Fresh Organic Chicken $2.09/lb

Well, today was the end of the line for the meat chickens. We loaded them up and took them to a local poultry processing place at 7 a.m. I have to say, I was surprised at the line of pickup trucks in front of us carrying crates of live birds. The edge of the driveway also was lined with bird-filled cages, the "early birds" so to speak. The "chicken ranch," as the sign proclaims on the front of the processing building, is run by a Mennonite family. I noticed on the sign-in sheet, some of the folks ahead of me drove around 45 minutes to bring their birds to this farm. The man who helped Big D unload our birds said they can process up to 450 birds a day.

We didn't actually weight the birds when we got them back, but Big D said the average weight of each whole bird was a conservative five pounds. Figuring the original cost of the chicks, the feed, the bedding, and the processing, we paid $2.09/lb for our organic home-raised chicken. 

Not the prettiest picture, I know. But will taste great on the dinner table - in a few weeks, after packaging them, Big D doesn't want chicken for a while!

Top 10 Reasons I LOVE July!

Everyone has reasons why they like or dislike something. There are lots of reasons why I love summer, but here are the top 10 reasons why July is one of my favorite months.
10. - It's the only month of the year with NO school days
9. - Thunderstorms
8. - Football/cheer practice starts, signaling the beginning of my favorite season - football season!
7. - Long days filled with lots of sunshine
6. - Trips to the pool with my kids
5. - Picking berries
4. - The hot hot days
3. - My brother's birthday
2. - It never ever snows!
1. - Farmers' Markets are loaded with the first of summer's bounty

Farm market fare - I got the peppers and cabbage at a market about 3 miles from my house and the zucchini and pickles from a market about 6 miles from my house in the other direction.

One of the reasons why I love where I live is the availability of fresh produce in the summer. Within a 10 mile radius of my house, there are at least a dozen farm markets. Some are larger with greenhouses and pick-your-own opportunities, and others are little tents along the road at the front of the family farm. Also within that area is the largest weekly open-air market in the entire universe. I love to look at the rows of vegetables lined up for inspection. Nothing tastes as good as vegetables picked early in the morning on the day you put the on your table.
Recently, I stopped at a local market - reported to have the very best sweet corn in the area.  It was still before lunchtime, but I got the last dozen and a half ears of corn they had for the day. Turns out, it was the last 18 ears they were gonna have for a week. An excessively wet Spring put a wrench in their planting.

Summer love - my 18 beautiful ears of corn

Since Big D could eat corn at every meal, I decided I wanted to put up corn this summer so we can enjoy the freshness all winter.  When I was a kid, my mom froze corn. I remember sitting beside her as she sliced the kernels off the cobs, reaching over to grab a rectangle of the juicy yellow pearls as they dropped onto the tray. I also remember the excitement of getting a package of that frozen corn out of our freezer in the middle of winter, anticipating that just picked taste.

No fancy gadgets needed, just a really sharp thin knife. I still like eating the rectangles of corn!

Because that's how my mom did it, and because I don't have a pressure canner, I also froze my corn. But, instead of using bags like my mom did, I used these really cool reusable freezer containers Ball makes. I got four beautiful pints of corn out of my 18 ears.
This was so easy, I think I'll be visiting a local farm soon to get a bushel of corn!

In a Pickle!

With half a dozen jars of strawberry jam under may apron, I felt confident that pickles would be a good next step in my new found hobby of canning.  I got the two big boxes of canning jars from the basement that I bought this Spring at a garage sale and ran them through the dishwasher. The really great thing about some of these jars is that they are old and very cool. Some have the Philadelphia Bi-Centennial on them, some have pictures of old ladies, some are square and have measuring marks. I bought all new rings though because the ones on the jars were rusty. The other cool thing about the jars is that many of the lids were still labeled with what had last been canned in them. The two strangest to me were the ones that read "hot peppers and mushrooms," and the one that read "pear nectar concentrate."

The hot peppers and pickles from my garden.

I didn't have enough pickles of my own to can, so I went to the local farmers market and bought a peck of pickles! The larger cukes I cute into spears, which Big D loves, and rounds. The little pickles I left whole.

I used a pickle mix

I used a Mrs. Wages Kosher Dill Pickle mix that required I only dissolve it in a pot of water and vinegar.  Since I have never made pickles, I thought I'd start with a commercial mix.  I do have several recipes, includes some from family members that I might try next time.  I made nine jars of the various cuts of pickles. Unfortunately, two of the bottoms broke out of the jars in the canner, and I lost two jars.

I have no idea why the bottoms broke out of two of the jars, but it was frustrating

So, I had seven jars left and one didn't seal. The one that didn't seal ended up in the fridge. Two days later, we opened and tasted - Delish!! I will definitely use this mix again.

Next, I'm going to can hot peppers and freeze some corn!

And this little piggy went to market...

These meat chickens are just gross and ugly! Have I mentioned that? Yuck! And, they just are not smart like my ladies are! The ladies eat a ton of greens a day from the grass and clover I pick for them. The meats (that's what I call them) will not eat the greens. They will however eat about 5 lbs of feed a day! I didn't really think to much about it until the other day when a friend suggested I keep raising meat chickens and sell them to people who don't want their meat exposed to chemicals and freaky treatment. I'm not very business-minded, but according to my friend, you should always aim for a 50% profit when in business. Hmmm....I don't see anyone paying $10 a bird for my chemical-free, treated like family meats!
But, now that we have this little shelter/fenced area already set up, my wheels have been turning! I'm thinking a pig would fit nicely in there! Bacon is one of my favorite food groups!

Everyone has to grow up sometime

The ladies will be with us three months next week.  They are an endless source of joy for the entire family - even the cat and dogs! Now that the berries are on, Little D and I walk the fence row behind our house and pick them blackberries every morning. What a treat for the hens and a treat for us to watch! "They're gonna be screamin' when they see these big juicy ones," says Little D.  As we toss in the berries, the ladies cluck and squeal with delight as they chase them around the chicken yard.

Two of the Buffs

They also get fist fulls of hand-picked clover every day.  I try to get the bunches with the small tender leaves and little yellow flowers. (I know, I know) Luckily, the acres and acres of soybeans behind us also happens to be full of clover too. I seem to also have developed the strange habit of weeding people's flower beds when I'm out and about. Thanks again Heather & Heidi, the ladies appreciated it!

A curious Wyandotte

As far as their dietary tastes go, they still love yogurt - plain or with strawberries. They also are crazy about cottage cheese! (Thanks Greg) They like tomato seeds and zucchini.  They are still eating the same chick starter I've fed them since day one.  Today we added a container of grit to the yard after I noticed they were eating some of the sand we gave them to dust with.

They confined themselves to their sandbox after we limed the yard.

With the recent hot and steamy weather, the chicken yard really started to smell bad! So, I asked at the local farm store and they gave me three options, the cheapest being lime.  So, today we also limed the chicken yard. We put the hens in the coop while we did it and when we let them back out, they all flocked to their sandbox to avoid walking in the white stuff.  It may have freaked them out, but the smell was almost instantly better.

I still say God made meat chickens ugly so we don't mind killing them!

These birds are not only ugly, they do not have the charming personality that the ladies have.  We've had them a little over a month and in about two or three more weeks, they will be in the freezer. "I don't think they're gonna like it in there," said Little D.  I told him I really didn't think they would care since they would be chicken dinners by then. "Well that's just horrible!" declared the boy who is sustained by a diet of cereal and chicken nuggets!

A face only a butcher could love!

The Dog or Cat Days of Summer

Meep can always be found in a shady spot. She usually is hiding out under a big hosta.