Half of half (not a typo) of the goat barn is now a chicken house!. DD and her squeeze worked all day last Saturday to refurb the old barn to hold the boys and girls comfortably. DD's squeeze Rocks. All I needed to buy for the project was some chicken wire and a set of hinges. Everything else he used was repurposed wood and other items from around Mystic Cedars. Its predator proof and if I cant deal with them due to work they have a secure little outdoor pen to get some sun and air. We have not let them free range all week so they will know the chicken house is their new home. Tomorrow they will be allowed out . The best part of this is that I am no longer on the chickens schedule. I don't have to let them out in the morning and I don't have to be home at night to lock them up! What freedom!!!!!!!!! They are also going through a fraction of the feed since I am no longer feeding all the wildlife in the neighborhood. Their food and water is no longer outside the coop.
I'm loving our unusually warm weather this summer. My squash, cucumbers and tomatoes are amazing this year. This has also been an amazing year for berries. My freezer is still full of raspberries that I did not have a chance to process because we had so many. Now it is blackberry season. I don't have any freezer space left so I have been throwing them in a five gallon bucket. Without adding any water I already have 3 gallons of blackberry mash. This is going to be the best blackberry wine EVER!
Our garden came in so quickly and thoroughly this year that harvesting all the beans has happened and the bed replanted with winter vegetables.
Yup! Its very harvest season around here. I have been canning and pickling with a vengeance with lots more to come. AS I sit here writing this, I am munching on homemade bread slathered with butter and homemade raspberry jelly.
Jimmy's Mom and sis are coming labor day weekend. I think I will enlist them to help with the food preservation. I am always trying to figure out fun activities when they visit and The mindset is on touristy places. I think this time we will just stay home and practice sustainable living! This comes from my initial thought of "OMG how am I going to get all of this done with company here?!?". It was Jimmy's suggestion to " put 'em to work". Jimmy is very excited this year about canning season. He finally got a good crop of chili peppers (hard to grow on this side of the mountains). He plans on making his own hot sauce. We discussed ideas and plans for it over dinner last night. So, while they are here we will be making even more raspberry jelly. Grannys Texas chow chow is on the task list .... Recipe is here http://100yearoldrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/05/100-year-old-green-tomatoe-pickle.html
This might not seem like a lot to do, but each project will take a whole day.
