Improvement Needed

After all the information that I have been reading regarding genetically modified organisms, I am realizing that I need to do even more.  We have done a pretty good job of eliminating GMO's from our own diet and that of our kitties.  Unfortunately, my chickens and geese are still subjected to GMO corn and soy in the bagged feed that we buy for them.  (well, I must admit that we are getting GMO's second hand through our chicken meat and eggs also.  So even though they are free range, that is not good enough).   We have been buying the feed that does not have the antibiotics as that is the best we can find locally.  It is not organic, though, so most assuredly is genetically modified and thus has the additional problem of having been heavily sprayed with pesticides.   One step at a time.   I have been thinking about buying organic seed and sprouting it for our birds.  There is a feed mill in Arthur where I can order it.  

New Momma Hen!

Yesterday one of our Cornish hens became a new momma!  She has been setting on eggs since March third and I knew that they would be due any day.  In the afternoon, I saw one cute, fuzzy little black head poking out from her tail feathers.  How exciting!  We were both giddy.  By the time I did my last round at dusk to lock up the chickens and geese, there was another two.  Another black one and this time there was a yellow one with a bit of black marks on his head.  He was still damp and there lay two perfectly halved egg shells under the momma hen.  Fast forward to this morning, and I found three more little babies.  I guess I will be setting up a little private caged in area for the new little family today.

Three Whitetails Feed the Kitties for Nine Weeks

DH and I finished processing his three whitetails today(almost). I think he said there are three more quarters from the last deer to go. After saving the back strap and tenderloins for himself, there are nine weeks worth of ground venison for our five kitties. I need to find all the other tubs that are mixed in with everything else in the other freezer. There is still time for more deer. We usually run out around April or so and the poor babies are forced to eat canned food from the pet store. This makes at least two of them very unhappy, even though I buy what is supposed to be of the highest quality available around here.  

8/7/12 update: I should clarify that we add other things to the raw venison such as kelp meal, organic raw coconut oil, vitamin D3, probiotics, oyster shell and taurine.  We also add other things depending on if the kitties are needing something extra.  I will order Dr. Becker's book, because I know that we still have room for improvement. 

Busy Day Ahead

It is just after midnight and I'm still up.  Thinking of the day I will have 'tomorrow'... I must get the remaining bushel of apples processed while they are still in good shape (some dried and some apple butter) ... there are tomatoes to be skinned, pureed and canned... green tomatoes to put up (several recipes in mind-- green tomatoes pickles, relish, etc.)... garlic to pickle.  No time to waste!  Will try to get some photos posted anyway. 

Three Eggs and a Fox

Today we are up to the third egg from the pullets.  I have no way of knowing if these are all three from one hen or not.  I did find in Gail Damerow's 'Raising Chickens' that when a pullet begins to lay early then she is more likely to prolapse or become egg bound.  I guess I will have to prepare myself in case that happens, but pray for the best.  I have never had to deal with either situation yet.  

I took down the rest of the shade cloth today.  Some of the birds thought it was cozy to sleep on the shade cloth instead of on the roost in their shelter.  Kind of like a giant hammock, I guess!  One of my 'Have to Do's' before winter is to get a Chicken Tractor made.  This will be taller than their current shelter, so they will be able to roost higher up as they prefer...and they are ready for nest boxes.  It will be portable, by definition, so they will be able to be moved around to fresh grass, yet be safe from predators.

We have had a fox on the property.  He still eludes our capture and I have not been comfortable letting the old birds out loose.  The use of the dog run has come in handy this summer for some peace of mind.   

Pullet's First Egg

One of the pullets laid her first egg today.  It was very surprizing as I think it is early for them to begin to lay.  They are only eighteen weeks old!  I don't know if the surprize was from one of the Cornish or a Sumatra... a very nice brown egg though.  The small egg belongs to the pullet and the larger eggs are from my old hens. 

Butchering Day

Today I set my alarm early.  I once read that it would be easier to capture the cockerels early in the morning while they are still half asleep and loopy.  I was out there right before sunrise, capturing them one by one and hauling them out to a holding pen.  We didn't get to butchering until later in the afternoon, due to other chores that took priority that morning.   This butchering ordeal is my least favorite part of being part carnivore.

