The interesting thing is that back when I first told people that I wanted to live in the country, few took it seriously, and several thought that I was, plain and simple, out of my mind, and said so. So imagine my surprise when, with the help of the Facebook and odnoklasniki.ru, I got back in touch with a few of the old friends, only to discover that they, too, turns out, dream of spending at least some of their time in the country. I hear things like "Land is my cherished dream," "I'd love to own a datscha in addition to my city home," "I love organic food," and "Boy, is it ever satisfying to make things yourself." Then how come I am the only one living this dream?
"Honey," I said to him, "Turns out, everyone is an organic farmer at heart."
Him: "But of course!"
Showing posts with label Farming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Farming. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Updates
I know I haven't blogged for a while! Let's see what's been happenig to me recently.
I went on another great birding event down at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, where I got increasingly better at identifying birds by sight and by sound. When Jacob and I repeated this trip on my birthday earlier this week, I was actually able to point out to him a whole bunch of birds - green heron, a common yellowthroat, yellow warbler, a female and a male orchard orioles, catbirds, house wrens, and more. He, on the other hand, spotted a male roufus-sided towhee, which I also identified for him. I am getting quite good, actually, but I also learned that it's best to go birdwatching with someone who knows more than you!
I got a gift certificate to the nicest nursery in town, and am going to buy myself a rose bush to plant on the side of the deck, next to the climbing red rose bush my best friend Ann gave me for my birthday last year. I love planting trees and bushes, in general. They are a bit like stock market investments (I learned this year!) - no good to you for the next ten to twenty years, but deeply satisfying when you get there.
I spent a bunch of time mulching today - weeded and mulched my lily-of-the-valley patch, as well as the said rose bush and the cornellian cherry tree (kizil in Russian, I believe), that Jacob picked out and gave me for my birthday last year. See, I am trying to increase the diversity of fruit I can grow on this farm, to add to my budding jam making business (something I am going to try this summer, see how it goes!). We already have a massive amount of elderberries, a large red and black raspberry patch, a sour cherry tree, an apple orchard, and a strawberry patch I personally planted two years ago. This year has been very cold, however, so there were barely any blossoms on any of the trees, and the strawberries are just starting to form. Can you believe it? We haven't even put in tomatoes and peppers for that reason, and it's already June. Little Josie helped with the mulching and is now uniformly covered with what we call "bullshit" - that is, literally the bull manure from the local bull sperm bank operation, mixed with sawdust, which served as bedding. (Don't worry, it's long ago composted into beautiful black dirt mixed with wood chips, and is not what you think).
Jacob and I planned our trip to NYC this summer, and made necessary arrangements armed with our debit card. I can't believe how expensive it is to stay at a hotel in NJ where my cousin's wedding is, but what you gonna do - I am planning to get wasted, and there's no question of driving. I am very much looking forward to seeing Ksusha and hopefully Ira in NYC during our stay - we are arriving on the 1st, and I am leaving on the 7th. I will be flying out of NYC instead of Boston, as originally planned, because it's simply not gonna work - sorry, K and Yorik! We'll be flying out of Milwaukee, where we have quite a few relatives, though, unfortunately, my favorite of Jacob's cousin's Peter is not going to be there, as he's currently in the army at Fort McCoy. Too bad, because the guy has a great take on the world.
Jacob and I went to watch Sex and the City: TM. I liked it, though I think the show worked best in 30-minute segments. I am now catching up on the 6 seasons of the show, of which I only watched a bit at AUBG. I am now on season 2.
I discovered a disturbing fact that the female bluebird is building a new nest. I don't think any babies hatched from the old nest, there used to be two blue eggs in there, now there's only one, and I have no idea what's going on - I wonder if it has to do with my touching the eggs back when I first discovered them. This time I didn't touch the egg but used a hand mirror instead, which is what you are supposed to do. I also discovered that the wrens, did, after all, stay to nest on my land, only instead of the front yard (where I could enjoy them), they made a nest in an old pole along the fence row on the back pasture. That's OK - I can still hear them on this side of the house. I also discovered a whole bunch of barn swallow nests. Gosh, I love birds.
I am going to La Crosse tomorrow, to the mall - something I do very rarely - so I can get myself a nice dress for that wedding in NYC. It can't be black - better be nice green or blue or my all-time favorite, red.
