Too beautiful to waste

It was absolutely gorgeous here yesterday. A bit windy, but it was in the 50s and mostly sunny.

We could've spent time at the park. We could've gone hiking. We could've done a million leisurely activities to take advantage of a rare winter day of mild temperatures. Instead, we butchered chickens.Two visiting boys catching chickens

Our homemade Whizbang Chicken Plucker

You see, a beautiful day just simply cannot be wasted when you've got a chore needing to be done like that. If we hadn't butchered yesterday, we might end up doing it on a day when the chickens start to freeze as soon as they come out of the scalder. We've done it on days like that. It is not a process I'd like to repeat. When everyone is competing to be the one to do the gutting because having your hand INSIDE the chicken is the warmest place there is, you can bet the day is not pleasant. It is much better to use a beautifully warm day to do it. In fact, I'd rather do it on a day like yesterday over ANY summer day as well. Things smell better in the 50s than they do in the 90s.Picking off a few remaining feathers

We did 38 chickens and 6 ducks. We had 6 extra sets of hands with friends, including a friend of a friend who is wanting to get more involved with his own food after watching Food, Inc. He wanted to experience this to see if he might want to raise some of his own food because he has opportunity to buy a small farm near the city. Butchering is always more fun with friends to get bloody with!

January 2010 Farm Production

Somehow, I write a post and then 11 days go by without anything. I don't quite ever know exactly where all that time went, but it sure does go fast. Ah well, here's to more consistency...

Anyway, things have been pretty consistent on the milk and egg front, except that we didn't milk for 4 days due to a really bad storm. With all the calves in the barn, there wasn't any milk left for us! Our visitor, Harriet, has returned to her family, and we've still not started milking Lily or Belle. We are thinking about just not adding to the winter work load with them. We are getting plenty of milk for now. We'll see. Our thinking may change. The good news, though, is that Belle has been much less skittish. She is actually letting us lead her by the halter. The bad news is that Harriet did not get bred which means either Bert is a dud or she just didn't take for some reason. The next thing to do is to load Bert on the trailer and take him in to be tested. That'll be fun. Jersey bulls are not known for their friendly demeanor. It's not like you can just loop a halter on him and say, "Come."

Eggs collected: 343, or about 28.5 dozen (about 11/day)

Milk collected: 1291 cups, or nearly 81 gallons (about 2.88 gallons/day)
Milk sold: 2 gallons

Oh, and our pig is getting close to butcher-age. We'll be trying to sell her, as we still have lots of pork left from our last butchering.

December 2009 Farm Production

Our egg production is finally up. The reason for this is twofold...They aren't leaving the coop much due to snow (which means they aren't laying eggs in odd places around the farm) and they are getting extra light through the heat lamp. I finally have eggs enough for some breakfasts again, as well as extra for baking.

Eggs collected: 273, or 22.75 dozen (almost 9/day)

Milk has been a bit of a yoyo lately. We've got lots extra due to visiting Harriet, but we've also had to bring all the cows in on some days due to extreme weather. When they are all together, Norman makes the rounds, emptying everyone out. We also had several low days with Harriet until we realized that Bert was helping himself as well! The stinker. He must be a little confused as to his role with Harriet. We are not currently milking Belle or Lily...we'll probably wait until Harriet goes home to start that. For now, they are just feeding their calves. Anyway, we've still gotten plenty of milk!

Milk collected: 1285 cups, or 80.3 gallons (about 2.6 gallons/day)
Milk sold: 2 gallons
Milk products made: 2 lbs each of gouda, queso blanco, and cottage cheese, as well as butter, ice cream, and yogurt galore

And except for the 2 new calves, that's the extent of farm production for this month! And, like last year, I'm going to include a line graph for the year. What can I say? I'm a first-born. The milk is cups and the eggs are counted singly.

November 2009 Farm Production

We started off the month in utter randomness. With Norman still in with Isabelle and Caroline, we never knew how much milk we'd get, nor from whom! Norman was an equal opportunity nurser, so sometimes we'd get milk from his mama Caroline if he'd been nursing off of Isabelle and sometimes we'd get the opposite. When our milk intake really started to drop off drastically, we decided that it was time to move Norman out to the big pasture with Isabelle as his nurse cow. We kept Caroline in the barnyard. The first morning after that, we found Norman had busted through the fence to get back with his mama, but the shock was memorable enough that he hasn't attempted that again. Isabelle and Norman do hang out just outside the gate, though. I believe Norman doesn't want to go far and Isabelle won't leave him behind.

