Wow, eleven adolescent roosters is a LOT of roosters- any day now they’re just going to knock the door down and drag us out to the food can.
One more week of the great chicken surplus. The 5 pound dog will be REALLY happy to not be harassed in the yard anymore.
So will I.
Until next time,
~Fae
…and when I said we were awash in chickens, this is what that looks like: it’s hard to walk across the yard without stepping on the little buggers!
A bit of a drive-by, until the semester is really rolling smoothly. But still! I posted on a work day!
Until next time,
~Fae
Spoiler alert- this post contains photos and video of a chicken being plucked. Although there is absolutely no blood and gore, the chicken is, of course, no longer living. It is not gruesome in any way, but it you’d rather not see a dead chicken, this post is not for you.
I am so excited to share this with you, invisible readers, that I literally cleaned up from today’s chicken processing, made a cup of tea, and sat down here at the computer. Blog content doesn’t GET any fresher than that! Well, and the cold breath of spring semester is breathing down the back of my neck- I wanted to be sure to get this in the can before my free time was again just a memory.
Today, we processed some chickens.
Although many of the dishes I’ve shared on this blog start with “take one whole live pig“, we’re going to jump off into the new year with a VEGETARIAN (and now that I think about it, it’s actually vegan) recipe for a black-eyed pea salad.
Simple (and cheap) ingredients, for such a tasty dish!
Not to worry, I haven’t jumped over to the dark side- I’m still an unrepentant carnivore- but I came up with this particular combination during my summer work, where I live communally and cook for a community of women, starting with 6 of us and growing to 600 each August. As you might imagine, there’s a wide variety of dietary needs in the group: folks who don’t eat gluten, vegetarians, vegans, women fighting cancer, and of course fellow carnivores. This recipe pleased everyone who ate it, no matter what their personal dietary needs. Of course, the one thing everyone has in common is a love of delicious food, and meat or no, this savory combination of collards and black-eyed peas fits that bill.
Well, it’s been quite some while since I had both a chunk of free time AND the energy to put into a blog post. What with the new adjuncting job, I’ve been SUPER crazy busy- enough energy to keep the animals and people fed and healthy, but that’s about it.
This year’s hoop house, and a bumper crop of arugula, collards, turnips, and kale. We are awash in greens.
However. It is FINALLY winter break- for both me and E- and we have been doing all the winter break things: watching a lot of netflix, cleaning, visiting, making a TON of delicious food, and getting caught up on a few months of farmlet chores. I can’t even say how happy it makes me to know that the garden is finally weeded and undercover for the cold weather that is late, but coming. It’s totally the little things. And so, here’s what’s been happening on the farmlet:
72 degrees in the Farmlet- Tofu and Tempeh are enjoying turnip trimmings from the garden.
Well, again- I know it’s been a long time. Please don’t assume, from the lack of posts, that things aren’t ticking right along here at the farmlet: baby chicks are growing, rabbits are cruising the yard in their fancy new (smaller) rabbit tractor, the fall garden is finally underway…
But I’m still BUSY, phew. The new job remains very consuming, and I’m up for a full-time gig with them for spring (not that this is NOT full time, mind you, but adjuncting is by definition not a full time job). So there’s been much less time to wax rhapsodic on the joys of bucolic farmlet life- despite the fact that it is STILL bucolic.
Yellow Wolf pigs – and chickens – and ducks – and a goat or two.
There’s few things more engaging than tiny wee chickies enjoying their breakfast.
We call it ‘chicken tv’. Beats the hell out of the new fall season.
Until next time,
~Fae
…into finding time to blog along with my consuming new job and settling back into our Farmlet.
For today, I’ve just got a snippet: LOOK at the difference a mere 13 days makes!
6 tiny buns, born 9/5.
Same buns, in just less than two weeks!
The first intrepid explorer jumped out of the next box last night, so we’ve turned it and freed them to irritate mama Rhetta with their constant demands. She’s perched on top of the box, looking irritated.
More soon. Baby steps.
~Fae
I’ve been home from my summer in the Michigan woods for 4 whole days now- just long enough to dig the dirt from under my nails, settle back in with the assorted critters, and work like a banshee (appropriately enough: a faery woman who moves fast and cries a lot) to get set up for the new job, which started yesterday. It’s been a busy and exhausted four days, and I’m still a little feral- perplexed by flush toilets, memory foam, and wifi. I keep thinking I just need to go back to my tent and lie down for a little while.
Home is where your chickens are. That’s Treacle, all grown up.
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Food, Farm Animals, and Feminists.
Species Confusion 