The grapes are looking good so far this year.
This weekend is the free for all fishing weekend when you can fish without buying a license, and Jacob, with his newly-discovered passion for fishing, is hopefully going to take me fishing for some trout. We both have no interest in any kind of hunting or fishing activity that doesn't directly translate into food on our table - so hopefully we catch the right kind of fish to keep.
I am warming up to John McCain, sort of, but I don't think Obama would be a disaster if he won. If he doesn't get assassinated or something. Unlike the majority of other people I know (except several Hundts, my husband, and my best friend Ann), I am not at all taken with Obama.
So that's what's new with me.
I went on another great birding event down at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, where I got increasingly better at identifying birds by sight and by sound. When Jacob and I repeated this trip on my birthday earlier this week, I was actually able to point out to him a whole bunch of birds - green heron, a common yellowthroat, yellow warbler, a female and a male orchard orioles, catbirds, house wrens, and more. He, on the other hand, spotted a male roufus-sided towhee, which I also identified for him. I am getting quite good, actually, but I also learned that it's best to go birdwatching with someone who knows more than you!
I got a gift certificate to the nicest nursery in town, and am going to buy myself a rose bush to plant on the side of the deck, next to the climbing red rose bush my best friend Ann gave me for my birthday last year. I love planting trees and bushes, in general. They are a bit like stock market investments (I learned this year!) - no good to you for the next ten to twenty years, but deeply satisfying when you get there.
I spent a bunch of time mulching today - weeded and mulched my lily-of-the-valley patch, as well as the said rose bush and the cornellian cherry tree (kizil in Russian, I believe), that Jacob picked out and gave me for my birthday last year. See, I am trying to increase the diversity of fruit I can grow on this farm, to add to my budding jam making business (something I am going to try this summer, see how it goes!). We already have a massive amount of elderberries, a large red and black raspberry patch, a sour cherry tree, an apple orchard, and a strawberry patch I personally planted two years ago. This year has been very cold, however, so there were barely any blossoms on any of the trees, and the strawberries are just starting to form. Can you believe it? We haven't even put in tomatoes and peppers for that reason, and it's already June. Little Josie helped with the mulching and is now uniformly covered with what we call "bullshit" - that is, literally the bull manure from the local bull sperm bank operation, mixed with sawdust, which served as bedding. (Don't worry, it's long ago composted into beautiful black dirt mixed with wood chips, and is not what you think).
Jacob and I planned our trip to NYC this summer, and made necessary arrangements armed with our debit card. I can't believe how expensive it is to stay at a hotel in NJ where my cousin's wedding is, but what you gonna do - I am planning to get wasted, and there's no question of driving. I am very much looking forward to seeing Ksusha and hopefully Ira in NYC during our stay - we are arriving on the 1st, and I am leaving on the 7th. I will be flying out of NYC instead of Boston, as originally planned, because it's simply not gonna work - sorry, K and Yorik! We'll be flying out of Milwaukee, where we have quite a few relatives, though, unfortunately, my favorite of Jacob's cousin's Peter is not going to be there, as he's currently in the army at Fort McCoy. Too bad, because the guy has a great take on the world.
Jacob and I went to watch Sex and the City: TM. I liked it, though I think the show worked best in 30-minute segments. I am now catching up on the 6 seasons of the show, of which I only watched a bit at AUBG. I am now on season 2.
I discovered a disturbing fact that the female bluebird is building a new nest. I don't think any babies hatched from the old nest, there used to be two blue eggs in there, now there's only one, and I have no idea what's going on - I wonder if it has to do with my touching the eggs back when I first discovered them. This time I didn't touch the egg but used a hand mirror instead, which is what you are supposed to do. I also discovered that the wrens, did, after all, stay to nest on my land, only instead of the front yard (where I could enjoy them), they made a nest in an old pole along the fence row on the back pasture. That's OK - I can still hear them on this side of the house. I also discovered a whole bunch of barn swallow nests. Gosh, I love birds.
I am going to La Crosse tomorrow, to the mall - something I do very rarely - so I can get myself a nice dress for that wedding in NYC. It can't be black - better be nice green or blue or my all-time favorite, red.
The grapes are looking good so far this year.
