Puppies, Pullets and Roosters, oh my!

A brief chicken update, for those who are wondering how my new babies are growing.  They are now three months old ~ wowsa time flies!

RedRoo, Marshmallow and a few of the other girls.

She's a Speckled Winot, I believe.  Very pretty, but she
won't let me near her unless she's sleeping!

On Pullets: They are fun to watch.  We literally sit and watch the chickens peck the ground.  Their social behavior is fascinating.  They come out after the sun starts dipping behind the garage to eat the day's scraps, then eventually start filing into the coop as the sun goes down.

We have a foster chicken now, too ~ we know a family that lost all but one chicken to a predator, it happens unfortunately, and chickens don't do well when lonely.  So Speckles (a different breed than ours, thus the name) has joined our flock for the time being!  She is already laying eggs, but doggone it, she lays them under the coop because that's the coolest place with this heat!  That's what 5 year old sons are for, though ;)

On Roosters: they are just ornery.  He crows throughout the day to let everyone know he's the king of the chicken pen.  He pecks at the hens when the get in his bubble.  He pecked one of my boys today for getting too close to the other chickens.  His days are numbered friends.  We aren't allowed to keep him in town, but he won't go to waste, I assure you!

Beautiful and ornery.

As a wee thing, we knew it was likely a "he"

Yesterday and Today

How time flies!

On Puppies:  They will always be puppies.  Ours is 6 years old and still enjoys games of hunt and scare.  She lays in wait and then runs up on the pen to startle the chickens.  However, she wouldn't hurt them; she's followed us in on occasion and leaves them alone.  She's just having fun!  My garden, though, is not.  I have some irises, flowers and herbs in a garden along the east side of the pen ... which she has just trampled!  I've put up chicken wire to keep the dog out of the flowerbed around the chicken pen which used to be a dog kennel ~ I just love a little irony ;)

A note on the heat: For the chickens, keep the water full and make sure they have shade.  Ours like to hang out under the chicken coop, which is up on cinder blocks and 4x4" wood boards.  They make it through, but you will see them panting.  We keep the windows open on the chicken coop, too.

On Kids:  They love to help, so I make sure to let them whenever I can.  My DS2 adores the chickens, but is also very practical.  He could have totally managed as a farm kid.  We've hit the wall, however, in that they fight over who will do the chicken chores.  I keep telling them, I'm glad they want to help, but if they fight they are not allowed.  Another irony: taking away chores to punish kids.  Too funny ~ enjoy every laugh you can get!

Blanching Broccoli

I'm kicking off my weekend with a want to do, instead of a need to do -- I get to write tonight!  Summer has been non-stop; and very hot, but enjoyable none-the-less.  I didn't even get an entry done for the end of June -- maybe we'll just roll it over to July and do a two-fer ;)   One of my favorite vegetables have been ripe over the last few weeks -- it occurred to me I've not yet shared the how to, so here you go. 

In the middle of our Midwestern heatwave, my kitchen last Sunday was steamed up.  I had 4 gallon bags full of broccoli from the previous week and there was only more to come.  Sometimes, even when you don't want to, you must do the work to gain the reward.  So I put on my big-girl garden galoshes and went forward in the words of DH to "suck it up and just do it."

First off, always use a trusted source for your food preservation recipes - never "wing it."  I L-O-V-E my Ball Blue Book; it's  economical, there's a wealth of recipes, as well as visuals for how to do the canning process correctly.  There are other good sources, too, including the USDA's home food preservation website.  For freezing broccoli, I pulled up my Ball Blue Book's freezing chapter.

Step 1: Harvest and cut broccoli into usable pieces (it will cook more evenly in a small to medium sized floret or cut, rather than large heads).  My kids won't eat the cuts and I personally don't like them either, so the chickens get those... but you will get more broccoli if you use the cuts of the stalks (the thicker ones are woodier, but the thin ones are quite tender)

Brine broccoli in salt solution, if bugs surface just
scoop them out and toss them to the chickens!

Step 2: Brine the broccoli.  It's inevitable that you will see bugs in the broccoli -- those little green worms love to hide in the florets.  The brine is a salt solution (you gotta read the recipe to get proportions, I'll not infringe on copyright) and it soaks in that for half an hour.

I picked up this fry spatula (I think that's what it is) at a
garage sale for a quarter, just for this purpose!

Step 3: Boil water; drain and rinse the broccoli.

Step 4: Blanch the broccoli in the boiling water for just a few minutes.  This stops the enzyme process that causes the broccoli break down.  The water will get a little greenish-brown, but you can still use it for the whole batch.

Step 5: After the timer is done, I remove the broccoli from the water and drain it again to get rid of excess moisture.

I use a tall oblong container to hold my bag up.
They make special holders, but I'm big on
using what I have if I can!

Step 6: Package and freeze.  You can use containers or freezer bags.  Package in portions that are easy for you to use in your recipes.  I like 2 cups in a freezer bag, I can always grab two if I need more :)  Lay it out in a single layer in the freezer if you can, so it freezes more thoroughly.

This can be reheated in a steamer, microwave, or mixed into a casserole -- pretty much just like you would use frozen broccoli from the store, but you have the knowledge of where it came from and how it was grown, you save money and get the satisfaction of feeding your family through what God has provided in your own backyard!  Bonus!  

I planted 25 broccoli plants this year, I'm hoping to get close to a year's worth of broccoli, so far I have 9 bags in the freezer and more to come.  If you've not heard (trust me, I didn't know until I read it in a garden book), broccoli is somewhat prolific when harvested to be so.  After the primary head is ready (just before the buds start getting big and opening), snip it off, but leave the plant.  Water and tend it as you would normally do, and you'll see secondary heads.  They are smaller, but will keep going for quite some time.  Get the biggest bang out of your plants whenever you can!

Now I know it's crazy to be sweating to death in my kitchen during a heat warning, but it needs done so I do it.  There are ways around the heat: while things are sitting on a timer, go sit in front of a fan, if you have time you can even jump in the pool quick.  We have a little stock tank in the back yard for the kids, but I go take a dip and then run back to the kitchen much better ~ in the cool wet suit to boot!

I've grown to really enjoy the concept of "Bloom where you are planted" -- the situation may not always be ideal, but through the experience, God will grow us and we will have the opportunity to bloom.  I'm still stuck on Galatians 5:22.  It's on our refrigerator's Learn * Pray * Praise board as our memory verse for June.  The core of that is that these good things, the Fruit of the Spirit, are things that are unquestionable.  I have this awesome thought for some artwork in regards to it -- a multi-canvas piece.  

Yet, the garden calls so the hobbies wait!  I must bloom where I'm planted, right?  If the dirt on my callused feet are any indication, I'm planted right in my garden for the season... with a regular foray into the kitchen to preserve it all!  I'm choosing to love every minute of it, and pray my way through the moments I don't love -- I hope you can do the same -- have a blessed week!