Farmer's Market

Farmer's Markets are so underrated. Fresh produce, homemade treats, handmade art. It's a hard habit to get into. But, God willing, I'm going to try my hardest to get there once a week to stock up on my fruits and veggies.

When mom, dad, and B came down last time we went to the Huntington Beach Farmer's Market that they have every Thursday.

Thank You Ladies!

We can't wait to try the first fruits of our chicken labor.

How does your garden grow?

sun...water...care...chicken poop fertilizer

How to Catch a Squirrel

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For a long time we blamed Peter Rabbit for the decimating of our vegetable garden. Everything from our sunflowers, to the zucchini, and the tomatoes had been devoured as a scrumptious treat to the cute critter. Until one morning we found scraggly Mr. Squirrel doing his daily rounds in our garden.

Don't call PETA on us. The trap is simply a cage that, when caught, we could use to transport Mr. Squirrel to a happy, lush grassland down the canyon far from our garden. Now how to get rid of the brilliant Blue Jays who steal the nuts from the inside of the cage?

Chicken Chasing

We were lucky enough to get a visit from the Snow's today. It's amazing how fast children grow up and we decided tonight that we want to be the favorite aunt and uncle (sorry everyone Tucker has found some new bribing techniques).

Cannon has such an amazing intellect that is far beyond his years. He chased the chickens in the coop and caught several of them with his bare hands and strategic thinking.

Roman is so charming with his contagious smile. I think I'm getting closer to the little man's heart bic-a-boo by bic-a-boo and tickle by tickle. He loved Tucker from the day they arrived calling "Cuker, Cuker" around grandma and grandpa's house.

My favorite part of my day today is when we were at CPK for dinner. Cannon and I were in the middle of coloring right before dinner arrived at the table. Cannon stopped and layed down on my lap. I asked, "Are you tired buddy?" And he responds, "No Tara, I just want to cuddle with you a little bit."
My heart melted in my chest and made me realize how excited I am for them to move back home in the near future.

Is That a Zucchini in Your Hand?

The fruits of our hard work and labor in our garden are finally starting to pay off. Well, I should say Tucker's hard work, I don't deserve to take credit (because I'm Italian I'm better at the supervisor role). We are growing tomatoes, squash, zucchini, peppers, green beans, watermelon, basil, dill, parsley, cilantro, and rosemary. Tucker tilled the land, leveled it out, added fresh organic soil, planted the seeds, built a fence (to keep our resident Peter Cottontail out), and has anxiously watered and watched the seeds grow. Tonight for dinner we get to try our very first organically homegrown zucchini. Yum!

The Best Coop View in the Canyon

Our new chicks have the best chicken coop view in the canyon. Those chicks have a better view from their hilltop oasis than we do.

Buffy (Light Brahma breed) and Brahma (Buff Orpington breed) joined our landlords 8 other chicks on Saturday. We play with them daily and Tucker hikes up the hill every night to make sure their heat lamp is turned on. We read up on the proper care and feeding of these cute ( but timid) animals and now know that a happy chicken equals many eggs. We'll have to wait another 7 weeks to see how happy the view makes our chickies.





Tucker: "Are you going to name your chicks?" (a good question considering he has two young children)
Ralph our landlord: "Oh no, the chickens are to be treated as livestock."