Harvesting

Well, it's that time of year. Last Saturday night (11/6) we got below freezing. So I spent Saturday afternoon harvesting all the basil, peppers, eggplant, and green tomatoes. I packed my last CSA order the previous Friday. We've eaten a lot of eggplant and pesto this week. Time to start in on the green tomatoes. I'm looking forward to a few months of a slower pace out in the garden. Time to regroup, check my records, think back on the past season and plan for the season ahead. I'm sure I'll be posting more about that in the weeks ahead.

In addition to harvesting vegetables, we decided it was time to say goodbye to our current chickens. They were getting to be old girls and their egg production has been spotty for a while now. We also really want to increase our flock this spring and start fresh with a whole new group of chickens. So in anticipation of trips to the coop to break the ice out of the water dish and collect zero eggs, we decided to go ahead and cull our four chickens. This has been an act I've thought about since the day I decided I wanted to have my own chickens.

Aaron and David came over to help. We each killed and processed a chicken. I feel really good about the whole process. I was a good owner to those chickens. I took them hot leftover oatmeal on cold winter mornings and cold watermelon rinds on hot summer days. They had a yard to roam and scratch in. And only periodically were traumatized by kids who wanted to play chase. When I think of the life of a factory raised chicken versus my girls....well, it makes me happy for mine. They had a lovely life. And I've now gotten up close and personal with the reality of what it means to be a carnivore. I'm anticipating slowly stewing one of the old girls this weekend.