Backyard Fresh Foods

Time to plant the garlic

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 12:44:00 +0000

Just a quick reminder that, if you want garlic, now is the time to plant it. If you eat garlic, there's no reason not to plant some. It is maintenance free once planted and is a nice iris-like plant.

Still here

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 23:27:00 +0000

When I last posted, we had moved onto five acres outside of town. Traditional high speed Internet isn't available here, so thats my excuse for the lack of posting (this is done on my phone). I've been making steady progress towards getting the homestead where I want it. A small garden is producing well for us while outbuildings are built and trees cleared.

Zucchini and basil for the soup pot.

Our 3 month old egg layers, hen house, and pond in the background.

Progress towards clearing trees off of the dam.

Happenings around the home place

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 18:17:00 +0000

Holes in a nylon flag

Holes began to appear in the white areas of the flag out front. I had no idea what was causing it until I noticed this:

Apparently red wasps were chewing out the holes in the nylon flag. Anyone have insight into why they were doing this? I have since replaced it with a tougher polyester flag and the wasps have left it alone.

BIS high efficiency fireplace

During the winter, our main heat source is an EPA certified high efficiency wood fireplace with a blower. Having moved in February, we got to use it some. It kept the upstairs and livings areas nice and warm and burned 6-7 hours between loadings, but it wasn't sufficient to heat the peripheral rooms fully. We had to use the central furnaces in the mornings to take the nip off. While we were pleased with its performance, the wood I gathered from the property at the time wasn't fully dried and wasn't optimum.

Logs left by the previous homeowner

Wood split and stacked

I've been splitting existing logs and cutting dead standing timber to build a dry stockpile for the coming winter months. There's something very satisfying about heating with wood and having good log pile put up.

Quick garden update

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:16:00 +0000

Stewed tomatoes, peppers, white onion, and cilantro.

Moving into the new home place in February, there wasn't much chance to build beds and build up the soil. Salsa ingredients aren't demanding and tolerate unprepared soil well, so I planted the both existing beds with tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Knowing that I would be busy with many other things, I eschewed open pollinated varieties and planted Burpee hybrid Romas. Despite the unusually long stretch of 105+ degree days and low rainfall, they have produced admirably. So much so that they shaded out the peppers and onions to a degree.

Existing raised bed

Tomatoes, peppers, and onions

Pepper with wood mulch

GARDEN EXPERIMENT: The new place had a large pile of wood mulch onsite when we bought it, so I planted half the garden with 4" wood mulch and the other half with 4" of straw. I have seen no discernible difference in growth or production between the different mulches. Good to know.

Pedicure!

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:59:00 +0000

I used dog nail trimmers to trim the sharp points from the rooster's spurs to reduce the danger posed to my children. He bled a little when I got into the quick, but a few days later seems perfectly fine. In the picture above you can see the trimmed spur on the right. The untrimmed spur on the left is on the verge of shedding its outer layer, much like a cat sheds its claws to maintain sharpness.

In this case, the chicken came before the egg

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 17:38:00 +0000

The hens must be happy in their new digs because three days ago I found this:

Then yesterday three more!

And today they left me four!

The hens have been much quicker to get back into production after the move than I anticipated and seem they to be ramping up production by the day. On a down note, the rooster got after my 5 year old a bit today. I was there and immediately let the rooster know who was boss. I'd like to keep him, but I can't have him terrorize the kids. I'm going to trim his spurs to blunt them and give him one more chance. I'll admit that I'm not hopeful. It's hard for older animals to break bad habits, especially when they are full of testosterone.

Trying a little something different: Seed Tape

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:09:00 +0000

I was perusing my local seedshop looking for lettuce seed and spied this. I've seen seed tape before, but never used it. The price difference wasn't much as compared to a packet of loose seeds, so I decided to give it a try.

A seed tape is nothing more than a strip of thin paper with seeds placed at specific intervals. Above, you can see three strips of seed tape. A strip is planted in a furrow where the paper softens when exposed to water and the seedlings push through it easily. With small, hard to manipulate seeds like lettuce or carrots, this makes planting simple and prevents over seeding.

Lettuce seed is planted very shallowly, so I just laid the tape on the soil and covered it by lightly sprinkling a small amount of soil over it. The tape above is half covered.

Chicken and Garden Update

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:24:00 +0000

Any time you stress hens by doing something like moving them, they are liable to go into a molt and quit laying eggs. The hens haven't laid an egg since they've been here, but I expect they will sometime in the next 2 months. They continue to reliably put themselves up in the hen house at dusk. All, but one have gotten the idea that roosting in the nest boxes is a bad idea. I continue to pick up and move her out of the boxes and onto a roosting bar each evening. She'll get the idea.

The radishes are coming up nicely. We've had beautiful weather in the mid 70s.

True to form, the cilantro is doing just fine after separating store bought starts.

The onions are poking their bright green heads up.

The chickens have left the building

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:06:00 +0000

The chickens spent their first week in the coop learning that this is their new home. This is the warm, dry place with food and water. I want them to be able to free range on the property, but to return to the hen house each evening for safety's sake and also to lay eggs. It's no fun going on an Easter egg hunt through the brush every day.

*Note the steel trashcan. This is an easy, rodent proof and waterproof feed container.

That week passed and with some trepidation, I opened the door and watched to see what they would do. They started peering out the door getting more bold with each look. After about 10 minutes, the rooster hopped out. Soon they all followed and began happily scratching around looking for something to eat around the pond.

I went about my business and when I checked on them at dusk, all had returned and were safely in the house. Seven were on the roosting bars and three had decided to roost in the nest boxes. I picked up the three nest box birds and put them on the bars. If they develop the habit of roosting in the nest boxes, they will fill them with poop at night. That's not a good thing to have eggs covered in.

That's a good looking rooster!

Quick Tip: Getting a deal on Cilantro

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:31:00 +0000

I planted six cilantro plants last weekend, but only paid for two. How? When you buy cilantro starts from the big box store, they are almost always planted with 3 or 4 seedlings per pot. You can see the three distinct seedlings in the closeup above. Don't just plant the whole thing in one spot. Spread them out a little bit for more production.

Remove the cilantro from the pot.

*Note the wooden template in the background. I plant cilantro 4 plants per square foot.

Cilantro is a very hardy plant that can handle rough treatment. Using a serrated knife, divide the rootballs into thirds (or quarters depending on the number of seedlings). Plant them according to label instructions and water well.

This also works very well for basil. It's too early in the year to plant basil, so lock this trick away for later.

Radish Planting

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:11:00 +0000

Radishes are one of the quickest crops I grow, taking as little as 3 weeks to mature. They like the mild weather of spring and fall, but can be grown almost year round with cold frames. I want a couple of dozen radishes a week, so I plant 32 new radishes every weekend to keep a constant supply at hand. I always plant a few more than I want because I'd rather give away extras or feed them to the chickens than come up short.

Start with a level, weed free soil surface in a sunny location. I plant 16 plants per square foot using a wooden template that I made.

This antler from a small deer I shot is perfect for making 1/4" deep divots in each opening. Into these divots I drop 2 seeds per opening. Seeds are inexpensive and this insures that I will have a radish in each spot.

Once the seeds are in place, I sprinkle a little loose soil over the template and then wipe it clean. This covers each seed to a uniform depth. Lightly water in place being careful not to disturb the seeds.

We have chickens again!

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 17:38:00 +0000

A friend of my sister-in-law gave us an Ameraucana rooster (back left in the picture above) and 9 hens (Ameraucana, Red Star, and Black Star) recently. They are a mix of ages ranging from 1 to 3 years. They seem to be very tame and gentle, allowing me to walk up and pick them up without too much problem.

I love hearing the crows of a rooster again and may let a broody hen raise some chicks this summer. Despite the rooster's sharp 1 1/2" long spurs, he seems quite docile. I've "interacted" with a few roosters that were truly mean and would attack humans relentlessly with those sharp spurs. We have young children whose eyes are within easy striking distance of an aggressive rooster, so even though I'm looking forward to having him around, if he shows any aggression towards humans he will wind up in the soup pot.

The house needed a good clean out from the chickens of the previous owner. I shoveled everything out and piled it outside to compost*. I put a layer of fresh pine shavings on the floor and straw in the nest boxes.

The house has roosting bars already in place. These are really important, because chickens like to roost up high while they sleep at night. In the off chance a predator gets into the house at night, the chickens will still have some protection because they are up off the floor. Chickens also defecate a lot at night and this keeps them up and out of that.

Good ventilation is essential for a hen house. Their droppings can produce a lot of ammonia, which can cause all sort of health issues for the chickens if it builds up in the house. The house has two chicken-wire covered windows on one side of the house.

*Never put chicken litter directly into your garden. It has too much nitrogen and needs the composting period to mellow. Also, applying fresh manure to food growing areas poses a risk of bacterial contamination of food.

Seed Starting

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:24:00 +0000

Starting your own seeds can be a great way to cut costs if you need a lot of seedlings or a way to get specific varieties that you want even if your local nursery doesn't carry them. I buy some things and start others myself. What and how much I start varies by year and inclination. This year we are still unpacking and I have A LOT of projects to focus on. So I am only starting tomatoes (early, cherry, and Roma), peppers (salsa variety pack), and basil.

If this is your first year gardening, I would not advise you to start your own seeds. The first year is discouraging enough and there is enough to learn without adding seed starting. But if you're an experienced gardener, give it a shot. In the picture above, you can see my gardening workbench. It is on the south wall of my garage near a sunny window. The garage is semi-heated and doesn't get below 55-60 degrees at night.

On top of the bench is a grow light stand that I constructed out of 2x4s and plywood. It is wide enough to house four 12"x24" flats of seeds. This year I am only starting two flats. The lights are two ordinary 4' long double bulb shop lights hanging side by side. The bulbs are standard fluorescent bulbs. They hang on chains from eye hooks, which allows height adjustment by just unhooking and hooking into a different link on the chain. They are raised up and out of the way in the picture, but once the seeds begin to emerge I will lower them to keep the bulb within an inch of the seedlings. The closer the better (without touching). As the seedlings grow, I will raise the bulbs to accommodate them.

I have the lights on a timer set to turn them on at 5:00 a.m. and off at 11:00 p.m. The sunny window is nice for the plants, but it is not sufficient to grow strong, stocky plants. You MUST use artificial light or your plants will be long, thin, and weak.

A quality soil-free seed starting mix is essential. Do not use soil from your garden or bagged garden soil because it can contain pests and pathogens that can wreak havoc on young seedlings. If you are unable to find a good professional seed starting mix, a 50/50 peat moss and sand mixture can be used in a pinch.

Seeds cannot be allowed to dry out during the germination phase, but also shouldn't be floating in soil soup either. I mist the flats with a spray bottle to keep the soil like a well wrung out damp sponge. Some people cover the trays with plastic hoods or wrap to maintain moisture, but I really prefer the control a spray bottle gives me.

I use a waterproof seed starting mat to warm the seed flats from below. This gives much quicker germination and more uniform starts. I unplug it once all seedlings have emerged. (Edit to add: My basil seeds have emerged in 48 hours, when they would take 5-7 days without a mat).

Tip: Plant more than one seed per container and when they are a week old cull the smallest seedling by cutting it off at soil level with scissors. This ensures against seeds that fail to germinate and gives you the strongest seedlings possible. Seeds are cheap, your time is not.

Marking what seeds are planted where is important. I cut strips out the sides of a rinsed out milk jug and write on them with a fine tip permanent marker.

It's Onion Planting Time

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:21:00 +0000

It's time to get those onion sets or transplants in the ground. Above you can see my yellow and purple onion sets, ready to be covered over with an inch of soil.

