Cold Nights, Warm Kitchen

No visitors at the buffet. Bad sign.

Having repeatedly taunted the New England weather over the last several weeks mother nature has decided to kick me hard, and it probably serves me right.  From temperatures pushing 50° F around Christmas we have plummeted severely.  Daytime temps have flirted with freezing for the past week and overnights have been closer to zero. Tomorrow we'll be lucky to get to 20° for a high and -10° (yeah, that's 40 below freezing) overnight.

Makes me shiver just talking about it.  One benefit from last week's weather though is we have a bit of snow on the ground.  This makes chores harder but the scenery better.  So far I have not slipped on the ice yet, but I suspect I'll have my chance before things warm up.  With the snow layer as shallow as it is, a day or two of halfway decent weather will probably melt it all.  Not that I'm complaining mind you... but this time last year I'm pretty sure we had over a foot on the ground and more on the forecast. (continued)

"Buc-buc-buc-buc-buc-buc-buc-buc"

He's only getting started. I bet he'll work his way
up to colors and stripes.

One needs to collect the eggs every day with chickens. It's a really good reminder usually of how good they are to keep around.

The rabbits I would not have considered keeping for eggs. Of course, the experts only write the books but nobody yet has gotten the rabbits to read them so maybe the poor critters just don't know how it's supposed to work.  Here I was, operating under the assumption that my rabbits were mammals, and that this one was in fact male... and he laid an egg.

The chickens left me 11 eggs of the more standard variety today too so maybe we'll let Mr. Rabbit lay a few more and see what happens.

There's a First Time For Everything

Assorted bits ready for trimming/cleaning.

Turns out pig butchery is pretty easy. I was surprised too. Best part as far as I'm concerned is there are no feathers.  The meat to plucking time ratio is optimal.  The sheer volume can be a bit of an issue, but I have always said having enough of a good thing to be worried about having "too much" is the kind of problem I like to have.  More photos after the break.

Merry Christmas

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home! ~Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

Meet and Greet

Photo #1  Goldie.  An attractive and (more importantly) well behaved rooster selected from our flock of broilers last year.  Large and in charge, he is a real presence in the hen house.  I look forward to seeing what kind of offspring result from pairing him with our broiler hens. The rangers are a 4 cross hybrid so odds are the results will be unpredictable... but that's the fun part right?

Photo #2 Rocky.  The one and only Barred Rock Rooster himself.  From a order of 25 hens Rocky here was the only male overlooked.  Rocky and Goldie get along well and usually divvy up the roostering duties evenly even though there is a striking size difference between them.  Rocky doesn't seem to mind being overlooked, and he is always watching for danger from around the corner and under cover.

Photo #3 Just one of the "lucky ladies" the boys spend all that effort crowing about.  Her, the 15 other Barred Rock hens just like her will make up the majority of this year's laying flock. The other girls are varied a bit.  A few broiler hens from this year, a few more from the year before and only a handful of Rhode Island Red hens pushing their 3rd year rounds out the bunch.

We're looking forward to a productive hen house I think.

Homebrew

A side benefit to all that applesauce and all those apples comes in the form of home made apple cider, apple mead, apple wine, hard cider and the like. "Apple ferments" for lack of a better term. I love me some homebrewed apple ferments.

Between a general lack of (empty) brewing equipment and the rush to put up all that apple sauce right away my apple related brewing was more of an afterthought than a project. Even so, I had 7 gallons worth of beverage ready to re-rack and get into a secondary fermenter this week.

While this is certainly not enough to eliminate my hard cider purchasing over a whole year it will put a nice comfortable dent in it I think.  Planning starts now to be geared up and ready to go for much more fermenting by next fall's harvest.  I am ABSOLUTELY sure I want an annual cider tradition around here (and I'm equally sure the folks getting gifts from us would enjoy that greatly also).

Getting started is easy.  Anyone familiar with my friend Carlo Rossi probably already spotted him in my photograph.  Recycling glass gallon jugs is awesome, but food grade plastic buckets or even larger glass vessels are great too.  If all you have is a glass gallon, an air lock, a recipe, and some brewer's yeast you are ready to begin.  Some folks get really into following a recipe and prefer certain products or techniques to follow each time.  I myself find taking a relaxed approach to it with more than a little playful experimentation still yields great results and often cool surprises.

