Our Urban Farm Update

It's finally October. As I type this I have a pot of apple, orange, and ginger slices, a cinnamon stick, a pinch of sassafras, and pumpkin pie spice simmering on the stove. It smells heavenly. Fall is a time of celebration for many, especially those of us in Arizona. Everything outdoors-related can be a bit of a challenge in the summer. Matt and I even discussed using summer as many do winter - as a break from the garden. It took lots of valuable water to grow what we did, and it was a struggle to keep our plants happy. With temperatures below 100, here's what's been going on in our little urban backyard! 

Quail

We finally have our happy quail flock! Though I hear chickens in our neighbor's yards, according to our city laws, we're not really supposed to have them. This is one of the main reasons we opted for quail. The males do crow, but it's much quieter, and if they have females around them they aren't as loud. In fact, I love the sound of their little crows! 

My diet is mostly vegan. There are only two exceptions. The first one - quail eggs! 

All the girls are laying now and we're getting between 3 - 6 eggs a day. Three quail eggs are roughly equal to one chicken egg, so we're eating eggs about once a week. My favorite way to eat them is scrambled. I usually use about 15 for a meal for each of us, adding in lots of veggies, of course! 

I know my ethical situation is unique, but I'll share what I've realized since we began keeping quail. If you choose to do this and you do not eat meat, prepare yourself for the fact that the majority of urban farmers who keep quail are raising them for meat. This, of course, is a far better option than purchasing factory-farmed meat, but be prepared for graphic pictures and open talk about it in quail forums, websites, and books. The second thing I realized is that most people keep quail in a metal cage with no bedding and a wire floor. I've even seen them stacked, with very little head room. We opted for a chicken coop for our babies. Though quail aren't known to sit on their eggs, they do make little nests and enjoy rooting around in the grass for bugs. We give them organic feed and supplement with fruits (frozen during the summer!) , sprouts, and little bugs that don't belong in the garden. I love that I can feed them garden pests rather than spray them. 

Garden

My summer garden consisted of Armenian cucumbers and watermelon, but next year I'll have to pick one or the other, since these guys tend to cross-pollinate. :) In early summer we had peppers and tomatoes, but these died off as the heat increased. I will add that I was pleasantly surprised at how well the grape vines tolerated the heat. One of the lattices ripped down during a particularly intense monsoon, but the vine quickly recovered.

We have some high temperatures coming up this week, but I took a chance and went ahead and planted some fall veggies. First I went to our local Starbucks and got a free bag of coffee grounds that was so large I could barely carry it to my car. I spread them out over the soil, then used a hoe to turn them into the top couple of inches. I filled up the wicking beds and planted strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower, spearmint, celery, kale, and green onion. They are under the shade cloth, so I'm hoping that they can tolerate our last few weeks of high temps. 

Lastly, some of our wildflowers are popping up again! 

That's all for now. Happy Fall!