I had already spent some time the last couple of days in the pen with the birds finding and marking the more docile roosters.  I knew there were at least a couple, but managed to find five that would let me handle them.  They seemed to have no fear nor contempt of me and would jump up on the fence waiting for an invitation to roost on my arm or to be held in my hands.  As soon as I picked one up, he would get comfortable in the palm of my hand and sit there until my arm grew tired and I had to let him down.  These five I marked by spraying 'Blu Kote' on their feet and legs.   At the very end, I will have to pick two only to keep.  I have to leave the area when DH does the dirty deed with the three who won't make it. 

Chickies Arrive!

The chickies are here!  They were shipped out from Murray McMurray on Friday, May 6th.  I got a phone call on Saturday afternoon from the post office up in Champaign to let me know that they were there and that I could come pick them up, if I wanted to.  We were not able to make the two hour drive, so would have to wait until Monday for them to arrive at our little local PO.  The birds would be fine, as they are able to survive at least three days without any food.  They would do well on the nutrients that they had from the egg. 

The area I was setting up for the brooder was not quite ready.  I hurried to get that done and we would need to make a trip to town for another heat bulb and something for litter... Rural King was out of pine shavings, but they had ground cobs.  We'll see how well those perform, I guess. 

Sumatra chick

Apples and Pecans

The apple trees and pecans have been ordered from Miller Nurseries in Canandaigua, New York.  For one reason or another, I chose not to go through Gurney's.  I have used them in the past and was happy, but this year I have been disappointed on several counts when trying to place an order online.  I will not go into detail right now, but just let it be said that I am not happy with them at all this year.  I was going to try Henry Field's, but I suspect that they are affiliated with Gurney's... same operation with a different name perhaps.  I would have preferred Stark's over Miller's, because Stark's stock would be more regionally adapted to our location, but I went with Miller's for the simple reason that their stock is air root pruned.  This is the great advantage as researched by Dr. Carl Whitcomb.   They also have a nice selection of fruit and nut trees and reasonable prices. 

So the trees that I was able to narrow it down to are as follows:  I purchased as a package the disease resistant varieties of four apples; also a Winter Banana Semi-Dwarf Apple and Northern Spy Semi-Dwarf.  I am concerned about how these two will do because we already have a cedar that carries Cedar-Apple Rust.  I may try to figure out a place to plant these two trees that are a little further away from the afflicted cedar. 

For the nut trees, I ordered two hardy pecans.  I want a heartnut walnut tree, but these are sold out at Miller's for the year.  I will search around a bit and see if I can find it from another nursery without having to wait a whole year.

Chickens are ordered!

I finally placed our chicken order yesterday.  I went through Murray McMurray Hatchery... I have ordered supplies from them in the past, but never the day old chicks.   I was just thinking about the penciled note that I found in our chicken coop... it was about eighty years ago that DH's great-grandparents placed that order for so many white leghorn and so many brown leghorn day old chicks from Murray McMurray and penciled a note on the wall of the 'brooder house' as it was.  I have since painted over it... but I have a picture of it somewhere.

So, what I finally settled on were the Dark Cornish, twenty-five roos and five pullets.  I plan to save at least one roo and try to raise some chicks from these.  Also went for the Sumatras, which are a rare breed.  These are only available straight run, so I hope for at least one roo and several pullets (I only ordered five total)... wonder if they actually sex them and try to include both in an order?   I decided against any banties at this time.  Too many chickens to try to house and waaaay too many eggs!   Even with the four hens that we have now, that is more than enough eggs for the two of us. 

What I liked about the Dark Cornish is that they are described as hearty, tight-feathered meaty birds that will go broody and even hatch out chicks.  They also have the pea comb-- one of the types I preferred and are clean-legged.  The Sumatras are just interesting to me... thinking it will be cool to raise a rare breed and maybe pass some chicks onto others who will hopefully do the same.   They also have the pea comb and are clean-legged.  They look rather wild from the pictures.  McMurray also includes an unknown rare breed chick with each order... It will be interesting to see what we end up with.