At the same time, we moved big Burt to his own bull pen. We've also moved Lily and Belle into the barnyard as we believe they will both be calving before too long. Since the big moves, our milk production has been pretty consistent. And, in fact, we sold our first 2 gallons of raw milk! Quite a landmark occasion, considering that our goal is to be dairying full time some day.

Eggs collected: 162, or 13.5 dozen (about 5.4/day)

Milk collected: 973 cups, or 60.8 gallons (about 2 gallons/day)
Milk products made: 8 lbs each of mozzarella and ricotta, plus lots of yogurt, butter, and ice cream
Milk sold: 2 gallons

We are still getting red tomatoes because we pulled all the green ones off before the first frost and stuck them in paper bags in the basement. Every few days, more have ripened. While I am thankful for the continuing harvest, I'm getting a little sick of processing tomatoes. It's December, for crying out loud! I've made a lot of spaghetti sauce that we consumed immediately, so I won't include that in the numbers.

Produce preserved:

• 4 cups dried tomato powder
• 2 qts tomato sauce

We've also been able to dig into a few of the hard cheeses I made. In fact, I took a cheese plate of them to Thanksgiving dinner. They got rave reviews!

October 2009 Farm Production

Ahhh, it's good to be back. I will say that as time away from the internet wore on (and on), I was getting more and more used to not having it around. But, I am glad to be able to check the bank account, look up a recipe, and keep up with others' blogs once again.

October was a busy month for us with all the building going on, but we still had quite a productive month farm-wise as well. Of course, as I said before, we welcomed our first, born-on-the-farm, calf to new-mom Caroline. She did splendidly, though I would've preferred a less bitter-cold night for calving! She is now producing milk jointly for us and for Norman.
Eggs collected: 220, or 18.3 dozen (about 7/day)
Eggs sold: none

Milk collected: 888 cups, or 55.5 gallons (about 1.8 gallons/day)
From that: 2 lbs mozzarella, 2 lbs ricotta, and lots of milk to the piggies
The pictures are from Norman's short time in our kitchen while we were trying to warm him up and get him started. The box is small, but it helped hold in the heat.

The garden is now put to bed for the winter, though I do have some cleaning up still to do there yet. We are still reaping the benefits of it, however, as we pulled in many, many bags full of green tomatoes to ripen inside. Every few days, we find more red tomatoes in the bags and are still, even past our first snow, enjoying fresh, ripe produce!

Produce preserved:

• 8 lbs sunflower seeds
• 8 cups of dehydrated tomato powder
• 5 pts dehydrated tomato slices
• 4 pts dehydrated hot peppers
• 9 pts tomato sauce

In addition to the produce, we also harvested some meat for the freezers. We butchered some older hens, new, young roosters, and our 2 goat wethers. We will miss those boys, but we are grateful for the opportunity to know that our food was healthy and happy in life.

Meat put away:

• 10 whole chickens
• 75 lbs goat meat

Unfortunately, we lost one of our bee hives. We have no idea what happened, but they all died. The other hive is doing well and though we weren't able to collect honey from them, we hope that they'll be off and running in the spring. And that's all from the farm!

September 2009 Farm Production

What seems to be our last summer month, September was a continuing bounty of goodness from all aspects of the farm.

Eggs collected: 145, or about 12 dozen (almost 5/day)
Eggs sold: none


We dried off Lily about halfway through the month because she was producing so little...we decided she needed a break. And, we went to once a day milking as well. It's all an experiment around here, but we've read that less milking is less stressful to the cows. Since they both had a bout of mastitis (which is quite understandable with all the stress they've undergone in the last few months with moving and new people & routines to get used to), we figured they could use a little less stress.

Milk collected: 778 cups, or 48.625 gallons (about 1.6 gallons/day)

I turned a half-gallon of milk into yogurt on a nearly daily basis. But, except for that and a few pints of ice cream, I didn't make any extra milk products. The piglets drank most of any excess this month.


Produce canned:

• 15 qts pumpkin
• 95 qts tomatoes (!!)
• 12 qts potatoes

Produce otherwise preserved:

• 8 cups roasted pumpkin seeds
• 4 lb 11 oz dried popcorn
• 47 lbs onions
• 3 lbs 3 oz frozen bell peppers
• 7 cups frozen hot peppers

August 2009 Farm Production

I think the most exciting thing I’ve experienced out here in the country is that so many of our meals come all, or in large part, from our farm. Our eggs, our meat, our milk or cheese, our veggies…it’s thrilling to look down at your plate and know the entire short history of your food. To know that, with God’s provision, you’ve grown it all yourself.


