It’s the dormant season on SongCroft and other than the daily chores and an occasional “have-to” things are pretty laid-back.

We are still harvesting ground cherries, off the bush but in the greenhouse, as well as enjoying the last of the green peppers and tomatoes. The green peppers and tomatoes were picked and have been in storage. The tomatoes were picked green and have been ripening up nicely.

There is still cauliflower, bok choy, broccoli, kale, parsley, chamomile and a variety of other things we are wintering over and grazing on in these cold months. We are very thankful for the canned peaches and pears that we took the time to put up earlier this year. These little jars of sunshine are also little jars of optimism of what is to come.

This is not to say that I am not happy to be in the here and now. As my friend Roy said, “This season, whatever the season, is the perfect season. This weather, whatever weather, is the perfect weather.” I am happy in the now.

High 50        Low  34   Grey and overcast

The does are elusive in their signs of ester. It may be because we have had a coyotes on our land and the goats go very still during these times. I missed them in their last cycle. I will pay better attention the rest of the month and next.

I hope you are finding time to rest, read, ponder and contemplate during these still months. These are the times that great ideas are thought up!

High 40    Low 33         Very cool with a light mist through the trees. Beautiful.

http://theseattlebazaar.com/

Last night was had a meeting of our permaculture group in Snohomish. We were meeting on a regular basis, every two weeks, but things had got busy during the growing season so things were on hold.

Fourteen people showed up  at Grilla Bites Restaurant. http://www.grillabites.com/html/locations/snohomish.htm. I would like to spend just a moment talking about Grilla Bites. Owner, Annie Dottai is seriously committed to sustainable living and she practices that by not only participating in a CSA program for her restaurant but also by being a community drop-site for the CSA Farm. She buys as much as she can locally, uses only compostable to-go containers, only sells healthy food and drink and provides meeting space to local community groups. If we were to rate a business by the number of items they were able check off a list of sustainable/green practices, Grilla Bites would have clearly rate among the top.

Back to the gathering, in a short time were able to  established that we are a group of skilled cultural creatives. Teachers, computer specialists, Reiki Masters, Herbalists, Beekeepers, Forest Stewards, Travel Experts, Professional Tour and Event Organizers, a 501(c) 3 and it’s founder, Horticulturists, Propagations Specialists, Seed Savers, Activists, a Natural Clothing company owner, Several other Business Owners, Farmers, Parents, Community Organizers, Master Gardeners, Community Activists, Networkers and lovers of Earth.

In our short meetings we were able to flush out a vision which includes:

Gleaning

Learning

Networking

Sharing The Abundance

Work Parties

Tool Axchange

Bartering/Exchanging

Planting for the Future

We will be meeting next month to see where this takes us. I am hoping to get right in to some action projects and not spend too much time on “mulling things over”.

On a completely unrelated topic, this Saturday Decemebr 4th, we will be in Seattle unleashing our Blissfully Natural product line. We have a complete line of natural skin care herbal products. We grow some ingredients, wildcraft others and purchase some from ethichal companies. Many of our ingredients are organic and all are natural. We leave the sythetic ingredients out and only include ingredients that are deeply nourishing or otherwise beneficial. We hope you can come by and see us if you are in the area. We will have fun gifts for men and women to enjoy!

Our Blissfully Natural website will be up soon.

Ho do you like the new labels?

The weather has changed and it feels like Autumn. The air is still warm but the rains are back. These rains are different than our summer rains. The energy is different. The sky is grey yet it is not a depressing landscape.

As I walked along the forest edge this morning, I enjoyed the many different types of moss. I could almost hear their “Ahhh…” as they took in the cool moisture both in the soil and in the air. The birds were twittering loudly so I could tell that something was passing through on the bottom of our land.

Today I will be at the Snohomish Farmers Market doing a presentation on Food Preservation. Folks who are interested in buying their peaches, tomatoes, pears and such will have a chance to ask questions before they go home and can or dry them. My hope is that those who weren’t thinking of preserving some of the local harvest will be inspired and purchase produce from the farmers while the market is still open. There are only two more market days this year!

If you want to find out more about home food preservation, come on by the market demo booth. I’ll be there, just like every other year, giving advice and sowing folks some of the possibilities for eating local!

If you can’t come by the booth, you can subscribe to our newsletter to get lots of information on similar topics.

http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-self-sufficiency-newsletter/

High 61 Low 45  Drizzly but warm. ( Our seedlings are loving this!)

Farm Camp

http://songcroft.com/index.php/farm-camp/

This month has been busy with all of the usually Spring chores of getting the cover crops turned in, garden planted, pullets out to forage, hens in their Spring/Summer home, goat kids birthed and settled in, does milked, cheese made, rabbits bred and the post-construction landscaping started, all the while enjoying the flush of green that has taken over our land.

Although these things have me excited, it’s Farm Camp that has been on my mind. In August we will be opening SongCroft up to those who would like to live and learn about how to run a family farm. This is so exciting that I am finding it hard to concentrate on other projects. We’re going to have a lot of fun!

You’ll experience instruction on dairy goats, chickens, ducks and rabbits as well as growing your produce year-round and preserving the harvest. Mushroom logs, the basics of permaculture, food forests, alternative energy and home arts are all part of the program. It’s great to read books and dream about living a more self-reliant lifestyle but it’s a rare opportunity to be welcomed on to a farm where you are able to learn and try things out for yourself!

