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.
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.
Leg 1. Starting weight: 2.098 kg Recipe 1: 160g (90g salt [4.2%]) rub for one week in fridge. Salt box dredge without weighing for 9 days. Second weight 1.80 kg, (14.2% weight loss). Hung 1/18/2024 @ 60 degrees F, 50% humidity. Target weight: 1.47 kg Weight after 40 hours:1.70 kg. Weight after adding strutto: 1.85… Continue reading Lamb Prosciutto update
Despite Saturday's discombobulation, we did make forward progress on our lamb prosciutto. When Seppi and Daddy were over in the morning we put a thermo-hygrometer in the basement to check temperature and humidity. At 60 degrees F it was the perfect temperature, although 45% humidity is a little dry. So we turned the de-humidifier off.… Continue reading Lamb Prosciutto: Part III
Tuesday, December 31, we cut up the sheep. This is our first attempt at butchering an animal larger than poultry, so we don't know what we are doing. We have a book. The sheep were chilled in a <40 degree shop overnight, wrapped in cheesecloth to slow water loss. First step, remove the neck. Next… Continue reading Butcher and Packing the Sheep
Monday, Dec 30 the stars aligned. The weather was forecast to be 40 degrees during the day, and almost freezing overnight, and below 40 into Tuesday as well. Not only that but Ryan and Adam both had the day off. The time was right. The sheep must die. To recap, They were a pair of… Continue reading Slaughter day: Sheep.
Thursday, the Feast of the Assumption, was a very busy day. We slaughtered two ganders, two roosters (for stew meat), five older hens (also for stew meat) and 27 Cornish cross meat birds. The work started the night before with setting up the kill station. We learned from last year it is good to have… Continue reading Chicken Dinner
Little Farm in the Big City 