When planting onion sets you will come across mildewed bulbs (above left). These should be discarded. Choose bulbs that are clean and solid feeling (above right). A small (~1/4") sprout coming from a bulb is acceptable, but bulbs with long sprouts already on them (above middle) aren't a good choice.

If you follow the label instructions on the sets, onions are pretty maintenance free. However, if you desire more information here's a great resource for onion growers: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/onions/oniongro.html

Bed Preparation

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:21:00 +0000

The new home place already has two raised beds and for expediencies sake I will plant in them this year. Unfortunately, they are in the Bermuda grass lawn and are already infested with the stuff. Once a bed is infested with Bermuda grass, it's almost impossible to eradicate without the use of harsh chemical herbicides (which I refuse to use). The plan is to build new beds in a Bermuda grass free area of the property and transition to those as possible.

The beds had lain fallow for the previous year and were overrun with weeds. The upper bed was filled with a forest of 3-4' tall weeds. I pulled out all large weeds by hand and then cleaned up the surface with a hula hoe. The hula hoe is a simple blade that travels just under the soil surface and cuts off the weeds at the root. Because it doesn't dig deeply into the surface, it can be used during the growing season right up to the edge of crops.

The lower bed was especially overrun with Bermuda grass. I burned it off to dethatch it, then cleaned up the surface with the hula hoe. After a few days, I went back and used the hula hoe to remove anything that remained green.

Dig In! Food and Farming Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:19:00 +0000

This year's festival is being held in Fayetteville on March 2nd and 3rd. It will include gardening classes, films, and a seed swap. Be there or be square.

http://diginfestival.com/

Excerpted from the website:

"Friday, March 2, 2012
5:30-6:30 p.m. Opening Reception & Supporter Appreciation
Reception details & site TBA. Ticketed Event
Ticket Booth Open

7p.m.
Festival Welcome & Film: Truck Farm (50 min)

8p.m.
Film: Food Fight (72 min)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday, March 3, 2012
9 a.m.
Coffee & Treats: Free Info-Fair Opens
Tastings and Treats may be sampled as they are added throughout the day.

9:30 a.m. Festival Welcome & Panel Discussion:
Hunger in the Land of Plenty: Cultivating a Sustainable Food System
(Sponsored by Feed Fayetteville) The panel discussion is free, and all are welcome.
The family-friendly film What’s on Your Plate (76 min) will show concurrently as an alternative activity. (Film repeats at 2:30 p.m.)

11:00 a.m. Concurrent Events:
Class: Growing Nutrient Dense Produce with Calvin Bey
Class: Good Bugs/Bad Bugs with Amber Tripodi & Sam Kim
Class: Growing & Using Herbs Karyn Zaremba (time is tentative)
Film: King Corn (91 min)
Film: Urban Roots (93 min) (repeats in p.m.)
Kid’s Area: Drawing Tables
Info Fair Continues

1:00 pm Concurrent Events:
Class: Beginner Gardening & Composting with Jane Maginot & Dana Smith
Class: Backyard Chickens with Mariah & Ira White
Class: Cooking in Season with Chef Tuesday Eastlack
Film: Local Farm Tours on Film (50 min total)
Film: Seed Swap Ozarks (72 minutes)
Kid’s Area: Drawing Tables
Info Fair Continues

2:00-5pm FCGC Free Seed Swap!

2:30 p.m. Concurrent Events:
Class: Beginner Backyard Beekeeping (teacher TBD)
Class: No-Till Farming: how to create a perfectly natural and nutrient-rich soil to grow your plants with Patrice Gros
Class: Cooking in Season with Chef David Lewis
Film: What’s on Your Plate (great for families- 76 min)
Film: Food Fight (72 min) (shows on Friday p.m. also)
Kid’s Area: Drawing Tables
Info Fair Continues

4 p.m. Concurrent Events:
Class: Seed Saving with Herb Culver
Class: Creating an Edible Landscape with Leigh Wilkerson
Class: Basic Food Preservation Ideas (time is tentative) with Lucy Kagan
Film: Economics of Happiness
Film: Queen of the Sun (82 min) (repeats in p.m.)
Info Fair Continues

