Poppy Roll

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While we are working on the fence our barn cat, Poppy comes along to supervise. He inspects all piles of dirt and gives it a roll. Poppy just rolls along with us as the sun sets behind us.

Rooster Day

Having a farm means eventually you have to eat what you raise. We had too many roosters born over the summer and we had to cull them. This week I got to learn how to kill my own chicken and process it. I caught all four roosters and selected the red one first. Jeff is our good friend volunteered to show us how to do the deed. After a prayer of thanks for the bird; he cut the head off cleanly and swiftly and showed me how and where to cut. Then we waited for the blood to drain from the body. After about two minutes the blood slacked off and I learned how to peel the skin off the carcass. This was a young bird with a good layer of feathers and fat. Jeff explained the parts of the chicken and how to get around the cavity. Skinning allows us the skip the plucking step of the process, very messy and time consuming. I learned where all the parts are inside the chicken. He left the lungs for me to clean out on my own. The bird is now marinating and will be Sunday dinner.

I learned it is messy to kill a bird, cold days are better, no bugs and a use a sharp knife you don't mind getting dirty. It was not an easy farm step but after it was done I felt good. I had a meal I raised on my farm from scratch. That bird will feed us and the scraps will feed the wildlife.

Carcass Soup

I have been making soups from scratch to save our health and money. Our healthy eating through reduced salt, preservatives and canned chemicals by home made. I have a great book, Nourishing Traditions, that has simple and basic recipes that are healthy. I can in glass so no chemicals there.

This week I thawed out my leftover Christmas 5lb turkey carcass and cooked it down. I added veggies and rice along with spices and canned 4 quarts. The soups came out very good! So much better than store bought. I gave some to my neighbor since I had so much. He ended up sharing the turkey soup with his young puppy. That pup has not been eating at the vets office and came home to recover from an illness. The turkey soup was a hit with the pup. It is now eating the soup with rice. The vet said my soup is called carcass soup. I had never heard that term for soup before. But in a way it was a turkey carcass I used as stock. It was worth the effort of cooking down and using that bird. And on a cold day fresh soup is the best. Who knew a turkey carcass could be so useful long after the holidays are over.

Poachers in Full Force

Ah the joys of Sunday mornings in the Ozarks. Since the weather has been so bad on the weekends, we have seen no dogs nor poachers. But today we saw 100 dogs, 7 trucks and 7 people blocking roads and running hounds around the neighbors cattle. Two dogs ran at my ducks on my property and were met by my very angry shepherd. We drove out to church and our country roads were blocked with 3 dog filled vehicles. They were slow and reluctant to get out of the way. They were not from Summersville and are not welcomed here. By noon we saw two more blocking our home road by our house. This got old fast. They finally packed it up and left the area. We hope they took all their dogs with them. These people left cans and food bags where they waited for their dogs. We do not like this ugly side of rural living. People think they can do anything with pasture, back roads and no one around. These poachers think they are untraceable and untouchable. They had no idea they were being watched. We might be country farmers but we are not dumb.