La Casa Grande Colectiva

Year: 2009

  • Recycling House Mates

    Hi, my name is Don Thorsen and I’ve recently moved into La Casa, here in Urbana Illinois.  Maria put up on our wall a poster of C-U from around circa 1972(?).
    Urbana-Champaign poster
    And I was able to pull from my just moved belongings a drawing from 1974 of “Earthworks”  the co-op grocery store also shown on Maria’s historic poster.
    Don's drawing of Earthworks (1974)

    The ideas and ideals of community, versus say commodity, have been around longer than any of us, but I’m pleased to once again be a part of a household of active, interesting folks!   Be seeing you around.

  • Fowl Pox – Avipoxvirus, not chicken pox

    About a week ago I noticed some black crud on the comb of one of our ISA browns.  At first it just looked like some dirt, but then I saw it the next day and the next.  I’ve read that people new to chicken keeping can get caught up in the excitement and novelty of their flock and overlook the health of the birds.  I’ve been trying to avoid that mistake by routinely checking each bird and noting any apparent changes.  After doing some online research and finding photographic examples of different diseases, I went out this morning to photograph the sick chicken for comparison.
    Fowl pox? on ISA brown comb Fowl pox? on ISA brown comb

    The black crud went away and now there are small white lesions on both sides of her comb.  This tells me that she has fowl pox, a very common viral infection in poultry around the world.  From what I’ve read online there is no treatment for fowl pox and it usually runs its course in 3-5 weeks.  [USDA info page] I’m going to make a call into the local Extensions office on Monday to seek advice and see if she should be quarantined form the rest of the flock. My inclination is yes, but I don’t where we’d put her at this point. Prevention through vaccination seems to be the only way to deal with fowl pox, which makes me wonder which if any of our birds were vaccinated.

  • Black Bean Burgers

    We had a potluck dinner at La Casa tonight, which turned into a little fire in the garden firepit with guitar, conversation, & digestion.  The food theme?  “Americana!”  I tried out a new recipe, which came out very well, so I think I’ll share it.

    It comes from this website & goes like this:

    INGREDIENTS

    • 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
    • 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
    • 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
    • 3 cloves garlic, peeled
    • 1 egg
    • 1 tablespoon chili powder
    • 1 tablespoon cumin
    • 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
    • 1/2 cup bread crumbs

    DIRECTIONS

    1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.
    2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
    3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
    4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
    5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
    6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

    I tripled the recipe, cooked black beans instead of messing around with cans, & (of course) used eggs from our chickens. I didn’t like how the burgers came out baking them, so I decided to fry them in sunflower oil. Yum!

    Maria, JP, & Gretchen also cooked amazing food, so maybe they’ll share their recipes, too.  & of course, our guests brought great dishes, so maybe some of them can share in the comments.

    potluck at la casa potluck at la casa

  • JAR band at the IMC

    The JAR band opened a show at the Independent Media Center yesterday.
    JARband at the IMC
    My poor excuse for a camera was there to insufficiently document the moment.

  • A gift in the mail – fire salt

    I received a letter this morning from a longtime friend, Chris Juby.
    Gift from Juby
    I was hungry…
    EggsCooking eggsCkicken and the eggs
    In general we are a low-sodium house, but I always put a bit of salt on my personal meals. Of course he was correct: the fire salt goes great with fresh eggs. Made of: chiles, habanero, citrus, garlic, shallots, cumin, salt, allspice, and vinegar, good on popcorn, potatoes, and eggs. Someone’s getting eggs for easter, thanks jubes!

  • Urbana Chicken Effort – 5 Year Update

    extreme-chicken1Lately we’ve had several revelations about chicken keeping in Urbana, IL.  It started when Ronna dug up this 2004 article from the New York Times while doing research on Urbana city ordinances.  The article begins, “A movement is underfoot in Urbana.”  Well, this is an update on Urbana chickens 5 years later.

