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Hi Everyone,
The week started out feeling very much like fall, but as the days went by it returned to summer—but not for long. It looks like we shall be enjoying some 70’s and 50’s most of this week. Poor Mom though will not be enjoying the 50’s because she has been cold all summer—her favorite season is summer and the hotter the better. I am a barefoot, short-sleeve girl and am most content when I do not need shoes or jackets—but I absolutely enjoy the beauty that fall brings. One of those beauties is a large patch of luffa sponges in the garden. We have never had a patch as big as we do this year. Usually I have a few puny little plants that barely cover a trellis. This year we have about six to ten very healthy, vigorous plants. They covered the 14 foot long fence, and then they travelled on down the long side fences, across the grassy drive lanes, into the neighboring garden plot in one direction, and over to the neighbors fence in the other direction. The leaf mold bin is solidly covered in vines, and the broomcorn has been toppled by the overpowering luffa vines. Mom says we shall have to have soap and luffa sponges for sale come Christmas.
One thing that fall brings is a renewed desire to work in the garden. Last year I realized that by the beginning of July I am literally done with the garden—I have no desire to harvest another vegetable. Now I am eagerly planting seeds in the green house, potting them up into little pots, and last week Mom and I had the joy to transplant over 200 little green plants into the caterpillar tunnel. Not all the plants were green though—32 of them were red and green Swiss chard. On Monday Papa went and got us two yards are compost, and two yards of woodchips. Steve, Mom and I spent most of the day weeding, and then we spent the last hour or so putting the compost on the garden beds and the woodchips in the walkways. On Tuesday we finished emptying the truck and trailer of its garden nutrition and weed smothering ingredients, and then Mom and I began transplanting 96 kale plants, 64 bok choy plants, 32 Swiss chard plants, 24 cabbage plants, and 18 broccoli plants. May I say that a few hours later we were next to broken when we finally stood up to come up to the house to cook dinner. The rest of the week I spent a little time here and there in the greenhouse potting up the few collards that did sprout (like 19 out of 72). Then on Saturday I filled my seed cells up with dirt again and replanted the collards, broccoli, sage, parsley, thyme, and winter savory. I still have lettuce and flowers to get started in the greenhouse.
While we have been playing in the garden, Papa has been working on new chicken pens. When Covid-19 hit I increased our chicken orders from the hatchery in order to meet the demand for chicken—but that increase required the need for more chicken pens. We put about 30 chickens to a pen, and it is moved daily to a fresh patch of green grass in the pastures. The turkeys love to roam—so they are let out of their pens every day. It is amazing how far they roam. The chickens are content to stay close to home. The last pen was finished, and waiting to be put to work. We have three more batches of chickens left to arrive for this year—and those will keep us busy in the poultry kitchen until the week before Christmas. Then we will get a few months break before we start next year’s round of birds. I have learned that seasons are nice, and breaks are necessary. Last week we processed a few birds on Thursday—there were only 17 and they didn’t take long to get them from the trailer to the ice water. After lunch my sister and her family came over and they helped us package them—for the time consuming part was that I had to cut up 12 of those birds. It was enjoyable watching 7 year old Makenna and 4 year old Josiah eager to help in any way that they could.
In the last seven weeks we have had seven calves born. Four have been bulls, and three have been heifers. On Wednesday night I went out to lock up the turkeys and I had to go through the dairy cow field in order to get to the turkeys. Abby was due five weeks ago, and her udder just kept getting bigger and bigger, but no calf appeared. All the other cows who were due after her—calved, but not Abby. Wednesday night as I drove through the field I was surprised to find a hefty calf at Abby’s feet. He is brown with white markings all over him. Papa says that he has a white arrowhead on his forehead. I must say that when you travel through a cow field there are lots of “mines” and you must watch where you put your feet. On my way back out, I wanted to get out of the golf-cart to say hi to my favorite cow—America. I did not watch where I was putting my foot, and as I stepped out of the golf-cart I soon found myself heading for the ground at lightning speed. I had stepped right into a fresh, wet and gooey pile of cow poo, and it knocked my foot right out from under me. I thankfully did not manage to fall into the pile of poo, but my dress did get smeared a little, and my arm that caught me—well, I felt it for the next few days.
That is all for this week—more gardening and chicken processing are in store for this coming week. I think that a trip to the grocery store is in need too! Anyone else procrastinating your grocery store runs since all this lock down mess began? We used to go faithfully every week, but now we seem to do without some things and stretch out our shopping events. The last time I really went was two months ago—yes that means we have done without some fresh fruit—but thankfully I had a friend pick us up some bananas once, and we just ran out of apples last week. Carrots thankfully last forever it seems, but celery is officially gone. We are still enjoying the onions we grew last year, but salads have been greatly missed. The lettuce is growing in the garden so before long I will not need to depend on the grocery store for fresh veggies. I wouldn’t be surprised if we are eating kale and bok choy before Thanksgiving.
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare