Lets start off with this- keeping livestock is not for the weak at heart. This is true for breeding more than anything as it deals with things vulnerable, cute and tiny. Last weekend, I knew my bunny was pregnant. She was lumbering and taking frequent breaks to pant and lay about. I made sure to put extra straw in her nest box. A doe will kindle (give birth) between 28-31 days. The morning of day 28, I checked. No babies and I noticed no fur lining the nest. In fact, other than having munched on some of the straw I put in, “Lisa” was not making a nest. During pregnancy, a doe grows exta fur which she pulls out and interlaces in nesting material to create a well insulated and very soft nest.

Days 29-31 brought the same result, no babies. Normally rabbits kindle by the 31st day so when I checked that morning I was perplexed. However, sometime between that morning and the next, little Lisa did in fact kindle 8 fully developed kits. Sadly, without a proper nest they were exposed during the long cold night. The result of which was what appeared to be box full of dead kits.This was especially odd as Lisa had cleaned the placenta off of each of them and not harmed them. I thought maybe some were alive and that Lisa would gather her wits so I left them there while I went to work, but even before I left, she hopped around on top of them. Stupid rabbit. On my hurried return from work they appeared to be in the same state of scattered deadness.

Feeling sad and confounded, I called the breeder who provided Virgil and Lisa to find out if Lisa is prone to postpartum psychosis. Apparently, she has a good track record of maternal behavior. I then discussed what I may have done. It seems all the right things were done, with the exception of one suggestion made by the breeder. She’s heard from some of the women who breed rabbits that they take newborn bunnies that appear dead but are just cold and place them in their bras. I did not do this. Even now I am having a hard time imagining having gone to my new office job with a bra full of baby rabbits…likely dead ones. Should this occur again, I will intervene with a hot water bottle. I will also feed Lisa herbs to help bring her milk in. This should prompt her into appropriate action.

The breeder read off the list of litters Lisa’s had in the past and they had a high rate of success. She believes this lapse in maternal instinct uncommon for Lisa and suggested I try again. I will. Little bunny foofoo has three chances.

I gave a talk at TechLiminal recently. The topic was Urban Farming 101. I think I overtalked…in fact, I know I did. Turns out there is quite a bit of ground to cover (haha) when it comes to growing and raising your own food. Luckily with this blog, I can keep on talking.

I created this blog to share both the experience of urban farming as it unfolds and the how-to’s. With that, lets talk about light and shade. First, let me introduce my friend the protractor (apparently this image is printable and usable):

I attended a home growing class a few years ago where the instructor distributed nifty “maps” of the sun’s path throughout the year in the Bay Area (click here to download a pdf of the map on google docs) and taught us to use this map of the sun and a protractor to determine how many hours of sun a given spot in your yard will receive throughout the year. This will help you decide what may grow well in certain locations of your yard.

Do this by taking your map and protractor to the desired location and while holding the protactor flat with the arch outward and straight side facing you, point the ninety degree mark on the protractor exactly due south. Now look at your “horizon” which will be where the open sky meets an obstacle in your yard. You are going to use the protractor to plot degrees on the vertical (y) and horizontal (x) axis. For each visible obstacle starting on your left, note the degrees from ninety it first starts. That will be the degrees on the x axis. For the first time it appears in your horizon, consider the angle of it is located from the flat surface of the protractor. You can likely estimate this if you know basic angles. This will be your y axis. Now plot the point on the appropriate location on your chart. As you move from left to right, plot only the transitions in height in your horizon. Once you are done with the full 180 view from where you are squatting (don’t worry about the north side. The sun travels from east, south, west), connect the dots and shade beneath the resulting line. The unshaded portion of your plotted horizon will indicate the hours of light in the day for a given month of the year.

If you have a deciduous tree which is bare part of the year, when you shade make only sparse lines through that area on the map to indicate partial shading. There were some brainiacs at the talk that could recalibrate the Bay Area map to accommodate any longitude and latitude, unfortunately unless they comment to explain how, I am at a loss. The same people explained how they could plot the points by using a photo of the yard…but sitting at your computer to garden sort of defeats the point, smarty pants.

