Mama's Musings

Yesterday was our third official day of butchering. We weren't sure what caused it but we had our most smooth day yet. We woke up at 5:30 to rain so we sat on the back porch with tea and breakfast in hand trying to decide whether we should butcher or not. As the rain cleared, Caleb headed out to the propane burner to heat the scalding water and I knew we were in business. Amazingly we started at 8 and had all 24 chickens butchered by noon. Of course, we still had three hours of packaging left but being done by late afternoon was wonderful. We actually took a break and headed for the creek when we were all done. All of us have been very interested in the wild berry foraging that is available this time of year- made a gooseberry pie the other day that was amazing!
Today the ground is nice and soaked after more rain late last night so Caleb is already giving the garden the weeding attention it badly needs. So far our garden production is off to a slow start but this week we have enjoyed potatoes, onions, basil, one pepper, swiss chard, and fresh oregano (which I have been putting in everything).
It unfortunately has been a hard summer for the goats. We have lost quite a few to parasites which always seem to be worse with the wetter weather. We are trying some natural preventive wormers such as honeysuckle, kelp, and walnut. Hopefully these will make a difference. We have also decided to cut down the herd to hopefully a more manageable number for the winter ahead so we sold ten last weekend. I am hoping to add a couple more milk goats before the next milking season though. It seems as if our plans are ever changing- that is one thing that the farm life has taught me- go with the flow.