Eeek, a skunk!

A few days ago, I looked outside to investigate what the dogs were barking at. I thought it was going to be a cat, but I quickly recognized the tell-tale black and white markings of a skunk on the other side of the ditch, trying to find the best way to cross over onto our side. I ran back into the house to grab the camera and tell Tom about my new find. He opted to stay inside (which is probably the sane thing to do.) Anyway, I was too excited to worry about getting sprayed because we had been discussing with some friends just the night before, about how no one ever sees live skunks. They only seem to show up as road kill. And statistically, skunks are probably the most often hit thing on the road. We figured that this might be due to the fact that skunks aren't really scared of humans like mountain lions might be. Of course, mountain lions have fangs and claws, but skunks have stink, and the confidence to know they can use it against almost anything. (Except, they haven't figured out that the threat of stinking doesn't scare those rapidly approaching metal things on wheels hurtling toward them.)

Well, I grabbed my camera and began taking pictures. They were a bit too far away to get any great shots. The flash going off a bunch of times is probably what scared them off (yup, there were two) running away with their tails pointing straight up in the air. I thought the tails pointing upward was just how they ran when they wanted to be cute, but Tom told me they were in spray mode and that my flash probably ticked them off! I guess I was lucky they didn't decide to let one go as a warning shot!

Here are some pics. It was pretty dark, so the quality isn't so hot.

Garden Progression

Artichokes doing very well! Couldn't ever tire of these.

Last of the beets..

Just two chard left

Collards just starting out

Corn squash and beans

Crenshaw melon

Crenshaw melon patch (with some strawberries)

Crook neck squash

Armenian cucumbers

Epazote just about going to seed. Got lots dried in the pantry.

Turkish brown fig

Grapes (cabernet)

Herbs- French thyme, cinnamon basil, pineapple sage, lemon verbena, italian basil

Olallieberries almost done for the year I think. 

Onions and leeks

Raspberries

Santa Fe and Jalepeno peppers

Mara de bois strawberries, thyme on top.

Sugar pumpkins and sunflower

Tomatillos

And now all the tomatoes

1. Black from Tula

2. Black Prince

This great green mass is 

3. Garden Peach

4. Green Zebra

5. Purple Cherokee

Late starts:

6. Nyagous (another black tomato)

Back row- Nyagous tomato

Other 2 rows- Bell Pepper

Between rows- Chayote squash

The girls sitting in the shade

The new ones- Black/ Copper Marans

Dahlia!

And Jax.

Baby Rabbits

We put our three legged buck, Triton (not a three time show champion- he actually has just three legs because of an injury from before I owned him) to two does last month- Butter and Nightshade. I thought that nothing had come of either attempted breeding. This was mostly because I kept checking the nest box of Nightshade, who's cage was lower to the ground and easy for me to peer into. She never had any kits, and this was the second time that we tried with her, so I was thinking that Triton was the problem (maybe he couldn't get a good hold on the girls cause of his single front leg?) and so I never even checked on Butter's nest box.
When I finally stood up on a chair to take her nest box away, I saw that it was full to the brim with fur that she had plucked out to make a soft nest. I pushed it aside, and sure enough, there were 6 little pink babies.

I had been leaving her alone with them, so I don't have any pictures of the babies at that stage, but now their eyes are open and they are soooooo dang cute.

Nothing more to say, beware the cuteness overload which follows.

Retraction..

In my last entry, I talked about saving Tango the rooster from the stew pot- but then a few days later, he was back in it.
Basically, I had decided to go ahead and slaughter 3 cockerels a little younger than I would normally, because Tango wouldn't let them out in the pasture, and I felt they were outgrowing the coop they were in. When the choice was between Tango and the little roosters, Tango was the winner.
Then I thought, "Well it's time to let those little pullets out at any rate, that shouldn't upset him any". Boy was I wrong.
They actually got along great with the big hens, I've never seen such a simple introduction between chickens. They didn't even look at each other, the young ones came right to the feeder and started eating next to them- but then Tango came speeding right in and proceeded to flog the the little pullets. I figured maybe he was just excited, and thought he was looking at the little cockerels, so I put them away and tried again. Same thing two more times. With them roughly half his size, and with his spurs I decided I couldn't let that be.

So between Tango and my future laying hens, Tango lost I'm afraid.

It just goes to show I guess, we don't always get to choose what happens. These birds have a mind of their own and Tango didn't seem ready to accept anybody new in the flock.

The happy ending is that my three cockerels are now out in the grass with the rest, which means I was able to split the little babies (Tangos progeny out of Eva- including a little tiny rooster who looks just like him) between two smallish coops, so that they now have more room as well.

As for Tango, he made a really nice pho ga (Vietnamese chicken soup) which we all enjoyed.

Tango's son is in the first and third picture. The pullets with him are the keepers from that same hatch.

Tango, the rooster that made the cut.