5:30 p.m. Concurrent Events:
Film: Food Fight (72 min) (also plays Friday evening)
Films-Double Feature: Truck Farm (50 min) & Greenhorns (50 min)
Info Fair Continues

7:30 p.m. Concurrent Events:
Film: Queen of the Sun (82 min)(also plays at 4 p.m.)
Films: Urban Roots (93 min) (also plays at 11 a.m.)
Info Fair draws to a close…

9 p.m. Festival Concludes

Dig In! is Friday, March 2 & Saturday March 3, 2012. Please note this schedule is a tentative DRAFT! Times & some events could change. Stay tuned to www.diginfestival.com for updates. Location: Global Campus Center on NE corner of Fayetteville Square (unless otherwise noted)
Individual event tickets available at the door. Suggested donation for each class/film you attend is $5 (more if you can/less if you can’t). We are operating on donations and all funds go into the festival. Weekend Supporter Passes start at $30 via website and at the door. Please consider being a supporter! We want everyone to be able to attend— and also hope for enough financial support to pay for the festival and do this again next year. Seed Swap, Panel Discussion & Info-Fair are free!"

Awesome chicken house for sale!

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:44:00 +0000

The new home place already has a chicken house on it, so I need to sell the one I built two years ago. It's a two level chicken house with four nest boxes and ramp. A 4'x8' upper level contains four nest boxes and windows to allow ventilation. A ramp leads to the lower section that is 4'x12' and allows the birds to scratch around while still protected from predators. The end opens up to allow full access for cleaning. A covered, enclosed storage area for feed and whatnot is above the upper section. I will deliver within a reasonable distance of Fayetteville and the first $400 gets it.

Here's a blog post with more information about the chicken house:

http://www.backyardfreshfoods.com/2010/07/chicken-houses.html

Long time, no post

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:30:00 +0000

Sorry for the lack of posting. We have been in a period of transition, but the first phase is nearing the end game. We have sold our house at which our gardening adventures have taken place for the last 8 1/2 years. We are closing in on a deal for a new homestead on 5 acres in the country. Once we are settled in this spring, I look forward to chronicling the process of turning it into a productive garden. Fruit trees, bushes, vines, raised beds, chickens, turkeys, an attached greenhouse, and more are in store so stay tuned...

Gutter Gardening

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:03:00 +0000

An interesting idea for those with limited space or bad soil. Would also be a great idea for people with bad backs.

http://juneauempire.com/stories/072508/nei_309624417.shtml

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Second Dispatch from the Insect War Front

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:43:00 +0000

The Good:

Flowering mint covered in pollinators

Herbs that are allowed to flower are generally very attractive to beneficial insects. Earlier in the year, my flowering basil was inundated with beneficials. Now it's the mint that is bringing them in.

Syrphid fly on flowering mint

Large syrphid fly (wasp mimic) on flowering mint

The mint is loaded with butterflies and syrphid flies (bee and wasp mimics) that serve as pollinators. Some syrphid flies also have predatory larvae.

The Bad:

Black blister beetle eating tomato leaves

About a week ago, I found about 20 of these black blister beetles on the lower leaves of my tomato plants. Blister beetles eat leaves and can defoliate a plant if their population is left unchecked. They are called blister beetles because, when disturbed, they release a chemical blister agent that can cause chemical burns. Because of this, I am not hand picking them off the plants. This is the first time I've ever had a problem with this pest. I've stalked them each morning and given them a quick shot of the organic insecticide NeemII. That seems to be taking care of the problem just fine.

Cut worm beneath tomato plants

While volunteering at the heritage gardens at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, I hoed up this cutworm beneath the tomato plants. Cutworms encircle plant stalks and can cut them off at the base or eat the outer layer which will cause wilting and death. If you have a cutworm problem, wrap a small skirt of aluminum foil around the base of your plants and that will exclude them. I don't have many cutworm issues, because I let my chickens dig through my soil at the end of the season and eat anything they find. If you don't have chickens, removing any organic material such as mulch and turning the soil over will help.

