What's Happening at Sow and Tare?

December 2023

Welcome to the Sow and Tare monthly newsletter! I want to give a special thank you shout out to everyone who joined the email list, and ask for patience as I learn the website and email list process. The below newsletter shares a little bit of inspiration, what happened in November, what's going to happen in December, and what Sow and Tare is currently offering for workshops/consulting, merchandise, and local products. Enjoy, and I hope to see you at our Monday Live Chats every Monday at 6 PM Pacific Time on YouTube!

A Little Bit of Inspiration:

Have you planted your winter garden yet? I haven't. I've picked out my winter garden seeds and my tomatoes and zucchinis recently gone to bed for the year. As the year comes to a close, it is a time for reflection and for goals to be made for the coming year. I encourage you to make reachable goals and have goals you find a little out of your current reach--you will get there, and if you if you have those goals in your sights, you will achieve them at some later time.

So what does this have to do with me not planting a winter garden yet? I still can, and so can you. Winter gardens may look different depending on where you live. I am in California where it rarely gets below freezing, it does frost in the winter though, so I can grow things outdoors though the winter, such as green, broccoli, and peas, fava beans, and other crops. Winter is a great time to get started with indoor gardening, to set up a space to sow your seeds for the spring garden, and even to try your hand at growing microgreens or sprouts. Sprouts, in particular, are super easy to grow and give you super nutritious food in just a few days!

When referencing your goals throughout the coming year, remember to give yourself flexibility and forgiveness. Things happen, "life happens", unexpected events occur, and outside forces change the direction of things. Go with the flow and keep your overreaching goal in your sights. If you find you need help, ask someone.

What happened in November (and 1st half of December):

Cook With Me Live! We had our November Cook With Me Live Members-Only Event and it was great! We cooked the best home-made pumpkin pie and whipped cream! We also made some fun crafty turkey centerpieces and learned a little bit of a fancy napkin fold to make the Thanksgiving table look fancy!! If you would like to become one of Katrina's Kits and attend these Members-Only events, click here to join. I have made a playlist on the YouTube channel only members can see so if you become a member, or if you are already a member and you missed an event, you can even go back and watch the replay of past events!

Penne and Risotto! My new female bunny breeders (to be bred in March) got their names after MUCH debate and nearly a three-way tie for naming! Penne and Risotto moved into the Racken House (rabbits over chickens) this month and have adjusted pretty well! Click here for the video.

Retiring Parmesan! As my regular viewers know, Mr. Parmesan, my original buck, has been "shooting blanks". He's getting to be an old man, so I am looking for a retirement home for him. A lot of people process old bucks, however, I feel he gave me a lot of babies and deserves to live out his retirement, therefore, I am looking for a good retirement home for him--he will gladly trade loving pets for magic poop sure to make your garden grow even better than Jack's beans...did you know rabbit manure is a cold manure and you can use it directly on your plants? It's magic! If you are local to me and want to be Parmesan's loving caretaker, please email me and we'll see if you are a good fit for him.

New Buck Rabbit! As Mr. Parmesan is retiring, I needed a new buck rabbit. I found him about 3.5 hours away from me: a black New Zealand born of broken parents. Broken parents? Yep. In short, it means his Mom and Dad both have black and white colors in their coats. He is a super duper sweety who needs a name!

Tested Incubators for my Hatching Rental Business! I tested five Brinsea Mini II incubators for my hatching rental business coming soon. They had excellent hatch rates and I was even gone for almost a week during incubation! Having baby quail back in the brooder feels so right. They are tiny and every time they hatch I am amazed at how incredibly small they are! If you are local to me, I have a few things I need to get in order before renting these out; if you are local to Gilroy, California, I would love to have one of you be my first customer! Please email me here to pre-sign-up!

Updates to the Main Aviary! The main aviary got some extra rain protection with some boards in an area where water was pooling on the tarp. This should keep the birds even happier.

Re-Bred Bunnies Again and Still No Kits! Ravioli and Rigatoni have one more day to have kits before they get re-bred again. This time, they will get bred to the new black New Zealand buck! Wish them luck!

What's coming up for the rest of November:

Cook With Me Live! This is a members-only event for Katrina's Kits! If you are a member of Katrina's Kits, next Sunday, December 17th at 11 AM Pacific Time, we are getting together Live on YouTube to cook something together! We will be baking Challah, a braided Jewish bread made with saffron as well as making "mice on snow" cookies! Click here to join us. If you would like to become one of Katrina's Kits, click here to join. This has been a super fun event so far, and I encourage people to join us for some fun!

Live Chats! Both Christmas and New Years are on Mondays this year. I am not planning to have a Live Chat on Christmas and I have not decided if I will on New Year's or not. It might be fun if enough people are active in the chat--I am also unsure if I have other plans yet, so that may or may not happen. No matter what, we will have the Live Chat on December 18th and be back to regular Live Chats on January 8th.

Naming the New Buck! I am not yet sure if December or January is best for naming, keep watch for the Live Chats and community page for voting!

Making the Ultimate No-Waste Chicken Feeder! I'm doing it, I'm putting this in the newsletter so it gets done! I have plans to make the Ultimate No-Waste Chicken Feeder in December--this is the same design as the Ultimate No-Waste Quail Feeder with larger holes and slightly different placement. The ladies have figured out they can get the feed out of their current feeder with their feet, so hopefully this new one will prevent this behavior.

Learn! Hatch! Grow! Hatching Rental Program!

The incubators have been tested, and I will be working on finalizing paperwork, insurance, etc. necessary for the hatching rental program! I will be making a list of people for this program once it is ready. In all reality, the program itself will likely start in January. If you are local to Gilroy, California and want to pre-sign-up for this experience, please email me here.

Ravioli and Rigatoni! Ravioli and Rigatoni have one more day to have kits before they get re-bred again. This time, they will get bred to the new black New Zealand buck! Wish them luck!

Workshops and Consulting:

I offer workshops and consultation as requested.

Click here for workshop details (garden tours, hatching rental kit, raising coturnix quail, canning, butchering, vermiculture and more!)

Click here for consulting details (garden planning, course curriculum development and review, and more!)

What Products are Available Locally:

As always, you can find products for sale (both shipped and local pick up) on the website here.

Eggs: I only have light on the Raviary (rabbits and quail) right now, so we are getting a limited amount of quail eggs (no supplemental light in winter=no eggs), so I am not taking large orders at this time. Let me know if you would like some eggs and I will save some back for you.

Herbs: Many of my herbs have gone to flower or seed and many of them have not. Fresh herbs currently available include French sorrel, winter savory, culinary sage, spearmint, and lemon verbena--until frost comes.

Pineapple Guava (Feijoa): These yummy fruits are ripening, they are super tasty!

Bearded Iris: Now is the season for separating irises, and I have some amazing dark purple bearded irises available.

More! I likely have more than I can think of right now, and can make crafts to order. If you want to see if I have something else available, email me here.

Sow and Tare Online Store:

As always, you can find products for sale on the website here. We have merchandise including T-shirts and sturdy canvas bags in addition to our farm products.

Discount Codes and Affiliate Links:

For your easy access to quick discounts on fun things and to access affiliate links, visit my website here. There's tons to choose from and worth looking into.