Eckenrode Family

Where You'll Find Him

If he's not on the tractor with his dad you'll find Ben in his garden. He takes his garden very seriously and declared first thing this spring while buying seeds that these vegetables were not for him to eat, but for him to sell. At the nursery he picked every variety of vegetable and flower himself. He prepared the soil himself and sowed the seeds. While his dad runs his rototiller through the garden Ben can be found "plowing" with his bright orange scooter. In the heat of the summer I would find him working there in the hot sun, only convincing him to come out of the sun and into the shade by offering him a popsicle. Early in the season I came outside to find all of his plants dug up on the side of the garden. When I asked him what he was doing he said, "These plants have had their turn in the dirt. I'm giving these new plants their homes." I then had to explain to him that we could find room for all of the plants in the garden.



While the rest of the sunflowers and corn grew well over his head, the sunflowers and corn in his garden grew just his size. Amazing, isn't it?

(Ben with his gardening buddy.)


He has watched with awe as a volunteer watermelon appeared and grew. He has set up stands filled with ripened tomotaoes and sold them to our neighbors. He is a true gardener and I have no doubt that he's inherited his father's love of gardening and extrodinary green thumb.

Reasons For Which I Found Joy Today

 :: Having as my first chore of the day opening the coop and letting Chief and the girls out.
:: Watching the incredible enthsiasm they show for the start of the day.
:: Observing the changing light in the garden.



:: Witnessesing the imaginative play that emerges between these two when the day is completely open.

:: Visiting the coop throughout the day to collect eggs and take the chickens scraps from our kitchen.


:: Marveling at the variety found in nature while washing the potatoes for dinner.
:: And finally, listening to this song.

Right Now I Am

:: Obssessed with and captivated by the sunflowers in our garden. Noticing that they spend most of their time growing tall and blooming. The actual time they spend as beautiful flowers is so fleeting.
:: Reading 3 books at once: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, I Wore the Ocean in the Shape of a Girl by Kelle Groom and Amish Peace by Suzanne Woods Fisher. I am enjoying them all but I predict I'll finish The Happiness Project first.

:: Enjoying the perfect iced coffee recipe. For a special treat you can mix a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk and a 12 oz. can of evaporated milk and add a little to your coffee. With a shot of chocolate syrup it tastes just like Starbucks mocha but will save your about $4.

::  Preparing for the beginning of school. I'm looking forward to the return of routine just as much as I looked forward to the absense of it at the beginning of summer. First grade this year means all day. All day. He eats lunch with his friends instead of me and his brother. Oh my.
:: Enjoying the fact that these eye pillows I made with rice and dried lavendar are finally getting used on a regular basis and seem to be working like a charm.

The Mighty Sunflower

Chicken For Dinner

 A few nights ago we sat down to a dinner that came entirely from our yard. We had cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, potatoes and onions from the garden and a chicken that we’d raised from a chick. We raised these cornish hens with the purpose of getting them butchered after 8 weeks. While the idea of butchering them ourselves did cross my mind, we found a family processing company that would do it for $2 a bird and that was just too good to pass up. So, the boys and I rounded them up in the morning (Miles is the best chicken catcher) and took them to Plucky Poultry Processing.  I stood outside the building and talked to the boys about how much we appreciated the sacrifice these birds were making to put a good meal on our table. The dinner itself wasn’t what I’d hoped it would be. I cooked 2 birds in the oven just like I do most of our whole chickens – I rinse them, pat them very dry with paper towels, rub them in salt and roast them at a high temperature until their internal temperature is 165. Maybe it was this method or maybe it was the birds but either way the meat was a little chewier than what we are used to. So, this go around I’m considering getting rainbow rangers.

Here are some pictures around the chicken yard and garden this evening:

Chief, our salmon faverolle rooster. Isn't he a beauty?

This is Laverne or Shirley. I can't tell her apart from her barred rock sister unless they are next to each other.
I believe this white one is Pecky, named for obvious reasons.
This is my favorite, Tutu. I think she looks like she's wearing a white tutu.
Chief again.
I have never seen sunflowers this tall. They are almost too tall to really get to see the flowers well.

See how tall they are??

State Fair

 

2009
2010
2011

A Moment of Complete Domestic Bliss

Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore by John Prine was playing.