Duck Eggs Too!

This is so fun! This morning I went out to see if the chickens had left some more eggs in the nesting boxes... when i noticed a little nest built underneath. When I looked closer I realized my lady duck has started laying some eggs! The brown ones in the basket are the chicken eggs, and the white ones, only slightly larger in the ground nest are duck eggs.

So amazing, i did not gather them up yet, the nest with it's two eggs was so beautifully made, so beautifully set... and I have more eggs then i even know WTF to do with.

But of course, i am going to have to do a taste test ASAP, i have never eaten a duck egg before!

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You can see only the slight difference in the chicken and duck eggs, in the pic below:::

(duck egg on the left, brown chicken egg on the right...)

XOXOxooox

Natural Fiber & Organic Yarns

I was so sad the other week when I found out my favorite online yarn store Knit For Brains had closed down, but I scored big when I wrote the owner and asked if there was left over inventory I could still buy!! I got everything at wholesale and under prices - wooo hooo! My fellow crochet and knitters will know this is like the kid in a candy store, all those colors, all the soft silky feel, all the cool ass projects I can make now.
And everything is 100% natural fiber, there are no fugly and creepy feeling acrylic yarns in this box, no chemical fibers. Some of these yarns are made from things that people would never expect, so I thought I would share a lil' bit about why buying these eco yarns is better and show ya how beautiful they look too...

1. Banana Silk Yarn (also known as banana fiber yarn) ::::

This eco savvy yarn is in a category all it's own. It is rarely heard of, rarely seen at yarn stores and has a look & feel that is utterly unique to the fiber. And I LOVE IT! It really does have that natural sheen to it.

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"Banana Silk fiber yarn is made from the fiber of the banana tree. Only the decaying outer layers of the trees (aged bark) are harvested and soaked under water to quicken the natural process. When all of the chlorophyll structures are dissolved, the cellulose fibers remain. They are extruded into pulp and to make it suitable for spinning into yarn." -shangri la crafts

2. Soy Yarn (also known as Soy Silk Yarn) :::

I love soy yarn. It's so awesome one time my cat ate some of it like she was Lady and the Tramp slurping up pasta at a romantic dinner. It has a super silky, slippery feel and works great for delicate, luxurious projects. I like to make necklaces with this yarn, and one time I even made a pair of panties... it is the perfect feel to make lingerie.

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"Soy is the ultimate sustainable fiber -- it's made from discarded tofu! Leftovers from tofu manufacturing are gathered up, liquefied, and extruded through spinnerets to create filaments which are then spun into fine yarns. The process is very similar to how bamboo fibers are spun. Henry Ford first investigated the use of soy in textiles for his automobiles in the 1940's, but the arrival of synthetics on the scene caused this effort to fade away." - fiber organics

3. Bamboo Yarn ::::

The above bamboo yarn color is awesome... it's called GIRLIEFLAGE! A girl camo yarn that comes out in a cute camo-ish pattern. I have never gotten to use the bamboo yarn yet but it seems similar to the soy yarn and it is certainly soft to touch with a sheen to it. I don't have to use it to know I already love it and plan to make alot of necklaces with this yarn!

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"In order to make bamboo into yarn, the stalks are liquefied and then extruded by machine through spinnerets into threads, which are then spun into yarn. The process is similar to how rayon is made, so sometimes bamboo textiles are referred to as "bamboo rayon" or "bamboo viscose". Other cellulosics (fibers derived from cellulose) such as lyocell (made from wood pulp) and modal (made from beechwood) are processed this way also.
Some people are concerned about the production of bamboo textiles because the process uses caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), which is dangerous in large quantities. Some suppliers work closely with manufacturers to ensure that the fabrics are made with minimal environmental impact. They use advanced wastewater treatment systems and have strict controls on exhaust emissions."
- Fiber Organics

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4. Organic Cotton Yarn ::::

I didn't buy any this go around... but I know it's good stuff! here is what it takes to make the fiber....

"◦uses untreated seeds (no insecticides or fungicides)
◦never uses genetically modified seeds
◦builds strong soil through crop rotation, rather than relying on synthetic fertilizer
◦physically removes weeds rather than relying on herbicides
◦uses beneficial insects and lure crops to manage pests
◦relies on seasonal freezes to remove foliage from cotton, rather than chemicals
◦must be processed separately from conventional cotton, including separating the fiber from the seed, spinning, knitting and sewing
◦if bleached, hydrogen peroxide is used rather than chlorine
◦dyes used are the least harmful possible (to people and planet), and may include low-impact, fiber-reactive, and natural dyes " -Fiber Organics

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5. Wool Yarn ::::

Wool can mean alot of things, there is sheep wool, alpaca wool, llama wool... but being a wool fiber does not mean it was processed in an environmentally sensitive way. Here is what is takes to do it right...

