Wheaten Marans are here!

Though they've been here for a few weeks actually. I'm putting up pictures now, because they've gotten to my favorite age- feathered enough to live outside where they have enough room to frolic and be adorable.

Wheaten Marans lay that dark brown egg I love, and they have such a pretty color pattern in my opinion. Not very flashy, but just sort of 'natural bird' looking to me. I don't know what it is about them but they've been my favorite since I discovered them.

These guys and gals are starting to distinguish themselves now that their feathers are coming in- the girls have the 'wheaten' look, tan and brown- and the boys are much darker at the moment and getting more and more dark feathers every day.

There are three other chicks in the bunch that hatched from some blue/ splash marans eggs I purchased. They are a little younger and smaller and still mostly fluffy as opposed to feathered at the moment.

Here they are!

The Rooster

       I can't imagine keeping a flock of chickens without a rooster. I feel for those who live in the city and can't keep one, and I'm sure I'd get used to it if I had to. It seems to me though, that it would be something less than a complete flock, and having had one I'd miss it.

       The rooster is never yours the way the chickens are. When I go outside, my girls run to me. They've been tamed you might say, or perhaps they haven't and they just accept me as another of the flock- the one with food. But the rooster just stays behind and watches me. He seems to be saying, "I don't trust you big mammal. You may have fooled my hens, but I see through you." The girls gather at my feet, Eva is closest, tucks down submissively if I reach for her, she'll let me pick her up and examine her feathers. I check her for lice, for wounds. I check her crop to see that she's eating, look over her feet and the bald patch on her back caused by the rooster mounting her. She's so tame that I tend to use her as a health meter for the rest who won't let me pick them up. The rooster cocks his head at me, he's on alert; I have taken one of his. When I put her back down, he growls quietly. Summer (the welsummer hen) is his favorite, and she comes up and gives Eva a disapproving peck on the head as if to say, "Didn't you hear the rooster? He said 'Keep your distance'!" Or perhaps her message is, "Yes, your friendly with the human, but don't forget, you're still under me in the pecking order."

       I walk to the coop to check for eggs, the girls follow me, even Summer; they're still hoping for treats. The rooster knows this and he's jealous. HE is the one that's meant to give them treats. Treats are how you win a hens' affection, he knows this well. But since he has nothing he fakes it. 

He begins cooing quietly. 'coo cuckoo coo coo' he says, picking up a leaf and then dropping it repeatedly. He's "tid-bitting". It's the same motion that a mother hen does with her chicks and it means, "I've found something good, come and eat this". Only he has nothing but a twig or an old dry leaf. He clearly feels threatened by the attention I'm getting from them and he's lying. It works though, the girls all run to him and find nothing. He'll often mount one of them too, just to make his point. 

When I do bring a treat, he's the first to take it from me. He doesn't want it for himself, sometimes won't eat a bite even if it's something really good, like an apple core. No, he just doesn't want me to give it to them, that's his job. He'll take it from me, run away and then call the girls to him tid-bitting 'look what I found girls, don't forget who gave it to you'! I've never seen him eat anything before them. He looks for nothing for himself, always feeding the hens the best of what he finds. To be honest I've never really seen him eat much at all, probably because he's watching me if I'm around.

       So the relationship between me and the rooster is a bit adversarial from his perspective. I'm a giant mammal that he doesn't trust bordering on a strange looking rooster that he doesn't dare fight, but he doesn't want to lose his flock to either. I don't mind the way the views me, I really wouldn't have it any other way. If he was a pet rooster, and overly trusting, would he still be as good of a protector? It could be that I'm mixing things up here, but my sense is that he wouldn't. I look at the flock from the window in the breakfast nook and find that his eyes are always on me. I'm sure he sees me long before I see him. When I'm out working in the garden and hear him growl a quiet "garoo" and then hear all the girls running under the shelter of the avocado tree, I can look up and sure enough; there is a hawk or a crow wheeling about up there. He has alerted for coyotes at the fence, for ground squirrels (well, you can never be too sure) and sometimes for no reason that I'm aware of. I've heard his warnings several times and never been able to find what it was that made him nervous. Sometimes there is a cat stalking a gopher hole outside the fence, sometimes I see nothing. Nevertheless, I trust him, and I'll bet he just saw something I did not. If my poodle comes running into the dog yard, separated from the birds for their mutual safety, and runs against the fence barking (he loves to watch the girls run) Django the rooster will duck his head low in challenge and come running up to face off against Jax. If he fears him at all, he will never show it. I sometimes think that fence is better for Jax's protection than for the birds. 

