Napping on the trampoline. 🙂beans….beans…..beansThis a HUGE bag of wheat that my dad harvested. We are going to supplement the chicken feed with it and Digger wants to experiment with fodder.We had a nasty wind storm that blew over several corn stocks. I was glad it didn’t do more damage.We have dozens and dozens of these….now, if they would just turn red!I am very pleased with how many bees I hear and see while in the garden. 🙂Some of our corn grew like CRAZY. A few of them are over 12 feet tall and the ears are so high I’m going to need a ladder to harvest them!One volunteer sun flower came up in the middle of our garden. I decided to let it grow and I’m glad I did. It’s absolutely gorgeous! I counted 30 blooms on it at one point. 🙂
We ended the month of August with the county fair.
This isn’t the greatest picture but I wanted everyone to see how the fair and chickens are a family ordeal! They all did so well with ALL of their projects. I am a very proud mom, sister, and aunt!!!
September will be bringing many changes. I have decided after much thought and prayer to go back to teaching at our local Christian School and the girls will also be attending there. This means lots less time at home. I am hopeful that I can keep up with cooking from scratch, gardening, and my blog!
Thanks for stopping by the Red Double Wide!! Hope you are all getting to enjoy this harvest season. 😀
If you’ve been following along on our Cornish Cross raising adventure, brace yourself for an eventful week 7! If you are new to our little adventure you might want to check out the first six weeks: week 1 – week 2 – week 3 – week 4 – week 5 – week 6
My girls ages 9 and 10 chose to take two of our Cornish Cross to the fair this year and sell them at the market livestock sale. Our family has always shown and sold sheep, but with a lack of fencing and the fact that chickens are far less expensive to raise, we encouraged chickens this year…..a mistake?? Maybe….
Our 4-H leader, who knows WAY more about chickens than we do, advised that we pick a couple of our roosters to take to the fair because of their size. So on Wednesday afternoon the girls each picked out a rooster and we set to work getting them cleaned up. The girls also took two laying hens to the fair, which made a total of seven baths that afternoon…..four chicken baths then three people baths, getting chickens clean is a dirty job!
No their feathers did not fall out, this is just the way they are….makes for some easy pluckin!
I was dreading this part, but other than a few soggy, soapy chicken wings slapping us in the face and one mom and two girls chasing a soaking wet hen around the yard……it went very well. 😀
This isn’t a very good picture, but here they are all clean and dry, awaiting a ride to the fair! I thought they cleaned up very nicely. 🙂
It was a nice, warm, day so it didn’t take them long to dry off….and we were off to the fair!
Both Cornish Cross weighed in at 6.6 pounds (to sell they have to weigh between 4 and 7 pounds) and after a vet check we settled them into their cages. They were the only Cornish Cross in the barn…we live in a small county! I noticed right away that they didn’t really like walking on the wire cages, it was very different than our lawn. The poultry barn was hot, and this breed doesn’t do well in the heat. They plopped down in their cages, spread their wings out away from their bodies and started panting. (this is normal; this is how they act when they are hot) I was a little worried, but It was starting to cool off by then and I figured in a couple hours they would be fine….and they were. The next morning they looked great and we kept an eye on them throughout the day.
Sorry about the bad pictures…theses were taken Thursday in the late morning.
Thursday night I received a phone call that I was to immediately remove my daughters chickens from the fair grounds. The vet said they were sick and not going to make it through the night! As I approached the barn I saw the vet outside and asked him what the problem was. He said that our chickens had bloody wings, sores on their feet, their feathers were falling out, and they couldn’t stand up!?!?!?! My brief attempt at defending this breed and these birds in particular was oddly met with “I know, I know” and some reference to PETA. In short the vet made it very clear that he had made a decision, it was his call, and the birds had to go. Yes, I argued….no, I did not scream, yell, cuss, kick, bite, or hit, like I was tempted to do at that moment. (we’re talking about some major restraint here folks)
I removed the chickens with tears in my eyes and two little girls full of questions I couldn’t answer. 🙁
When we got home I took the kennel into the shop and opened the door. Both chickens walked out and I began checking them over. I had the Vetericyn out to spray any hurt wings or sores…..there was no need for Vetericyn. I was relieved to not find any sores, but at the same time was very frustrated!
After we took some pictures we put the chickens back in the pen with the rest of the meat chickens. The next morning, the chickens “that weren’t going to make it through the night” were just fine. When I opened the gate to give them breakfast they all ran to me. (Well, as well as Cornish Cross can run anyway) In fact, four days later as I write this they are still fine!
By the time we got back to the fair grounds the next morning our 4-H leader had heard about what had happened,… and she was none to happy!! We ended up filing a grievance with the fair board and attending a board meeting on Saturday morning. (This filled me with some measure of anxiety by the way, I am not one for confrontation) The board was very kind to listen to our complaint. I stated that I believed the whole situation was handled poorly and I didn’t want this to happen to more kids in the future. They said that everyone needs more education about this hybrid chicken, and market chickens should have cages on the floor so they don’t have to walk on wire mesh.
