I'm a mess right now. I've been a terrible blogger but frankly, I'm just too exhausted to know what to write about. My store, Hayseed's has been very busy...classes have been occupying what little free time I have and just being the go to person for everyone's questions is a big job. I love it, but it's LONG HARD WORK. As a result, my personal life is a total disaster. I've got dishes in the sink that have been there for over a week. My cats are bored and underloved. My garden is...well, it's looked better. I'm actually considering paying someone to clean my house. I feel horrified by the notion that someone else may need to do the work for me that I actually take pride in doing for myself. Instead of planting tomatoes, I just tossed a bunch of fast-growing greens and buckwheat into all of the beds to buy myself some time and get some verdancy going in the backyard. I feel like a fraud.

(Well, at least I look the part.)

I'm not happy about not being able to garden at home. I've been helping the gals at Domestic Construction with their garden (which is coming along very well), but it is not mine. I've put off doing much at Jewel Street because frankly, I am leaving and after the other landlord's freakout (which has been resolved) I just don't feel comfortable there anymore. I feel fragmented and without roots. I really look forward to August and my move to NJ. That lost sense of home has me feeling a little off-balance.

(The chickens promptly destroyed the beds I netted off so I gave up.)

But, I digress. Business has been good. I've never felt more confident in my abilities. My bees are in really fine health. My chickens are happy and robust, though not laying much anymore. I'm surrounded by kind, appreciative, helpful people. I feel really fortunate to be in a place where I can say that I am an urban farmer for a living but I welcome change. I'm ready to be transplanted to a place where I can set my tap root deep.

I've been dreaming of dairy goats thanks to Jenna's goat posts and I'm also thinking about the "B" word....babies. Who am I kidding though. I don't have time for babies!

Check out a great video from FairCompanies.com on this lovely couple getting by on their own grit, ingenuity and hard work. This makes me miss my granddad, who was quite a grower and thinker in his day!

Love you, Pop-pop!

(Me and my Granddad in front of his garden and the greenhouse and potting shed he built in his backyard Baltimore. He grew vegetables and african violets)

Yesterday I got some bad news from one of my landlords. I should preface this by stating that I have one wonderful, responsible landlord and one not so nice, kind of irrational one...I've posted about friction in the house of late but now it's come to a head. Their partnership is dissolving and now I have to move the backyard farm.

At first news of this, I panicked. This has become my life and I am not certain how I will adjust to not having access to a space to grow food and raise critters to feed myself with. And then it dawned on me...I've simply outgrown being here. While I certainly don't think I deserve to be the target of anyone's anger, I do see how my lifestyle might rub people the wrong way. It marks me with a rather large bullseye. My interests are not meant to anger anyone, but I can't much help what other people think or feel about it. I thought I was doing the best I could to be considerate, tidy and self-aware but it may not have been enough. And so it is. I have to clear the farm stuff out.

I'm moving my rabbits over to Dara's place temporarily. They will live in the hollowed out carriage house in her backyard in Bed Stuy. I've got to cull Salad's offspring this weekend. I'm simultaneously filled with dread and anxious to see the job done. They've been getting free outdoor time daily and seem happy and I've been enjoying my time with them. Even so, the time as come. I may just sell off Hazel's litter because I just don't know where I'll be able to cull them once they are of age. I've had kind offers from folks upstate to host such an event but money is extremely tight right now and I can't afford the gas and tolls for such a trip.

The chickens are staying put for now. The bees will be moved to Brooklyn Navy Yard in the Spring where they will be part of Brooklyn Grange's new bee yard. It'll be a good place for them because I can pester Tim to check in on them every so often.

As far as the gardening is concerned....I'm not sure if it's worth trying to plant at all this Spring. Maybe just a ton of early crops. Radishes, greens, peas...

I'll be able to get my hands really dirty with the ladies at Domestic Construction this Spring and Summer. I've signed on to help them get Design Plot, their urban garden, up and running. They are really inspiring ladies so I'm so completely stoked that I get to work with them on this. I've got a post coming up on a truly awesome project involving me, the Grange folk and Domestic Construction...Stay tuned for that!

Anyway, I'm certainly sad that things are ending on a sour note here at Jewel Street, but I've been sensing the end drawing close for some time now. I've been planning and scheming. I've got a project on the wings for later this summer, into 2013 which would afford me space, freedom, and some quiet all within reach of the city I've grown to love. I'll be able to bring my critter kingdom back together under one canopy of trees overlooking the shore. It's going to be beautiful and inspiring and I cannot wait to share it with you all. Once I've got all of that settled and confirmed, I'll spill all of the beans about it.