       In all, the rooster to me is the spirit of the flock. He reminds me that these were once dwellers of a tropical forest. He reminds me that they aren't commonplace and plain, but they are actually exotic, mysterious, and social animals that have found a niche in our world. He reminds me of what's important to me when raising animals for food- keeping them in such a way that they are not simply fed and housed well, but also given the opportunity to express their nature. He remembers his instincts, even if some of the hens have forgotten some of theirs. He is a tiny dinosaur; a chivalrous thing in hard feathered armor. He's armed with his beak, his instincts, his devotion, and not least two sharp and hard spurs pointing behind him on his hard scaled legs. He can leap into the air higher than my head when startled. It's a good thing for both of us that he doesn't ever attack me (I've had others that do) or I'd have no choice but to prepare him for dinner. Frankly, I wouldn't feel safe around him.

       As I leave the yard, Django beats his wings audibly against his sides three times, and then crows. To the west of my yard in the distance another rooster answers, one of my neighbors must have one as well. They may call and respond a few more times: "This is my yard and my flock! You are not welcome!"

DUCKS!- and other news

Saw some ducks pop up on Craigslist for free, so I decided to snatch a few up. They are Runner Ducks, so they stand up really straight and tall and march along together (turning in unison) like little soldiers. They were bred in India as a herding breed of duck, and I can concur they are pretty easy to herd wherever you need them to go. Unfortunately they seem to have wobbly legs, which I've read has something to do with a niacin deficit. Most feeds don't seem to be properly formulated for waterfowl. We'll be feeding flockraiser (or gamebird?) feed dusted with brewers' yeast, and hopefully that will get them in shape. I was planning on keeping them for eggs and meat (meat from those that we hatch) but I don't really have any desire to breed these if we can't get their legs strong. Maybe with proper nutrition and some daily 'herding' to get them exercise, they will recover. Pictured here is the 'duck house' we put together for them, they already go right into it at night, so it looks like a success. I have them ranging in the garden since we had nothing much grow for winter but the weeds. In their condition, the chickens really don't let them get any food, so we have decided to separate them in this way.

Also, we just got a new egg today. The first black/copper marans hen has FINALLY started laying. These are the two girls that caused us to stew up our old rooster Tango (if you recall he was beating them up pretty badly when I tried to integrate them into the flock). They were six weeks old when our little rumpless pullets (and "Django son of Tango") hatched. And yet our little ones have been laying now for several months! So yeah, these dark marans eggs have been a long time coming for sure. But check out this picture! Definitely worth the wait. Also pictured is the Black/Copper hen who layed it- She's up front there, with the feathered feet. Also check out our young rooster replacement! Isn't he just like his father? Just a bit more yellow feathering on him, but otherwise the spitting image.

Also we have new baby rabbits here as well. Seven this time, from the same doe as before. I don't like to disturb them too much when they are this little, so this is the only picture for now. 

See you next time!

State of the Garden Address- Summer 2011

         I'm sitting outside this Sunday, drinking sangria with Jen, and looking out on the garden in summer. I have decided to kill two birds with one stone, and write both my final speech for class, AND a long overdue blog post (if you can't hear my voice, then you're reading this there). Nothing like getting homework done while I document what worked well and what didn't, in the backyard farm for this year. 

        To talk about the garden in the middle of summer, is like talking about tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, melons, and squash. The good and the bad, that's about it. I think I'll start with tomatoes. Our tomatoes this year were kind of a sad thing. We have gotten quite a few (mostly "black prince" and "garden peach"), but really not enough for all that we planted. The saddest failure was our "Cherokee purple" which is currently one single though very large tomato at the center of the plant, while every week a new bunch of little yellow flowers dry up and fall off. Leaves are turning brown and wilting inward, but not for a lack of water for sure. I think I'm either overwatering, or the half barrel it's planted in is not draining well, or the soil is infected from last years tomato planting with some tomato specific disease. I've looked up "blossom fall" online and causes run the whole gamut. Too much water, too little water, disease, too much nitrogen, too little nitrogen. They could have just said, "If it's not one thing, it's another" and left it at that. I'll probably just not plant tomatoes in this spot next year, and see if that helps.

        Anyway, we are not lacking in tomatoes, by any means, but after planting 10 plants, I thought for sure we'd be in canning madness right now, but there is only enough to eat fresh. We are getting lots of fresh salsa and pasta primavera however, so that's nothing to complain about. 

        Cucumbers are keeping us busy on the other hand. We planted Mexican sour gherkins- (I'm told they look like little watermelons, but I'll have to take people's word for that- none came up) and Armenian cucumbers which are always very prolific for us. Last night, I stayed up late canning about 10 jars of our cucumber ketchup, and Jen has already put up about 15 quarts of pickles (two different kinds). Even with all that, we still have lots left over to eat or can. It's so overwhelming, I actually decided to pull the plants yesterday to make room for the strawberries that were not doing to well in their little pots. Those Mara des Bois strawberries are one thing I really wouldn't mind having too many of. 

