mad chicken disease

A bad case of it too, very very mad. and definitely contagious. It's not as commonly known as mad cow disease, but you better believe it's just as ugly.

If you're not familiar with this dreadful condition, allow me:
Mad Chicken Disease, short for Mad At Chickens Disease, aka Mad That I Feed Chickens Who Don't Even Lay Eggs! Disease.

ahem. this brings me to my point: an update on my beloved chix coop!
Forgive my bluntness but lately the chickens are pissing me off.

Who, us?

A brief history: These are my first ever chickens; I acquired the role as their caretaker almost one year ago during which time we have shared many ups and downs.
When Mama Canela began laying, I looked optimistically on our future egg producing/eating exhange. Her girls, the Chicklets, also started popping out a daily egg. happy days!
Sadly, a frustrating period commenced, as Canela became broody and refused to lay eggs. I tried every trick in the book, enduring her angry pecking and dramatic squawking as I attempted various anti-broody techniques. A stubborn hen, Canela refused to yield for many weeks.
Patiently I waited until the joyous day when she resumed egg laying service.
This brings us to recent incidents.
For about a week after our vacation, eggs were rolling in! then, one day instead of 3 eggs, I found only 2. the next day, only 1. eventually, you guessed it: 0 eggs.
The girls all seemed normal, eating well, no sign of broodiness. I beefed up their feed ration--maybe they were malnourished?? Still, no eggs.
Meanwhile, the coop was overtaken by a voracious ayote squash vine, a live decorative shade structure.

The squash leaves were so large and dense,, they were able to hide these from view:

aha!

Sneaky sneaky STRANGE chickens!! They had been laying eggs on the roof of their coop! which makes no sense. Are they doing this to upset me on purpose?? it's not cozy, private, safe, or any of the things a nesting box should be. but, there they were--a secret stash of perfect protein.
Well, now that the laying question was settled, we could get back to our previous arrangement, right?
not. so. fast.
Egg-laying ceased. from that day on, I have yet to find another egg. and i've looked, oh I'VE LOOKED! i've spent mucho tiempo in the coop this week, watching chicken tv.
what I did start to notice were the feathers. everywhere. fluffy down, long wing tips, you name it. all over the ground.
It appears my chickens are MOLTING. and during the 6-9 week molt, hens stop egg laying.
Seriously? because these girls have spent more time the past year off the nest than on.
is it any surprise that these chickens are making me MAD??

so for now, it is off to the mercado to BUY eggs, and stopping by the chicken coop each morning to gather squash ;)

Homeopathy in the Garden

I had heard of homeopathy for treating people, as an alternative form of health care. I don't pretend to fully understand the how, but I used to take a homeopathic remedy for poison oak, which typically gives me a horrendous rash, when hiking in California. The preventative results were remarkable!
Only recently did I learn that using the same logic, homeopathy can be used to treat plant plagues and diseases. Through a fortunate meeting in the Houston airport, our farm became a part of a homeopathic experiment. Presenting my debut in the homeopathy video world.....

La Gata Gorda on Homeopathy from Tamara Montenegro on Vimeo.

To learn more about homeopathy, check http://www.homeopathyworldcommunity.com/

La Purísima

Last week I enjoyed yet another new cultural experience: a week long celebration of the Virgin Mary, La Purísima (The Most Pure). A uniquely Nica tradition, and rooted in catholic ideology, La Purísima ironically has a funky, halloween-like energy.
During the days leading up to the Immaculate Conception, Nicas set out statues of the Virgin, creatively decorated and lit up near the front of their homes.

Each evening, devotees of the Virgin crowd into neighbors and strangers' front rooms to admire and sing to the colorfully displayed icons.

After the requisite singing, this is where things get fun: the hosts pass out brindi: homemade goodies, snacks, small toys and prizes, free stuff! I enjoyed traditional foods such as a baked squash with honey, raw sugar cane, and a gingery beverage that I plan on concocting myself.
The final night of the celebration is La Gritería, or The Shouting (are you feeling the halloween vibe now?)
At precisely 6pm all over Nicaragua, fireworks are ignited and people flood the street to shout:
Quién causa tanta alegría?
La Concepción de María!

