous. It’s as though you had a nose that brought you into the right places. You are in for wonderful moments when you travel like that … - Joseph Campbell

P.S.

God bless all of the people that have so generously provided us with the occasional meal.  All the people i bummed pizza from at Papa John’s in New Orleans, the older woman at the bakery outside of Houston who gave me your cinnamon roll that you were saving for yourself at the end of the night, the two people at pizza hut oustide of Percy Quin State Park, Justin at the Spider House in Austin for the fresh and so so amazing grilled cheese sandwich, the man in the pizza shop who cooked me up fresh pizza rolls, and of course everyone at Fastsigns who bought me food or gave me some of their lunch.   I will pray for blessings on all of you daily.

-Adam

Croiky!

Ack!

Damn!  Well it seems i’ve been roped into another week of work here.  The plan had been to finish work friday afternoon, relax all weekend, enjoy the parades and head out after Mardi Gras, but it seems we’ll be here just a little longer.  

We ditched work and ditched the city to head back out to Sandy Hollow Wildlife Preserve.   There were some very large patches of forest that were completely scorched and charred black by what i’m guessing was a controlled forest fire.  It was kindof eerie to walk through a normal patch of woodland nicery and suddenly find yourself in the middle of a blackened deadish wasteland.  But i can only assume that the people controlling the burns are doing it because they know what they’re doing and it’s for the best.  We arrived back at our campsite after a brief walk one day to find a hungry little visitor lapping up vegetable oil from our trailer.  His appetite was almost insatiable.  Over the next few days he stuck with us around the campsite and we decided to induct him into our tribe.  Japhy Rider’s been a pleasant companion thus far (for the most part, minus one accident) and it’s been so nice to have him along with us.  Plus he’s adorable and has a funny bark when strange dogs get too close to his food.  ”booaurrrr!”

On the way back to New Orleans, we got to stop at the Abita Brewery for a free tour.  I gotta say, their beer is quite delicious because it’s made with water straight from the Abita Springs that naturally has the perfect PH balance or some shit that makes it great for brewing…. but it’s even better when they have a tap lineup of 15 different flavors for you to try free of charge.  Just show up any day for the tour, sit around for an hour and drink as much as you want, stumble through the tour, and you get another hour to drink at the end!  Could it be any better?  Maybe only if there were really interesting brewmasters and beer elves for you to talk to about home brewing,  travel / beer styles in different countries, and anything you want really.  Oh wait, they have all that too!  The Abita Brewery tour was definitely a super fun experience and i  would recommend it to anyone.  So go there! (now!)

After the brewery tour, we sobered up for a while before driving back to new orleans and preparing for another day of work.  We watched some parades on St. Charles street which were much better than the parades we’d seen a week before.  I believe (though don’t hold me to this)  that Caroline worked on some of these floats, and they really looked fantastic.  I was extremely impressed with the artistic detail the floats showed, and the people on the floats had the costumes to match.  It was really a site to see, though i unforunatley forgot the camera and didn’t get any pictures of it.

I’m enjoying my time here for the most part, though still looking forward to seeing new and unfamiliar places.  The streets we sleep on are becoming too familiar and i’m ready for something fresh.  Also i have an ever growing appreciation for a stationary place to reside, lights that turn on and off when you want, heat and air conditioning, and two things above all, a bathroom, and a kitchen.  If i could shower and cook up some of that delicious dandelion casserole right now, i might just role over and die…

anyway, here’s some pictures and even a few fuzzy youtube video’s for your viewing pleasure (or frustration)

expect another update soon, japhy’s hard to keep the camera away from!

-=more to come=-

 

 

Fire aftermath

 

We gave him a bath, he was cold and shivery. He stayed in this blanket for like, half and hour or more!

 

Abita Brewery Tap Lineup

 

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