Eggs collected: 215, or about 18 dozen (about 7/day)
Eggs sold: none

Milk collected: 1258 cups, or 78 gallons and 5 pints (about 2.5 gallons/day)
From that milk, we produced:

• 34 lbs of Yogurt
  
• 2 lbs Gouda
  
• 8 lbs Mozzarella
  
• 6 lbs Ricotta
  
• 2 lbs Dill Havarti
  
• 2 lbs Monterrey Jack
  
• 2 lbs Pepper Jack
• 2 lbs Leister
• In addition, I made buttermilk and ice cream, but did not record the quantities
  

Produce canned:

• 7 qts green beans
  
• 21 qts potatoes
  
• 9 qts bread & butter pickles
  
• 20 qts carrots
  
• 28 qts tomatoes
  
• 6 qts pumpkin
  

Produce otherwise preserved:

• 10 qts of frozen summer squash
  
• 9 lbs dried flour corn
• 5.5 lbs dried popcorn
  

We sold all of our hogs directly to the consumer as meat this month and acquired 5 new piglets, which are currently being raised 100% on our raw Jersey milk. These piglets will, most likely, be sold as feeder pigs. We do plan on raising another pig or two next spring again, but don’t really want to feed pigs over the winter since we want to get away from buying in feed and aren’t producing enough ourselves yet to sustain them outside of a growing season.

July 2009 Farm Production

So much to blog about...so little time. It is a really busy time for me around here, compounded, of course, by a little munchkin who loves to eat! I have so much to catch up on, so many posts rattling around in my head, but they will have to wait a bit more. However, I did want to get this up and out of the way.

Eggs collected: 54 (or 4.5 dozen), or less than 2/day average (Naughty chickens!!)
Eggs sold: none

Milk: 22 gallons & 6 cups, or about 2 gallons & 6 cups/day average
Milk products made from above:

• 6 lbs mozzarella
• 6 lbs ricotta
• 4 lbs feta
• 1 qt yogurt

Produce canned:

• 7 qts summer squash (zucchini and lemon squash)
  
• 1 qt pickled beets
• 12 qts bread & butter pickles
• 6 pts dill pickles
• 15 pts sweet cherries
• 14 pts cherry marmalade
• 9 qts cucumber chips
• 23 pts glazed carrots
• 4 qts carrots
• 10 qts chicken broth

Produce preserved without canning:

• 2 gal dried summer squash
• 5 cups dried cherries
• 4 cups dried apples
• 2 cups dried bananas
• 4 cups dried crushed peppermint
• 2 cups dried crushed hot peppers
• 15 cups frozen shredded zucchini

Produce eaten fresh: unfathomable!

That's all, folks!

June 2009 Farm Production

We have egg-eaters once again. It is so frustrating. Don thinks we should just start knocking the hens off one-by-one until it stops. You know, "the beatings will continue until morale improves!" Anyway, something must be done because it sure doesn't pay to feed them if they won't return the favor.

Eggs gathered: 123 (10.25 dozen), or about 4/day
Eggs sold: none

In addition to the produce we ate fresh straight from the garden, I also put up the following:

• 21 half-pint jars of strawberry jam
• 10 lbs frozen strawberries
• 4 lbs spinach
• 4.5 pints pickled beets
• 10 pints peas
• 1 cup dehydrated zucchini

The zucchini, especially, is starting to come in fast and furiously. Don thinks I should sit outside and watch it to see if I can actually see it growing. The tomatoes are on the vine (still green), the corn has tassels and silk, the cucumbers & pumpkins are just beginning to fruit, and the peppers are starting to grow. It is all quite exciting. Which is good...because at this point, it looks like I'll be having a July baby and I need something to do to keep from going crazy waiting!

Infestation

Just so you don't think that life on our farm is all sunshine and roses (or knee-high corn, as the case may be), I thought I'd share a horrible little secret of mine.

Ready?

We have mites.

Oh, do we have mites. Grain mites. Here is the back story: We brood our chickens in the basement, as I've mentioned before. After the last batch went out, we didn't get around to cleaning out the brooding trough. You see, it didn't stink...they weren't there too long since the weather was nice and warm. So, it just didn't get done. Well, apparently grain mites came in with the chick's feed and lived quite comfortably on the grain waste in the bottom of the trough. But then, they multiplied to where they needed more space...and more food. And so, off they went, out of the trough, to seek their fortune. And cover my basement.