What is the cause of our happiness?
Mary's Conception!

The joyful noise is to thank Mary for the miracles she performs. A deluge of people, young and old, rich and poor, then parade through town to visit the literally HUNDREDS of altars.

Doors remain open as hordes of people pour in and out, leaving with sacks full of cookies, chips, even house ware items such as laundry soap and matches.

La Purísima is an opportunity for more affluent families to share their wealth and hospitality with others. In many homes, canvas tote bags and satchels were handed out to be filled with brindi!More fireworks and shouting occur at midnight and the following morning at 6am, after which a sacred silence is observed. This is a very holy day in the Catholic church, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Visiting homes, making new friends, and just cruising the streets at night amongst a boisterous crowd made the event for me. Not to mention coming home with all my brindi!

28 days later

Ok, so it wasn't exactly apocalyptic, but 28 days is a long time to leave your garden, especially in a tropical climate. I felt a bit like Sleeping Beauty after that 100 yr stint when vines grew all up her castle....isn't that what happened?
All in all, i was pleasantly surprised. Having learned the hard way twice before, this Non-Sleeping, or rather Sleep-Deprived Up at Crack of Dawn Farmer Beauty was not going to siesta while the Voracious Vegetation Dragon devoured her garden. I was super diligent about leaving this time. A garden requires mucho preparation before abandonment: extra weeding, heavy mulching, pruning, etc. I even wrote out a numbered list for our caretaker to ensure that nothing would be overlooked.

Joyfully, this was the first time i didn't cry upon returning to my garden!
As usual, ayote squash sprawled like suburbia over garden paths, oregano plants, even the compost pile.

Humongous chayote was dripping off the vine: i filled this basket in seconds!

The chicken coop is shrouded in a weedy fortress!

Exciting surprises awaited me as well:

After 8 months, my gandul (pigeon pea) finally bloomed, and pods developed--

Aren't they gorgeous?!

For whatever reason, I've had a heck of a time getting cucumbers to survive, despite the cozy, shaded mounds and artful climbing fences I've constructed. However, I leave the farm for 3 weeks and a mysterious, hearty cucumber plant shoots up in an unfertilized rocky strip of soil along the concrete wall.it's already FRUITING!

Probably the most dramatic of all, the much-anticipated LUFFAS! these suckers are already an easy 12 inches long, the vine over 10 ft!!

Countdown to all-natural scrub-a-dub!

Los animales are a whole other post...stay tuned.

Deep Fried Squash Blossoms: a spontaneous breakfast

I got out to the garden early this morning and was beckoned by bright orange squash blossoms! They said " Eat us!" and so I endeavored to do just that.

• First I picked 6 of the blooming beauties, all male blossoms, leaving several on the vine for pollination.
• Rinse and remove stem, stamen, and any lurking insects.
• Prepare filling: I chopped onion, garlic, tomato, chili pepper, cilantro, and baby spinach. and grated 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, plus a dash of salt and pepper.
  
  
  

• Mix filling ingredients together (I chose to sautee the garlic and onion first, eliciting their ultimate flavor potential, which was brilliant as the cheese got nice and melty)
  
  
• Gently stuff the awaiting squash blossoms full. I read that you should twist the petals to close the flower up, but they didn't stay shut for me.
  
  
  
  
• Dip and roll each blossom into first, a slightly beaten egg; second, a mixture of 1/4 cup flour with 1/2 cup cornmeal + 1 tsp salt
  
  
• Fry baby fry! (did i say this was healthy?) Allow all sides to become a crispy golden brown.
  

• Optional scrambling of leftover egg--I added one more to make the meal complete.
  
  Welcome to yum city! A hearty farm fresh breakfast to kick off the day!
  

