It's Good For You. I Promise!

Last October when my mom and Bob visited we went to the annual Garlic Festival held at the Bethlehem fairgrounds.  While there we had some good garlic eats, bought some fancy garlic oil, and Ross got a quarter bag of seed garlic which probably cost the same as buying three garlic bulbs from the grocery store.  He planted many a clove.  Almost a year later our harvest is in, and I am amazed at how much garlic we have.  I spent several hours trimming the stalks, dusting the cloves off with a soft bristle brush, and grouping them together in several bunches so that they may hang and dry.  The herb hook we got earlier this year is really paying off!  For all visitors still to come this year please note that at least one of your meals will be garlic inspired, and I am not make any promises on our breath.

Ross the Chicken Herder

On another note, we made progress on building the chickens a run to help keep them safe from the wild beasts.  We got some 4x4 poles in the ground which was somewhat of a chore.  As my mother explained so eloquently as she was digging in one of our gardens, we "sure do grow great rocks here."  My hands are sore from digging out small rock after small rock.  I'm not quite sure if the 4x4s are a bit of overkill, but I'm trying to keep our poor, little birds safe.  During one of my breaks I asked Ross if he remembered that earlier this year I declared 2010 the year of the bird, and he did.  We laughed over how true my proclamation became.  What makes it funny is that I never expected to get chickens; one day in April Ross went to run errands and when he returned he surprised me with baby chicks.  I then stated that I never knew how much work the year of the bird would be with building the coop and the run, and then I said that 2011 WILL NOT be the year of the goat (Ross has wanted goats ever so badly since we picked up our bees from a farm where their goats had and were giving birth and Ross and I got to hold the babies).  I just don't think I have it in me to build a barn next year.

All in all we had a great weekend.  Ross spent much of it chicken herding while I worked on my projects.  He really is a great man.  I hope to get the run completed soon so that he can stop worrying so much about the remaining chickens and get on to other things.