Like so much else that is worth the wait the problem lies within the waiting. I should be able to keep my hands off it until Christmas.  I hope.

Five and One Half Months

From July 1st to December 15th is 167 days, or 5 months 14 days, or exactly how long it took those Barred Rock layers to produce their first wee little eggs.

We've been in a real dry patch for eggs lately between the seasonal decrease (caused by day length), the older girls molting, and the overall colder temperatures.  We've never used supplemental lighting in our coop before this year but after weeks without an egg the setup and experiment is worth it I think.  With an egg or three per day from the older girls since the light went on I'm glad we did set one up.

Today we should be turning the corner on the shortage though.  This pair of little "beginner" eggs should be the tip of the iceberg.  16 girls gearing up will mean a small pile of this little eggs now, and a dozen at least per day in the spring.

Ah...spring.  On second thought, don't talk to me about spring right now I still have snow between my toes I think.

Apples. Apples all the way down.

Windfall apples. Literally. 15 bushels.

You may have detected a theme, here at the homestead.  We spend the majority of our time working with, working on, and talking about things that we like.  Never forget that it is OK to surround yourself with work that you like, things that you like, food that you like, you know the IMPORTANT things, the things that make you feel good the things that make you feel the most YOU.

Like apples.  There are whole sections of the country where folks are no more than a short drive away from an apple orchard. Facebook is covered right now with people happily indulging in their fall tradition of an afternoon spent apple picking. They will spend a few hours there, pick a few apples, take a few home, pay top dollar for top quality and leave happy. I am not so easily satisfied. (continued)

How To: Oven Pickles

Ugly oven, shiny pickles.

More about pickles? Yes, more pickles.  Batch style pickles are good for the end of the season as your supply begins to wind down.  If you have made your batch of real pickles you should have enough pickles to satisfy for now, these ones will last longer. This is also a good approach to use for longer term storage as these pickles will leave the oven canned and ready to hit the pantry.

How To: Canning That Extra Chicken

First, You will need one of these. (Click for Amazon)

Previously, we discussed turning a chicken from one meal into several and it was pointed out (accurately) that while I mentioned the canning process I did not discuss it.  An omission to be rectified immediately.

Canning for long term storage is all about heat treatment and safety.  Safety while you work around the hot equipment and the hot stove, safety in ensuring you are using the right recipe for the right foods, safety, safety, safety.

It is possible to make yourself sick with improperly canned foods and it is possible to burn yourself while working with high temperatures and the stove top. Proper understanding, instruction, and due diligence are your responsibility. Protecting you and your family from accidents should be your number one priority. (continued)

PPPP Report Week 13

You'd look mad too if I photographed your morning bath.

Last week marked the forecast end of the Promised Pastured Poultry Progress Reports, but there is always more to the story.  On Monday I alluded to the fact that there was a broiler in the pot and that we graduated several birds over the weekend but didn't go into much detail. From the beginning I've been looking forward to this year's chicken and dinner Sunday night was everything I had been looking forward to.

Mrs. Farmer gets full credit for the preparation and cooking, and that was the best chicken I've had in a long time. A sense of accomplishment and pride in a job well done is part of that, but good food, good air, and sunshine for the chickens accounts for much more.  (continued)

Stretching A Chicken Dinner

Yes, I have chicken overwintering in quart jars.
It might be comfortable, I've never tried it.

Ah, it's fall now, you can tell because Mrs. Farmer refuses to let me leave the windows open at night and has both started checking the weather forecast for frost advisory and begun wearing her fuzzy slippers in the morning. Others may count from the equinox or when the leaves begin to change their color but I know better (and a wise man never argues with his wife).

