It looks like a down blanket has exploded on our property. The geese are shedding some of their insulating feathers in preparation for the warm season.
Spoke too soon: I can no longer use the baby birds as an excuse not to clean the side porch. They "flew the coop"! Go birdies, go!
Some of the dental issues have been solved, but other issues have been discovered. At this point, I'm only able to partake of foodstuffs that can sucked up through a straw. Looks like I'll be making lots of pureed soups and smoothies from this week's bounty:
Spouse thought Minnie Pearl might have had a dislocated hip. We decided to take her into the vet bright & early this morning. X-Rays showed instead of a dislocated hip, her knee was shattered and ligaments completely rent. Surgery was possible, but success highly unlikely. I decided it would be best to have Pearl euthanized. I held her as the overdose shot of barbiturate was injected.
From the front porch/living room window, Princess asks "whatcha doin'? Whatcha doin'? Whatcha doin'?"
I tried so hard not to name her, but a name popped up anyways and stuck: "Minnie Pearl", or "Pearl" for short. It's not a good idea to name animals if it's uncertain they're going to recover from an injury - it makes emotional detachment much more difficult. Before, I thought I could handle taking her life if she couldn't heal. Now I'm not so sure. She's awake, aware, chirrups, eats and drinks. She doesn't appear to be in any pain. Her left foot still seems nerveless, and now her right foot appears to be lacking control as well. Still, she hobbles around and gets to food & drink just fine.
Just so you know, Blu-Kote does indeed stain.
Oh noes, dental woes! Haven't been eating much of anything these past few weeks, due to dental work. Keeping fingers crossed that the latest adjustment of the porcelain fillings will do the trick. This week's CSA veggie bounty: dandelion greens, beets, carrots, radishes, elephant garlic, and flowers.
Time for the Independence Days Challenge check in! I'm finding this weekly check in to be very helpful, as I sometimes think I'm not doing much, but looking back can see that indeed "stuff" is getting done. More about the Independence Days Challenge at Sharon Astyk's blog.
Build Community Food Systems: Attended co-op “meet & greet” as a farmer/vendor, and gave presentation on differences between caged chicken eggs and pasture-raised chicken eggs. Red, White & Grew (twitter @redwhiteandgrew) used a quote and a photo of my preserves for an article on the MySanAntonio site - as I joked with her later, “does this mean my fifteen minutes of fame are up?”
The co-op through which I sell eggs - the Bountiful Sprout - held a vendor/member/advertising "meet and greet" at our local community center today. There was a free showing of the documentary "Food Fight", live music, face-painting, and hands-on crafts for the kids. The vendors ranged from bakers to herbalists to ranchers to veggie farmers, and members got to meet and talk to the vendors more in-depth about their products and philosophies.
I provided examples of the differences between commercial, caged chicken eggs and pasture-raised chicken eggs. "City" folks and teens were amazed at the difference in yolk color, and most had never seen a goose egg before . "Old"-timers told funny stories about being raised around chickens and geese. Folks who know me, know that I'm pretty shy and don't talk about myself that much (well, except on this blog), but I feel so passionate about local food systems - and my girls, of course! - that I about talked everyone's ear off.
Fell into a discussion with one of the co-op's board members, who is putting together a town-focused social network where folks can skill share and call out for assistance. We talked about how many are craving a sense of community and connection, and that this can be one way of creating a more cohesive community. Especially if the economy continues to tank.
Our very first batch of chickens did this. The second batch, not so much because they followed the first batch everywhere. Our third batch of chickens, a herd unto themselves, are taking up the tradition once more. The tradition? "Aiiieeee, we cannot find the opening to the poultry pen!"
They must have been plotting, that's all I can figure. I thought I had securely closed the opening to the chick run, I really did. Alas, there was one teeny, tiny gap between the closing gate and the run. No sooner had I turned my back to refill their food that a dozen chicks came pouring through that gap like water through a sieve. The remaining six were still eyeballing the opening when I finally turned around and witnessed The Great Escape.
So far no permanent injuries, and hopefully a few cocky Leghorns now understand that they are not Kings of the Land. Frau rules the roost here, and you better not forget it.
It's been blasted hot here - a good 10°F warmer than normal. I've managed to avoid the air-conditioner, but I sure hope it returns to normal temperatures soon. Oh, and a little rain would be appreciated as well. Anyhow, on to the week's progress for the Independence Days 2009 Challenge:
The flies were getting awful, and the chicks were getting big. Once more, new chick digs were in order. We had an old wire run sitting unused in the back, so I dragged it out to the cedar patch where we keep the laying coop and food. Not only did it provide more height, it also gave two extra feet in depth. Perches, food, water, tarp cover in case of rain... yeah, that was the easy part. The geese provided assistance and monitoring, of course.
The chicks seem to be settling in and enjoying the new space. The geese are hanging out and watching the new denizens, like it's their private zoo. The older chicken girls aren't too interested yet, although Red (one of the older Americaunas) did give a young, loose Barred a lesson in pecking order when it came to the fresh corn.
The ongoing adventure in seeing how much CSA produce I can use up and not waste during the week...
In a previous post, I spoke about Sharon Astyk's Independence Days Challenge. The ID Challenge is about learning and doing things that will help make your household more self-sufficient, as well as help educate neighbors and friends. There's a weekly check in, on Mondays, at Sharon's blog. I'll post here as well as there. Here goes the first week, with a refresher on the weekly goals:
If you live near the Wimberley area, and are interested in eating fresh, locally grown food, come on down to the Community Center on Sunday, May 17th at 2:00 PM. The Bountiful Sprout Co-Op is having a meet & greet for farm vendors, co-op members, and those who might be interested in becoming co-op members! There will also be a premiere (and free!) showing of the documentary "Food Fight".As mentioned in the previous post, our region is experiencing a near-Biblical plague of mice. "It's due to all the moisture we had...