This weekend is the free for all fishing weekend when you can fish without buying a license, and Jacob, with his newly-discovered passion for fishing, is hopefully going to take me fishing for some trout. We both have no interest in any kind of hunting or fishing activity that doesn't directly translate into food on our table - so hopefully we catch the right kind of fish to keep.
I am warming up to John McCain, sort of, but I don't think Obama would be a disaster if he won. If he doesn't get assassinated or something. Unlike the majority of other people I know (except several Hundts, my husband, and my best friend Ann), I am not at all taken with Obama.
So that's what's new with me.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Why Live in the Country
There are lots of good reasons to live in the country, some of them more obvious than others. Here are mine:
1. You can grow a lot of your own food and "eat healthy" as people like to say these days.
2. If you are into gardening and birding, you can pursue those hobbies infinitely.
3. You and your children can enjoy fresh air.
4. Children will also enjoy a private park that is a farm, with a wide number of free and natural attractions (not counting property taxes, of course).
5. If you like the concept of a datscha - what every good Soviet is well familiar with - a country estate is like living on a datscha/resort all year round.
6. You can eat al fresco pretty much every warm and dry day of the year.
7. When you want a fancy steak, you head to the freezer, not the store. Not to mention that it costs much less than in a store.
8. Your children get to enjoy a mini-zoo.
9. Your children have something to do with themselves in the summer, which does not involve screen time. That's right - I mean chores.
10. Ditto for yourself and your spouse.
11. You never need to go to the gym or worry about your weight (not that I did before). As I said, you are already eating pretty darn healthy, and that involves fried chicken and red meat and fresh milk (if you don't wanna be milking - like I don't, there's always someone who does).
12. If you like wood heat, like I do, you can enjoy it all you want. And remember, firewood heats you twice!
13. Not only eating can be done al fresco...
1. You can grow a lot of your own food and "eat healthy" as people like to say these days.
2. If you are into gardening and birding, you can pursue those hobbies infinitely.
3. You and your children can enjoy fresh air.
4. Children will also enjoy a private park that is a farm, with a wide number of free and natural attractions (not counting property taxes, of course).
5. If you like the concept of a datscha - what every good Soviet is well familiar with - a country estate is like living on a datscha/resort all year round.
6. You can eat al fresco pretty much every warm and dry day of the year.
7. When you want a fancy steak, you head to the freezer, not the store. Not to mention that it costs much less than in a store.
8. Your children get to enjoy a mini-zoo.
9. Your children have something to do with themselves in the summer, which does not involve screen time. That's right - I mean chores.
10. Ditto for yourself and your spouse.
11. You never need to go to the gym or worry about your weight (not that I did before). As I said, you are already eating pretty darn healthy, and that involves fried chicken and red meat and fresh milk (if you don't wanna be milking - like I don't, there's always someone who does).
12. If you like wood heat, like I do, you can enjoy it all you want. And remember, firewood heats you twice!
13. Not only eating can be done al fresco...
That's Where You'll Find Me
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can't I?
The thing is, I can, figuratively speaking, and even if I don't, watching bluebirds just about does it for me. Yes, today is one of those days when the ecstasy of a dream fulfilled overcomes me like a spring flood, one of those days when it feels like somewhere over the rainbow is right here, on the Compostella farm.
Jacob took Josie to church up in his home parish at St. Peters today, [a male bluebird is singing right outside my office window right now as I type, perched on a maple tree with its electric-blue back to me and cheering me with its sweet, gentle warbles, as his sweetheart sits on a branch right above him], and I stayed home so I can prune my raspberry patch. This is the task that needed to be done, and it's very difficult to do with a two-year old.
I had this fabulous morning all to myself, and I decided to quickly check out the bluebird boxes before I went into the vineyard, where the raspberry patch is. I opened one box down on the South-Western corner of the West Slope where it meets the front-yard pasture. Sure enough, there was a nest being built here. It wasn't quite as neat as I imagined a bluebird nest to be, but I hesitated deciding that it was a sparrow nest and removing it. Instead, I closed the box, ran up the hill to the house, and went online to study the pictures of the nests of both birds. I was soon persuaded that it was, after all, a bluebird nest. Good thing I trusted my judgment. The nest, built out of dry grasses and a few barred rocks chicken feathers, complied with the online description. I ran back down to the box, checked it out again, and restored the screw that held the pivot side of the box in place. Exciting, no? I then checked out the remaining four boxes - one in the front yard was empty, two of the vineyard ones had a few sticks in them - as though someone had began to build a nest (bluebirds, no doubt). The third one had a nest built in it that was well on its way to completion, and looked a lot like the one in the first box - the bluebird nest.
