Jerky and more

We had some friends down on Sunday. We had a great time. We tasted the first jar of the pickles Jess and I made this summer. Not bad. I think I would have liked them to end up just a bit crisper. Maybe next year. I came across this article on Treehugger as well. Our friends brought with them a meat grinder attachment for a Kitchen Aid mixer. I was amazed at how well it ground down the 2 hams of deer I had left in the freezer from last year. Need to make room in the freezer as it is almost time again. I started making jerky with about 4 Lbs of it. I put it in the dehydrator this evening and by morning we will see how it went.

Lots more done today

Well I started this weekend by burning some brush last night out by the pole barn. I was looking for a nice place to sit down and found the hay/straw/weed pile. It was nice and warm so the dog joined me as well. I woke up an hour later, covered the fire and wandered inside. Kinda cool.
Today I finished cutting the grass. and aired out the coop. I cut some more veggies and gave them to the chickens. I spread some newspaper out in the garden and weighed it down with a few wheel barrows of chicken bedding compost. I am hoping the combination will leave the bed ready to be turned and planted early next spring.
For lunch today Jess and I made vermicelli carbonara. We used both procuto and bacon. It was great we used 6 eggs and had a great lunch

Fire season in california again.

Well I suppose you have heard about the fires in the San Diego area by now. We used to have a joke when I lived there that southern California had 4 seasons, Fires, Mudslides, Earthquakes and Riot season. I feel for the folks that have suffered losses in this years fire season. I hope that when they rebuild they will keep sustainability in mind. This is the desert people! Hot dry winds are common, so common that they have a name, Santa Anna. One of the dominant plants in the area near the desert is the Creosote bush. It burns hot and fast when dry (see previous point!). Since this is the desert there is little water available for putting out fires once they get going. So if you are determined to build a house in the mountains please don't make it out wood and cover it with an asphalt roof. Please consider something made out of local stone and consider a steel roof or clay tile. Or better yet live in a place and in a manner that you can sustain.
And the dismount from the soap box is good!!

PS 9 eggs today

Update

Hello reader. Well not a lot has been happening on the farm. This weekend we were away for a few days for a friends wedding. It wall went well and Cooper and the chickens were fine for 2 days. I took a little time to start insulating the chicken coop. I think it is going to be a bigger job than I thought. I need to finish the electric this week as well. The chickens have been laying eggs like crazy. There were 20 eggs in the coop when we got back Saturday afternoon !
Jess decided to bake a bit this afternoon. She made some squash dip and baked some buns. We had them with my friends apricot-habanero jam. I am currently filtering the peaches and vodka mix we made earlier this summer. It takes along time to filter with coffee filters but it looks crystal clear. I think I need to rack my dandelion wine and look into starting a batch of rhubarb wine. I had to harvest 5 lb's of rhubarb that was damaged by the wind while we were away.
Thats it for tonight I think.

Update

Well I got the garlic planted this weekend. I planted the following varities in 2 rows each starting closest to the house. German extra hardy, Broadleaf Czech,Music,Chrysalis Purple,Shevelisi,Persian Star. I still have alot of garlic left to plant but the raised bed that I had built wasn't large enough. I still need to put straw over it as a mulch till next summer.
I also built a trellis around the raspberries. I used steel posts and wire. I need to add twine to hold the canes. The Chickens are doing well. They are growing well and providing us with lots of eggs. We have eaten hardboiled eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, and have made other egg dishes as well. We also bought an ice cream maker. Jess made vanilla and chocolate ice cream already. We can also use the machine to make sorbet and gelato. I look forward to making raspberry or rhubarb sorbet. Maybe even cherry or plum. It will be a great way to preserve next years harvest.

Rick

eggs eggs and more eggs

Well we have a ton of eggs on hand now. I have been getting around 6 a day the last few days.
I guess I have to sell a few soon. We used a few this evening for lunch though. Jess and I got a spaetzel maker and had spaetzel and left over coq au vin from last night. If you have the means I highly recommend it.
Rick

Update

Hey all,
Sorry it has been so long since my last update. Alot has gone on. Last weekend was the Autumn Brew Review. We always have a great time with this one. The weather was rainy but cleared up in the afternoon. The beers were great. I particularly like some of the berry brews by Fitgers Ale House. I realized that I could brew a thin ale and then add raspberries next fall to make a sort of Framboise. I really like that idea.
Lots of things have been happening around the home as well. Jess and I have decided to try and eat nothing but home raised foods next October. We are planning on making exceptions for things we won't be able to raise like tropicals. ( Coffee, Chocolate, Pepper) and stables that we don't have the capability to produce, (Salt,Flour,Olive Oil, Dairy,Sugar,Malt). I look on this as an experiment in micro-farming and also in just what work would be required to feed us year round.
As for the garden we still have peppers and leafy greens (habaneros ready for freezing above). The twig method of trellising peas hasn't worked out well. I built a cedar and plastic raised bed and am filling it with soil to plant up the garlic.
3 eggs this morning.

Take care.

Eggs

Well I installed 2 nest boxes into the coop tonight. Hopefully the chickens will take to them and I can stop having to hunt for eggs in the bedding. I ate 2 small eggs this evening. I decided that hard boiling them would feel safer. I worry about doing something wrong but so far the eggs are OK. I noticed that one seemed larger than the others so I am hoping for more like that. Also 2 roosters will meet their fate this Wednesday I think.

Goodnight.

Eggs!

Well I guess I was wrong about how long it might be before we got eggs from the hens. I found these while cleaning out the coop this evening. I finished up the cleaning and started to build the chickens some nest boxes. I got 2 boxes finished I plan to build a few more this weekend.

Pumkin seeds and hot hot sauce

Yesterday evening I made a batch of 4-8 hot sauce. It was the hot sauce recipe from the bell blue book. I modified it by cutting the sugar in half and using 4 Habaneros and 8 Thai dragon peppers.
To say it is hot is like saying Minnesota winters can be cold. I now just have to figure out what to do with so much of it.
I also roasted a pie pumpkin and froze the pulp for latter use in pies. I was planning on saving some of the seeds and roasting the rest. However there seems to be something wrong with the seeds, they seem to have curled up and punched out of the seed shells. I don't know what it means except that I will neither plant them nor eat them.