Farm Fresh: Poultry Update

The turkey-lurkeys grew so much while we were away at the family reunion. Unfortunately, they are less and less cute. I am just glad they are still alive. They are supposed to be so much more fragile than chickens.

Buying poultry for egg production creates major inequalities between males and females and also some funny stories.
This is Annie. The chick that was supposed to be a hen who turned out to be a rooster. We still need to fix his name, but have not settled on a new one yet. He is very handsome and has finally worked out his crowing into something that actually sounds like "cock a doodle do".  The hens are happy.

This is Louis (aka crooked beak) who was the chick that we expected to grow into our rooster. He was dropped by a visiting child and his growth is stunted as a result of his injury. He will go into the freezer this fall with the older hens. His beak problems have made which rooster to keep alive an easier choice, though not one I planned on having to deal with.

 Our straight run (random selection) of ducklings have grown up to reveal 5 drakes and 1 female duck. Luckily, our farmer buddies who sold us the rabbits advised us to bring home 4 more duckings that they were pretty sure were female. With the four young females, we have an even 5 drakes and 5 ducks all together. The drakes are starting to get aggressive with each other though. Usually, they advise only one drake per every 10 ducks. At least 3 of these drakes will find their way into our freezer before winter.
My farm advisor was also right about ducks being better than chickens. They cause fewer problems (don't scratch up young plants or roost and poop on the deck overhang).  They are diligent foragers and don't eat any of their feed during the day, preferring bugs and grass instead. They stay together and are easy to herd into their coop at night. And by the time I let them out in the morning all the eggs have been laid inside the coop.

Farm Fresh: Garden Work and Canning

Keeping cool as the summer heats up around here. 

My kitchen counters have been covered with various fruits and vegetables lately.  I wish I could say that my garden is already this hugely productive, but we have been getting a lot of seconds from local farms. 

 
Tomato in the front row and the second row and probably others too, were all attacked by the tomato monger (Baby L).

The garden has been producing an abundance of squash for the first time in years!  I used row covers to guard them from the squash bugs in June/July.

 
Also melons love the soil here. So glad. Now we just need to get better at telling when they are really ripe.

Pepper are doing better than they ever did in our old garden. Maybe they like the natural soil here too. 

 The dappled shade under the dogwoods has been a good spot for the herbs. The cilantro lasted much longer than usual before going to seed.

I think the yarrow and lemongrass will need to be planted in a sunnier spot next year. 

Lots of canning nights and I am starting to replenish my supply. Pickles, jams, tomato sauce and many jars of salsa. Still a long way from a year's supply.

Family Reunion: Day 5

We spent the morning packing up and having our last couple hours of visiting. This is Grandmama's brother Uncle D. 

One last climb up in the apple tree:

Getting creative with our snacks during the ride home...

A nice welcome home.

 This is how the egg basket looked when we got back.  Full of new duck and chicken eggs! Very exciting.

Family Reunion: Day 4

On Thursday we went to see the newly updated Priesthood Restoration Site in Harmony, Pennsylvania. 

 They have a nice 3D map that gives an arial view of the all the sites around the visitor center.

The visitor center has fun games and displays for the kids too.

 We saw the rebuilt version of the cabin that Emma and Joseph lived in when they were first married.

 And just down the street was the home of Isaac and Elizabeth Hale (Emma's parents).

 

  

The Hale family was very wealthy for the time period and had a fancy home.

 

 

Joseph and Emma's little cabin was much smaller.

 
After the visit we had a nice lunch at a restaurant that my Grandpa has been coming to with his family for many years - Binghams. It was yummy.

Family Reunion: Day 3

We awoke to a long rain shower Wednesday morning.  We had our pancakes inside.

 

 We read some stories about our ancestors who were born in this house.

This is the old pipe organ that still works! Grandpa Bob fixed it all up recently.

 Then the kids had a fun square dancing session with Aunt S and Uncle T.  We did that in the morning because it was a perfect activity to do in the barn while it was raining outside.

 

 In the afternoon Aunt C and Uncle P came down to visit and we did some sibling pictures before Uncle P and Aunt H had to leave.

 

By lunchtime the rain had stopped and we were able to eat outside.

 

 Baby L getting wet and muddy playing in the leftover water.