My guess was confirmed nearly immediately, as I settled into pruning my berries. I watched a male bluebird hang out in the vineyard, hunting from the posts that hold up the wires that, in their turn, hold up the grapevines. Next time I saw him, he was with a female, and what do you know, they headed for my very box, the one with the most complete nest in it, and began to contribute to the nest, periodically disappearing inside, and at other times sitting perched on the wires right next to the box. I only saw the delightful picture of a bluebird hanging on the outside of a nest box online before, and I now at last I could see it with my own eyes.
Now, let me tell you, that this bluebird box thing is an important, however small, contribution to the "bluebird trail" effort to provide bluebirds with nesting sites, which, after the North-Americans got on it, practically saved this stunning and beloved by everyone species of birds from extinction. I am, first of all, very pleased with myself for making an effort to find out the right dimensions for the boxes, persuading my husband to build them, and then choosing what seemed like, and proved to be ideal sites for those boxes. Now I only have to hope that the damn English sparrows or wrens don't interfere with the bluebirds' efforts as they are known to do - bluebirds, as far as I understand, are not nearly aggressive enough to fight them off, unlike, say, robins, who the other day I watched beating the hell out of a squirrel who repeatedly climbed to the robin nest in the orchard (the first active bird nest I saw in my life, and, thus, significant in that way).
But, of course, this nest box mounting had a selfish reason behind it, too - my passionate desire to see and keep those most beautiful and magical of birds around - bluebirds of happiness indeed. So, thanks to the boxes and our large vineyard, I had a pleasure today of watching them continuously as I pruned, and listening to the male's sweet song, along with that of a cardinal, a mourning dove, a song sparrow, a killdeer, a chipping sparrow, house finches, robins, and more. So I can't help but to congratulate myself - seeing bluebirds regularly was one of my most aggressive dreams of late - and I now have resident bluebirds! I feel like Thoreau today, really (which I feel like A LOT) - a maverick, an amateur naturalist, and even a bit of a philosopher.
Oh, and you know what else I saw today? I saw a couple of tiny ruby-crowned kinglets today, and a couple of what were either vireos or warblers (I couldn't tell because I didn't have my binoculars on me).
So let me tell you, birding adds to rural (and any other) lifestyle immensely, really, so I recommend it to everyone, especially when you get to positively (hopefully) affect their life by putting out feed, water, and bird houses.
I can't wait for May to see if I can attract orioles and perhaps spot a few indigo buntings around. And hummers, of course. My feeders are ready!
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can't I?
The thing is, I can, figuratively speaking, and even if I don't, watching bluebirds just about does it for me. Yes, today is one of those days when the ecstasy of a dream fulfilled overcomes me like a spring flood, one of those days when it feels like somewhere over the rainbow is right here, on the Compostella farm.
Jacob took Josie to church up in his home parish at St. Peters today, [a male bluebird is singing right outside my office window right now as I type, perched on a maple tree with its electric-blue back to me and cheering me with its sweet, gentle warbles, as his sweetheart sits on a branch right above him], and I stayed home so I can prune my raspberry patch. This is the task that needed to be done, and it's very difficult to do with a two-year old.
I had this fabulous morning all to myself, and I decided to quickly check out the bluebird boxes before I went into the vineyard, where the raspberry patch is. I opened one box down on the South-Western corner of the West Slope where it meets the front-yard pasture. Sure enough, there was a nest being built here. It wasn't quite as neat as I imagined a bluebird nest to be, but I hesitated deciding that it was a sparrow nest and removing it. Instead, I closed the box, ran up the hill to the house, and went online to study the pictures of the nests of both birds. I was soon persuaded that it was, after all, a bluebird nest. Good thing I trusted my judgment. The nest, built out of dry grasses and a few barred rocks chicken feathers, complied with the online description. I ran back down to the box, checked it out again, and restored the screw that held the pivot side of the box in place. Exciting, no? I then checked out the remaining four boxes - one in the front yard was empty, two of the vineyard ones had a few sticks in them - as though someone had began to build a nest (bluebirds, no doubt). The third one had a nest built in it that was well on its way to completion, and looked a lot like the one in the first box - the bluebird nest.