"◦the sheep are not genetically modified or given synthetic hormones or vaccinations;
◦from the last third of a lamb’s gestation period, all feed grain and grazing pasture must be organically grown
◦pastures may not be treated with pesticides
◦sheep may not be dipped in pesticides to treat parasites like ticks and lice (the dipping chemicals can harm sheep farmers, and contaminate nearby ground water)
◦sheep must be maintained in good health
◦mulesing (gruesome removal of the skin, to treat blowflies) is obviously not permitted
◦the number of sheep per acre of land is limited to the land’s natural capacity to support grazing livestock; producers cannot overgraze the land
◦during the cleaning, carding and spinning processes, organic fibers are kept separate from non-organic fibers
◦any dyes used are low-impact and metal-free" -Fiber Organics
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6. Nettle Yarn ::::

Link to see it HERE.

" the fiber from the stinging nettle plant used to be a common alternative to cotton. Until 1900 or so, it was widely used instead of cotton, due to a cotton shortage. Nettle fabrics were used in military clothing during the second World War. However, as synthetic materials became more popular, nettle fabric lost its market share, and eventually the technology for producing fiber from the plant was forgotten. The German firm Stoffkontor Kranz AG, founded in 1991 by Heinrich Kranz, has invested significant efforts to develop new methods for producing nettle fabrics. Another industrial-scale developer of nettle textiles is Camira, creator of Sting Plus fabric. Nettle grows “like a weed”, requiring no pesticides and very little fertilizer. The plants come back every year, and only need to be replaced every 10-15 years. " -Fiber Organics

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For more natural fiber yarns, and blends go HERE. Viva La Crochet!!!!

xoxoxoxo

CSA Saturday! (Community Supported Agriculture)

Every saturday I go out, down the road to an organic farm that's in my 'hood - a farm that has a box of freshly picked organic veggies, herbs and fruit waiting for me! This year I was not able to get my own organic garden prepared fast enough to grow most of my own food, and I was lucky enough to remember that a few years ago at the Waynesville NC Farmers Market there was this awesome lady named Julie who was bringing boxes of food all the way from Hot Springs for her CSA members......
I totally called Mountain Harvest Organics up on da' phone and joined!

So here is how it works for me - since I am local instead of picking up my organic box of goodies at a market I go to the farm every saturday. I look forward to it all week long! I pull up to a barn, which has a second story that was converted into a house for the farm interns. (Neato, right? Right on...) Underneath that barn house are the freezers where my box is kept --- but before I show you that, check out their awesome greenhouses ... There are several greenhouses where food is being grown, to extend the seasons for their CSA members and their own kitchen table. This is in addition to the 4 acres of farmland they recently fenced in high enough to keep out the deer. There are also pigs and goats - which I hope to get to pics of another time for ya'll!

Inside this greenhouse is tomatoes - which I totally can not eat... the cool thing about a small organic CSA is that the owners Julie and Carl are kind enough to replace/substitute some other veggies for the shit I am allergic too...YAY!

I usually pick up some potted herbs and flowers too, for discounted prices - they said late in the season people don't buy them much at the market so I have been building an herb empire at the Luck Cabin for a very small fee --- herbs i use in cooking every single day.

After getting some live herbs, I go down under the barn house to the big industrial looking fridge to grab my box!

I buy the big box - there are two sizes and the big one is really for a family but since I cook every single meal from scratch every single day and rely heavily on vegetables as the part of my diet I CAN have - I pay $25 for the week of cornucopia. Pretty sweet deal when you realize how much you pay for all this in the store - I get things like bok choy, chinese cabbage, broccoli, onions, kale, lettuce, kohlrabi, radishes, turnips, squash, cucumbers..... and even had two weeks of the most DELICIOUS strawberries of my LIFE!!!

I stick my money in an envelope - for this farm, I pay either per week, per month, and I bet they wouldn't mind if you paid for the year too! ;)

BTW- my last name is kinda mis-spelled here .... it's pronounced REE_SHARD.

Thanks to Julie and Carl for making my life 100x's easier, better, and tastier!!!!!!!!!!