The chicks are scheduled to be delivered to our post office between May 9th and 11th.   Next on the agenda is to finally get our fruit and nut trees ordered.

Chickens: Perusing the Catalogs

After we lost three hens to what was likely a weasel last fall, we knew that we would have to plan for more chicks this year.   I have decided to do something different (and a little daring) and go for banties this time.  So far we have only picked up straight run chicks from the local Rural King, but this calls for our first catalog order.  Of course, Rural King would special order for us, but there is something kind of exciting about the anticipation of our box of chicks arriving at our little local post office!  I have looked at several hatcheries' catalogs including Estes, Cackle and Murray McMurray.  At this point, I am liking what I see at McMurray.

There are so many interesting breeds, but I have been able to narrow it down a bit by my choice of combs at least.  I have found that in our winter climate, the single combed birds will suffer with frostbite if their heads are not tucked well under the wing.  I guess there are things you can do to try to prevent it, such as keeping a coat of vaseline on the comb (I used what I had on hand-- bag balm).  But if I can prevent it just by choosing a different kind of comb, then that is lower maintenance. 

Another stipulation right now is clean legged birds... (although the beautiful Buff Brahmas are awfully tempting)!   Right now I am considering the Partridge Wyandotte, the Quail Antwerp Belgian is said to be 'very friendly', Golden Seabright and the Araucana for my little egg layers.  For meat birds this year, I decided to go for something other than the Rock Cornish cross.  Full size Dark Cornish are what I am leaning toward.  These are very sturdy looking birds with interesting marks.  If I keep one rooster and a couple of hens, then I could put the eggs under a banty hen which I've heard have not had the setting instinct bred out of them.

The Joy of Pickling

I happened across this wonderful book 'The Joy of Pickling' by Linda Ziedrich while standing in line at the fabric counter at Jo Ann's the other day.  What luck! and such good timing.  I knew I had to snatch it up then and there... putting my second 50% off coupon to good use. Great unusual recipes are found within, but best of all is that the 'whys' and 'wherefores' of various methods of pickling are explained in better detail than I had found to date.   I also like that there are a variety of ethnic recipes and the history of each is touched on.  A virtual table is spread for the reader and I can imagine myself in various settings, dining on delicious 'sweets and sours' with a Pennsylvania Dutch family or sauerkrauts or sauerrubens somewhere in Eastern Europe or kimchees at a table in Korea.  I did not know that Koreans were more prolific picklers than any other Asian group!  What I did find in these pages are several recipes for different kimchees that I am anxious to try.  I would love to duplicate the delicous kimchee that we had been served at the resort on Je Ju Do.

There are a few questions that weren't answered for me.  In the brining method of pickling, which I am most interested in for the probiotics, Ziedrich, talks about a method for low-heat pasteurization that can be used to extend the shelf life of the brined pickles.  This was new to me and as she doesn't really delve deeply into the probiotic benefits (this obviously was not her purpose in writing this book), I have to wonder if the probiotic life is 'pasteurized' out of the pickles and brine as well as non-beneficial bacterial or fungal activity that would have caused spoilage-- even at a lower heat.  My guess is that it would.  Neither does Ziedrich get into the kind of probiotic bacteria (as to binomial nomenclature).  At this point I am just curious, but it would be great to know eventually.  According to 'The Wonder of Probiotics' (Taylor and Mitchell) different strains are known to be preventative and/or curative of certain specific ailments.  So while I believe that keeping a balance of any probiotic life in our digestive tracks is important, it would be good (or at least interesting) to have more detailed knowledge of the strains that appear in brined veggies.  This book is a very helpful and thrilling find indeed, but I will keep looking until I am satisfied that I know what I want to know.

'Fermented Vegetables', The Herb Companion

Sauerkraut Crock

I have done a little reading on sauerkraut and other fermented foods, including fermented pickles.  I hadn't really bothered to look into it before, but now I understand that these foods are similar to yogurt in that they are alive with probiotics (beneficial bacteria).   So I have a couple of books on my list to purchase as well as the crock I have chosen.  This is the TSM Products Fermentation Pot, 10 Liter capacity, which is sold at Amazon.com, etc. 

