Marionette Puppets on Parade My girl scout troop was invited to participate in a Christmas Parade this year, along with all of the other girl scout troops in Long Beach, as one big group. The theme we had to work with was Christmas Around the World. After some research, since we had berets from the cultural fair, we decided to represent France. One tradition we kept reading about was the popularity of puppets and puppet shows for Christmas. When we…
Like most avid gardeners, I love to compost. Along with improving home energy efficiency, practicing water conservation, and reducing the amount of meat the family eats, home composting is one of the most environmentally beneficial activities we can do here. Instead of buying bagged soil amendments, I create my own endless supply. I have tried using many kinds of compost bins and piles over the last 15 years. I had an expensive black plastic bin that came apart in sections…
For the last two years we have only been hard boiling our oldest eggs for deviled eggs or pickled eggs. I would hide a carton in the back of the fridge and wait a few weeks before making a new batch of pickled eggs. Lots of sources say old eggs are necessary to get perfectly peeled eggs, and never to use fresh eggs. In addition, I have read all sorts of different ways and times to cook them depending on…
A local Long Beach watering hole, Joe Jost’s, claims to have sold 6,000,000 Spicy Pickled eggs since 1934. My husband has eaten his fair share of that number. He loves to cook and this was the first thing he said he was making when we got chickens. Since 2009 we have been making these at home. We like spicy pickled eggs so much, that rather than immediately start eating the Bantams’ eggs when they started laying, I set the eggs…
The chickens get access to the majority of my backyard for free ranging, but now a days you would not realize it just glancing around the yard. The first few months with chickens free ranging, the yard didn’t look as good as it did in the years before chickens. With a few months of all day free ranging, there was poop on the concrete, plants uprooted or heavily munched, and holes in the lawn. Over time I have learned and…
I was frustrated not finding Advent Candles this year. I ended up dipping white candles in colored wax to achieve my desired look. It was easier than I thought because I was given some candle making supplies by a neighbor who had cleaned out a storage unit. It got me thinking, and I decided to try my hand at making soy candles for a few gifts. This was the first time I made candles from scratch. Supplies Needed: Soy Wax…
I would love to one day have a hobby farm, but where our home is located, we are probably in the best place we could be for our family based on our neighbors and the convenience to many things in walking or biking distance. According to a website called www.walkscore.com our exact address scores an 83, which is not far behind dense downtown places like New York City and San Francisco. We will continue to make the best of it…
It was a Happy Thanksgiving this year…two of the Cochins started laying eggs the day before, at 22 weeks and 2 days old. The partridge bantam cochin, Harlequin, and Penguin, the Black Bantam Cochin, both laid their first eggs that day and have been laying steady ever since. As of today, we are up to 29 eggs. The eggs were 1.0 oz and 1.1 oz. In the 2 1/2 weeks they have been laying, the eggs have increased to 1.3…
I love to repurpose things whenever possible. A couple of my latest projects involve Greek Olive Oil Barrels. Project 1: Drinking Water Storage. When we put in the tankless/ on demand water heater, one major concern was we would no longer have a tank water heater for an Emergency Water source in case of disaster like an major earthquake. We needed to find a green alternative, just in case. I decided an extra large food grade barrel would be the…
Some produce I can’t grow because I either don’t have enough space in our little backyard (like artichoke,) enough heat or chilling, or they are too difficult for me to grow organically without a lot of effort. Therefore, farmers’ markets are the answer. In addition to buying the things I don’t grow, I enjoy attending farmers markets to sample new or unusual varieties of fruits and vegetables. Recently, I saw a sign posted for a new Farmer’s Market that will…