A lot has been happening this month, but I’ve been so busy I haven’t written about any of it.
Been getting a lot of things done! Doing a ton of pre-Christmas prep – this year I’ve decided I’m giving friends and family “gift baskets” of things I’ve made (like jams, jellies, salts, oils, preserves, infused honey, ferments, etc.). I made this lovely little arrangement of gifts for a friend as a wedding present. It includes fermented garlic in honey, peach vinegar, rosemary infused olive oil, homemade soap & laundry detergent, jelly, and bath salt.
Poor Fluff has found himself in the sink not once, but twice! A few weeks ago, he was attacked while on the roost (by something, I believe raccoon). Brought him in and doctored a wound on his back. Now when he has started to heal again he was attacked again, not sure when, and has a wound under his wing along with a little limp. I told him if he didn’t stop getting injured he’s going to have to become a house chicken. Poor little guy.
I’ve been doing a lot of dehydrating (mostly peppers from the garden and some onions) and making tons of sun dried tomatoes. They’re tasting so good, going to be giving them as Christmas presents as well.
I started sprouting BOSS and oats for the chickens and rabbits as treats and they love them! I’ll write a blog post about doing that soon. I’ve been toying with the idea of using the sprouts to make flower and then turn that into bread, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. We shall see.
More and more of my hens are laying, so that’s good. And the tomatoes are still prolific, I’ve been eating tons of tomato sandwiches which I am NOT complaining about. I also butchered Oliver the other week and turned him into some AMAZING white chicken chili. Yummo!
I bred Sookie and Eowyn to Rain on August 10, so I am expecting the first litters of the breeding season on September 11, yay! I have quite the long wait list for rabbits, so I’m ready to have kits again. I will be breeding Queenie in September (likely September 6 for an October 8 litter), haven’t decided if I want to breed her to Fin or Rain yet. Looking forward to being able to breed Powder in October once she turns 6 months, her weights are looking fabulous. I also have finally obtained my first two NZs for the RR program; a broken black doe and a broken blue buck. They still need names, maybe I’ll start a naming contest?