Squash bug eggs on the underside of a butternut squash leaf

Two mating squash bugs on a butternut squash vine

Closeup of a squash bug on a butternut squash leaf

Squash bugs can be a real problem. They reproduce rapidly and in large numbers can suck a vine dry. In the picture directly above, you can see the piercing mouth part with a drop of plant juice on it. Despite the pictures, squash bugs haven't caused a huge problem for me this year. I haven't seen any nymphs (small, gray versions of the adults) and the most adults I've seen at one time is two. I regularly check the undersides of the leaves for eggs. When I find them, I scrape them off with my thumbnail. I spray any adults I see with NeemII.

Tomato fruitworm on a Roma tomato plant

Tomato fruitworm

I found this tomato fruitworm on one of my plants this morning. I picked it off and smashed it. I haven't found any of the characteristic fruit damage or any other caterpillars. If I start to find more, I will use a treatment of Bacillus thuringiensis (BT). BT is an organic treatment of bacteria that only affects butterfly and moth caterpillars.

Japanese beetle on an okra leaf

I find 4 or 5 Japanese beetles eating my okra leaves each morning. A quick spritz of NeemII and they are gone.

The Good and Ugly:

Wheel bug on an okra leaf

I have two of these rather large (1.5") insects living in my okra. They are called wheel bugs and are easily identified by the spiky wheel on their backs. These are GOOD insects to have around. They are related to the squash bug, but instead of sucking juices from your plants, they use the large piercing mouth part to suck the juices out of other insects. They are voracious predators of crop damaging insects, but if disturbed, they can deliver a painful bite. So if you find them in your garden, leave them alone and be thankful they are there.

Need ideas from my readers on cooking with okra

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:40:00 +0000

Meager first okra harvest

Yesterday morning I harvested these first okra pods of the year. They will need to be harvested daily now because the pods form so quickly. The four pods on the left are only a day older than those on the right. Unfortunately, experience has shown that the pods on the left are likely to be fibrous and inedible. If I experience any resistance when chopping up an okra pod, it's probably too far gone. They should be very tender and the knife should glide right through. Optimal size for the Perkin's Long Pod variety that we are growing is 4-5" like the pods on the right. Yes, the ones on the left are 7-9" long!

We love the taste of okra, but are trying to eat less fried foods. So my questions for my readers. Other than battering and frying, how do you cook and eat your okra? How do you avoid the "slime" that they produce? I'd love to hear your answers in the comments section or the Facebook page.

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Chicken Processing Edit

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 19:10:00 +0000

A reader (pixilatedtoo) suggested that leaving the breast meat on the bone until rigor mortis had completed its cycle would result in more tender meat. I did some reading and found THIS study confirming what she was saying. I now suggest removing the entire breast on the bone and then chilling it for 24 hours before deboning. I would use a set of kitchen shears to remove the entire structure.

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Home Chicken Processing Made Easy

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:07:00 +0000

Chicken! It's what's for dinner.

Raising chickens for meat is not a huge money saving endeavor. You aren't going to raise it much cheaper than a large-scale poultry producer. What you gain is freshness, knowledge that the chickens were treated well and fed what you want them to eat, and meat without anything added during packaging. The chicken pictured above was grown by me, never frozen, and went from the pen to the plate in less than 24 hours.

Here's a quick breakdown of my recent costs:

Item	Units	Cost per Unit	Total
Chicks	15	$2.00	$30.00
Bags of Feed	4	$9.00	$36.00
Bag of Pine Shavings	1	$5.00	$5.00

		Total	*$71.00*

That $71.00 raised 30 boneless-skinless breasts, 30 chicken tenders, 30 wings, 30 thighs, 30 drumsticks, 15 livers, 15 gizzards, and 15 hearts. This doesn't take into account my time (six weeks) or things I reused such as a feeder, waterers, and the space to raise them in.

So you've decided it's worth the effort to raise your own. You've read my posts HERE and HERE and now after 6 weeks of raising birds you have full grown chickens. How should you process them out?