Two days ago, Caleb was downstairs vacuuming up some broken glass (Don't ask! Pregnant women are clumsy!) and hollered that the (black) cord was covered with moving white specks. I ran down to see what he was talking about and with dread in my heart, began to look around elsewhere. Sure enough, everywhere in the basement, wherever the color was contrasted enough to see them, there were moving white specks. EVERYWHERE.

We quickly realized that the bulk of the infestation was coming from the trough and pulled that thing outside in a jiffy. We were concerned that it was chicken (feather) mites, but soon realized that they would've needed a host. Grain mites were the intruders. Out seeking more grain, but covering every square inch in the process.

I tried just vacuuming them up, but quickly realized how futile that was. They just crawled up anew to replace their vacuumed brothers. They were going to need to die. And quick. Before they took over the whole house and the only solution left would be to burn it down!

Diatomaceous Earth. Or DE, for short. That was the answer. That, and 2 kids with energy to burn, armed with squirt bottles to make it airborne. Three bucketfuls of DE later, the basement and all its contents were covered with a fine white powder. That's ALL its contents, including a couch, an entertainment center, all the food storage shelves, rugs, jackets, shoes, freezers...everything. Including the kids. (They were wearing dust and eye protection!!)

And now, the clean-up begins. It will take a sweet forever, I'm afraid. It took a good hour and a half just to vacuum it up from the couch and the entertainment center.

Wait...it gets even better! Don's mom will be here in 5 days and she usually sleeps on the pull-out couch in the basement. So, I either have 5 days to completely clean every square inch of the basement, or, she'll have to sleep upstairs in one of the kid's rooms. And given the likelihood that I could have a baby any minute, I don't see getting the basement all done.

The good news, however, is that the DE seems to have worked like a charm. There doesn't seem to be any more mites. Of course, grain mites don't bite people, so it could've been worse, but still it was completely disgusting. Talk about feeling like a horrible housekeeper!

So, there you have it. Our dirty little secret, laid bare for the whole world to know about. Don't ever say that I don't keep it real, okay? Mite infestation...it's about as real as it gets.

May 2009 Farm Production

So you've already heard about our chicken coop woes. It really made the chickens a bit crazed and their laying suffered immensely. It was so bad, in fact, that we didn't have eggs many mornings (that is quite a difference from normal) and we didn't have any extra to sell.

Eggs gathered: 234 (19.5 dozen) or about 7.5/day
Eggs sold: none

The garden has been doing wonderfully. I need to get out there and take pictures. The potatoes are so tall now. But, only the lettuce, spinach, radishes, and sugar snap peas are ready for harvest at the moment. We've had many, many salads, which I cannot even begin to estimate as far as amount/weight. I do know that so far, we've pulled in about 30 radishes. When you are just grabbing things to make enough for a meal that day, it is hard to keep track of how much is actually produced. All I know is this: we are having a terrible time keeping up with the lettuce. There is way more than we can eat. Eventually, the animals may have to help us finish it. I did put up some spinach, though. I steamed it, chopped it, and then froze it in containers for future use in recipes.

Spinach: 4 lbs frozen

And that's about all for farm production for May. I'm expecting a much longer list for June!

A Riddle

What time is it when the cow is in the chicken coop?

Answer: Time to get a new coop!

Yes, we are speaking from experience here, though I doubt we'd need it to draw such a conclusion. This is what comes from having a coop with a door big enough for people to comfortably go through and cows who are of a smaller breed. What can I say? Our cows were attracted to the smell of the feed the chickens get. They pushed their way inside, which immediately busted the floor through to the ground (the floor was up on runners so that the coop could be pulled to a new area with the pickup truck). The floor had already been weakened by all the rain that got in last year from continually losing the roof in storms. It was still strong enough for people, and certainly for chickens, but apparently, not strong enough for a couple of bovine creatures.

But, just getting in and out was not enough for those cows. They had to dance around inside, which broke all of the roosts, the waterer, and the feeder. They really did a number on it. As a result, the chickens didn't lay many eggs for many, many days. And when they started laying again, they did so UNDER the coop, which they accessed through the busted up flooring. It's been hard to get at the eggs and so I'm sure that when we finally get the thing moved and deconstructed, we'll find a nice stash. I sure hope no chickens have been underneath when the cows come for a visit!

And so, another project had to be started at a time when we were NOT intending to do it. Don had purchased running gear (the wheeled form that can be used for building a trailer) at an auction a while back just for this purpose, but we had hoped to put off building it until next spring, as we had plenty else to do right now.

