Women’s Work is Never Done…

Especially, FARM women’s work! But, hey, it keeps me healthy, right?

Yesterday, the baby meat birds arrived: Kosher Kings from Clearview Hatchery, in Gratz, Pa. I’ve gotten this type of birds each year, after the first year of raising meat birds with those awful white mutants, eating machines, that eat too fast for their heart and legs to support them. These kosher kings are a compromise: they grow faster than the average “heavy breed” chicks and not as fast, nor are they as “breasty” as the mutants. (Cornish crosses?) They have white pin feathers, even though they are barred, and they are very tasty. I keep them 10 to 11 weeks, and they are about 5 pounds each. For the first two weeks, they will be in my “brooder” in the garage, otherwise known as a plastic child’s swimming pool, covered with a piece of wire fencing. At that point, hopefully, John will have finished my brand spanking new wheeled “chicken tractor” and they’ll go out in it, on pasture, pulled each day, with lights to keep them warm at night. At four weeks, the lights will be removed, and they will go out further on pasture, into the sheep pasture, poultry netting will be put around the whole area, attached to the electric fencing, and the door to the tractor will be opened, so they can wander wherever they wish to within the poultry netting, and come back inside at night. Early November, portable chicken killing man (who really DOES have a name, Ray Garcia of Cabin View Farms) will come with his trusty pull behind slaughtering/butchering facility, and “do in” the chickens and the turkeys, which are now almost three months old and making my life interesting by (at least two a day) flying over their six foot high pen and wandering back and forth, wanting to get back in with their friends. My morning routine is to feed a bit of grain to the rams, way down the pasture, and run back to catch the turks and put them back in their pen (which is within the ram pasture). Keeps me young, right. I keep repeating this to myself every morning at 6:30.

Yesterday, I also dug a row of potatoes…early, you say? I thought so, too, but the vines are all dying or dead ( I think we must have some kind of blight or something). There were only 2 to 3 potatoes a plant, which is most unusual, but they were big well formed, healthy potatoes. Interesting. I was going to dig the other row this morning, but it seems we’ve returned to humid-ville, with heat expected, and I just don’t function well in those kinds of conditions, so it will probably wait til Sunday, when we are promised a return to the lovely cool weather we’ve been having. (40 low, 65 high: my kind of weather, with no humidity to speak of.) I don’t get much done in humid weather. Never could abide sweating…and this a.m., at 60 degrees, one half hour of chores, and I’m soaking wet. You’d think, being a pisces, I would LIKE water. Oh, well…don’t much like swimming either, or taking showers or baths (but I do, rest assured! I just don’t enjoy them, it’s like doing dishes: necessary, but annoying and takes time I could be using doing something I like doing.)

Okay, now the plan is to get out of the wet, sweaty clothes, and into clean ones (yes, with shower!) and head out to two yard sales and to the kitchen shop to see if they have a meat grinder for my kitchen aide mixer. (I have one for my 1932 Kitchen Aide but the grinding plates are missing, and it’s hard to find parts for a 1932 machine! Then, home to make Italian sausage and another load of sauce to freeze up for those cold winter nights I don’t feel much like cooking. (Which, incidentally, uses up all last year’s left over canned tomatoes, before this year’s come in by the droves, which I expect to happen sometime in the next two weeks…so the canning begins again.)

Also, I just heard about a possibly interesting and genetically valuable flock of jacob sheep for sale which I need to go check out some time this week. The stock is originally from the Lasseau line. The Lasseau sheep which were still at the Lasseau farm died in a fire many years ago. It was part of one of the importations in the early 70’s. This flock I’ve just heard about has been diluted somewhat by the addition of non-Lasseau rams, but perhaps that is okay. I need to go see them, take photos, and check with the breeders who are up on such things. (By the way, I need more sheep, like I need a hole in the head…I’m supposed to be cutting back this year…I guess my idea about perhaps reducing the shetland flock is going to become a reality. Anyone out there want some really nice shetland ewes at some really nice prices? With or without papers?)