Week One (August 2012)
I decided that it was time to start blogging our farm life if for no other reason than to keep an account of all the things we do and how we deal with all of the issues that arise. Obviously this isn't the first week of our "farm" life but it's the first week of my writing about it.
The heat has been incredibly oppressive, 108 to 111 degrees every day with no rain and no relief. After experiencing heat exhaustion last week, it's difficult for me to even go outside at all which has left my husband and son doing most of the work. We did get the birds and rabbits moved into the new garage conversion so they at least have an air conditioned space that they can escape to when it starts getting too hot. The chickens so far have been smart and retreat indoors during the hottest part of the day. The turkeys on the other hand seem quite content to just lay in the sun and warmth. I guess since most of the domesticated breeds originated in Mexico, the heat isn't so much of an issue for them.
We've been letting them out in the mornings to graze and wander where they will in the yard. Everyone rushes the gate as we open it and then scatters. The chickens take up residence in the compost bin or one of the garden beds and scratch and dig finding bugs. The turkeys tend to stay en masse and talk up a storm eventually eating grass and finding a nice dirt patch to wallow in. If we are out with them, they swarm us wanting treats, apples mainly. It's hard to even get them cut up without the birds grabbing them from us or biting our fingers.
Our garden has been ... rather odd this year. We planted tomatoes early and got an early crop before they all died out. Not sure why but we won't be planting the tomatoes in the same spot again. We also had butternut squash set on early and for the first time ever. Our pepper and eggplants have grown like crazy but we've only had a few peppers set on and not a single eggplant. I'm guessing the grasshoppers have taken their toll. We also had green beans really early but then they died out too. The interesting part is that all of the weird stuff we planted has done great. The sweet potatoes have taken over their bed, the bizarre little red melons have set like crazy but taste like dead fish, the chinese long beans are producing their hearts out, the quinoa is still growing great, and the sorghum ...
The sorghum has produced double heads on each and every stalk. They put up heads early and as we waited eagerly for them to ripen, suddenly they put up yet another head so instead of harvesting the heads and then cutting the stalks and pressing for syrup, we are having to wait until the second heads ripen and we can harvest them. I did some research on the internet but couldn't find a single thing that could tell me why we got double heads like that. I guess we'll just be grateful for the double grain production.
Now comes the fun of trying out a fall garden for the first time. We did a greenhouse last year for the first time and were incredibly happy with the outcome of it providing lettuce and greens all winter long as well as getting an early start on peas and carrots. The fall garden will have tomatoes, corn, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, parsnips, and rutabagas ... if the tomatoes will grow. I planted them two weeks ago and they came up just fine but are now just setting there doing nothing. They aren't putting on true leaves or getting any taller or dying. They are just doing nothing. I've never had that happen before so I don't know what's wrong. And we still have the peppers, eggplants, some winter squash, the chinese beans, and sweet potatoes growing as well.
We butchered our first rabbits this week. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. It's a little sad to knock them out and to see their heads in the bucket but processing them was much easier than processing a chicken. There's no feathers to pluck and the insides come out in one big lump. We ate the liver with some onions on that day and it was pretty good, not livery at all, just soft in texture. I floured it and added some salt, pepper, and garlic powder to it then sauteed it in butter with the browned onions. The rabbit meat went in the freezer otherwise though. We'll have to eat one pretty soon.
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