My guess was confirmed nearly immediately, as I settled into pruning my berries. I watched a male bluebird hang out in the vineyard, hunting from the posts that hold up the wires that, in their turn, hold up the grapevines. Next time I saw him, he was with a female, and what do you know, they headed for my very box, the one with the most complete nest in it, and began to contribute to the nest, periodically disappearing inside, and at other times sitting perched on the wires right next to the box. I only saw the delightful picture of a bluebird hanging on the outside of a nest box online before, and I now at last I could see it with my own eyes.
Now, let me tell you, that this bluebird box thing is an important, however small, contribution to the "bluebird trail" effort to provide bluebirds with nesting sites, which, after the North-Americans got on it, practically saved this stunning and beloved by everyone species of birds from extinction. I am, first of all, very pleased with myself for making an effort to find out the right dimensions for the boxes, persuading my husband to build them, and then choosing what seemed like, and proved to be ideal sites for those boxes. Now I only have to hope that the damn English sparrows or wrens don't interfere with the bluebirds' efforts as they are known to do - bluebirds, as far as I understand, are not nearly aggressive enough to fight them off, unlike, say, robins, who the other day I watched beating the hell out of a squirrel who repeatedly climbed to the robin nest in the orchard (the first active bird nest I saw in my life, and, thus, significant in that way).
But, of course, this nest box mounting had a selfish reason behind it, too - my passionate desire to see and keep those most beautiful and magical of birds around - bluebirds of happiness indeed. So, thanks to the boxes and our large vineyard, I had a pleasure today of watching them continuously as I pruned, and listening to the male's sweet song, along with that of a cardinal, a mourning dove, a song sparrow, a killdeer, a chipping sparrow, house finches, robins, and more. So I can't help but to congratulate myself - seeing bluebirds regularly was one of my most aggressive dreams of late - and I now have resident bluebirds! I feel like Thoreau today, really (which I feel like A LOT) - a maverick, an amateur naturalist, and even a bit of a philosopher.
Oh, and you know what else I saw today? I saw a couple of tiny ruby-crowned kinglets today, and a couple of what were either vireos or warblers (I couldn't tell because I didn't have my binoculars on me).
So let me tell you, birding adds to rural (and any other) lifestyle immensely, really, so I recommend it to everyone, especially when you get to positively (hopefully) affect their life by putting out feed, water, and bird houses.
I can't wait for May to see if I can attract orioles and perhaps spot a few indigo buntings around. And hummers, of course. My feeders are ready!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Turkish Lullaby
As a person without a TV set (by choice), I by no means pretend that I never watch shows and such. I, for instance, have enjoyed "Desperate Housewives," "Lipstick Jungle," "The Tudors," and even watched a bit of "Cashmere Mafia." Josie and I, too, frequently watch cartoons on youtube - the Soviet classics, as well as videos of various birds and what not. Eventually, I came across Russian world lullaby project - a series of videos featuring lullabies in different languages, accompanied by animation. I thought it was a great project all around. And here's my favorite (Turkish) one, which I actually began to sing to Josie and which she's been kinda learning too.
Oh, and the story is very familiar - I had cows get out on me once in May two years ago, where they got into the freshly planted garden (cows are attracted to bare dirt), and ate the tops of every single cabbage-related plant, so that felt terrible. We got intelligent since, and placed a fake ("unplugged") electric fence around the garden, and that kept them out when they got out again.
P.S.: I also loved the project because it was heaping with unsubtle cultural stereotypes, and I am a sucker for those.
Oh, and the story is very familiar - I had cows get out on me once in May two years ago, where they got into the freshly planted garden (cows are attracted to bare dirt), and ate the tops of every single cabbage-related plant, so that felt terrible. We got intelligent since, and placed a fake ("unplugged") electric fence around the garden, and that kept them out when they got out again.
P.S.: I also loved the project because it was heaping with unsubtle cultural stereotypes, and I am a sucker for those.
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