The Guido Project is U..n..d..e..r..w..a..y

We are busy getting the house more sturdy and beautiful. Mom came out last week to help us with paint colors.



Chris used a machete to decapitate the bamboo so we could pile it up and rent an excavator to break up the rhizomes.



We discovered the original mantle behind some painted wooden siding. What a treat! There is even an alcove next to the fireplace that we uncovered that is perfect for built-ins.



And Chris has learned that demolition is quite rewarding.




See you this weekend at our party: Guido House, Pre-Transformation!

Checking the bees...with Dad!

Our New Home!

We just bought a house! Or, at least, we are in the midst of buying it. One of our favorite parts of the new house is the large yard! We are eagerly planning a chicken run, vegetable garden, and orchard of loquat, pear, lemon, and fig. Chris's mom has saved some loquat seeds for us and a fig tree from his grandmother, Sentina. We are excited to continue the Barabaria family tree line.



We will be moving in around June/July, after the roof and windows have been replaced. We will be doing quite a bit of work on the place (see pic). The biggest garden project will be removing the bamboo grove, which was trimmed down for the house sale. Our new neighbor told us that it has been growing here for 20+ years.



We have been making plans while we wait for the keys:



We will let you know when we have our weekend bamboo digging party!

The Chicken Dilemma

The White Longhorns have established their dominance over the recent arrivals and they are flaunting it! Chris and I have been calling them the "Bigs" and the "Babies."



The Bigs have recently been observed jumping onto the Babies' perch, pecking them off the perch, and diving into their elevated food dish. When we first put it in, this food dish went totally unnoticed by the Bigs for several days, giving the Babies their protein-rich chick mash. But now the Bigs spend their days eating their own layer grain and the Babies' mash.

We can distract the Bigs and put food out for the Babies which they cautiously approach. They get a few bites before they are startled back into their corner by the slightest movement. They are becoming anxious and flusterable young fowl.


(A brave Baby walks towards the arugula stuffed in the fence for her.)

As you may know, we are moving in about a month to our newly purchased home (!) on 9,000+ square feet, where there will be more space for a coop addition. But until then, the Battle of the Bigs and Babies continues...

Lemons For Eggs

So our lemon trade has proven fruitful! Our neighbor, Enoch, gave us about 10 lemons for some eggs a few weeks ago. The first big "garden surplus" trade!

At the Claremont Farmer's Market, we tasted Lavender Cardamom Lemon Marmalade from Happy Girl Kitchen. Delicious! And worth trying to replicate. We peeled the very outer layer off of the lemons (and some key limes) and set it aside. It provides the pectin for the marmalade and will add that spreadable, gelatinous quality. We then removed all the white pith from every lemon. (Make sure you do this with company or a good NPR show on because it is long and tedious!)



We took the lemon zest and chunks of lemon fruit into an enamel pot with 6 cups of water. We also added a linen bag of lavender flowers to the mixture (no cardamom this round). We set it in the fridge for a few hours. Apparently, this step is essential. Then, we simmered the mixture for a few hours. Then we added 5 cups of sugar. After about 45 minutes, we were ready to can!

After boiling the jars and lids, we filled them with the marmalade and then boiled the filled jars for 15 minutes. Voila! Delicious (yet runny) marmalade!

The Bees Are Here!

Our friend, Bee Jeff, called us Thursday evening and told us he had captured a swarm in a nearby neighborhood. We waited until evening, donned our protective apparel, and went to get the box.



Chris looks good in ladies' coats! We had to wear light colors to minimize their fear.


We wrapped the box in a sheet. I could feel the box vibrating when I picked up. It was a small swarm - just under two pounds, Jeff thought.



We had no idea what to do once we got home. I thought the bees would just shake off and fall into the hive, but they were balled up around the queen and sticking to the box. We called Jeff and he told us to thump the box really hard. When I did, it worked. Then I had to replace the center frames I had taken out to make room for them. It was impossible to slide those back in without killing some bees. And each bee feels so precious. I was also afraid of damaging the queen.



But the next morning, all appeared well. Today (Saturday) the hive was buzzing with activity in the afternoon sun. It made me wish the supers were transparent. We have been out there to replace a few more frames in the upper super, and the bees seemed so calm. No stings yet...

The Flock Has a New Property Agreement

After some bloody little beaks last week when we left the chicks in the main coop for the day, we decided another arrangement needed to be made. On Chris's day off, he devised a system that seems to work well. He put a collapsable dog kennel gate into the coop to separate the young from the old. This way, they are out of the kitchen and getting used to each other slowly.

Chris decided that the photo above does not show the new living quarters clearly, so we think that this little sketch might help.


We'll let you know when the wall comes down!