The rest of this post contains pictures and descriptions of the humane killing and processing of chickens. If this offends you, do not read further.

Processing accouterments

The first step is to gather your supplies and set everything up. Hang two pieces of twine 18" from each other from something like a horizontal tree branch. Cut them off and tie a slip knot at the end of each one so that the chicken will hang at chest level. You will also need a sharp, thin bladed knife, a box cutter with new blade, an ice chest or large bowl with ice, baggies, and a hose with sprayer nozzle. I prefer to wear gloves while processing, but it's not necessary if you wash your hands well.

Two chickens hung for processing

My prefered method of humanly killing chickens is to hang them up and bleed them out. It's relatively painfree and the easier on the butcher than cervical dislocation or a chopping block. It removes the blood from the meat and keeps the bird calm. A calm bird is the key to a good quality meat.

Neck feathers removed

To bleed a bird out, hang them by their legs and pluck a few feathers from the neck near the head as seen above. Pull the skin tight between your fingers. You will see the dark blue jugular vein running along side the trachea. Sever that with a sharp knife (I prefer the point of a box cutter). Be careful not to cut into the trachea as that will upset the bird and prevent a good, calm bleed. Step back and wait for 3-4 minutes. When no more blood drips from the bird and it is still, it is ready to process. Be prepared for the bird to flap its wings for a few seconds at the very end. This is normal and just a nerve reaction.

Skin pulled off of the breast

At this point the bird can either be plucked or skinned. Plucking takes a lot of time and effort and we don't eat the skin anyway, so we skin the birds. It's a much quicker process. If you want to pluck, HERE is how to do it.

To skin the bird, start by making a small incision at the point of the breast bone. Grab that incision and pull downward to peel the skin off and expose the breast as seen above.

One boneless, skinless breast removed

~~Using the sharp, thin bladed knife, slice along the sternum. Then peel the breast off, cutting it loose close to the ribs as you go. Rinse it off and put it on ice. Repeat for the other side.~~

A reader (pixilatedtoo) suggested that leaving the breast meat on the bone until rigor mortis had completed its cycle would result in more tender meat. I did some reading and found THIS study confirming what she was saying. I now suggest removing the entire breast on the bone and then chilling it for 24 hours before deboning. I would use a set of kitchen shears to remove the entire structure.

If you want the wings, remove them by dislocating and cutting through the joints. Pluck as described in the link above.

Internal organs exposed

If you want the liver, gizzard, heart, etc., grab the top of the sternum and slowly pull down to expose the internal organs. Even if you don't want these items, they make great fresh pet food so don't waste them if you have pets.

Busted gallbladder

The liver and heart can be pulled out with your fingers. When removing the liver, be careful not to rupture the gallbladder as seen above. If you do, keep the bile off of anything you plan to eat. Once they are out, bag them up and put them on ice.

Gizzard pulled out

To remove the gizzard, cut the two tubes. The contents are anything but sterile, so I suggest using a separate knife to do this cutting. Put it in a baggie on ice for later.

Skin removed from leg quarter

All that's left are the leg quarters. Run the knife just under the skin on the inside of the leg and cut up to the knee joint. Pull the skin up and off of the leg as seen above.

Removing leg quarter

Sever the leg through the hip joint.

Removing foot

Remove the foot by cutting through the ankle joint.

One chicken on ice

Rinse and put it on ice.

Gizzard cut open

Because of the nature of a gizzard's contents, wait until you are done with all of the other meat to process these. Cut along the edge of the gizzard until you are halfway around.

Gizzard contents

Remember the gizzard is full of rocks, so don't cut too deep or you will dull your knife.

Gizzard cleaned out

Rinse out the contents of the gizzard.

Removing the koilin membrane

The gizzard has a thick membrane inside to protect it from the rocks inside. This is called the koilin membrane. Peel it off and discard. Rinse the gizzard well and bag it up

Ready to freeze

Once you've become proficient at it, a chicken can be completely disassembled into its parts in about 5 minutes.