The book is 'Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home' by Klaus Kaufmann and Annelies Schoneck.   
An important point made by the authors is that the sauerkraut that we find on the grocery shelf is canned.  It has been pasteurized and there are no living beneficial bacteria.  It is dead and while some may enjoy the taste, the consumer will not enjoy any probiotic health benefits.  One would have to search for 'raw' sauerkraut which can sometimes be found in sealed bags in the produce aisle... or make your own!



National Center for Home Food Preservation
Hidden Pond Farm

My Seed Inventory

I took an inventory of the seeds I have on hand... also figured out a seed starting/ direct seeding schedule.  There are a few more types of seeds that I need to order.  Some of the seed varieties I will plant extra to sell the plants.  Ideally, I would be able to start enough extra plants in the future to pay for my seeds for the year.
_____________________________________

Start These Seeds Indoors:


8-10 Weeks before last frost— February 10 through 24

Eggplant (Solanum melongena)

• Black Beauty

8 Weeks before last frost— February 24

Peppers (Capsicum annuum)

• Marconi Rosso

• California Wonder

• Fish Pepper

• Maule’s Red Hot

• Beaver Dam

• Sweet Chocolate

6-8 Weeks before last frost— February 24 through March 10

Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)

• Copenhagen Market

• Emblem

6 Weeks before last frost— March 10

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum)

• Amish Paste

• Mexico Midget

• Roma

• Federle

• Gold Medal

• Olpalka

*Manitoba

*Specialty Striped Cavern

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea)

• Romanesco

• Liberty

5-6 Weeks before last frost— March 10 through March 17

Malabar Spinach (Basella rubra)

4-6 Weeks before last frost— March 10 through March 24

Brussels Sprouts (Brassica oleracea)

• Falstaff

Leek (Allium ampeloprasum)

• Blue Solaize

Hybrid Cabbage, Savoy, Samantha F1

Onion (Allium cepa)

• Yellow of Parma

Very Hardy—Plant in Garden 4-6 Weeks Before Average Frost Free Date: March 10 through 24

Kale (Brassica oleracea, Acephala Group)

• Dwarf Blue Curled

Arugula or Roquette (Eruca sativa)

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)

• Amish Deer Tongue

• Black Seeded Simpson

• Bronze Arrowhead

• Crisp Mint

• Forellenschuss

• Grandpa Admire’s

• Grand Rapids

• Ruby

• Simpson’s Curled

• Susan’s Red Bibb

• Mesclun (mixed lettuces)

Pea (Pisum sativum)

• Maestro

• Strike

• Super Sugar Snap

• Oregon Sugar Pod II

Salsify (Tragopogon spp.)

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea)

• Bloomsdale

• Melody

Turnips (Brassica rapa)

• Purple Top White Globe

Frost Tolerant—Plant in Garden  2-3 Weeks Before Average Frost Free Date: March 31 through April 7

Beet (Beta vulgaris)

• Perfected Detroit

• Detroit Dark Red, Medium Top

• Red Heart

• Cylindra

Swiss Chard (Beta vulgaris)

• Bright Lights

• Five Color Silverbeet

• Ruby Red

Carrots (Daucus carota)

• Chantenay

• Danvers Half Long

• Dragon

• Hyb. Sweetness III

• Nantes

• Scarlet Nantes

*Creme de Lite F1 Hybrid

Asparagus or Winged Pea (Lotus tetragonolobus)

Radish (Raphanus sativus)

• Early Scarlet Globe

• Diakon

Warm Season Plants for Late Spring Planting—Tender (Plant on Average Frost Free Date): April 21

Beans, Snap (Phaseolus vulgarus)

• Jade (bush)

• Provider (bush)

• Tendergreen, Improved (bush)

• Royal Burgandy (bush)

• Flavorsweet (pole)

• Hidatsa (pole)

• Golden wax (pole)

• Cherokee Trail of Tears (pole)

• Kentucky Wonder (pole)

Yardlong Bean (Vigna unguiculata subsp. Sesquipedalis)

New Zealand Spinach (Tetragonia expansa)

Summer Squash (Cucurbita pepo)