I agree with the board that more education is needed,(like how to tell an ugly, hot chicken apart from a sick or injured chicken) and maybe some misconceptions about this bird can get cleared up. (at least at our little county fair) I intend on writing several more posts about Cornish Cross and we will be making several educational posters to hang up at the fair next year….. whether we enter Cornish Cross or not. The fair was not a total bust, the girls had tons of fun showing their hens and hanging out with friends. They are already talking about next year. 😀
Next week I will share about our last week and our very first butchering day.
I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to our wonderful 4-H leader Linda. She was so much help in our meat chicken raising experience and is always available to answer our questions. She helped with 4-H books, the fair entry process, and when things got crazy at the fair, she stood by us, helped with the grievance process, and even went to the board meeting with us. Linda….YOU ROCK!!!! 😀
Green beans, green beans, green beans every where. I have planted green beans many, many times, but never have they tasted so good or been so abundant! (it must have been those heirloom seeds?) We pick them about every three days trying to keep up with them.
All these green beans have let me get acquainted with my brand new pressure cooker!
So far I have canned 20 pints and 14 quarts. I’m thinking that will get us through an entire year, especially since Digger isn’t fond of canned green beans. I have given some away to friends and family and the rest we have been enjoying with dinner.
Here are 2 super tasty ways to EASILY add fresh green beans to your dinner.
First find a REALLY cute niece to help you snap the beans. 🙂
She took her bean snappin job VERY seriously!
If you don’t have one of these (my sympathies) it CAN be done alone, BUT it is very boring.
After the beans are snapped and you have picked up all the beans off the floor and cut all the little teeth marks off of them, give them a good washing! (I told you, not boring with a cute helper)
Grease a cookie sheet and place as many snapped and washed beans as your family will eat for dinner on the cookie sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground pepper on the top. Place in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. This is soooo easy and so yummy!
The next recipe is my favorite because it involves BACON!
You will need fresh snapped and washed green beans, bacon, and a small onion.
Chop up the bacon (I used 6 slices) and fry it until crispy. Place the bacon on a paper towel to drain, leave the bacon fat in the pan and add the onion and green beans (about 4 cups). I used half of a LARGE onion I bought from our neighbors at the farmers market….wow! Let them saute in the bacon grease for a few minutes, stirring often. When they are done to your liking, drain excess liquid then add the bacon back in and stir. Add Salt and pepper to taste.
That’s it; deeeelicious! I ate this for lunch yesterday…well not ALL of it, I shared a little with the girls. 🙂 Digger who won’t touch a green bean out of a can will happily eat either of these easy fresh green bean recipes!
I am pleased to say that week 6 went MUCH better than week 5!! If you want to read about the first 4 weeks here they are: Week 1 – Week 2 – Week 3 – Week 4
We had no casualties this week and as you can see their feathers are filling in nicely. So allot less ugliness going on. 😀
I weighed a couple of them on Friday and they weighed right around four pounds. They are the perfect weight for the fair this week. 🙂
So far the total cost for each chicken is $8.00. We plan on butchering in 2 more weeks.
In the past I have tried to share only recipes that are on the healthier side…this is not one of those! I feel compelled to share it with you though, because they REALLY are award winning brownies (not to mention easy and delicious).
In 2009 when Little Chef was 6 years old I asked her if she wanted to make some cookies and enter them into the fair. She said “no, I want to make brownies”. So we found a brownie recipe that looked easy enough for a six year old and she went to work (with a little help from mom). That year she brought home the huge purple “Top Of Show” ribbon. Over the past four years that recipe has become our “go to” dessert. If I need a dessert quickly this is the recipe I grab. I usually grab my daughter too and have her make them! (lots of grabbing going on, sorry) She never says no to making “her” brownies. 😉 So when her 4-H leader told us about “Food Activity Day” the natural recipe of choice was………..you guessed it, Chocolate Chunk Brownies. On food activity day the kids pick a recipe and bring everything they need to prepare that recipe (or meal). They set to work while the judge watches. When they are done and the kitchen is clean they get to share their food with the judge and answer any questions they have. My daughter was so excited about this day, and she had soooo much fun! She was asking if she could do it again next year before they even handed out the awards. 😀 She received reserve champion in the Junior class for her brownies and brought home another purple ribbon and a blue ribbon!
They are soooo soft, gooey, and chocolaty rich, and they just melt in your mouth!
Author: Little Chef adapted this recipe from the Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
1 cup butter - melted
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs - slightly beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup simi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
In a large bowl add the sugar, vanilla, and eggs to the warm melted butter and blend well. Add flour, cocoa and salt; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into a greased 13X9-inch pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until set. Let cool for at least 1 hour or until completely cooled before cutting into bars.