Weekly Gardening Outlook: Parched

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:45:00 +0000

This will be a continuing series where we look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

Small Nanking cherry bush showing signs of drought stress

Large Nanking cherry bush

I planted six Nanking cherry bushes as dormant, bare-root stock last spring. After a month, four had leafed out and two had not. I called the nursery and they immediately replaced the two, but by the time I put the two new ones in the ground they were six weeks behind and were going into the ground in the middle of summer. The pictures above show the importance of planting during the correct time of year. The smaller plants have a less developed root system and aren't coping with the heat and drought nearly as well as the larger bushes. I doubt they will make it through the summer.

Roma tomatoes

Ripening Roma tomatoes

Almost there!

Super Sweet 100 cherry tomato plant

The Romas are just about there. I've never seen this many fruit on the vines. The Super Sweet 100 cherry tomato vine is producing 3-4 cherry tomatoes a day. I may need to plant two of them next year. No evidence of blossom end rot despite the extreme heat and dryness.

Flowering basil

Still plenty of pollinator activity around the basil. Some seeds are starting to form.

Bell peppers

Jalapeno peppers

Plenty of bounty from the peppers. A couple of instances of blossom end rot on the bell peppers.

Young eggplant

Five or six little eggplants forming and the plants are both still flowering like crazy.

Okra

The okra are bushing out and soaking up every available drop of sunlight.

Potted blueberry bush

The blueberry harvest is over. The bushes have more than doubled in size already.

Evergreen bunching onions

I planted these evergreen bunching onions from seed in the spring of 2010. Since then they've provided a constant availability of green onions, even in the middle of winter.

Butternut squash vines on a cattle panel trellis

Young butternut squash

The butternut squash vines have crested the top of the cattle panel arbor. They want to go in every direction and I have to train them up the arbor every few days. In the middle of the arbor in the picture above, you can see a vine I just retrained. Its leaves hadn't reoriented to the sun yet, but they did within a few hours. No sign of squash vine borer yet *crossing fingers*. I've seen two squash bugs this week and I hand picked them both off.

Same old chard. Easy.

Turnips

Turnip, ready to harvest

The turnips are all ready to pull. I've pulled and eaten some, but I don't have a ton of experience eating turnips. Anyone have a good recipe?

Purple-podded pole bean vines growing up a cattle panel trellis

Purple-podded pole bean flowers

Flower buds are forming on the green bean vines. Japanese beetles continue to try to eat the foliage, requiring a periodic treatment with NeemII.

Calendula

I planted a few calendula (pot marigold) where I had open space. The petals are a colorful addition to salads and are said to have numerous health benefits.

Sand plum

The heat and drought have resulted in smaller sand plums this year. They aren't quite ripe yet, but in the next few weeks I will turn them into jelly. Here's a previous post where I show how it's done.

Chicken and Egg Report:

Chickens at 6 weeks old

While I was out of town last weekend, we lost three more of the new laying chicks. They just disappeared, leaving us with four remaining egg laying chicks. I put those four in the enclosure with the meat birds and they are still there today. It's got to be hawks. I've searched the yard and can find no sign of them. The dogs don't eat them after they kill them. After these meat chicks go into the freezer this weekend, I'm going to get another batch of chicks to raise as hens. With the heat, we are only getting 1-2 eggs per day.

Weather Outlook:

Dry fescue lawn

-Hot. Mid to upper 90s all week with little chance of rain.

-Water early and often.

-Ten day forecast

What's Being Harvested:

A few peppers and turnips from the garden

-Herbs

-Serrano, jalapeno, and bell peppers

-Green, yellow, and purple onions

-Cherry and Roma tomatoes
-Turnips

An Excellent Article

noreply@blogger.com (Backyard Fresh Foods, LLC) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:18:00 +0000

I was recently sent a link to this article about organic remedies for garden pests. I found it to be a very easy read and will absolutely be trying some of Ms. Lovejoy's ideas in my garden. Take a look and see if there are some solutions to your gardening problems in there.

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/thirty-five-pest-disease-remedies.aspx

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