Finally, some fruit tree success! I picked these lovelies from the Desert Gold peach tree in the backyard a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I've picked and eaten three more peaches, which were all the tree produced this year. That's actually a pretty good crop from my sad little backyard orchard, so I'm happy about it.

Unfortunately, the first two peaches were not very tasty. They had a watery, mushy consistancy that I didn't really enjoy. I think it may have been because I was watering the tree too much as the fruit was ripening. I picked the rest of the peaches after taking a break from watering and they were delicious. So, another lesson learned.

I should probably get a book on fruit trees so I stop making these rookie errors. I've had a book called The Home Orchard on my wish list for a little while. Do any of you have that book or another that you'd recommend? I don't have a lot of reading time these days, so I need more of a reference I can turn to for tips rather than a book I'd need to read cover-to-cover.

Anyway, I am happy about the small peach crop, and I hope next year brings even more fruit on that tree. There's really nothing like a freshly-picked summer peach.

Next up: the fig tree. I spotted some baby fruit this weekend. I don't expect a bumper crop, but I'm hoping to get a handful of figs before the bugs and squirrels get to them. Wish me luck!

I was just thinking that my next chicken update would be kind of boring because there haven't been any interesting developments with the girls lately. Then the chickens were attacked by a hawk!

Let me put your mind at ease because I know you're worried: everyone is fine. Last night, I was out at dusk watering my garden, and all five girls were free ranging, snacking on the embarrassingly thick weeds in the back yard. I wasn't really paying attention to the chickens when all of the sudden I heard furious clucking and flapping wings. I turned around just in time to see a hawk swooping over the yard. All the girls ran for cover, hiding under bushes, and the hawk flew up and away. I ran over to check on the chickens and they all looked okay. No one was bleeding, and they didn't even seem to have ant rumpled feathers. After they confirmed the coast was clear, all five girls rushed back into the safety of their run.

The whole hawk incident lasted about 60 seconds, but it was pretty exciting. I was really impressed by the chickens' awareness of their surroundings. It seemed like one of them must have made a warning cry so the others knew to hide. The hawk wasn't very big, so I'm not sure it would have been able to carry off the bigger hens like Tina or Janice, but it could have possibly grabbed Rita or Betty. I'm not sure how much weight a hawk can carry.

Speaking of the new girls, here they are hanging out in their run a couple of weeks ago. They have settled in nicely, although there are definitely two chicken cliques--Tina and Peggy, the older girls, versus Betty, Rita and Janice.



The new girls' personalities have started to emerge. Janice seems sweet, but maybe not so smart. Rita is a bit shy. Betty has a similar attitude to Peggy, which makes sense since they're both Easter Eggers. Both girls are fast and a little feisty. Betty has been taking flying leaps off the top of stairs and wood piles, testing out her wings.

None of the new chickens have started laying, and we may have a while to wait because they don't even have combs or wattles yet. I hope they don't take too long because Peggy has pretty much quit laying. Tina's doing her best to provide for us, but there's only so much one hen can do.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may been wondering why I haven't been posting much lately. Well, I have a really good excuse: I had a baby!

He's a boy and he's pretty great so far. But, unsurprisingly, he's been using up some of my gardening, chicken keeping, cooking, crafting and blogging time. I did still manage to plant a partial summer garden, which I'll write about soon, along with a chicken and kitchen update. And there are many, many baby-related blog posts in the works.

As you may have guessed, we are trying to be frugal, resource-efficient and sustainable parents. That started before the boy even arrived, with solicitations to friends for their hand-me-downs and purchases of gently-used items off of craigslist. (No one should ever buy a new co-sleeper. There are so many practically new ones for sale online.) And it continues now that he's here, with cloth diapers, handmade toys and green cleaning products.

For now, though, I'll leave you with this photo of his tiny baby toes. Because, let's be honest, all I really want to talk about is how cute he is.