Psst. Have You Heard The Latest?

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Insider sources tell us that the great barnyard romance between Lord Barred Holland and Crybaby appears to have come to an end.

"I just woke up one morning," stated Lord B, "and realized, hey! I'm a chicken!"

His Lordship has recently been seen in the company of a bevy of beautiful pullets, strutting his stuff and chasing the other cockerels away.

Crybaby was not available for comment, but according to her mother responded to the rumors by saying,

"Lord Who?"

Exclusive shots taken by our staff photographer, have confirmed speculations that she is indeed seeing someone else.

While his identity remains a mystery, Barnyard Gossip has verified that he is an Ameraucana cockerel.

Gossip mongers report that he can be seen on the coop roof first thing every morning, after being chased around the chicken yard by Lord B himself.

He walks along the roof line and flies down into the goat field, where the chickens currently free range in the afternoon. The chickens aren't allowed into the field until later, so he has the goats to himself all morning.

Of the Ameraucana's daily escape, coop keeper Leigh stated, "It's just as well. Otherwise he runs into the coop and tries to hide in Ms. Delaware's egg laying spot. Not that it does him any good, because his tail sticks out and he talks to himself the entire time he thinks he's hiding."

Of Lord B's sudden interest in the hens, she said, "I think it was basically a maturity issue. According to the American Breeds Livestock Conservancy, Hollands have a slow to moderate growth rate, meaning they are slower to mature than many breeds. Once his hormones kicked in, he knew what he was about."

She also noted that Lord B still does his happy dance when he runs up to greet the goats. "He just doesn't hang out with them anymore," she said.

When asked about his rival, Lord B was overheard to say,

"He's soup."

You read it here first, folks.

Psst. Have You Heard The Latest? text & photos copyright
July 2010 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

IDC Update & Kitten Pics

I don't reckon these two topics go together, except that these are our future mousers; very necessary on any homestead!

Firstly, here's my Independence Day Challenge update for last week, July 4 - 10:

1. Plant Something - nothing this week

2. Harvest something -

• broccoli
• Swiss chard
• strawberries
• watermelon
• eggs
• blueberries
• chamomile flowers
• cucumbers
• tomatoes
• yellow summer squash
• sweet basil
• okra
• tomatoes

3. Preserve something -

• froze blueberries
• canned Swiss chard
• dried chamomile flowers
• dried sweet basil

4. Waste Not –

• the usual
• Canning water - I let it cool and use it to water plants
• reuse soaking & cooking water

5. Want Not –

• saved lettuce seeds
• bought 3 more dozen regular pint canning jars & 5 dozen more lids

6. Build Community Food Systems –

• blogging about it
• gave away watermelon, tomatoes, & summer squash

7. Eat the Food –

• blueberries, strawberries, & yogurt on morning cereal
• leftover whey to replace 1/3 water in reconstituting orange juice
• blueberry pancakes
• watermelon for lunch
• cole slaw
• scrambled eggs with sourdough toast & canned strawberry jam
• sauerkraut & Swiss chard "kimchi". Interesting.
• cold cooked green bean & tomato salad
• sautéed onions & okra (yum)

And here are photos of Katy and Riley. They're growing fast!

Katy is shy, curious, affectionate, and afraid of her own shadow. If she thinks she's alone in the house, she cries piteously, and comes flying when she hears me call her.

Her coloring is lighter than Riley's, but when they're in action, I still have to check the tips of their tails to tell who's who (the tip of Katy's is white).

These photos don't do her coloring justice, but she's definitely a torbi. From the bird's eye, she looks like a dilute tortoiseshell. Her tummy and legs though, are definitely tabby.

This first photo of Riley was taken several weeks ago, so he still looks a bit kittenish, but I think it's a cute pic. He still loves shoes BTW ...

As you can see below though, at 3 months old, he looks like a little cat!

He's definitely a food monster. In the little video clip, he's the one in fast forward, while Katy is in slow mo being patient....

That's it for now.

For more Independence Days Challengers, click here.

IDC Update & Kitten Pics text, photos 
(except for the IDC image above), 
& video copyright July 2010 by 
Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Blender Cole Slaw

When I planted nine Dutch Flat cabbages last spring, I was envisioning filling my huge crock with homemade sauerkraut. Well, the cabbages didn't do as well as I hoped, and what I harvested at the end of June were on the smallish side. I still might have made them into sauerkraut, but with 4th of July around the corner, I had a hankering for cole slaw. I have a pretty easy recipe, so I thought I might pass it along to you.

Dan likes a simple cole slaw, with cabbage and carrots only. I'm sure you could add other vegetables, but those two are all I use. I used the last of our homegrown carrots in the first batch, so the ones I'm using here store bought.

I simply cut everything in to chunks, and put them in my blender, which has been filled about 3/4 with water.

I've learned that carrot chunks can get stuck in the blades, so I always put in cabbage wedges first. It only takes a few seconds to grate. In fact, it's easy to completely juice the cabbage, so I take care to keep an eye on it.

I catch and re-use the water from the blender. When I'm done blending, I usually pour it on plants, but really, I think it could be used as a cabbage & carrot flavored cooking water.

The other ingredients are mayonnaise (not homemade yet. That's on my list of things to learn), leftover pickle juice from any favorite batch of pickles, and sweetening. Here I have dill pickle juice from last year's homemade, and honey. I whisk them to taste in a big measuring cup. I honestly don't know the proportions, because that varies with the pickle juice and personal preference.

After that, it's mix, cover, refrigerate, and let sit for several hours or overnight. If I don't make enough sauce, I just mix up a little more and add it too.

I love this recipe because it's simple and quick. It's a favorite summer time salad.

This recipe is part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Fridays! For more real food recipes, click here.

And

Vegetarian Foodie Fridays (Click for more entries)

Are you a cole slaw fan?

Blender Cole Slaw text & photos (except for images at left) copyright July 2010 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/