With that, I hope that you all continue to follow me on my journey. I'll still be teaching classes and working with other folks on their projects. Things will be different, but not much so. This is not the end. Just a little bump in the road. I've been fortunate to be cruising for as long as I had been.

<3m

Last night like a sneaky sneak, I crept into the coop and scooped up poor Buddy who was roosting with her flock mates. I pushed her fluffy bottom into a cat carrier and carted her to Bushwick. We had a class to teach, she and I. We were headed to 3rd Ward to teach Brooklynites about the joys of being a city chickener! She's our best hen. The most easily handled and with the cutest darned face so she's been sort of elected as the mayor of chicken town around these parts.

(Budrick is a Mac gal)

The class, surprisingly, was full and everyone was thrilled to be able to pet a real live chicken. Buddy was perched on the back of some stacked chairs trying as hard as she could to stay awake under the industrial lighting during my presentation but toward the end of the 3 hour class she was pretty well pooped.

Then Isaac, one of the dudes at 3rd Ward came in and played her a little song on his flute. She perked up a bit but the jury is out on whether or not she had an opinion of it either way. The gesture was nice though.

I stuck around and talked to some of the students afterwards and as a result, we didn't get home until after 10 p.m. Easily 4 hours after her bedtime. I carried her back home and tucked her in the coop to cuddle with her pals. This morning everything was back to normal, though Buddy seemed to be sporting a bit of a hangover from all of the excitement. The life of a chicken superstar!

If you are interested in learning about chickens, bees or food preservation or plenty of other DIY-related skills check out some of the classes 3rd Ward offers!

Next year is already shaping up to be a really exciting time. My teaching schedule is full of great, interesting classes that I hope many of you aspiring urban agrarians out there will find hard to resist.

I teach the occasional workshop at the "homestead" as many of you probably know, but I also teach frequently at two great institutions in NYC; 3rd Ward and The New York Botanical Gardens. Please see below for dates and times and check out their websites to enroll!

At 3rd Ward:

Food Preservation and Canning
-Mon, Dec 12th, 7-10 p.m.
-Thurs, Jan 12th, 7-10 p.m.
-Tues, Feb 28th, 7-10 p.m.

Urban Food Production for the Landless
-Thurs, Dec 15th, 7-10 p.m.
-Sun, Dec 18th, 6-9 p.m.
-Tues, Jan 17th, 7-10 p.m.
-Sat, Feb 11th, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

City Chickens for Fresh Eggs
-Tues, Jan 24th, 7-10 p.m.

Rooftop Beekeeping 101
Sun, Feb 19th and 26th, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m.

New York Botanical Gardens
(see NYBG link above for details)

Vegetable Gardening Certificate Course
-Wed, Feb 22-Mar 14 (4 sessions), 6:15pm-9:15pm
-Mon, Mar 26-31 (4 sessions), 10 a.m.-1.p.m.

Beekeeping for Bee-ginners
-Sat, March 17th-31st (3 sessions), 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Rooftop Beekeeping Basics
-Thurs, April 12th-26th (3 sessions), 6-9 p.m. (Manhattan)

Swarm Catching for Free Bees
-Tues, May 1st, 6-9 p.m.

**Please note: The January EDIBLE MUSHROOM GROWING CLASS at my place will take place on Sunday the 12th. I'll post about it next week with a link to an Eventbrite page. Mark your calendars! **

Good morning, friends!

--Tickets for my DIY Holiday Gift Making Class are selling out! It's this Sunday (Dec 4th) from 1-3 and it's gonna be SUPER FUN! Get tickets before they are gone. We'll be making delectable treats like spiced clementine marmalade and bacon pecan brittle!

--I nearly ruined Thanksgiving when I desiccated our lovely turkey because the oven at Newton Farm runs REALLY hot. It made pretty killer turkey and cranberry bean soup though, and at least the table was pretty!

--The kits have opened their eyes to the world!

--I brought a load of frost-kissed greens back from the farm and I'll be blanching and freezing them today. Greens are at their best this time of year so buy a little extra at the farm stand and put em up so that you can enjoy their outstanding flavor all winter long!

--I spent all day yesterday on my roof playing with bees and talking about bees for a new commercial that will be airing on national teevee in the new year. I got stung in the arm but the bees were otherwise looking really good with lots of dark honey stored for the winter!

That's about all that's going on in my world right now. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and you all are enjoying the tastiest leftovers! I know I am!

<3m

I woke this morning feeling pretty hazy and sick to my stomach. I wish I had the day to relax and take care of myself before the holidays (Neil and I are hosting Thanksgiving at Newton Farm for our families), but I've got a full day of teaching and food swapping ahead of me.

I fed all of the critters in spite of my raggedy condition. The chickens are fat and happy and have slowed their egg-laying significantly. They just finished up their second full season so I'm thinking it may be time to introduce some new layers to the flock this spring and extend the run into the compost pile.