         Well, I answered a craigslist ad a couple of months back for some black copper Marans (a French breed that lays some of the darkest brown eggs I've ever seen). When I got to the hatchery, I got to talking to the woman who runs it about excess roosters. She was over run with them and wanted to know what I do with mine. I let her know that we eat them.
         Long story short, I bought two pullets from her and was convinced (easily) to take home a trio of cockerels as well for free.
         Currently the five of them reside in a coop that they are rapidly growing out of. It isn't really cruelly small, it is bigger than most recommendations I've seen for chickens, but I'm used to birds that are free so it doesn't really make me happy. They are getting to about the size that I want to set the young hens out with the 'big flock', as I think they are big enough to defend themselves while they find their pecking order. Also I would really like to have that coop emptied and cleaned, so I can divide the youngsters that we hatched (8 remain now- looks like an even split for cockerels and pullets) into sex segregated groups as well.

         As I looked around at my options, it seemed the only thing preventing me from doing just what I wanted- let the 5 Marans out, and divide the smaller babies between their two coops- was my adult rooster, Tango.

         Tango is a big bird. I don't know his weight, because he won't let me near him. As his spurs grow, I'm more and more inclined to just leave well enough alone. He is the first one in our flock that is 'rumpless' (no tail on him, something he gets from his Araucana heritage, though he is not tufted- which is a trait I don't care for since it can be fatal. (Read more here if you're interested  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucana ) The three cockerels I want to release (and grow further before slaughter) are friendly with each other, because they grew up together. They are already flock socialized- which in terms of roosters means that they already have an agreement as to who is in charge. The two submissive roosters will know that all the girls in the flock are off limits to them. They won't crow either from what I've seen. All they do is act like non-sexual beings- help watch for trouble and in return they get to stay and hope something awful happens to rooster #1. This agreement keeps the peace, and gives the flock more than one protector (and potential 'fertilizer'- should something happen to the head roo).

         This is all well and good, but Tango can't stand these little roosters. He spends a good part of every morning walking around their coop, crowing and beating his wings, and trying to find a way in. I'm quite sure if they got out, he would probably go right for them, pulling feathers out of their necks, bashing them with his feet, and literally trying to kill them if they don't head for the hills.

         The logical thing was pretty clear- Tango would have to go into the freezer, right? After all, at least he's a fully grown rooster, which would make for more than a mouthful.  Keeping him would be like picking three green tomatoes just to keep the red one on the vine, as sparing him would cause me to have to keep 3 more confined, or slaughter them too young and wind up with some 'cornish game hen' looking carcasses.

         I talked it up all week, guess I was trying to get the nerve.

"It's not ideal, but surely the logical thing to do."

"We can't afford to get emotional with roosters, let alone chickens."

"They're livestock, not pets after all."

I went on and on about it. Jen sort of agreed, but probably knew I was just trying to convince myself.

         The thing is, we really LIKE Tango. He is really sweet with the hens. When I throw them a bird pecked tomato (or strawberry, blackberry, cucumber or just a snail - these are their favorites), I have never seen him eat one. He gets to them first and starts cooing for the girls. Picking it up and dropping it over and over again, as if to say "Look what I found for you!" He hates to let me give them treats, everything has got to go through him, as far as he's concerned. When I know where he is, I throw them to him first and let him choose who gets to eat it.

         He also is just really observant. I have never been able to snap a picture of him where he isn't watching me at a distance. He is constantly on guard. He'll growl a deep and quiet "groo-roo" whenever a large bird flies over. All the girls stop whatever they are doing and run for the shelter of the arbor or the avocado trees. Even when I'm outside, he tends to follow me around; staying between me and the hens whenever possible. The look in his eye seems to say, "You bring us some good stuff, but I don't trust you." He's probably noticed that when I pick a craigslist rooster or an old hen up and go outside the gate with it, it never comes back.

         On top of all this, he isn't overly aggressive. We've had one in the past who was so protective of the girls that anytime I went out back to get eggs (or anything else really) he would come and smack me on the back of the legs with his feet, then run if I turned around. That was Rusty, and I never let him grow spurs; slaughtered him as soon as they started growing.

         Today, while I had the nerve, I went outside with my .22. I fully intended to shoot him through the head (for simplicity's sake- catching him was going to be a problem).

         I walked up to him, loaded a round in the chamber, and went to lift the rifle to my shoulder- he just looked at me and then did the strangest thing: He walked out towards me, so that he was a between me and the girls and then cocked his head and stared. Yeah, I don't think he knew what was coming, but the fact that he came closer to me to protect the flock in that moment, with what WAS coming- just took the will out of me. I couldn't do it! That's exactly the rooster I want watching over those hens.

