Mama's Musings

Not sure where the time has gone- already August! It has been extremely hot here which has caused me to want to do as little as possible outside during the day. Caleb is the opposite- loving the dripping sweat that humidity in Missouri brings. So my summer indoor activities have begun which include my favorite thing of the season- canning. Our garden is still behind in production but we have found an abundance of green beans, black eyed peas, and cucumbers. I was reminded the other day about how much work goes into black eyed peas- they take forever to get enough out of the shell to have a full canner load but it sure is worth it to eat a bowl full in the middle of January. I am happy to announce though that I have started to fill the shelves of our cellar with all the garden goodies I can.
We butchered another batch of chickens last week too. Waking very early to beat the heat. We have started to butcher the mixed breeds and are finding that they are a lot smaller than the Cornish Crosses- the average mixed is about 3 pounds while the average Cornish was 5 pounds. We did, however, make fried chicken with one of the 3 pounders and I can honestly say it was some of the best I have ever eaten...the meat has texture and a very rich flavor. We are tossing around the idea of raising another 100 chickens before November but have not finalized that plan yet.