The rabbits all seem content. Salad and her seven kits are well. Sally is a great mom and I'm shocked by how quickly her babies are growing. The reality of what's to come is starting to sink in, especially knowing that Hazel is likely going to have a litter of her own in a couple of weeks. It'll be a bunny bonanza here at Jewel Street. I can't wait until their eyes open and they start exploring their new world.

(Salad and her offspring)

So, I'm about to jet off to my class and thought a check in would be appropriate. I've got a vegan spiced apple bread recipe coming up tomorrow for #breadchallenge. It turned out great. I've decided to just throw out the last recipe and start from scratch. No sense in making things hard for myself, you know?

Regarding a sense of home, Jenna writes in a recent post on my favoritest blog in the whole world, Cold Antler Farm:

"Those of you who have been reading this blog a while know how much I admire and look up to the work of Polyface Farm, a beyond-organic farm in Virginia. While at the Mother Earth News Fair I got to hear the honcho of that operation talk, a charismatic fellow by the name of Joel Salatin. He does many speaking gigs like this all around America, and when I sat down to hear him in Pennsylvania I didn't get what I expected. While there was plenty of talk about agriculture, it was really more about our personal culture, and I took one main thing away from his talk.

Home.

Joel pointed out that one of the largest problems with our culture, health, and community is how our houses (specially our kitchens) have gone from the center of our lives to a boarding house we sleep and eat at. Home has faded into lazy nostalgia, we're remember a place we no longer actually practice. There are people who pay every month to live there, hire someone else to mow and clean it, and unless we are asleep or grabbing a Pop Tart out of the toaster: they aren't there very often. Even weekends are dedicated to hitting the road to shop and go to soccer practice. Some people claim they could not even fathom spending an entire weekend at home: their children would go nuts without activities and events and play dates. Others without kids just find their homes boring, a place that is shut off from the world. They don't want to stay home because, even as I type this, I feel like the words "stay home" are a stick-in-the-mud's anthem..."

To read the rest of the post, click away. She's a really gifted writer who is living the dream, as far as I am concerned.

Hey there, folks!

Just stopping in to remind everyone that there are just a few days left to sign up for my Backyard Farming Bootcamp on Sunday. I've reduced the few remaining tickets by $25 for a limited time so go get 'em while the gettin' is good!

I'm also going to be doing a workshop and demo at Jewel Street Paradise each month for the fair price of $25.

These will take place on the 2nd Sunday of each month and will be about an hour to two hours long and you will receive a series of recipes handouts and some goodies to take home with you. Coffee and snacks will also be served.

Here's the schedule:

November: Winter Soup and Bread- Learn how to make amazing soup from scratch and how to bake a basic peasant loaf to accompany it. Once you know how, this will be a a weekly routine for you all winter long!

December: DIY Holiday Gifts- Learn to make amazing gifts for friends and family for the holidays; candies, ornaments, seasonal jams and cookies. These projects are so good, you'll be expected to make a tradition out of them!

January: Growing Mushrooms at Home- In this workshop you will come to understand the basics of Mycology and how to utilize materials like coffee grounds and spent grain to grow some of your own edible mushrooms. We will also discuss methods of using and preserving your mushrooms.

February Spring Garden Preparation- If you have any outdoor space at all, you will likely want to grow some of your own food in it. In this class you will assess your space and plan for your Spring garden. Learn about starting seeds indoors vs direct seeding, companion planting, bed preparation and more. Attendees will leave with a packet of seeds and a planted flat of tomatoes for their garden.

March Chickens and Rabbits: Backyard livestock is not out of the question just because you live in the city! Rabbit and Chickens don't take up much space and are reasonably quiet. In this workshop we will discuss the pros and cons of both animals, their care and how you can make it happen in virtually any location with a little imagination.

Sign up for classes will be taken by email. Please get in touch! Also feel free to contact me with any other class ideas you'd like to see made available.

(Photo courtesy of 3rd Ward)

Hey there, readers!

Just a last minute heads up about a fun event going on this Sunday from 5-8 at Dekalb Market.

3rd Ward, one of the learning facilities here in Brooklyn that I teach food production/homestead-y classes at, is organizing some workshops along side some of the other organizations with farm plots at the market. I will be teaching a workshop on raising chickens!

Buddy and Dumpling will be there showing off their luxurious plumage and eating purslane. I will be there talking about the pros and cons about city-chickening and how to get started.

The event is FREE! There will be seed saving and other garden related demos and delicious food and drinks available from the kick-ass vendors that set up shop in the shipping containers on site. It'll be a great way to spend part of the weekend. Come on by and say hello!

Here's the flyer!