        The little 'Sugar' pumpkins are doing very well under the dappled shade of the sunflowers. Looks like about 12 pumpkins there in various stages, so we should have plenty for pies this Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Butternut squash looks even better under the shade of the corn we planted. We'll have lots to cut up and freeze, but the corn is so full of worms it's really only good for chicken treats (they prefer corn WITH worms after all). They will also get the sunflowers when the heads are ready, so they should be eating really well soon! Anyway, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I'd rather have squash than corn any day. 

        Our little yellow crook-necked summer squash was a pretty nice change this year. Not overly abundant, but after the zuchinnis from last year they were just right. I think even the chickens were tired of zuchinni even before summer started. They really are a psychotic producer. I don't think I'll ever grow them again, unless we start baking with it, I'm not crazy about it otherwise. Anyway, the yellow squash was just right, and perfectly sized for adding to another recipe without changing it too much. 

        We planted Crenshaw melons this year, and they are really a great melon. The flesh is somewhat like a cantaloupe, but softer and juicier than I'm used to them from the store. Even near the rind they have an interesting flavor- sort of tangy and salty as they turn green, which is like a nice flavor to counter the sweetness in the softer flesh. My new favorite melon! The plants still have about 12 more coming, and we've only had three so far. Chickens get the guts and seeds from them, and they get to pick at the rinds. I don't think they like anything more, except maybe cucumbers (which are a melon themselves) and of course their black soldier fly larvae.

        Our favorite new plantings this year were the artichokes and the olallieberries. The artichokes were not so good in the 'leaves' like the store bought globes are, but they had the most amazing hearts and they produce about as much as anyone can eat. I just chopped it down two weeks ago (from a 7 foot plant that was covered in aphids) because I thought it was about done for the season- but it has since come back. It's only about two and half feet tall, but already has about 23 little artichokes on it again. I have to say, for all that it's done for us we haven't done anything but neglect the poor thing. It may be- in my opinion- the singly most adapted plant to our weather and soil than anything else we have here. 

        As for the olallieberries, they are my new favorite berry for sure. More productive this year than our raspberries but all at once, whereas the raspberries seemed to come little by little from about the middle of spring till even now. The olallieberries were huge and tart- probably really good as a jam or pie, but we ate them fresh in big bowls topped with a little sugar, and unsweetened whipped cream. I think we ate pretty much the whole batch at one sitting! They have a very complex flavor, but the tartness does call for a little sugar. The plant is sending out runners now that the fruit is gone, and it seems to want to take over the whole garden. I like these so much that aside from guiding the canes where I want them, I think I will just let them go. I will need to find whether there is any benefit in trimming them (production wise). But it's already at least 5 times bigger than it was when it fruited, so next spring should be really good for berries. 

        Santa Fe and Jalepeno peppers are doing well, but the peppers are mostly still growing. We planted two 'late' rows of bell pepper which might make it to fruit by the time fall comes around, or might not. I think they will be fine depending on how cool our fall is. 

        Every pea and bean plant we started did miserably. The best were the favas- but the pintos, cranberry beans, and sweet peas I think gave me less actual beans/ peas than I even put in the dirt. I don't know if our soil is not right, or if they just want more water than I gave them, or maybe deeper roots than most of out pots allow (they are about 27 gallons though). Anyway, they are cheap at the store, so I'm not too worried about that. 

        The strawberries have done well, though I cut off most flowers before they fruited. I'm interested in seeing them spread out with more runners rather than produce a lot of fruit. Next spring should be great for them, we actually got a few and they were delicious! Commercial berries don't even come close to these! Smaller and less watery- really rich in scent and way more sweet. People say that commercial berries are bred to be pretty, but they aren't even as good looking as these little berries. They finish so red that they are almost purple. The main difference I can see is that commercial berries are just big. They are definitely justifying my initial purchase of 50 bare root plants. 

        Tomatillos were really weak for us. We had tiny cherry sized fruit, but lots of it. They tasted great, and we made some good salsa from them, but not even quite one single jar. Meanwhile on the neighbors side of the ditch, three giant tomatillo plants have sprung up out of nowhere. I think an overripe fruit probably got smashed or thrown there in an earlier year, because they have some very neat rows planted but these plants are just growing in the ditch. I admit it's taken every ounce of my strength not to go pick them some night, in fact the only thing that's stopped me is that clearly someone has been watering them, in which case they are more than just a fortunate weed. 

        The trees are doing very well, but no thanks to us. I think our rain has been the best thing for them as we had lots this year. We ignored them completely, other than fertilizing one time, and always dumping the lawn clippings around the trunks to keep back weeds. Our Haas avocados were plentiful, if a little bit small, but the bacons were huge as always. The tree is so big that we can't pick them however, so we just wait for the wind or a bird to knock them down. They soften up much faster when they've fallen too (it seems) so we really get them the best they can be in this way. 

