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| Some of the garden bounty. |
Last night was the first full night that we slept inside. The damp and raw weather sent us back to our regular bed where we sleep for the other three seasons. Summertime is spent sleeping on our screened in porch. We get lulled to sleep by the peepers early in the season and later on owls, tree frogs, coyotes and crickets serenade us into a deep slumber.
This past week Rob struggled with a cold and I finally succumbed to it. Even though I swore I would not get it. I got lots of sleep, did some yoga, pulled out the neti pot, saying to myself the whole time, it's just allergies. Rob's parents were due to visit and we thought Rob would be better in time. And then I started to feel a bit sniffly. Rob called to let them know that we were indeed a sick household and gave them the option to avoid the ill human residents of Chicken Hill.
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| Home made carrot soup ready to freeze. |
All week Rob kept pushing himself at work even though I repeatedly nagged at him to just take care of himself. And to give him some relief I picked up a few more chores in hopes to aid in his recovery. Hauling water and feeding a group of farm animals that I don't typically work with. To get everything done we split up task. Pigs and goats don't fall into my regular chores. My work includes laying hens which consist of eighteen birds that aren't fully integrated yet and provide some challenges. (Each night seven babies put themselves to sleep in the outside windows of the chicken coop and I have to individually pick up these birds, with wings flapping, and place them onto a roost inside the coop.) And I take care of the eating machines on the farm, the Red Broiler meat birds. They require copious amounts of water and feed and I try to get them out to graze as much as possible. Nothing brings me more joy then to see those wobbly on their feet critters running outside munching on grass. They look like toddlers just learning to walk. Their posturing is quite interesting too.
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| The spiralizer turning zucchini into pasta. |
Much of the garden planting, harvesting and putting up of veggies falls into my chore list. Although, Rob makes killer pesto and stuffed peppers! The abundance of fruits and veggies that need to be canned or put into the freezer has kept me in the kitchen for more hours then I care for. It's been a struggle to keep on top of the baskets of food and find creative uses to keep us interested in zucchini, beets and kale. This year we took a class that taught us how to turn zucchini into pasta, using a little manual operated kitchen gadget called a spiralizer. Also, I discovered how to turn beets into the best veggie burger I've ever bitten into. Here is the link to this amazing recipe that includes beets, carrot, onion and zucchini: http://www.greenkitchenstories.com/beetroot-burgers/
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| Beet root burgers ready for the freezer. |
This has been one of our best years for being able to make good use of the garden bounty. It has been a productive and rewarding growing season for us, even with the normal dose of weather challenges. And thankfully, when one of us was just too sick to farm the other was able to step up to the challenge. I spent all of yesterday pretty much sleeping. Today, I feel well enough to start back at my normal chores. Rob seems to be on the mend as well. Here at Chicken Hill, the humans are feeling better- even though we are walking around sounding a lot like Darth Vader.