Garden 911

I don't mean to alarm anyone, but some of my plants need HELP!!
Please pardon my departure from cheery pretty plant posts to lament some of the tough realities in my organic garden.
Maybe you've experienced one of these issues, or you are an accomplished gardener, or perhaps you are simply a nice person with an idea, please feel free to TELL ME WHAT TO DO!

First, have a looksie at my pipian--it is a local variety of squash, soft skin much like a zucchini. This is what keeps happening :(

The leaves develop a white moldy-looking hue, eventually yellow and die, as do any developing squashlings.

In the past my zucchini and yellow squash was decimated by several pests; for educational purposes i will relive these painful moments wherein my cucurbits were prey to striped cucumber beetles, squash bugs, and vine-borers. Yesterday i found evidence of vine-borers once again AND i caught this sneaky lady bug look-alike chomping away.

I am now wondering: Is it the pests causing an untimely demise to my pipian,,,,or is that white stuff a tell tale mold/fungus problem?

?

My garden, though pest-ful, is pesticide free ;) so spraying toxins is out. I do have a concentrated neem oil that i am more than willing to use. I have also employed companion planting and beneficial plants (nasturtium, mint, marigold, borage, garlic) to discourage pest infestations.
And here, with my pumpkin plantitas (probably started too late for Halloween), is a cute preventative method i read about:

shiny aluminum foil wrapped around the base of the stem, with the intention of foiling those vexatious vine-borers. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Next up in my Plagued Plant Tour, a disappearing leaf incident. Congo chiles are the spiciest type of local chile you'll find in Nicaragua. they are tiny but pack a punch. My congo bush was thriving, until......

one day it had NO MORE leaves! Nada. And this has happened before with another congo, which subsequently shriveled up and died. ¿que paso?

?

Finally, assuming you are not too depressed to keep going, may i submit one more sickling:

Scarlet Runner Bean

Again, not a new issue. The bright scarlet beans sprout and grow about this much before the leaves yellow, curl up a bit, and die. I have not seen any pests. and pole beans have done well in the same area. hmmmmm...

?

That's the sob story. FYI we are in the middle of the Wet Season, buckets of rain almost every day.

I appreciate any advice, suggestions, tips a kind reader might have! or commiseration, or just good-old fashioned pity....
con mucho gusto,
Liz

Lluvia

Time for a serious update! Apologies to anyone who has been following our crazy farm adventures, and a public apology to all the flora and fauna i have neglected the past few weeks :) Now i know: "dry" tropical forest don't mean nothin during the rainy season, AND it's a very bad time to leave garden plants unattended. Just like with kids, you leave 'em alone for long enough, they go WILD:

As I could have predicted, the ayote squash once again claimed reign over the garden. Squash is a hearty plant in general, and here in our "dry tropical" climate, ayote demonstrates a supreme level of prowess. This time, however, I was prepared. Instead of planting 3 seeds to a mound 2 ft apart, as dictated by standard squash cultivation, I planted a total of only four seedlings, and several feet apart at that, so the voracious monsters have been unable to dominate completely.

Many fruit have already formed!

Thanks to my newly-acquired curcubit experience, this time around ample space was available for my sandía (watermelon) to finally spread her vines!

(Last fall during my first go-round in the garden, squash ended up obliterating all trace of my precious sandías. i cried.)

Other exciting developments include:

arbolitos!

Front and center is a cashew baby, started from a fruit i harvested (and ate) on the farm. Behind, do you recognize these two? The Jane Doe sisters! Unidentified saplings that i started from an unknown seed.

Espinaca!

While I transplanted my original espinaca (Basella alba) to the farm, seeds from the mother plant continue to sprout, providing us with fresh greens daily.

I think i finally got the hang of my favorite flavor of all, jenhibre (ginger),

though i'm not sure how to know when they are ready to harvest?

And.....

for the first time ever i am growing bell peppers!

Because of all the blight issues with the tomatoes, i am taking every precaution to protect the peppers from fungus. They will be transplanted to the ground in mounds where HOPEFULLY the daily downpours will run off rather than pool up.