This weekend our time was spent graduating chickens (old and new) and getting them set up in their winter homes (the freezer or pantry). We're not even close to finished with that yet, but chicken processing and storage have been on my mind daily of late.(continued)

PPPP Report Week 12

That's all folks!  Here's week 12 of your Promised Pastured Poultry Progress Report! The boys are getting feisty now.  There are scuffles in the pen, and as you can see here they are setting their sights outside of the pen too.

So I have spent more time than I'd like herding broilers, but as prices to pay go this one isn't too bad it's only a little time and usually a few laughs for me.

Thirty Degree Nights

Soon to be dried tomatoes

Our pretty little summer is truly over now, we had temps in the 30's overnight this weekend. It's not winter just yet, but my instincts are telling me we'll probably have early snow this year and a frost advisory before September is half over isn't arguing with that guess.

The impending winter provides an undertone of urgency that the hot August afternoons lacked. That shiver getting out of bed, having to squint out the window to see if that shine outside is dew or frost, the ever increasing backlog of fall bounty clamoring to be processed or preserved, all those chores and projects that needed to be done before snowfall... I have a love/hate relationship with fall. (continued)

PPPP Report Week 11

Somewhat delayed, only slightly postponed, here's your Promised Pastured Poultry Progress Report. The trials and travails from Wednesday's Unexpected Arrivals have resulted in a lot of changes and more than a little work but only a few noteworthy for our PPPPR since last week.

Only a week left for the boys!  Which means we will have several weekends of processing coming up.  We'll start actually this weekend, cleaning out the freezer, making room, and retiring some of our older laying hens. (continued)

Unexpected Arrivals

I shall tease you with an unrelated picture
of happy pork attacking windfall crab apples. 

There are a lot of things going on here at the farm.  A lot of "balls in the air" to use a popular phrase. Though I may not be a professional juggler I usually have a pretty good idea of when a ball is coming down though, so I can at least get out of the way if a catch is not possible.

Definitely dropped one today, which lead to a day of scrambling, setting up new accommodations with makeshift materials, and catching up on work I have been meaning to do for months and that (I thought) I would still have plenty of time to get to before they were necessary.(continued)

'Tis the Season to be Canning

I love it when the produce really starts coming in.  Not the dribs and drabs of the early crop, not the trickles of that one or two of variety that might be new to the garden but when that main flush finally hits.  Yes, that is a great time each year.  Both our tomatoes and those at the CSA have finally starred ripening in earnest.  This is not a huge surprise as the CSA is local and we have nearly identical climates but it does mean that when the produce starts to rain, it pours.

We will be doing a lot of canning but that's hardly the only option for storing the surplus of the season. (continued)

Watch For Mullein

Fuzzy Leaves.

Here in the northeast we've had a pretty mild summer and I've heard that other parts of the U.S. have as well.  My tomatoes and peppers may not be acting like their usual bright prolific selves but other plants are picking up the slack.

One example that doesn't seem to give a rip about our summer weather is Verbascum thapsus, the common mullein.

PPPP Report Week 10

Earlier sunsets plus cloud cover makes for bad photos.

It's that time again.  Welcome back for your regularly schedule Wednesday Promised Pastured Poultry Progress Report. Not watching the clock and a bit of a rain delay lead to chores (and photography) later in the afternoon than usual. The flash can only do so much to compensate for that, so I apologize that these pictures will not be as clear and bright as you're used to now.

We're into crunch time now.  Only 14 days left before the broiler boys are "ready".  Since we'll probably graduate them in stages (50 is a lot to do in one day with only 2 sets of hands) some will be running around a bit longer and end up a bit bigger but I doubt it will be a lengthy reprieve.  (continued)

Labor Day

Busy busy bumblebee

Happy Labor Day.  Unlike some other holidays it seems like I'm always actually laboring on Labor Day.  This year has turned out to be no exception.

Time is always working against the homestead.  Really it's an obstacle we all face I think, part of the human condition itself.  With high temps in the 80's this week summer hasn't given up on us yet but really in my mind it is already Fall.  Many of the things I wanted done before winter are still not finished and at this point more than one may not make it into the "done" column before the snow flies either.

As long as I'm making some progress though it counts as a win, a good day.  Any day you aren't making progress is a day you are losing ground.  (continued)