As an aside, we have contemplated picking up a super-cheap full-size van at an auction to turn into a chicken coop. Picture it. You could fence off the driver's seat so that the chickens wouldn't foul it up and then you could just hop in and drive it to a new location. You'd tear out all the other seating for the chickens to have a nice big open area. Then, you'd build nest boxes at the rear of the van, which you'd access for egg-collection by just opening the back doors. It'd be perfect! Sure, the neighbors might talk, but they already do. You could even paint it like the Scooby Doo van just for kicks. Picture that out in the middle of an 80-acre pasture. And, we've seen running vans go for $400 or less. You can't build a similarly sized coop out of wood for less than that (unless maybe you salvage wood from somewhere). I would've loved to do it. But, we couldn't wait to come upon the van priced right since those silly cows forced our hands.

Anyway, Don got to work building a new coop on top of the running gear. Here is a picture of it before getting the walls and roof on so you can better see the structure of it.We've since added a roof and siding, and of course, people, chicken, and egg-collection doors. The cows won't be able to get in, unless they shrink and fly. The chickens will have a small ramp to walk up to their door, but we are worried that the cows may knock it over. I'm thinking we may have to set up an electric fence perimeter (with solar charger so it's movable) around it to keep the cows away.

There is a flat tire that needs to be fixed before we can pull it out to the pasture and transfer the chickens to it, but that should be accomplished the weekend. I hope those chickens like their new digs! As an added bonus, they can't hide eggs underneath it...not without us being able to access it and find them, at least!

The new flock

Our new flock of Buff Orpingtons is enjoying their new (to them) coop. The chicks always seem so little and lost when we put a new batch in there for the first time. They seem to be swallowed up by the enormity of their new home and by the mounds of straw covering the floor.But the chicks are growing fast and have even started to fly/jump up to the roosts. But they've lost their chicky cuteness and haven't yet developed into the mature, handsome hens that they will one day become. It's an awkward stage right now.Don't worry, chicks. It won't last forever.

April 2009 Farm Production

This has been a big month for our chickens around here. We've been getting a really good number of eggs per day from our flock. Our newest batch of layers (Buff Orpingtons) arrived on April 5th and they are now out in the big coop outside, which means our older layers have moved out into their movable coop out on the pasture. It is always a bit traumatic for the hens to move homes, and their production dropped off there toward the end of the month because of the move, but it should be back up in a few days as they get used to their new home again.

Our rabbits also moved back outside after their winter in the barn. They are quite happy to get green grass every day.

And, our bees came and were installed on the 28th, so we are busy making sure they do better than last year's batch. So far, so good. One hive, in particular, is going exactly as it should. The second hive hasn't been as smooth, but at this point, I'm not expecting doom.

In other farm news, tick season is upon us. I know that for many of you, that means little to nothing. But for us, it means mandatory daily tick checks and the high probability that we'll find one or two. Meagan gets them especially bad. And, Caleb caught 10 possums in one night in his trap! Well, a mama with 9 babies in her pouch. Excitement, excitement. He couldn't wait to tell our neighbor boy who held the unofficial record of getting 3 possums in one night out of their chicken coop.

And now, the production stats.

Eggs collected: 557 (about 46.4 dozen) or about 18.5/day
Eggs sold: 15 dozen

March 2009 Farm Production

It was a fairly good month, in terms of food production at our place. Of course, March is one of those in-between months where the brutal part of winter is over (minus a few major cold snaps), but the warmth and production of spring just hasn't quite gotten hold yet. I can't wait to record all the bounty from the garden this year. But, until then, eggs and pork it is!

Eggs collected:482 (about 16/day average), or about 40 dozen
Eggs sold: 6 dozen

Pork harvested: 215 lb, 4 oz (plus some fat for rendering)

February 2009 Farm Production

It snowed yesterday...a lot. It looks like that old proverb about March coming in like a lion and out like a lamb just might hold true around here.

We've ordered our spring batch of laying hens, to be delivered the end of March. They will be a straight run (a mixture of pullets and cockrels) of 50 Buff Orpingtons. We've been reading and hearing over and over again lately about these guys. They are supposed to be good setters, brooders and mothers, hardy, and large. We'll keep all the hens and a few roosters as our layers and will send the rest of the roosters to freezer camp. We hope to have them reproduce themselves, so we'll do experimenting with leaving hens with her egg clutches with this flock. After all, you aren't really self-sufficient if you must order your chicks every time from a hatchery, right?

