Fall has finally arrived to the San Francisco Bay Area.  It seems as though Mother Nature just flip the switch between Summer and Autumn without the usual slow transition.  We've now had our first rain (seen live on the Giant's game that won them a spot in this year's World Series...go Giants!).  It was just in time for our garden. …

Henny and Penny had gotten pretty darn grungy in the "caboose" area.  From what I read, it's just the way it goes with fluffy butt hens.  We could either give them a feather trim or bathe them. Seriously???  Bathe a chicken?! Believe it or not, I even found You Tube videos about bathing chickens!  Most are recorded by 4H kids…

I had the joy of reconnecting with a high school friend and finding out how much our lives have had in common over the last I-Won't-Tell-You-How-Many years.  Let's just leave it as we're very very wise women!  You can imagine how much fun it was to find that we both share a passion for chickens.  Yesterday we got together for…

It's hard to believe that August is almost over.  For those of us who are attuned to the seasons via our gardens, this is the harvest time of the year.  In our corner of California, it's also the time when the summer vegetables are winding down and the time has arrived to plant our winter crops.  I'm planting Kale, Beets,…

Wow, this has been the summer of learning at Casa HenSongs! Remember that fantastic idea to hang a fly trap in the chicken run? I believe I said it would be the answer to keeping flies down to a minimum and make us good backyard chicken neighbors? I was wrongOh SOOOOOOO wrong! Today I went into the yard to settle down…

This year our yellow crookneck squash plants are producing like crazy.  I wish I could figure out what I did to reverse my inability to grow squash over the past few years.  Some say the weather is better....some give credit to Henny and Penny scratching a pecking.  I'm thinking that the garden elves are just happy with me. Living near…

Woo hoo!  One of my dill plants survived!  I'll admit that it's not the most beautiful plant - but I've never had one survive before.  Perhaps the silver spoon plant marker gave it hope and purpose in life. Quickles Have you ever forked over $5 at a high end grocery store for a jar of dilled green beans?  I'm here…

It's been a while since Henny and Penny have made an appearance here on Fingers in the Dirt.  This week Mr. HenSongs and I also realized it's been a while since we've done a serious cleanup of Casa HenSongs.  The weather has warmed up and it was too much to hope that the aromatic smell coming from the backyard was…

I don't know about you, but it's when the power goes out that I remember we've never bothered to put candles, a holder, and matches all in one place.  This super quick and easy project solves that problem. It's also a nifty idea for gifts. People will think you're oh so clever and thoughtful. Supplies 1 - 12 ounce Ball…

My last post about our passion for supporting our local ranchers and the value of grassfed meat made me hungry.  Mr. Hensongs said it made him REALLY, REALLY HUNGRY and reminded him of my mom's yummy recipes. Now, for Mom, "recipe" was a loosely used term.  She was a farm girl, single mom (my dad died when I was young)…