Woodland Art Fair

Every year the third weekend in August is the Woodland Art Fair here in Lexington. This is a top notch fair that attracts people and artists from all over. We try to go every year because we enjoy viewing all the different forms of art. The items range from paintings, jewelry to sculptures with the them being classic to modern. This is a large fair so it takes most of a day to walk around and see all the booths. In addition to art, there is usually food vendors and good music to listen to on the stage located in the middle of the fair. If you live locally and have not been to this fair you should check it out sometime. The parking is a little crazy but besides that it is a great day. Hope to see you there next year.

Backyard Chicken Update

I went out to the coop this morning and found our first peewee egg of the season. Looks like one of our new chickens is starting to lay. It had not quite made the nest box and had a crack in it so we have a little work to do. Hopefully, the Rhode Island Reds are not keeping the other ones from using the nesting box. I am hoping they will get it all worked out by the time the rest start to lay. The other good news is that the last chicken has figured out how to get up and down the ramp. Looks like the three new ones we put in last week are settling into their new flock and surroundings. 

Homemade Soap

Today, a friend came over and we made soap together. We made two batches with different oil combinations with a base of lye and goat milk. I have been making my own soap for a couple of years now. I have a lot of allergies and it was getting to the point that I was not able to find any store bought soap that did not break me out. That is when my friend down in Richmond introduced me to making my own soap and I have done it ever since. My husband was skeptical at first but likes it now. We have all found that our skin does not dry out as much. I do not put any additives or fragrances in my soap for everyday use because of the allergies. Lately, though, my friend and I have been experimenting with some different things to make bars to give away as gifts.

If you are interested in making soap I would suggest you use a good recipe with specific directions. Lye can be very caustic so you need to follow some safety precautions. Lye burns are no fun. If you know someone who makes soap already, ask them if you can help one time. Once you learn the process it is not that hard. I can make a six month supply in about an 1 hour time period.

Slow Food

I had heard of the "slow food" movement before but recently read an article about it. I thought it was worth taking some time to look into it. Slow Food is a grassroots organization which was started in Italy. It is now a international movement. The mission of Slow Food is to promote good, clean and fair food for all. They stress food which is grown locally, is seasonal and grown with the environment in mind. The reason the name Slow Food was chosen is to get people thinking the opposite of fast food. If you would like to learn more about this movement you can follow this link to their website. Slow Food 

This movement makes sense in many ways. It brings together many things that other groups are doing. I enjoy the emphasis on organically grown local food that is eaten in season. Take a few minutes when you get a chance and get to know some of the premises behind this movement. 

Creative Leftovers

I have to admit that one of my weaknesses in not wasting food is I just don't like many leftovers. This has lead me to be creative in reusing them and remaking them into other things. My first line of defense is I try to be careful to make just enough for a meal of things we don't like to use as a leftover. Some things my husband does enjoy eating as a leftover so I will make enough extra of those items that he can take them for a lunch or two to work. Another way is to be creative in reusing things. Here are some common ones I use around here. 

1) Leftover salsa added instead of milk makes a nice Mexican Quiche.

2) Leftover veggies makes a nice veggie quiche.

3) Fruit that is coming to its end makes nice fruit crisp.

4) Overripe bananas make good banana bread.

5) Leftover squash can be substituted in any pumpkin recipe. 

6) Leftover hamburger, sausage, etc make good homemade pizza toppings. Veggies are also good. 

7) Leftover turkey and chicken make nice casseroles.

8) Leftover mashed potatoes make nice potato pancakes. 

9) Leftover pork and beef roasts along with poultry make nice Bar-B-Q.

As you can see there are many ways to be creative in using leftovers. In addition to reusing leftovers in our home, any item that is past its prime but is not spoiled is fed to the chickens and rabbits which is then recycled into meat and eggs. Spoiled fruits/veggies, egg shells, coffee grounds and other compostable items are added to the compost pile. As you can see there are many alternatives to using those leftovers. It just takes some creativity.  

Rabbit Ear MIte Update

We took Thumper, our rabbit, to the vet this afternoon. She only has ear mites in one ear but they had a good strong hold. He spent a lot of time getting them out of her ear. It was not a pretty site. Next, he put some ear drops in them and then got even more gunk out of ear. She was really mad when we were done and kept kicking the carrier door all the way home. We have to put drops in for a week until all of them are cleared out. Hopefully, she will be feeling better soon.

Chicken Ramp Lessons

While we were butchering Saturday, we exchanged some of the meat chickens for the egg chickens to help the balance in the coop. Yesterday afternoon, I noticed that the new chickens had not come down from the coop to the run. We blocked the other chickens off in the run thinking maybe they were not letting them down (has happened before). We then realized that the new chickens could not figure out how to get down to the run on the ramp. We worked with them and they figured out how to get down eventually.

Later in the evening, we heard the frantic cries of one of the chickens. We went out to investigate and found one of the new ones could not figure out how to get up the ramp. We tried putting feed down of the ramp but she was too freaked out about the approaching darkness that she did not even see it. Chuck finally ended up crawling under the chicken coop and helping her get up the ramp.

