They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
Fair week is fast approaching. Last Thursday, the 31st, we finished up our stock making process. Monday we roasted the carcasses with carrots, celery and onion. Then added water with a dash of vinegar and some salt, and set it to simmering. We kept an eye on it for a couple of days, topping it… Continue reading Duck Stock
Squash is continuing to grow up the sides of the trellis, while buckwheat grows up against the other side of it. And kids wander through the middle of it. That color on Seppi's face is "war paint." A.k.a. cherry juice. It helps him be more fierce. Very small raspberry harvest this year, but we are… Continue reading Garden Update
We salted and hung five wraps of duck prosciutto on June 3rd. We came back from our Tennessee Travels on June 18th, so I checked on the Prosciutto, June 19th. Initial weights were written on the tape attached to each breast, but I did not record them here so I will have to check on… Continue reading Duck Prosciutto, Part 2
Caution. This post is about where food comes from. Proceed accordingly. The meat ducks reached a healthy (and hefty) 8 weeks old, averaging 8.4 Lbs (this might be a slight overestimation, as they sometimes bounce around in the bucket while being weighed). We ordered 20 ducks from Meyer hatchery, they shipped 21 on April 7th.… Continue reading Processing the Meat Ducks.
Our egg ducklings are now three weeks old, and the weather is nice and warm. We are moving them out of the brooder! By the bucketload! They will be locked in the duck-mobile for the next couple of weeks, though. They are too small to be running around without overhead cover. They are just snack-sized… Continue reading Moving the Egg Ducks
We are moving into the last week of raising this crop of meat ducks. They are averaging over seven pounds now. God willing we will be butchering some of them on Thursday and the rest on Saturday. Why is Ellie so cranky? "Because you made it too hot out here!" Ellie is not the only… Continue reading Meat Ducks: Getting big!
Pekins are getting pretty big. The average weight is about 3.2 kg, or just about 7 Lbs. One of the downsides of their size is that they are now too big to spend all day in the bird-mobile. By the end of the day the grass is all trampled down and matted with poop. So… Continue reading Meat Ducks: Update
Now that the meat ducks are out on the pasture, we have put our brooder back into business. This time, we are raising egg ducks. We bought 4 Khaki Campbells known for good egg laying abilities. Then Ellie asked if she could have a "show duck." So we got her a little Magpie hen. They… Continue reading New Egg Ducks
Three weeks ago we picked up the meat ducks. They were hatched on April 7th, and arrived on April 8th. Winnie has taken on the role of Mama Duck. Every time we turn around she is feeding her baby duckies. At Day 11 they averaged 0.35 kg. At day 14 they weighed an average of… Continue reading Ducks on the Pasture.
We are a little behind on blogging. Holy Week and the Triduum were busy, plus the kids decided to start a little Strepidemic running through the house. So what can we say, it's been an off week. Happy cows are tasty cows! The willow and witch hazel in the pasture are starting to leaf out.… Continue reading Catch Up
Little Farm in the Big City 