Come join the MAKE magazine Bay Area Makers presentation on urban farming, led by yours truly! I will cover basics for getting started and give focus to poultry keeping, small gardens and making good dirt! When and Where:

Tech Liminal
March 2nd 2010
Tuesday 7:30pm

reMake Lounge
March 9th 2010
Tuesday 6:30pm

Back in December a cool crew from CBS Chow came out to the urban farm to do a series of tips on chicken keeping. The results are amusing if not helpful for newbie urban chicken keepers (Note to Chiraag: notice the backdrop on the coop tip).

Egg Layers vs. Meat Birds- or want the best of both worlds? Get dual purpose!

More Tips (click titles):

What Makes a Good Chicken Coop?

What Shouldn’t You Feed a Chicken

What is the Ideal Flock Size?

Chickens Need Calcium Too

How to Get Fresh Eggs Clean

Does a Chicken Lay Eggs Year Round?

How Are Fresh Eggs Different?

Check out the Terra Verde radio program on issues of urban agriculture, food security, and environmental justice with innovative programs in Oakland and around the country. Hell to the yeah.

Last weekend’s Wolf Moon marked the turning point in the season. No more dormant trees and frosted over lettuce leaves. The days are lengthening and the temperature increasing. I am seeing more bird species in my yard and I recently saw a swarm of ladybugs (above pic).

It therefore seems a perfect time to start germination. Each year I try to be in rhythm with nature when I cultivate. Seeds and starts seem stronger and nature does a load the work. With that, I have thrown myself into the outdoor work in an attempt to catch up with Spring in all her glory. The results:

Major “landscape remediation” project to the front yard. After a summer of significant home remodeling, the front lawn was destroyed. I never loved it anyway. So I decided to attempt a more natural landscape of “no mow” fine fescue seeds with spatterings of wildflower seeds. I may have gone nuts with the Crimson Clover on one section. I’ll find out in a month or so.

Virgil cooling his, uh..heels.

I began my rabbit breeding program. I was waiting for the colder months to pass before starting. In preparation I read about how to prepare and what to expect. There is a simple but helpful series online called the Better Farming Series. I was expecting the pair to be shy and reserved for a few minutes, at least. Apparently the timing was right, no introductions, no delays. A successful connection was made and I expect to have a litter in 28-31 days.

I am also raising two pullets (young hens) to swap out two older hens from my flock that seem to have slowed, or entirely stopped, laying.

I will place the shallow honey frames I removed from the hive for the winter back on. I’ve had the bagged frames sitting in my chest freezer to kill off any moths or other bugs that may have inhabited the honeycomb.

Now I am running off to work on the very unglamorous chore of pulling weeds, lots and lots of weeds. Sources of inspiration: 1) Oakland Public Library’s audiobooks on mp3. I am now listening to my first Ivan Turgenev novel. 2) El at Fast Grow the Weeds and Stefani at Sicilian Sisters Grow Some Food.

With the holidays passed and the new year, it is time for farm planning. January may be the only month where the garden and animals are slow and quiet. It is this one calm month that I have to sharpen my tools, separate and select seeds, prep fruit trees and clean beds emptied of their early winter crops. Now is the time to plan which crops will be my main crops for spring and summer, as well as what livestock I plan on keeping. This year livestock may be pretty exciting…time will tell.

I learned a few lessons this year with livestock- namely to acquire my turkey before it is too old so that it can “bond” with me. This makes it much easier to approach to feed and also to pick up. The last turkey I had was to fearful and aggressive because it was not a chick. I also learned that if I want roast goose for Christmas, I need to raise my own. Inspired by the goose preparations I assisted with before Christmas, I decided I wanted to cook a goose. I had seen young geese at Berkeley Bowl. However, it turned out they are $72 for one frozen bird. No thanks. With my level of commitment and degree of knowledge at this point, I can raise several geese for the price of $72.