        Our oranges were pretty seriously raided by the rats, but those we did get were the highest quality I've ever eaten. Just really sweet and juicy- they cannot be peeled without losing juice all over the place. So sweet that you almost can't taste any acid. I think I've been trained in the past by grocery store oranges, so we've always picked them too early. This year I didn't even think about them till the rats ate up a bunch. I think in future years, I'll just wait for the rats to tell me when they are ready. 

        Our mulberry tree is still really young, no fruit yet- though it has been growing well. The Turkish brown fig is doing really well. Growing and producing about 15 a year- even while only about 3 feet high. They take a while to ripen, but they are well worth it.  Our Mexican lime looks pretty runty actually, I keep picking it's flowers as soon as they appear. I think this one will actually need some care from us- unlike all the others. 

        The peaches are just plain sick. Fungus every year now, even on the new one that we just planted. This is the only plant where I think we'll be breaking our quasi- organic principles and spraying with copper next spring as soon as we see buds appear. It may sound bad, but I think principles are worthless if you don't test them, and peaches anyway are freakin' good. So yeah, that's that. In the meantime, the chickens can appreciate the tiny mealy moldy peaches that fall off the branches, even if I cannot. 

        Chickens are doing well. We get enough eggs to eat and sell enough more to feed both the chickens and the rabbits for free. Our second generation of birds are bigger (in numbers) than the first, so it should be even better when they start laying. I probably have twice as many birds now as the carrying capacity of the yard can handle, but I want to see who are the good layers before I sell or slaughter any. 

        The rabbits have given us one litter of 6 kits, with a second on the way. We started out with mini rex rabbits, but we are breeding out the "mini" gene over time, since we are after large litters of meaty rabbits. Unfortunately standard rex aren't as easy to find around here. I'm thinking we'll end up with a medium sized rabbit, and in fact we're seeing some progress on that already. 

      

        All in all, I'm happy to report the state of the garden is good, and we look forward now to fall: collard greens, cabbages and broccoli. Hopefully we'll have lots of homemade kimchi by Christmas time. 

That is all. 

        

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

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.

Big Worm

Uh-oh! Looks like trouble.. Stumpy (missing the tip of his tail) is a gopher snake who has lived here longer than we have. We see him quite a bit through spring and summer. He was poking around and smelling into the gopher holes when he wandered across the DMZ. 

"What is it? Big worm?"

Summer goes for a taste, snake strikes back, and the birds ALL (whether near him or far) jump simultaneously in the air for a second. So funny, wish I had gotten a picture of that. Our buddy Stumpy uses their surprise to make a 'run' for it.

But Summer is hot on his 'heels'. She is not quite sure that he isn't delicious. For some reason I'm thinking of the Mexican national flag here..

Crow Jane can't resist the wiggling tail, but I'm not letting anyone hurt this guy. DUH, he eats gophers!

"What'd I ever do to them?"

"Those chicks are too big to swallow, I've checked"

Owley looking crazy. Still worked up and squawking away.

Big Worm aka Stumpy, hiding safe under the artichoke. The garden is fenced off from the chickens. Isn't he (or she) pretty? Skin looks practically beaded. 

Angry mob knows just where he is.

"... And don't come back either!" These birds are mean..

Progression photos, main garden

No bla bla blahs this time. Just some pictures that speak for themselves. Look at everything grow!


               Three Sisters planting- Silverqueen Corn, Butternut Squash, and Pinto Beans

 Artichokes are blowing up! Been eating about 4 a day for the past week, and look at all those new ones coming in.. I'm not complaining.

                                       Crook-Neck squash

A few shots of the whole garden

              I can't wait for the Olallieberries!

Pullets and cockerals are growing fast. It looks like I will have some rumpless birds here, like their dad.  You can see how some have tail feathers coming in, others don't appear to.

These are our two favorites- Hope they are hens!

              Tomatoes

          And a pea flower..

Finally, a couple pictures of a newly started batch of compost. We put it together yesterday and look how it's cooking. Mostly coffee grounds on top here..

Dino in the yard..

We thought this picture was too funny not to share. Everybody who keeps chickens knows the 'dinosaur run' that they do: head leaned way forward to counterbalance the tail. Always reminds me of a T-Rex running with his head way forward and tail way back. Anyway, never saw a good picture of the effect till a friend managed to snap this one.

Baby Chicks

So we decided to hatch some eggs from our hen Eva (she lays the small blue one pictured) so that we could hopefully get more hens like her. I don't have a picture of Eva strangely enough, but Tango our rooster is pictured here. He's the black rooster, sans tail.

We put 12 eggs into the incubator and hatched 9 successfully- one died after pipping, and two were not fertilized.

All the babies are now feathered, living outside, and growing very very fast. 

Not much else to say about them, so here are the pictures. I've included a couple stages of development and one of the coop they live in.

Enjoy!