Eggs collected: 487 (about an 17/day average), or about 40.5 dozen
Eggs sold: 15 dozen

January 2009 Farm production

I've decided to forgo the list-style format of our egg production this year, because, frankly, it is probably pretty boring to anyone but us. I'll still track it, because, as you may know, I'm a little freakish about these things. But, I'll just track it for our family & put up the totals here. I do plan, though, to include more than just milk and eggs this year. I hope to include things like pounds of meat harvested and produce canned or frozen. And hopefully, there will be a bit more to record as the year progresses in the "sold" category as well.

Eggs collected: 559 (about an 18/day average), or about 46.5 dozen
Eggs sold:4 dozen

That's it for January! The chickens are still laying quite well. Unexplainable, but I'll take it.

2008 Chart of Egg & Milk Production

Here it is. My loony-ness in all its glory.
So, the eggs are charted in, well, single eggs, duh. The milk is in cups. And wow, July was a bad month for us, eh?

Anyway, that was a fun exercise. I now know a whole lot more about using Excel.

December Egg Tally

Oh boy, I totally forgot to post this! Of course, it could've had something to do with the fact that I didn't post much of anything for several weeks there, but for my own records, I wanted to be sure to get caught up.

1. 12 eggs
2. 8 eggs
3. 11 eggs
4. 14 eggs
5. 10 eggs
6. 8 eggs
7. 7 eggs
8. 21 eggs
9. 11 eggs
10. 8 eggs
11. 7 eggs
12. 27 eggs
13. 12 eggs
14. 12 eggs
15. 7 eggs
16. 20 eggs
17. 10 eggs
18. 10 eggs
19. 12 eggs
20. 12 eggs
21. 15 eggs
22. 12 eggs
23. 9 eggs
24. 13 eggs
25. 9 eggs
26. 14 eggs
27. 16 eggs
28. 12 eggs
29. 19 eggs
30. 19 eggs
31. 24 eggs

Total:401 eggs (33 dozen plus another 5 eggs)

All is well on the chicken front. We had some sub-zero temperatures for a while and lost a few birds, but things seem to be back to normal. And production seems to ramping up, though that makes no sense at all. Our green-egg layers have been giving us a few double-yolkers, which has been nice, but again, confusing. Oh well, if they want to lay well, I won't complain!

Enjoying the harvest

We had to buy a second freezer. It is a good problem to have.

You see, over the summer, we raised about 125 chickens for meat and though they did not all make it to the freezer (we had trouble with the Cornish X Rocks), we still had lots and lots of birds that did. And my freezer was getting full. In fact, we had another 25 birds or so to do and I had absolutely no room. I was cooking them one right after another in my 2 crockpots, trying to save room since they take up less room cooked and deboned, but it just wasn't making enough of a dent.

So, we bought another freezer. A big one. Twenty-five cubic feet. We didn't mess around. And it is a good thing too, because we now have 2 nearly full freezers.

Mr. Big Boy, our 500 pound boar, took a little trip to the meat locker a few weeks ago and came home in 6 large bags full of nice little paper-wrapped packages. He filled up the smaller freezer completely on his own, with overflow into the other one. We were a little concerned about "boar taint." You see, it seems that boar meat can sometimes carry an "off" flavor because of the raging hormones in a boar. But, if it is there, it is faint. Faint enough that with some spices, you don't notice a thing. I wouldn't sell the meat, but for us, it's fine.

And then there are the rabbits. We've been steadily adding more and more rabbit to our freezer as well. I finally got up the nerve to cook a couple up yesterday and so last night, we had rabbit nachos! Not something you'd see on a menu, I'm guessing. But it was good. Just like chicken, and I'm not just saying that. We are having rabbit spaghetti today for lunch (rabbit in sauce over cooked spaghetti squash). I'm still not convinced that I want to continue to raise rabbits for meat. The processing is just not nearly as easy as chickens for us. But, while we've got them, what else are we going to do? I mean, the suckers multiply like...rabbits! And there are only so many people in small-town USA that need a pet rabbit. Believe me. We've tried.

It is nice to know that you have hundreds of pounds of meat in the basement, all from animals you raised yourself. I haven't bought meat from the grocery store in a long, long time. Of course, I'm getting short on beef (our last beef came from buying a half from another farm) and I'm starting to wonder how long it will be before Burt can take a trip to the meat locker, too. Until then, I do have plenty of chicken, pork and rabbit (and even some deer that was gifted to us) to keep us quite fed and happy.