J&O harvested lettuce today - learning their names - Speckled Trouts Back, Devils Tongue, Bronze Arrowhead, Black Seeded Simpson. Butter leaf Cos, Red Ruffle, Amish Deer Tongue, Susan's Red Bib, Forellenschuss, Sanguine Ameliore, Red Oak Leaf, Lambs Quarter - the sweetness of words with their taste on their tongues.Added chevre, oil and vinegar and lunch was fresh, crisp and sweet - it seemed exotic though I know by June it will seem... well...ordinary.
The asparagus has arrived and for the past 2 weeks we have been shlepping it off on friends. Mikes gout prevents him from consuming his favorite vegetable. So, rather then tempt him by preparing it for dinner, the kids and I gourge ourselves at breakfast and lunch then hand off pounds at a time to friends on the sly.
Ri's at 3 started his own vegetable plot. When asked what he wanted to grow - he replied "radishes". What else? "radishes". So he has radishes - lots of radishes. Her
e he is holding his first crop 3 weeks from date of planting. The Raphanus sativus, Easter Egg is a productive radish which produces flavorful multi-colored radishes. Radishes are red, pink, purple, violet, and white. The roots stay crisp even when quite large and is excellent in salads. Radishes are an excellent choice for a children's garden. They sprout almost immediately, and give instant gratification to young gardeners. They need to be thinned and the kids seem to enjoy eating as they go.
The Austrolop chicks have grown and are nearly ready to be yarded. I noticed recently that The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy have moved them to their recovering list This means there are fewer then 3,000 breeding birds in the US and they remain globally endangered. 26 are in our yard now, clucking happily.
The Black Java's we began raising several years ago remain remain on the watch list. Phool will be pleased to know that at the ripe age of 8 he is no longer an endangered species thanks to his prolific breeding. These birds were originally favored by early pioneers because of their hardiness and versitility. As modern homesteader, we have been equally as happy with this breeds overall performance. It has excellent speckled brown egg production (even in winter) and has provided ample meat from pullets. I would also recommend these to anyone considering home egg production - their rich brown eggs a have reddish brown speckling that is especially attractive.
For more information on these or other breeds of endangered poultry please follow this link to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy http://albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html#chickens.