         I truly believe that a person who has raised a chicken with kindness, good food, and room to fully express their 'chicken-ness', has no reason to feel bad about taking it's life to eat it. Furthermore, I think it's a decent tribute to his sacrifice to go prepare him as a special meal- maybe raise a glass to him while he's eaten even. In this case though, I think it's another kind of tribute to keep him in the yard for another year and maybe raise a glass to him anyway.

         Anybody know a great recipe for some cornish game hens?

Building a dinosaur from a chicken | Video on TED.com

"But, a chicken is a dinosaur. It really is. You can't argue with it, because you know, we're the classifiers and we've classified it that way." 

Jack Horner: Building a dinosaur from a chicken | Video on TED.com

More snakes!

In case you can't tell, I love when I see new snakes.
Since yesterday, I've seen two.

First one is the garter snake I put up the other day near the drainage ditch. He must have heard somebody mispronounce his name as "gardener snake", so that's why I found him in the garden. But I had to break the news to him that actually he's a garter snake. Specifically, a two striped garter snake. From what I've read, it's actually the most common snake in Southern California, but today is only the second time I've seen one and he may even be the very same individual.

Love the red tongue!

Second one may be the very same snake I watched eat a lizard last year- If some of you are reading this because you know me on facebook, you may have seen the pictures I posted of him/ her. It's a red racer aka a red coachwhip. Very quick snake! I chased him down into the drainage ditch, where I finally found him curled up among some old tree roots.

First the picture from last year, with a lizard tail poking out of his mouth..

And here are the pictures of the snake I spotted yesterday. Maybe the same one?

Coq au Vin

Coq au Vin is our signature dish.

It's been a favorite of mine, since before I ever had chickens. Since before I ever tasted it really. I was in culinary school when I first heard about it. I remember my teacher telling us the history of it, and as we often had to the day before we made an important dish, we had to research and write a (very) short paper about the dish. It's a dish that is a solution to a real problem; and the problem is that half of every egg that hatches gives you a rooster. A rooster that eats as much as any egg laying hen without giving back eggs. Now you don't get any roosters or hens unless you have a rooster, this is true, but you only need one (maybe 2 at the most if you want a backup) for 15 or so hens. So that is 13 or so roosters that you don't need, and they were just running around squabbling or eating up all the pasture etc. Coq au Vin was the solution.

When you eat it, you'll never know you're eating something born of necessity either. A rooster braised in Burgundy and chicken stock, with sauteed pearl onions, mushrooms, and lardons. It sounds like a luxurious extravagance really, but as it turns out, it really does require that treatment. While it is likely slaughtered young (at least at my house it is) so that it doesn't put too much a dent in the food source, it still can be pretty tough. You wouldn't even need to compare against a chicken leg to see the difference. Whether it's because of exercise young cockerels get from jousting each other in play, or from male hormones, or both; a rooster drumstick is very strong. It really practically looks like red meat as well. So if you are preparing such a meat, you want to use a slow cooking process that will extract the collagen, thereby tenderizing it. Luckily for those who will eat the dish, that collagen actually gives extra flavor and a silkier texture to the sauce. Collagen is after all what gives us gelatin as well.

So here is a process which takes a nearly inedible piece of meat, adds lots of fresh aromatic veggies herbs and wine, and given the right technique, becomes something really wonderful. This is the REAL cooking, as opposed to searing a little bit of tenderloin which starts off as something special. It appealed to me for being something incredibly conservative as well as being something which wasn't wasteful. After all tenderloin could feed us all, but there's a whole lot of cow left after that. This is the same sort of thing if you think of your whole flock as a cow- the rooster is that 'bad' cut of meat you might give to the dogs otherwise. And Coq au Vin is it's transcendence!

Unfortunately, the school I went to decided to have us prepare a really large 'batch' of Coq au Vin, as a class. Not saying that my own pot would have made something better, cause who knows- but the dish we all made together was very disappointing. It would be many years till I would have it again. It would have to wait till I had chickens.

I've had it now made from store bought chickens as well as from homegrown birds, and I still think its best when it stays closer to its origins. Store bought chicken doesn't have the strength to go through that process. Give me a rooster or an old stew-hen any day. And if the same flock that produced them has long since paid for itself in fresh eggs, so much the better. Cheaper, tastier, and raised healthier and happier.

We made Coq au Vin this last weekend when my sister and her family were visiting, so here are the pictures.. Unfortunately, we didn't shoot one of the finished product before we ate, so the final one is from a dinner last year.

Two pair of leg and thigh, floured and ready for the pan

Veggies cut and ready to go

First sweat the pork

In the pork fat saute the mushrooms, and onions

Brown the bird

Deglaze pan- add two bottles of pinot- some tomato paste- celery carrot and onion- fresh thyme- and the browned chicken itself. All go into the fridge over night.

The next day braise it all, dump the mushy carrots onions and celery, add the sauteed veggies and pork in its place

Finally reduce the sauce and serve! 

We like it over brown rice instead of egg noodles. 

Pictured here with sweet potato and brussels sprouts.