This is only a small taste of the delicious overgrowth happening during our Epoca de Lluvia. Here, when it rains it really does pour. i am spending most non-rain hours, usually mornings, pulling a jungle of weeds which then re-grow during the afternoon. i love it! Recently i've found that getting down on my hands and knees and pulling weeds as i crawl makes me feel like a jungle cat. anyway....

While the weeds grow, i'm doing my own growing indoors--the kombucha keeps comin'!
Two new flavor discoveries, Zacate Limón (lemongrass) y Fresa (Strawbery).

yum!

At this point, i have more SCOBYs than i know what to do with!

and my real jungle cat, napping to the sound of rain on the garage roof

Stuffed Ayote Squash

My first official garden to table entree!!
After monitoring this ayote squash's growth the past 3 weeks, I deemed it harvestable at about 5pm today, picked it, and by 7pm it was featured in my Sunday night dinner! there's lots of ways to stuff a squash, i went with whatever was on hand. In addition to the squash, i proudly incorporated my homegrown tomates and oregano!
BAKED STUFFED AYOTE SQUASH FOR 2
Ingredients:
1 big squash--ayote is the most common squash around here, though any winter squash will do
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 lb tofu
1/2 onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
3 or 4 garlic cloves, diced or pressed
oregano, basil, rosemary, or other italian spices
1/4 cup chopped cashews, opt.
shredded mozzerella cheese, opt.

First step, cut squash in half, scoop out seeds, and bake in a dish filled 1/2 with water at about 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. (until squash meat is tender).



Meanwhile, start quinoa--add 1/2 cup of dry quinoa to 1 cup of boiling water; simmer 10-12 minutes, until all water is absorbed. While quinoa cooks, in a skillet sautee onion and garlic; add tofu and spices--cook 5 more minutes.

When squash is cooked, remove from oven, scoop out soft meat, and add to skillet. (You want the squash to keep it's shape, so go easy on the scooping, leaving the shells in the baking dish.) Once quinoa is ready, add that to skillet too, along with tomatoes.

Stir the quinoa/squash filling over low heat for few minutes before spooning it into awaiting squash "bowls."


I topped mine with chopped cashews and mozzerella cheese. To veganize, simply substitute cheese for nutritional yeast, or other vegan gravy. Bake 15 more minutes.

Dinner!

HARVEST?

We're not waiting for autumn, Thanksgiving, or any date at all. Febrero, junio, septiembre, doesn't matter! Harvest is ALL YEAR LONG in these parts! From the farm this week, may I proudly present our second ayote squash, patiently awaiting its debut in Mildred's special del almuerzo, Sopa Vegetariana.


And feast your eyes on these TANGERINES (not limes)! You can wait for them to get orangey sweet or use them green in tangy sour refrescos (fruit drinks)!

OK seriously, the weather is balmy all year so it is possible to cultivate and harvest continuously. this is obvious. However there are SEASONS here, and i'm still trying to figure them out. When i arrived here last July, it was HOT. basically summer. easy. Slowly but surely the rain showers increased in length and frequency, by Oct we welcomed La Epoca de Lluvia. again, easy. Come January, I was expecting warming temps, spring-like, and so i began planting seeds. Scarlet Runner Beans to be exact. Turns out, surprise! It's the Windy Season, silly! At first it seemed refreshing, pleasant even. Six weeks later, allow me to reflect:
Serious strong gusts of wind day AND night. Bike riding? challenging to say the least. Sleeping soundly? impossible, as doors and windows and the roof rattle and shake and shiver. Being at the farm? loose dirt in your eyes gets old FAST. Growing pole beans????? sad, sad, amateur mistake. here's hoping the winds will fade before my bean babies reach heights worthy of wind ravage.

My contribution to the ongoing harvest this week: Tons of Kombucha! Our liquor cabinet has been transformed, bottles of booze reused as bottles of 'buch. Did you spot the old Carlo Rossi wine bottle now harboring a fizzy ginger-lemon brew? (see ginger floating in the bottom)


here's a bubbly glass of kombucha de jamaica, a simple infusion of hibiscus tea. DElicious!