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As you can see this is not a healthy recipe but definitely worth sharing. 🙂 Well….maybe I just wanted to brag about my Little Chef, that’s not so little any more.
I think the two words to describe week 5 would be ugly and messy…….I might throw in smelly too!
I’m moving their pen two and three times a day now to keep them on fresh clean grass. Sadly we had our first casualties this week…..yes, not just one but two. 🙁 I went out early Thursday morning and there was a dead chicken?? We don’t know why it died, but this breed is prone to heart attacks so I’m guessing that was it. Saturday morning I went out and a barn cat had some how reached under the pen and snagged one of them and had managed to eat half of it……super grooooss!! I also lost two hens this week….it was NOT a happy chicken week around here…..sigh.
He obviously wanted the rest of the food to himself!
The eight remaining Cornish cross are doing well and gaining weight FAST. We are now taking extra precautions to make sure they are cat proof!!!!
If you would like, you can read about the first four weeks of our meat chicken experience….they were much cuter on week 1 and 2! 😉 Week 1 – Week 2 – Week 3 – Week 4
Berries seem to be everywhere right now, and muffins are a weakness of mine so we’ve been eating lots of them lately. A couple weeks ago I shared a Fresh Raspberry Muffin recipe that used our homegrown raspberries. The girls and I made several batches, but now the bushes are pretty much picked clean. Sadly we don’t have any blueberry bushes (yet), but I did find some for a very good price the other day so I bought LOTS! I found this blueberry muffin recipe about a month ago and they looked sooooo delicious I couldn’t wait to try them! I made a few minor alterations to the recipe and oh yum, yum, yum!
In a big bowl stir together the milk (any kind will work), melted butter or coconut oil, egg, vanilla and sugar. Then mix in the flour, baking power, and salt.
Gently fold in the blueberries. We used fresh berries but frozen would work too. Fill greased muffin tins two thirds full (this makes about 10 muffins). Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.
Author: Queen Of The Red Doublewide adapted this recipe from Angela at Hickory Trails
Cuisine: For breakfast or a snack
Serves: 10
Ingredients
¾ cup milk - any kind of milk will work
¼ cup melted butter or coconut oil or olive oil if you prefer
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup organic sugar or sucanat
¾ cup unbleached all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
Instructions
Stir together the milk, butter, egg, vanilla, and sugar. When it's nice and smooth mix in the flours, baking powder, and salt. Then gently fold in the blueberries. Fill greased muffin tins about two thirds full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. This will make about 10 muffins and can easily be doubled if you want more.
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I’m going to make a dairy free version of these for my mom and sister by using almond milk and coconut oil. I love recipes that you can easily substitute ingredients for people with allergies!
This recipe was adapted from Angela at Hickory Trails. She took some amazing pictures of her muffins; you should check out her blog!
Our 10 Cornish Cross meat chickens are now a month old…..one more month to go!
You can read why we chose this breed and see pictures of their growth on these posts: Week 1 – Week 2 – Week 3
They are outside full time now and love to munch on the grass!
They are still much more active than I expected. I have read that all they do is stand or lay down at the feeders and eat all day. Ours are not like that at all, maybe it’s because they have room to run and fresh grass to eat, or maybe they just haven’t got to that point yet?
They are ugly little buggers and not very bright! I weighed one a couple days ago and it was almost 2 pounds. They are going through the feed pretty quickly now, I think it’s going to cost more than I originally expected to feed them. But I also expected to loose a couple and so far no casualties. The five that my mom took to her house are also doing very well. Thanks for following along on our meat chicken journey. 🙂
July was a month of bbq’s with great friends, many 4-H meetings, baby chicks, HOT weather, gardening, and allergies! Despite the sneezing, runny noses, and watery eyes it was a wonderful, busy month.
We started off the month by celebrating the 4th of July with a family trip to the beautiful San Juan Islands. It was a great trip and so wonderful to see family that we hadn’t seen for a while. Visiting the beach was also wonderful!
Two days after we got home from our little vacation our meat chicks arrived!
They are the girls 4-H projects. To read more about our meat chickens click here.
Front yard visitorFirst harvest from the garden
We have an AWESOME group of people from our church that came out and joined us for a taco feed and go-kart party. Our go-cart track goes through our hay field and it’s about three-fourths of a mile long. As you can see from the picture this is not a clean sport! Everyone was sooooooo dirty but it was a blast!
My weed filled garden! The corn is taller than me now. 🙂Squash plantBaby TomatoesThe girls painting the new chicken pen for their 4-H meat chickens.The finished pen!My dad getting ready for harvest….I can’t believe it’s that time of year already!
Hope all of you had a great July! In August I’m looking forward to our county fair and preserving the harvest from my garden.