To help me with some of my tasks I will be attending upcoming classes and meetings. Namely, Berkeley Horticulture offers free classes on pruning rose bushes and fruit trees each Saturday of January. Also, I am going to attempt to graft other fruits onto my trees again this year. Last year, I tried a Pippin Apple to my Fuji but they did not take (thanks for the scions Abby!). This year, I am going to the 2010 Golden Gate Chapter Scion Exchange to see what delicious fruits I might find.

I also have to freeze the shallows I removed from my hive in November in preparation for February. Freezng them should remove any Wax Moth larvae and other critters that have settled in the empty frames. I pray to be on top of my beekeeping this year and have removed any queen cells and expanded the hive before another devastating spring swarm.

Well I guess January is not so quiet after all.

This year the family was a bit spread out for the holidays. However, I was determined to make a gingerbread something for Christmas. In the past we had gingerbread  house competitions but it ended in tears for some. Since it was my non-baking brothers coming over for the holiday, we tried our hands at a group project. This led to the creation of a Gingerbread Guillotine. Morbid as it is, it was quite a cheery project.

Sure, down covered work boots are not what first comes to mind when one thinks of Christmas Goose. No, I instantly think of a fragrant pine wreath on the door, a glass of spicey wine in the hand and a well set table in the middle of which rests a well cooked crispy skinned goose. However, even the most gorgeous goose dinners start with the ritual of sacrifice. According to Nectar and Ambrosia: An Encyclopedia of Food in World Mythology,

“Feasting on geese has long been a tradition in the Old World, as is clear from ancient mythology. The prevalence of goose gods in numerous cultures attests to the ritual importance of geese and to the fact that these rituals date back to antiquity…The goose feast that came to characterize holiday celebrations in later times arise as a modern-day derivative of these ancient rites and sacrifices. People in Europe, Central Asia, North America, and North Africa customarily sacrified geese, particularly at the turn of the seasons. Like other migratory fowl, geese appeared and disappeared at crucial times in the yearly cycle, so eating them customarily accompanied ceremonial events in the solar and agricultural year…After the goose was ceremonially killed, participants in the sacrifice feasted on its flesh in a ritual that they believed would ensure the regeneration of the Earth…Goose was served at the Celtic Samhain, or Halloween; the Germanic Yule, originally the first day of the new year; and Michaelmas, the ritual feast of the winter solstice.”

To this end, I recently joined a Petaluma farmer in preparing winter geese. The day started early in sharp 40° weather (go ahead laugh you Midwesterners). I met the knowledgeable crew while they were setting up a mobile station consisting of a gas fueled scalder, an automated plucker, hangers for plucking and killing cones mounted on the outside.

The most experienced, Lupe, began dispatching birds as the scalder heated.

Then the birds would go into a scalder with water heated to 150°. The goose would be rotated on a perforated platform for nearly a minute. This is much longer than the brief swish of a chicken in hot water. Apparently, the hot water needs time to penetrate the deep layers of goose down (about 1.5 inch thick).

We initially tried placing the soaked bird into an automatic plucker but the feathers were too slick with water repelling oils for the machine to grip them. So instead we hung the goose. Three people plucked it in only a few minutes. This is a startling contrast to the 15-20 minutes it takes me to pluck one duck.

Once only stubborn bits of downy feathers remained, we’d placed the goose in the plucker to finish. I helped with plucking as I appreciated the lesson I received to improve my method. I also enjoyed burying my freezing hands in the gush of hot water that would come from the feathers after scalding.

After plucking, the goose would go to the cleaning table where others would remove, clean, and separate the fat and offal for culinary use.

In the end, thirty-five geese had been prepared for the many upcoming winter feasts of the holiday season.

The farmer who was so gracious as to let me participate in this annual ritual of theirs told me it is important that the recipients of the geese see the head and feet intact. He feels it is important that the goose been seen as, not just a seasonal poultry dish, but a whole animal. One that was once alive and one they are now left to honor in its preparation.

I had the great fortune of participating in a video project this past spring regarding school lunch programs. The resulting video “Lunch is the Lesson” is very well done and worth the 12 minutes to view it.

Well done Michael Hamm, Greg Knowles, Deborah Gallegos and Akyya Mayberry!!

Lunch Is The Lesson from Michael Hamm on Vimeo.