Foster calves, chickens and campfires

As Moses, our new foster calf asks, "What's going on???" ahhh...it's been awhile which I will firmly blame on having a cold, but i'm sure that was only one factor. Since the last blog I have helped at Michael's farm on one of their chicken processing days. We started off catching the chickens out of the pens and putting htem in crates. Rich brought the crates down on the tractor while Linda set everything up inside. we got the chickens in just before a huge downpour that lasted the whole morning - Rich said sometimes he couldn't even see the thermometer he was holding in his hand. I was pretty psyched to be spending that morning inside. So they use cones to hold the chickens upside-down while you do the knife work (this keeps them from running around "like a chicken with their head cut off", because they do thrash quite a bit afterwards). then they get scalded (hence the need for the thermometer) for 30 seconds before going into the plucker. Robin took them out of the plucker and gave them to Linda's dad, who takes the heads and feet off and also removesthe scent gland or preening gland from their back. Then it came to me and Sarah to gut them. (I was given the advice: "don't cut the green thing". this is the bile sac and if you cut it the bile will stain the meat, and anything you're wearing). then it goes to Michael and Linda who wash them and tucked the feet under and put them into ice baths to hold. there's lots of time to talk, they played a solid prank on me. when i came in, Linda asked where my hat was, "Michael - you didn't tell her to bring a hat? well go see what you can find in the house then". michael comes back after awhile all apologetic with a hat that looks like I'm a chicken, complete with rooster plume and all. "sorry, it's all i could find". after about 20 minutes Linda says "Michael - you gonna tell that poor girl what's going on?". Michael "oh yeah - we don't have to wear hats". in retribution halfway through the day michael's washing birds and gets one with an extra foot coming out the bottom. "what's this?" Linda: "oh sometimes they grow like that". Michael "you know, for a VERY short second there i thought maybe sometimes they did". I got said foot thrown at me. good times.




Meanwhile at caretaker, last Tuesday was Gabriella's 5th birthday. Geoff made a campfire and roasted "hobo-packs" of potatoes and carrots and onions and cheese wrapped in foil right on the fire, and then we had smores for dessert while Don played Gabriella's favorite song, Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". she has good musical taste for a five year old!

Last week we got our first frost. it took out our basil and we definitely have frost damage on the husk cherries and the peppers, but they're both still around. we've moved onto doing lots of work cleaning up the farm - cover cropping, pulling out tomato stakes, pulling up the black plastic that was under a lot of the squash plants. It's definitely really strange to look out over the farm and see so much open land now. The leaves here are just starting to turn and I can tell they will be beautiful.