1st week of September 2008

Praying MantisWith more dry weather, the garden hose is getting a workout keeping the fall carrots, beets, turnips and salad greens watered. We will be thankful when rain arrives. One benefit of the dry weather is that it is ideal for collecting seeds for saving. I've been collecting various flower seeds that are dry plus am needing to choose the most perfect peppers and tomatoes from the varieties that I isolated to ferment and then separate out the seeds. We've also been gathering different flowers for pressing like Queen Anne's lace, salvia and nasturtiums while they are nice and dry. One insect that we have been finding in abundance is the praying mantis. They are a beneficial insect that eats lots of bad bugs. Here is one our children discovered and decided to try feeding it a cricket. It made for a morning of great entertainment to see the mantis in action.

Chicken ButcheringOur last batch of free range broilers "lost their pajamas" and headed for the freezer this week. Butchering went very smoothly and we felt like we had a good rhythm going. It was great to have my garden helper there to assist and add to the humor plus our 9 year old daughter was keeping up with her share of gutting also. We were careful to save the livers for a friend who thinks they are the greatest plus some hispanic friends were thrilled to take home the chicken feet for making broth. After our batch was finished, some friends brought the 60 birds they raised to butcher. We gave them a lesson in using the equipment and gutting and away they went. Here one of our friends is triumphantly displaying the end result from the defeatherer. They did a great job for their first time but it took quite a bit of time. With anything, the more you practice something, the better you become. It's nice to realize that after several years we're on our way to being adept at the fine art of chicken butchering.

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