This morning, I noticed that the new ones are not down again.  I will leave them up for part of the day and then we will help them down this afternoon. We will see if Chuck will need to assist any of them back up to the coop. The joy of backyard chickens.

Rabbit Ear Mites

We discovered tonight that one of our rabbits has ear mites. We were hoping to mate them this week but won't at this time. They are highly contagious and the other rabbit does not have them. After spending time on online and reading our rabbit care book, looks like we will be calling vet in the morning for some advice. Thumper's case is probably beyond the mineral oil stage. From everything I read she will need 3 injections of an antiparasitic spaced 2 weeks apart. We will also have to put her in our temporary cage since mites can live up to 3 weeks without a host. They said the only way to nonchemically get rid of them is to clean cage and keep her out of it for 6 weeks. We will put her in the shed in our temporary wire cage for the time being after she is treated tomorrow. Hopefully, vet will be able to give me proper dosage and show how to administer the rest of the injections. Will keep you updated on how it is going .

Poultry Peril Day

Today, we butchered our first chickens. We started with 26 chicks and butchered 19 today. 6 additional chicks are becoming our new egg chickens. We set up different work stations, figured out how to do each step. By the end of the time, we were getting pretty good at the process. We know that our chickens were healthy and raised humanely. We look forward to some good chicken dinners in the future along with new baby chicks in the next few weeks. 

Fall Gardening

Fall garden planting is upon us. I am a little behind for a few things but hope to get them in this weekend. It has been so hot here it has been hard to get motivated to get out and garden. We have a few cool days in a row this week so I am hoping to get my fall garden planted. I will use row covers as frost approaches until the crops are ready to harvest. Standard fall crops are the same that you plant early in the spring such as broccoli, cabbage, beets, peas, lettuce,spinach and carrots. They taste so good as the rest of the crops are winding down. I always put down some more compost before planting though to replenish the soil from the summer crops. I will let you know how the progress is going.

Peach Jam Recipe

Making homemade jam seems to be intimidating to people. Jam is not hard to make as long as you follow the directions exactly. You should never substitute in artificial sweetener or decrease sugar amounts. There is pectin you can buy that can be used for sugar free jam. Here is the recipe I use for my peach jam. The key to go good jam is finding fruit at the peak of its season.

Peach Jam

4 cups crushed peaches

5 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup fruit pectin (OR 1 pkg Sure-gel or other similar brand)

1 tsp margarine (this keeps jam from creating foam)

Measure out sugar and put in bowl. Prepare jars (about 3-4 pint size) Put peaches, pectin and margarine in large pan. Stir constantly while bringing to a rolling boil (cannot be stirred down). Stir in sugar. Continue to stir constantly until jam comes to a rolling boil again. Let boil for 1 minute while stirring. Set aside for a few minutes (3-5). Stir occasionally. Remove any foam which has come to top. This is edible. I put in a container for later use by family. Ladle into jars leaving 1/2 inch head space (to bottom of rim). Put on canning lids and rings. Water bath can for 10 minutes. 

Peach Jam

Last night, we completed making the rest of the peach items. Our kitchen was once again filled with the fragrance of cooking peaches. My friend, Diane, came over and we made four batches of peach jam which we finished in less than two hours. Today, I will put all the canned produce from the weekend down in the basement and we will enjoy them this winter when fresh items are no longer locally available. The final tally for us: 11 pints salsa, 6 pints pizza sauce, 18 quarts of peaches and 8 pints of peach jam. That is about 1/4 of what we made on Saturday. There is a lot to the saying, "Many hands make light work." Hope this post finds all of you preserving and enjoying the bounty of the season. 

Family Peach Canning

Last night, my parents, sisters, family and friend canned several bushels of peaches in a couple of hours. Peach canning was always a family event when I was growing up. We would get 1 or 2 bushels and we all knew that we were to help. Last year, we started doing it again. We have a few more people to help but 5 households worth of peaches to process. It was a little crazy for a while but even though it is hard, messy work it is a fun time together. There were 3-4 of us at times in my small kitchen but no mishaps. I am happy to say that we were successful in getting them all done with the last canner load coming out around 11:30 last night. We will divide them all up today and have good eating all year. Next year, we will probably do the same.

Birthday Party

Tonight my oldest daughter is having her "friend" party at our friend's house in Richmond. She is having some of our friends over to have a pool party and petting zoo. We are going to swim in our friends pool and go pet some of the animals in the field if they would like. We will grill some hamburgers, put out some snacks and they will visit and have a good time. Later we will have cake and ice cream. 

I enjoy these parties. It is a time to meet her friends. We have never spent a lot of money to do a more traditional party where we pay someone else to do it. Her parties have gotten easier for me over the years but I still enjoyed them when more of the work fell in my court. Birthdays do not have to be extravagant just fun.    

Chicken Surgery Update

We unwrapped Titania's feet tonight to see how they were healing. The swelling has gone down considerably in both of them. All the black stuff is gone. The wounds appear clean and seem to be healing well. She has been quite upset about being separated from the rest of the flock so we rebandaged her feet tonight and put her back into the coop. The other Rhode Island Red chicken was so happy to see her. They have been inseparable since she has been back with the flock. We will recheck her feet in a couple of days.