Harvesting

Friday was chicken harvest day at the farm.  We are now down to 17 pullets … besides the 12 laying hens in the older flock.  Friends will be taking 5 of the pullets, which will leave us with a laying flock of 24 over the winter.  The pullets should start laying eggs in about 4-5 weeks.

This is the last batch of cleaned and bagged chickens to freeze.  We started around 12:30pm on Friday and finished up the bagging at 10pm that evening.  We processed a total of 35 (33 cockerels and 2 runty hens).  Note to self:  Do NOT attempt more than 35 in one day, and less would be better!  Not too bad for our first year.

--------------------------------------------------------------

While we wouldn’t normally work out in the garden on Sunday, but the plums needed harvesting, too.  Eric mentioned that he’d seen red fruit the other day, so after brunch, I drove over to check for ripeness.  The first tree I checked was filled with plums ripe enough to fall into my hand.  Dash, Angelina, Zeke and I drove over and harvested a five-gallon bucket of fruit.  Some fruit is ripe, some will need to wait a few days.  Jelly and syrup making is in our future … YUM!

 

The larger plums were ripe enough to eat.  The skin is tart and a bit thick, but the flesh is wonderfully sweet.

Tutty Frutty & Veggie Mighty

It's been one of those weeks ... surrounded by peaches and produce ... what's one more fruit!!  I think I mentioned that I've been keeping tabs on the plums in the shelter belt of my in-laws' farmstead. 

My MIL checked earlier this week and thought they'd be ready for picking by Tuesday or Wednesday.  After school yesterday morning, the kids and I loaded up the van with buckets and ladders.  We only had to drive across the harvested wheat field alongside the house to find the plums (this pregnant mom wasn't going to cart everything and walk!!). 

Graham with most of the plum pickins'

Most of the plums were ripe, but I asked the kids to pick everything within reach because plums ripen well on the counter.  Dash and Zeke carted ladders to get at plums; Angelina, Graham and I kept our feet on the ground, satisfied with 'lower' pickings.  I'm sure by Monday most will be ready to be processed for jelly-making.  I was impressed with the number of plums, considering the trees are quite old.  Most have 'gone wild' and thus produce very small plums, but they add a wonderful tangy flavor to the jelly.

Dash - packing up to back to the house

Today's successes:

1.  Another 4 qts. of peaches were canned in the afternoon and 6 cups were sliced and frozen. 

2. I finally cleaned and snapped the beans from my garden.  After cutting and blanching, the yield was 13 cups for freezing.  The Food-saver is a wonderful product, IMHO!  Granted, mine is a much older model ... it still does the trick and prevents freezer burn.
3. The kids and Grandma Green Acres picked another load of sweet corn this afternoon.  I helped with the shucking, but decided that was enough doing for today.  It'll keep well in the frig until Monday when I'll have more time to cut, cook and eventually freeze.  Sweet corn for supper tonight and tomorrow!  Yummy!
4. The kids and I cleaned like crazy.  Some rooms (ie. kid bedrooms) were long overdue for a thorough clean/dust/vacuum.
5. Did a bit of food prep for tomorrow ... we're expecting company and are so excited to spend the day relaxing and visiting!

Four AM Fun

Is it fun to wake up at 4a??  Well, no, but if I'm going to be up, I might as well make myself useful.  Today, it was an allergic reaction that woke me up.  My throat and roof of my mouth were so itchy!  That happens to me this time of year - weeds are at their most potent, small grains harvest, and lots of dust.

But, I still can't get back to sleep after taking medication, so I might as well make myself useful.  I was planning to can peaches today anyway.  I just wasn't planning to start so early in the day.  It was actually quite nice: no interruptions, canning in my pj's, no shower (but still plenty of time to take one before the day really begins), 1/2 lug of peaches canned by 6:10a.

1.  Prep stage:  I'd washed the peaches last night, so just need to quarter/halve and peel.  The peeled peaches are in a water/lemon juice mixture to prevent browning during the prep stage.  I've also started water boiling in the canner, mixed the light syrup and started heating it, and placed the jars in the dishwasher so they are hot when I'm ready to pack.

2. Packing:  Half the peaches are cut and peeled (my bucket is full), so I packed about half the jars.  I like to put the jars in a towel covered pan.  My lids have been sterilized with boiling water and the rings (screw-bands) are nearby, too.  I was able to pack 4 quart jars, but decided to peel the rest of the peaches to see if I could fill the canner.



3. Canning:  The canner is filled and the jars are covered with about 1 inch of water.  Quarts are processed at a full rolling boil for 25 minutes.












4.  Done!  When the time is up, I remove the jars to a towel covered board.  The jars are supposed to sit out and cool for at least 24 hours.  At the end of that time, I remove the bands and clean the jars for storage in the root cellar.

Extraordinarily....

... large kiwi fruit from Sam's Club. Have you ever seen kiwi fruit this huge!

This is a picture of the kiwi next to a teaspoon.

They are at least 1.5 times larger than 'normal' kiwi that I purchase in the grocery store. And, the first spoonful was delicious as a 'late-night' or 'early-morning' (pick your preference) snack.