• Patisson Panache, Jaune et Verte

• Yellow Crook Neck

• Medley Blend of Hybrids

• Cashflow Hybrid

*Hybrid Zucchini Dundoo F1

Corn (Zea mays)

• Japonica Striped Maize

Warm Season Plants for Late Spring Planting—Warm Loving (Plant 1-2 Weeks After Average Frost Free Date) April 28 through May 5

Lima Beans (Phaseolus lunatus)

• Pole Lima

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)

• Hybrid Cool Breeze

• Crystal Apple

• Poona Kheera

*Cucumber, Pickling H-19 Little Leaf

*Cucumber, Miniature White

• Unknown cucumber

Melon (Cucumis melo)

• Armenian cucumber

• Hale’s Best Jumbo

• Healy’s Pride

• Emerald Gem

• Charantais

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)

• Red Burgundy

• Clemson Spineless

Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo)

• Baby Pam Pie Pumpkin

• Big Moon

• Jack o’Lantern

• Field pumpkin

• Neck pumpkin

Winter Squash (Cucurbita moschata)

• Table Queen Acorn

• Table Ace Acorn

• Hybrid Argonaut

• Waltham Butternut

• Kabocha (Cucurbita Maxima)

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)

• Moon & Stars (Cherokee)

• Red Seeded Citron

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Plant Maps Freeze Data:

Average first frost is October 11-20

Average last frost is April 21-31



Dave’s Garden Freeze Data:

Each winter on average, my risk of frost is from October 12 through April 20.

Frost almost certainly from October 27th through April 4th.

Almost guaranteed not to have frost from May 5th through September 26th.

Frost free growing season is around 175 days

My Sowing Schedule Plans for 2011

In effort to improve my skills and thus production, I am collecting information about the vegetables that I plan to grow.  In a previous post, I inserted links to my specific zone and that is a start.  Next is listing in chronological order the seeds that will be planted and how. 

One resource I will refer to is Seed Saver's Exchange helpful tips page, using this as a guide for starting seeds specific to my garden plans.  I am still working on this list and will start by taking an inventory of the seeds that I already have on hand.  There are yet others that I plan to try this coming season, but still need the seeds for. 

Volga German Cuisine

I have been thinking about ordering one or more cookbooks that I have found on the internet featuring Volga German recipes.  This is my heritage on my paternal side as my great-grandparents and their children immigrated from the Volga River in Russia back in 1907.   I remember enjoying a couple of things growing up that managed to survive integration and the generations, but I want to learn more about what kinds of foods were traditional to my ancestors way back when.

Mom used to make bierocks and varenky (which is basically the same as pierogy with a different name) and these were taught to her by Dad's mother who learned from her mother-in-law, the German from Russia immigrant.   Some of the other foods that I knew were sauerkraut, of course, and German sausage or wurst, as I guess it was called, as the Germans probably didn't call it 'German' sausage!   Grandma used to buy the sausage at Renna's Meat Market in Fresno.  It is still there and still selling their famed and most secret recipe sausage.  Yes, I asked and they would not give it up to me!  As for other foods, there were noodles (spaetzle), pickles of all kinds, and as far as sweets there were the Pfefferneuse, stollen and kolacky.  One thing I was recently surprized to discover is how prominant a food watermelon was to the Volga Germans! 

Ha!  I am wondering how I will manage to blend my desire to explore my heritage with the desire to eat my way to good health?!  I may have to take up Polka to work off all the extra fat I could be consuming. At least I have ordered some cabbage seeds for the garden next spring.  I have never grown cabbage before, but if I manage to harvest any, then I will definitely make some sauerkraut which is supposed to be very healthy as a fermented food.  Well, I can in turn use the kraut to make varenky and also it can be used as an ingredient in borscht.  I also plan to grow the beets for the borscht.

Average First and Last Frost Dates

Links to the average first and last frost dates and growing seasons for the state of Illinois tell me that for my area, I should expect my last frost in the spring sometime between April 14th and 21st (according to the state climatologist office).  My average first fall frost is sometime between October 14th and 21st.  My growing season is somewhere between 185 and 190 days without season extension practices.

Dave's Garden has a page where I can enter in my zipcode and find out more specific information in regard to average frost dates.