Checked out the Farm Camp page. Tell us what you think, what you would most like to learn and if you intend to enroll don’t wait because space is limited.

It’s that time again. We are opening registration for the 2011 apprenticeship program. The 2009 and 2010 programs filled up super fast and we are anticipating the 2011 class to be full within a couple months.

SongCroft School empowers our community by providing one and two year apprenticeship opportunities in self-sufficient living, real-life examples of permaculture landscapes, community connection and cottage industry development. We assist our apprentices to be better equipped to deal with changes in their lives and environments.

If you are concerned about current changes in food and fuel prices, if you want to actively supplement your grocery budget, if you want to hone your skills while reconnecting with nature and it’s rhythms or if you long for a strong community enroll in our program!

You can check out more about the program at http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-school-of-self-sufficiency/#skills

Spaces fill up fast so don’t delay!

High 56             Low 34

It was a beautiful clear day.

It’s hard to believe that it is February in Washington. In all my years, I have never seen it so warm this time of year. We have peas sprouting in the garden  and it feels like May.

During this early warm-spell, we have been able to get a lot done. Brian has been setting fence posts and I have been cleaning up the fallen branches from winter storms.

I have cleaned the goat stalls in anticipation of kids being born over the next few months and even installed a new automatic watering system. With two less goats, we sold two kids, there is a bit more room. Our buck will be leaving us soon. We will just have three does. Milking time is coming on fast and I relish the mornings where I still get to sleep in.

The winter rabbitry has been cleaned out and made ready to become a brooder for the broilers that will arrive soon. We hope to keep a few from this flock to use as breeders so we can sell them locally. If we have time to prepare their home, we will also raise a few heritage breed turkeys. The heritage breeds are beginning to disappear since they are not as breasty and fast growing as the more common commercially raised turkeys. These turkeys haven’t had the turkey bred out of them.

The henhouse and yard were also cleaned and given fresh straw. We have hens and ducks sitting on eggs and the kids are raising another 13 chicks in the house. We hear the “cheep-cheep” of little ones and it brings smiles to our faces. These chicks will grow to be part of our egg layers. We sell a fare amount of eggs from our flock and occasionally need to raise new girls to replace older girls who stop laying.

Today, our daughter took the goats out for a long walk in the sun. They were all leaping and jumping as they happily went looking for fresh browse. On the way back, they took a diversion and caused some havoc in the garden. Brian is trying to get the fence up as fast as he can. I can only laugh at the thought of the goats biting things as they run off knowing darn well they are not suppose to be there.

It’s only February and the nettle is up, the winter wren is still singing and the frogs have been in chorus. Another song has been written on our croft.

Washington State University Extension has been hit really hard. As a Master Gardener, I know value of the many programs that the extension services offer. In these changing times things are harder for many people. Teaching our communities how to grow their own food, preserve food and food safety are important roles. Helping farmers (new and existing) with new business information, technology and sustainability skills are vital to our food supply. The WSU Extension programs are needed.

Yesterday, another program was cut. Master Food Preservation and Food Safety Consultant. Does this sound like a good idea to you? With all of the issues that have happened with commercially processed food, I doubt that many of us are going to do much worse at home but the reality is that except for in rare cases aunties and grandmas no longer gather to preserve the harvest, where are people going to learn these skills? How will they learn them safely? Will they be forgotten all together or will people get sick following outdated books that no longer apply to the genetically modified foods who’s acid levels have changed?

These are some of the issues that brought SongCroft in to being. Whether you participate in the programs or read the newsletter, we hope to pass on some of these essential practices before they are lost.

If you are interested in food preservation, you can purchase the Fall 2009 issue of the SongCroft Newsletter. There is a lot of good information to be had there.

High 49  Low 37  Slight afternoon clearing

This evening I found myself asking my almost teen daughter to turn down the stereo. It’s not an unusual request since she loves music, the louder the better. But tonight, was different. She wasn’t listening to music. You see, ever since our trip down to Oakville last week, she has been listening to Barbara Kingsolvers “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/

Sofie enjoys the story parallels to our own family life and I think she even feels comforted at times. She has commented on Camille’s recipes and commentary, Barbara’s witty way with words and sense of humor as well as her ability to take her thoughts and form them into beautiful and clever sentences. Sofie even chose Animal Vegetable Miracle as an offering for our Mother-Daughter Bookclub because she would like to discuss issues of local food and growing our own with other kids!

Sofie is an amazing artist and I suspect writing may be part of her future.  In the eyes of my twelve year-old, Barbara Kingsolver rocks!

This is not to say that our eight-year-old son doesn’t also listen to Mrs. Kingsolver. He was only halfway listening until he heard her talk about the character who’s other name is “Malcolm You Get Your Backside Over Here or You Aint Getting No Dinner”! After that, he was sold and has been right there next to his sister, folding paper airplanes or rolling cars across the floor, listening to the book on tape.

For me, it is nice to have my kids hear that I am not the only mama who refuses to buy fruit out of season, who does her best to grow or raise most of our food and who might be heard yelling, “You all have 3 minutes to get that stuff off the table or it’s going to the landfill!” (I took secret pleasure in having them hear that!)

Although I normally prefer to read books with my kids rather than listen to them, listening to this one has been a family pleasure. We are on the eleventh disk out of twelve. I wonder what we will do when we’re done with the set?

Any good suggestions?