Chicken Found Dead in the "Green" Zone

Cause of death:  Unknown

This chicken has not shown signs of illness.  There were no signs of foul play.  We came in from a social event sort of late last night ... 10:00pm.  I don't remember counting the chickens in the hen house when I closed everything up at that time, so I'm not sure she actually made it to the roost.  I hope it's not some dread disease that could potentially wipe out the flock!  Thank you to Noah, who is home this weekend and has offered to bury her.

Wineberry Jam

8 jars of jam processed this morning. I picked the berries yesterday and put them through the food mill - ready to go into the pot today. Dividing up the tasks really does make the job less daunting. It took only 30 minutes to cook and jar the jam. What a beautiful sight!

The times, they are a-changin' ...

Yarri arrived yesterday.  He loves picking berries and other veggies.  He likes gathering eggs, but thinks the hen house stinks.  Go figure!  He threw watermelon rinds into the chicken yard and was entertained by how much the chickens liked that.

We're picking the last of the black raspberries just in time for the ripening of the first wineberries!

Still picking broccoli side-shoots.

Lost a zucchini plant ... cut off at the ground.  Still picking yellow squash and zucchini.

Ate the first three sungold cherry tomatoes.

Picked another couple handfuls of bush beans.

The beets need to be finished off.

If you can't stand the heat ...

... stay out of the kitchen!  It was a hot day in Pittsboro, with temperatures reaching the 90 degree mark.  All I can say is, thank goodness for air conditioning!  I was quite comfortable as I spent most of the day in the kitchen roasting, blanching, baking, freezing, and dehydrating fruits and veggies harvested right out of my back yard.

I began my kitchen adventure by roasting two trays of beets and a large pan of zucchini chunks.  I packed the roasted zucchini directly into plastic freezer bags and put them into the freezer.  It helps to have all the juiciness frozen solid before vacuum-sealing the package.  This zucchini will be delicious later on in ratatouille or a in a lush pasta sauce.  I peeled the beets, quartered them, and froze them in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Then I loaded them into the freezer bags.  This is my first attempt at freezing beets.  I plan to reheat and eat them simply seasoned with butter, salt, and pepper OR in a sweet and sour "Harvard beet" sauce.   After everything was bagged up and frozen, I vacuum-sealed the packages and loaded them into the freezer.

I'm making a small contribution to the sustenance of Abi and Andrew as they prepare to set out on a 2,000 mile trek along the Pacific Crest Trail this summer.  Self-proclaimed "The A Team", they will need nutritious, light-weight meals.  They've been running the dehydrator day and night.  But time is short and they need more meals.  Today I cooked up two menu selections ... a lush spaguetti sauce with ground beef ... and vegetables with a flavorful green curry sauce.

Two loaves of zucchini bread.

Baking a raspberry-peach cobbler

Finished blanching the beet greens.

Pot of soup stock.

First Green Beans

This morning I picked the first handful of green beans from the Jade bush bean plants.

Another yellow squash plant shows sign of damage at the base of the plant stem.  I can't tell if it's squash bugs or some other worm that's cutting it off at the ground. Disappointing!

The black raspberries are definitely slowing down.

BIG Black Snake in the Hen House

After relocating our black snake to Noah and Betty's house last Sunday I was expecting egg numbers to go up.  But they didn't.  In fact, a couple of days this week I found only a couple of eggs.  And the hens have been laying all over the hen house, rarely in the nesting boxes.  Something's up.

This morning I removed the barrier that separated the two young chickens from the older hens.  Lessons in pecking order were the order of the day!  At least the two little ones have each other.

Later in the day I went out to check on how everyone was getting along.  I didn't see the young chickens, and thought they might have been bullied into the hen house.  Imagine my surprise, when I opened the door and found two of the old hens in the corner under the roosting perches, busily pecking at a HUGE black snake!  He was at least 5 feet long, and he was fat ... obviously, very well fed.

I ran to the workshop to tell Rouse, "Giant black snake in the hen house!"  Then I ran into the house to get a paper grocery bag and my handy-dandy grabber device.  Rouse grabbed the snake by the tail and threw him out of the hen house into the yard.  Yikes!  The snake immediately assumed an aggressive offensive posture.  He was not about to be caught!  But under my superior supervisory skills ... and with a little distance provided by my handy-dandy grabber ... Rouse bagged the snake.  My hero!!  We relocated him to a patch of woods on the other side of the 64 bypass.  He'll have to make it across four lanes of traffic if he wants to come back to this eating establishment. 

Beans, Beets, Broccoli, & Black Raspberries

Bean stalks are climbing to the heavens. 
Baby bush beans are forming on the plants.
Beet roots continue to mature.  Some are ready to pull today.
Broccoli side shoots are growing.
Black raspberries are plentiful, but probably past peak production.

I Understand the Appeal of Using Seven Dust

I cut two cabbage heads.  There's still one left in the garden.  It resembles swiss cheese!  The cabbage worms have really done a number on it.

The zucchini is coming on strong.  I'm picking several good-sized fruits daily.  The yellow squash shows plenty of promise, with one or two fruits coming off daily, and lots of babies developing ... too bad two of the plants keeled over today.  Please tell me it's not the dreaded squash bug!

One of the two Japanese eggplants bit the dust.  I don't think I'll replace it.  I applied Safer Soap to fight back the flea beetles on the remaining three eggplants.  Geez!  It gets to be expensive eggplant!  Past eggplant yields have not been impressive.  So much trouble ... so little reward.  That's why I was reluctant to try it again in the garden, but I just couldn't help myself.  I love roasted eggplant ... grilled eggplant ... eggplant in my ratatouille!  This year may be my last attempt.