The Weather Channel  page.  Again; enter in your zip code for current weather.  Then from that page, scroll down and click on the link to get your >HISTORICAL DATA.  I am seeing March 15th as our last average freeze!  It is interesting to note the difference in dates given by the various sources. I really need to buy a thermometer that saves the low and high temps and start keeping my own records.  Of course, the average is far earlier than the approximate last freeze.  One date or the other is taken into consideration depending upon what is being planted--the hardiness of the plant or lack thereof. 

On this Plant Maps page, I can really zoom in and see our area right down to the roads.

In addition to knowing the average frost dates as an aid to planning my garden, I have been interested in learning about gardening by the signs.    This is important to the philosophy of Biodynamic gardening or farming.   This goes beyond 'organic' and I like the idea of  growing our food and living in harmony with the earth.

Garlic is Planted!



The Samarkand has nice large cloves.  I saved the best for planting!



I first marked the rows with a board, approximately six inches apart. 



This is the dibber tool that I repurposed to make a hole for each clove.
 I think it was once used for soldering.



Plant the clove root end down.  Duh!
6 to 8 inches apart, 2 inches deep.





 
 







I have labeled each bed with the variety of garlic.
 I misspelled 'Samarkand' when painting the stakes. 
Oops!  I don't think  I will sleep at night knowing this is amiss...

 







The Inchelium Red bed-- planted, mulched and labeled.

 

Rosy Melon Rind Pickles

Here are the finished pickles.  The flavor is good, but I don't think I will use this particular recipe again.  The pickles, while they held their shape, are not crisp.  I didn't really expect them to be extrememly crisp, but I think I will go for one of the recipes that called for a lime soak instead.  I think I may have answered my own question about whether the Citron melons and watermelons are interchangeable in a recipe calling for one or the other.  I couldn't say for sure without a side by side comparison, but I'm guessing not.  I used citron melon rinds in a recipe calling for watermelon rinds.  The recipe called for 4 to 5 quarts of cubed watermelon rinds (approximately 4 pounds).  This would result in 5 pints of pickles.  I ended up with over 8 pints...  I only canned 8 and the rest went into the fridge.  So I think that it may have something to do with the amount of water in watermelon rinds versus the citron melon rinds that would account for way less shrinkage from the brine soak. 

Citron Melon

One of the heirloom melons planted in our garden this year is the citron melon.  I don't believe I have ever experienced the citron melon before.  I think all of the watermelon pickles that Grandma made were from regular watermelons.    I was surprized to find that these melons are as tough as nails!  Cutting into them, even with freshly sharpened knives was like trying to cut into an old field pumpkin.  Even the flesh is tough!  It took me two hours to cut up enough rind to make five quarts of one inch cubes.  I may try an electric carving knife for the next batch. Some of the recipes specific to citron melons mentioned that the flesh can be seeded and made into preserves also.  I may not bother with that, as our yield was over fifty melons.  I have already given some away and still have some on the vine that may go into the compost pile. 

I plan to make several batches of pickles or preserves, so we can do a comparison to see what we like best.  The recipe I am using for this first batch is called Rosy Watermelon Pickles.  I was looking for something different.  This one called for maraschino cherries for the color, and in addition to cloves, cinnamon and ginger root, also black pepper!   Sounds good to me.  The book is 'Farm Journal's Freezing and Canning Cookbook', 1978 edition.

Something I found in this book that I have found no where else is that it is better to use melons grown earlier in the season and not overripe in making preserves and pickles.  If these that I have are overripe, I would not know it considering how tough they are, but they are certainly not 'early'.

I was wondering if the recipes for watermelon rind pickles or preserves and citron melon preserves are interchangeable.  Still don't have an answer, but thought I would give it a shot and see what happens.  It seems that the recipes for citron melons that I have noticed, don't call for a brine.  I am wondering if this has something to do with the water content in citron versus a much jucier watermelon.  I went ahead and soaked them in a brine anyway, following the recipe.

While doing some searching around on the internet for recipes I came across this website WatermelonRind.com .  I may try some of the ideas found on the site.  There apparently are other ways to enjoy the rinds besides pickles and preserves!