    The article titled “From City-Reared Chickens, Farm-Fresh Eggs” (10/4/2004) quotes city attorney Steve Holz (*arrested development chuckle) “There is no restriction on livestock or poultry in the city [of Urbana].”  It goes on to say that “the city can take action against owners if they keep the animals in a way that hurts the health or safety of the neighborhood.”  So thats it. Keeping chickens in town is %100 legit, until they become a problem.

    I joined the yahoo group Urbana Chicken Effort awhile back, which I presume was the original communication tool for the “movement” that the article mentions.  With 32 members signed up, the list is still used to coordinate feed and chick buying.

    The other revelation occured when Heather ran into Danielle Chynoweth at the IMC.  According to Danielle, our oldest chicken, Ginger, was originally owned by Molly Stentz and is estimated to be 8 years old!  The 2004 NYTimes article quotes Stentz as saying, “There are so many people in my neighborhood who are doing it.  It’s low-maintenance and fun.”  This means that our elderly Ginger is one of the original Urbana Chicken Effort chickens, and she’s still ticking!

    So, La Casa is curious to know more about the history of Urbana Chickens.  How many people are keeping chickens in town these days?  Do they take as many photos as us?  How can we help each other and encourage more chicken cooperation?  Please comment and let us know how your ladies are doing.

  • Another weekend recap!

    DSC_5629b
    Jacob, Andrew and Ronna re-sodding our muddy front yard.
    New Sod!
    A beautiful grass island was formed.
    DSC_5647b
    The neighbor’s yard was covered in spring time flowers!

    sophie1
    Sophie howled and barked at dogs across the yard.

  • Jacob – La Casa Hair Model?

    Last week Jacob came back from a week long trip to Olympia, WA. I celebrated his return by straightening his hair.

    dsc_5618b

  • Bee Hives Arrive

    Harvest House resident Robby Nagel brought his beehives over today.  Robby inherited the hives from his grandpa who retired from beekeeping a few years ago.
    Robby shows how the smoker works
    Robby has been going to beekeeping classes offered by the Central Eastern Illinois Beekeepers Association and approached us a few months ago about keeping bees in our big yard.  We’re not only glad to share in the honey but the bees will function as excellent pollinators to our trees and crops.  In the photo above, Robby is showing me how the different pieces of equipment work.

  • weekend update, permaculturist, beds, holes, lots of talk, and eggplant parmesan

    There’s a lot going around the house these days. Here’s a quick recap of the weekend.
    Transplanting sod to the front yard
    Andrew and Ronna transplanted some of the sod that was leftover from new garden beds to a bare spot in the front yard. Sophie supervised.
    Rob and Peter chat in the garden
    Rob brought over a friend and longtime permaculture expert, Peter Bane, for a chat in the garden. It turns out the Peter grew up in Urbana and had lots of stories about home-scale food production in the area.
    Gretchen and eggplant parmesian
    Gretchen brought over some eggplants and whipped up a two stellar pans of eggplant parmesan, one vegan. It was incredibly delicious.

    There were many hours spent outside, digging, thinking, and moving.  Plans for the pond that we’re digging have taken off.  Now we’re thinking about ducks, fish, and waterfalls, although lots of research needs to be done still.  Garden excavations have continued, and Mac, Kannan, and JohnE have improved their beds with compost and more topsoil.  Ronna has been ‘potting-up’ some of the seedlings as its not yet time to move them outside.  All in all a good weekend.

  • Blooming Manchurian Apricot Tree

    dsc_5857b_web

    With our bamboo in the background.

  • Disc Golf is a house favorite

    Today was a rather cloudy and cold day. So I had some 4 o’clock mimosas with friends and then biked over to join JP, Drew and Jacob for some “frolf,” as some like to call it. (frisbee golf or disc golf). There is an amazing mulberry tree on the far end of the course which I can’t wait to devour berries from in the summer time. Check out my friend Brad’s photos of purple fingers and a green frolf course.
    DSC_5705b
    DSC_5707b
    DSC_5717b
    DSC_5735b

    Shenanigans!!