Great Backyard Bird Count

A week ago, my grandmother sent a thick envelope. Inside were brochures about the Great Backyard Bird Count.  Grandma Truus knows I love bird watching and that at four years old Lil is a fairly proficient birder too.  She asked us if we would participate. Of course!  Not only do I usually do what my elders ask, but I have fond memories of participating in bird counts as a high schooler.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is simple.  From their website:

1. Plan to count birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count (Friday February 12 - Monday February 15). You can count for longer than that if you wish! Count birds in as many places and on as many days as you like—one day, two days, or all four days. Submit a separate checklist for each new day. You can also submit more than one checklist per day if you count in other locations on that day.

2. Count the greatest number of individuals of each species that you see together at any one time. You may find it helpful to print out your regional bird checklist to get an idea of the kinds of birds you're likely to see in your area in February. You could take note of the highest number of each species you see on this checklist.

3. When you're finished, enter your results through our web page. You'll see a button marked "Enter Your Checklists!" on the website home page beginning on the first day of the count. It will remain active until the deadline for data submission on March 1st.

We have two feeders in the backyard that I keep stocked with sunflower seeds from early December - mid March.  We watch juncos, sparrows, cardinals, chickadees, and more from our dining room through the sliding glass door.  Every year the birds miss a few seeds which we allow to grow into tall beautiful sunflowers.  I have never counted the birds in our backyard but look forward to doing so next week.

Will you participate too?  Grandma wants to know.

In the Works

BD6CTNZJQEB8 I surprised a friend the other day by revealing that I am a multi-project person.  My head is constantly filled with plans. It drives Alex bonkers sometimes and I have been accused of not being spontaneous, but that's just who I am.  I can't help it - I like having things to look forward to.

Here are just a few things in the works at Hound central:

• Installing and learning to use wood stove
• Painting living room and upstairs landing
• Removing deck, building backyard stairs
• Building two or three new garden beds in deck vacated area
• Making a stone patio
• Deciding on which kind and age of chickens
• Building a coop for said birdies
• Hosting garden tours
• Planning workshops for spring equinox, container building, jam making
• Spring break vacay to Chincoteague
• August Canada canoe trip
• And, of course, the ever present FINISH the kitchen (only trim and we're done!)

I think it's good to scheme in the winter.  My next Grow Your Garden post will be all about planning a  new garden.  There isn't much real work to be done now, so it's the perfect time to read, study, and make plans.

Why Grow Your Garden?

Edible gardening in an art and science that my family loves.  It doesn't take much time, but at some moments gardening is a dirty, back breaking hobby.  So why do we share the love of growing things? Gardening connects us to nature. Growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables allows us to appreciate beautiful bees, the miracle of a seed sprouting, and life giving rain. Gardening beautifies the surroundings of our home, deck, and porch. Have something to tend gives our family the perfect excuse to spend a few minutes outside each day puttering, weeding, and observing our place on the earth.

Gardening offers physical rewards too. Home grown tomatoes are tastier than anything money can buy. We harvest a wide range of edibles including beans, peas, greens, berries, root vegetables and herbs. Flower blossoms attract birds and butterflies and can be cut for beautiful bouquets.

Producing vegetables, fruits, and flowers in the backyard saves money over buying high quality seasonal produce at the grocery. We enjoy preserving their summer harvest for other seasons by canning vegetables, drying herbs, and pressing flowers. Further, we can grow plants not available at traditional markets, such as heirloom varieties.

In sum, we garden to beautify our world, enjoy tasty edibles, and conserve resources.  We humbly carry on the long standing tradition of humans working the earth.

Are you inspired to garden this year?  Why?  If you want, write down your inspiration or add to the comments section.  It might even be fun to post your ideas somewhere in your house to keep you motivated in the dog days of summer.

If you are new to gardening this year, please return to Hounds in the Kitchen every other Tuesday for the rest of the Grow Your Garden series.  I will post tutorials about basic garden planning and make assignments.  If you follow along, your garden will be planted by May 15, the frost free date in Columbus Ohio.

Having a Cool Yule

The goose was cooked and enjoyed.  Devie watched all proceedings to make sure no bit was wasted.  Look for a post later this week related to the Rose Bowl about how to cook duck and goose.

After snuggles and stories, Lil went to bed.

