Simply Practical: chickens

I have never seen so many flying around as I have this year! They are all over my garden! It's fun to watch the chickens try and catch them! Sometimes they actually do! It's really hard to believe that it's already July! We have been working really hard here on the homestead the past several weeks! Hard work makes the time pass quicker. Heat, no rain, high humidity; in spite of all this, we accomplished much in the garden. The weather has chilled a little the past couple of days, with clouds and some rain. It finally came a good downpoor here yesterday! I could see and hear the storms all around but they never made it here, until yesterday. Funny how rain does that! My garden was like a dust-bowl! Randy came in all dusty after tilling a new spot the other day. Now I hope it's not muddy so I can plant the okra. Okra will produce until the last frost so that gives it quite a long growing season. I'm thinking of planting more green beans as I haven't had a good amount to deal with this year. I was gifted enough to can 9 pints, however. That was a blessing!

We haven't gotten to see the girls in so long! I miss them all terribly! I'm hoping they will be here Friday and Saturday for the Fourth. I made them some homemade chicken nuggets and I'm hoping they will like them. I've been fortunate enough to put several bags of chicken in the freezer. I cooked the chicken in the Sun Oven and it turned out great! Shredded chicken ready for whatever I desire to put it in! For the Fourth, I we are cooking chicken this time. Chicken is so much cheaper than beef; and we love grilled chicken, any part! We will also be making Randy's popular homemade vanilla ice cream! Everybody LOVES his ice cream! We do have rain predicted but it is so spotty sometimes, I don't think we'll get rained out. Randy has a back-up plan if we do. Put up the canvas awning! That will work nicely.

I have been picking blackberries for the most part of June. Yes, I have the chiggers to prove it! You know I can't pick wild blackberries without getting them! I just learn to live with them until blackberry season is over. That won't be much longer, as they are winding down. We even have a few blueberries on our bushes. Not enough for a pie, but handfuls to eat here and there. In a few years, we'll have plenty!
The garden is producing quite a lot of squash! I really love squash! I've found a recipe for zuchinni fritters that is delicious! I'm going to try squash the next time I make them. I think they will freeze nicely. We are also gathering cucmbers and tomatoes. The tomatoes we don't eat, I'm cutting up and putting in the freezer until I have enough to can. That might take awhile, but I'm fine with that. Just to know I'm canning my own home-grown tomatoes makes me happy!

We've had quite the episode with our chickens lately! I had advertised three roosters for sale on Craigslist. The black one came up missing and after a day, I realized he wasn't coming back. I edited the ad to two roosters. The next day, a hen was missing. Long story short, we lost five chickens including another rooster. I finally removed the ad since no one was responding anyway. I hated losing those chickens! One was my pet! So we decided to get another dog. I found a brown lab on Craigslist. The people decided to let us try her out because I wasn't sure how she'd interact with the chickens. We put up electric wire around the perimeter of the chickens so they'd be totally enclosed by electricity. The dog worked out well the first couple of days, running off whatever was sneaking in to eat the chickens. The next day, she got reall curious about the chickens and decided to scoot under the fence to check them out. I didn't realize it, and when I got there, she had one in her mouth! She didn't kill it but I thought she may have killed some of the others, as there were a variety of feathers all over the ground! Thankfully, they all survived! Poor chickens! Needless to say, we called the couple and told them she didn't work out. I was already attached to her. I'm so glad the electric wire seems to be keeping the fox at bay. I hope he doesn't find a way to get in again! Our collie was so valuable in so many ways! I don't know how we'll ever be able to replace her!

Ya'll have a great Fourth of July! Stay vigilant in these dark days! Let you light shine in the darkness! Blessings from Bama!