Author: Caryn

E-lectricity

On By CarynIn Coop
Lights on in the coop!

I have had Schoolhouse Rock “Electricity” stuck in my head all day. Why? Because the coop now has power! My husband hooked everything up and it is now live. Yay! We have outlets and lights inside and out.

Now, we are not planning on heating the coop, nor adjusting the light for the hens to increase egg production through the winter. The lights are for safety (inside for counting sleeping chickens, outside to scare away predators). The outlets are so we can brood the chicks in the coop and not in our living space. When the heat of the summer is at its worst, some electric fans may do some good as well. And just in case this whole endeavor goes south, the hen mansion can easily be converted to shop space. Just in case.

By the way, if the song is now stuck in your head too, you’re welcome.

Freezing ginger

On By CarynIn Life Hack
Ginger root

I love ginger root. I use crystalized ginger in my ginger snaps as well as ground ginger. Fresh ginger is wonderful in my favorite egg drop soup, and adds a good zing to another of my favorite dishes: Thai Basil Chicken.

Peeled ginger root

My grandmother used to keep a thumb of ginger root in the freezer. After having several ginger roots get moldy in the fridge, I tried this too. The freezer keeps the mold away, and makes it easier to grate, but oh so cold to hold, and very hard to slice. So I now process my ginger before I freeze it. Much easier to handle! And the slices break or can be minced easily.

Sliced ginger root

I wash the ginger root, peel it with a peeler, slice it thin, and sandwich it between two layers of Press and Seal cling film, then store it in the freezer. When I need some, I just peel open the cling film and take a few slices. Easy peasy!

Sliced ginger root between two layers of Press and Seal, ready for the freezer.

The bane of my existence

On By CarynIn Flora

When we first moved in I discovered a pesky thorny vine sprouting up all over the yard. The exterminator called it “heart shaped briar”, but I couldn’t find any online references to such a vine in Texas that matched what I was seeing. Some more searching brought up Sawbriar, which certainly fits with the sharp thorns along the vine. It also has tendrils which help it entangle the trees and other sawbriar vines. When they all gang together they form a scratchy nearly impenetrable mass that is very difficult to clear. I tried to dig up the root node, to make sure the thing didn’t sprout again, and after digging down over a foot on the first one, I settled for cutting the stem off at ground level at every opportunity. I’ve mostly cleared the large grabbing vines from my paths, and I recently picked up a long handled weeder that does a good job breaking the stems at ground level. I’ve adopted the weeder as my walking stick.

Sawbriar spreads by runners and seeds. The birds eat the berries faster than I can find them, and thus continue the spread. I have found that when I cut them at ground level, and leave them to die for a season, the vines are more brittle and easier to break down. Still as sharp, though.

Winter Sawbriar leaves

These things are everywhere, grab at your legs and basically make a nuisance of themselves.

Find Your Balance

On By CarynIn Flora, meme

Looking up into the trees is one of my favorite things. Balance is important not only physically, but mentally, socially and personally as well. It seemed appropriate to combine the words with my photo. I put this one together in Adobe Illustrator so I could put the word on a path (I like words on a path better than warping text, for most applications.)

Nest

On By CarynIn Wildlife

The hawks in our backyard have been quite noisy. It took awhile, but I finally found their nest in the tallest tree on the lot! Rather exciting to think that there is a possibility of baby hawks. Especially once we have the coop and runs secure from hawks.

Red-shouldered hawk nest
Red-shouldered hawk