Lil's big present this year is an indoor swing.  We installed it (well, Alex installed and I tested) between the dining room and living room. Yes, I do hope I get a robe for Christmas that doesn't make me look like a five year old.

From my family to yours, Happy Holidays.  May your gifts be plenty and treats be delicious!

The Flavor of Christmas

Tastes and smells are a necessary component to memory.  Foods bring us back to a place and time, defining everyday and holiday experiences.

At Christmas time, the formal Christmas Eve dinner is that memory maker for me. The last two years we have hosted a meal for friends and family at our house, as we will again this year. The menu varies slightly each year but typically follows an old English style. Dishes are always made from scratch. This year our menu is:

Stuffed whole goose (raised at 2silos farm) Roasted sweet and white potatoes Steamed green beans Mushroom pie Green salad Cranberry sauce Mini yorkshire puddings Cranberry champagne cocktails

My sister, the pastry school attendee, will be bringing the dessert.  She just finished a chocolate class.

What tastes do you associate with Christmas?  What are you making this year?

The Gift of CSA Membership

The first real snow is finally on the ground here in central Ohio. It might be hard to think about summer produce but that's just what small farmers are doing.

Several farmers offering Community Support Agriculture (CSA) shares already have their 2010 signups available.  At least one is offering discounts for those who register and pay before December 31.  Others have deadlines in early 2010.

What is so wonderful about giving a CSA membership to yourself or someone special?  You are giving:

• The freshest farm produce all season long
• Freedom from standing in long farmer's market lines
• A diversity of crops that benefits the whole ecosystem
• A small farmer work, doing something they love
• Contributions directly to the local economy
• Healthy additions to meals
• Thought and concern for the recipient and the environment

Below is the  most complete list I could gather of central Ohio CSA signups currently available.  Readers in other cities can search Local Harvest for a CSA local to them.

Wayward Seed - very early bird discount before Dec 31, early bird discount ends Feb 28.  We just sent in our registration for the fruit portion of the Wayward Seed CSA.

Sippel Family Farm currently adding people to their waitlist

Greener Grocer only winter signup is available at this writing but 2010 coming soon

Toad Hill Organic Farm 2010 coming soon

New Century offering fruit and beef packages for 2010

Green Edge Gardens only winter signup is available at this writing; 2010 coming soon

Frijolito Farm chicken, eggs and bread available in addition to produce

Elizabeth Telling Farm shares include eggs

Paige's Produce egg and fruit shares available in addition to vegetable

Please comment with any additions, corrections, or questions about CSAs.

Make it Yourself: Holiday Tree

Our Xmas tradition is to decorate a Norfolk Island Pine.  It tolerates the attention but prefers to be an indoor/outdoor tree and is usually completely dried from the lights at the end of the holiday season. This year I was thinking about buying a metal or wooden reusable tree.  Then I had a brainstorm: let's make our own branch tree!

I filled an empty clay pot with garden stones.  Sand or pea gravel would also work well.

Lil helped me gather multi-pronged branches from the backyard.  We inserted them into the stones and added more on top to hold the branches in place.

I brought the 'tree' inside and wondered whether it was a dumb idea.  The branches looked out of place on the quilted tree skirt made by my grandmother.

We unwrapped our  collection of  miniature ornaments and added them to the tree.

I placed a few pieces of holiday origami at the base.

When all the decorations were placed, I fell in love.  Our tree is earthy yet shows off our ornaments.  I don't have to worry about leaves drying out or presents being dirtied by soil.  Best of all, the tree cost nothing and can be returned to the yard at the end of the season.

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I am also in love with my new camera.  I brooded about whether I needed a DSLR for months and finally bought a Canon EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR Camera on Friday.  It is amazing!  I'm still learning how to use it well, but the pictures I'm getting are already so much better than I could take with my Powershot.

Case in point: I rarely took pictures of Hawise before because the old camera would not react quickly enough to capture her ever moving body.  Today I recorded another xmas tradition with the DSLR: torturing the dogs with costuming.

Pictures from Thanksgiving

I didn't cook anything on Turkey Day, so I had the whole afternoon to take pictures.  Several series were taken for upcoming posts on cooking duck the Julia Child way and enjoying poultry tail aka pope's nose. Here are the highlights of turkey day from behind my camera:

That's it for now as  I have a new camera to explore and Harvest Dinner meal to host.  I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!