XOXO

Natural Plant Dye: Non Poisonous Sumac

Not all sumac is the bad stuff that gives a person a poison ivy like reaction (like this), the sumac pictured here was used by native americans to make plant dyes and even a citrus tasting drink akin to lemonaid. Red sumac, also known as Staghorn, grows all along the roads here and up on open hills- so I rode my bike about a mile from my house to gather some to make non toxic dye with! The highest goal I have for making organic paints and dye is for it to not be poisonous in any way whether chemical or natural (which is the only downfall for poke berries, ya can't eat 'um) - staghorn sumac is one that can even be ingested- so it gets the 5 star award for being totally eco friendly and safe!
I cut the berry clumps off with a knife (the stem is fairly soft but might be hard to break by hand), and I gathered them in a hemp bag. The sumac is self contained, it wasn't bursting open and staining anything along the way. It has a sugary looking substance coating the each little berry.
I put the sumac berries in a pot, with some salt and water. I brought it to a boil and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. I think the more you mush them, the longer it cooks, the deeper a color that can be achieved- even though this most likely will never be as opaque & dark as poke berries or tumeric. As far as I could tell from the consistency it makes a better watery dye, then a paint, but I will keep you posted on that! I did a quick short experiment, just to see if the red-ish brown water would stain an undyed organic cotton shirt.
I was surprised how easy the color took to the fabric, mainly because it looked even darker in the shirt then it did in the pot. It will dry a shade lighter then when it's freshly wet, probably making this a peachy red, with brown overtones. I am impressed with how nice the color came out- but what's even better is the SMELL! This stuff smells yummy, and when it comes to making DIY dye that is a huge bonus! Toxic dyes smell like crap and are unhealthy to inhale, to have against our skin, and the throw down the drain. If someone wanted to try this as an organic paint, it might work best if painting on fabric instead of canvas or paper, using this in combo with other natural dye stains to achieve depth and variations in darkness to light.
Yay, for sumac... more plant dyes to come.
Please share your own natural dye experiments!!!
XoXo

Mammoth Sunflower Seed Heads

Holy Taleedo! Remember my leaning tower of sunflower? Those bad boys went to seed, and man their heads got huge. ;)

Seed saving is so much fun!
PS- Anyone ever roast their own sunflower seeds before, I am open to some tips?!

XoXo

Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut (Tree) Part 2

Remember last month when I was planting pine nuts in their shells to try and grow a nut tree?!? The fruits of my labor (or nuts of my labor) have arrived. Baby pine trees are shooting up all ova' in the pot - so many I don't even know what I am going to do! Possibly go on a tree planting binge in Big Sandy Mush and put a few in separate pots to examine how they grow (that is for my inner scientist)! :) It's a really neat looking seedling, with all those tentacles swirling out from the center pine goodness! What is totally amazing is I have had those pine nuts for about 3 years, in the fridge and many look to still be vital. Never underestimate the power of life.
XoXo

Getcha' Self Some Chickens

If ya get some of these above, then you'll have a constant supply of these below. Organic eggs...mmmmmm.

XOXO

(Learning to) Sew With Local Organic Cotton Part 4

Trust me when I say that I know I went a little too short on this organic cotton jumper, with that said I think it would be rockin' with various long/cap sleeve tops & some leggings - (but I only have purple leggies and didn't want to mess up the pic.) This sassy little jumper is made from 100% locally woven organic cotton and upcycled buttons I cut off some funky thrift garb, totalling $3. It's meant to ride right under or at the bustline, and the buttons actually do work they are not just for decorative flare. I got the design idea from a Feel Good Style article featuring some cute eco summer fashion, so I can not claim the design as my own, but I am searching out cute outfits to help me learn to sew just by looking at the picture.

All you need to make this jumper is some organic cotton, or upcycle cotton fabric (stretchy is better- mine is not stretchy enough), and scissors, thread, measuring tape and two buttons. I have not figured out how to sew a button on my sewing machine yet, the directions are so BLEH I can't understand them. But sewing buttons by hand was really nice since I started zoning out into a peaceful creative state. OM!

PS- In the Picture are the second hand red cowgirl boots I got that I said I would wear "everyday forever" and so far I have...even when it doesn't match at all. :)

Sunflower Blooming

Not much has survived the drought this year- but this sunflower is kickin' it! Watch it bloom :)

It's so pretty!

Caterpillar Eating Dill

I didn't know caterpillars would eat herbs, but this little guy has made his whole life based on this one tiny organic dill plant.

He started out much smaller, blackish and spiky - and has transformed into this beauty which I know he will get alot bigger, then cocoon. It's worth the dill sacrifice to watch him live out his life cycles right on my porch.

Nature Is The Reason

This happy little mama is nesting in a tree right outside my neighbor's window. How amazing when your window is as high as a tree and you have a birds eye view of the birds - little babies being born, peaking their funny heads up, opening their beaks for worms...or a preying mantis like we watched yesterday. It's baby creature week here at my house! Baby kittens, baby robins, and even bunches of the baby preying mantis all starting their new lives right downtown Asheville NC via my yard.
The ecological balance between all creatures, including ourselves is the reason for the whole green movement. Every single living thing, connected to the other, in a delicate and ever changing motion. It's very simple things like this, that are the reason I eat organic & local foods, donate to wildlife groups, learn about native gardening, walk a light footstep, wear sustainable clothes, and recycle. We can never fully grasp the complete dependency and cycle of life from earth's core to an apple core- except to know that without it's treasures we cannot survive.
I Heart Nature!