Goodbye to a Chicken

I just got back from being away a week to visit my hubby (he works away and doesn't get home too often).  I took Lulu with me as she always travels with me and loves the camper.  The rest of the girls stay home in the care of a neighbour. 

Before I left last week, one of the hens had a real pale comb that was quite droopy.  I have a number of girls that aren't laying because they are molting or broody or reasons unknown to me.  Anyway, she seemed to stay away from the others and not come running for food and treats.  I picked her up to check her over and she seemed okay - no cuts, swellings, or anything visible that looked to be causing her discomfort. 

When I got home, the neighbour was outside and said he noticed one of the chickens seemed sick.  I went back and found her alone by the waterer.  I picked her up and she seemed very fat like she was blotted or something.  Her feet were cold and so was her comb. 

I was walking to the shop with her to set her down on something so I could get a better look at her when she opened her mouth a couple times without making a sound.  Her head drooped over and she was dead - just that quick.  It was almost as if she waited for one more cuddle before she died.

I've had these chickens for 2 years and 2 months and had lost two of them early on when a neighbour's dog dug under our adjoining fence and got them.  They were fairly young and I was fairly new to chickens so it was sad but didn't hurt like this.

I don't know if I could have done anything for her if I had been home but I feel bad that she seemed to be suffering.    She didn't have a name (I only named Lulu) but it hurts to lose her.  She used to come running sometimes for a hug and a cuddle - not all of them like to be picked up and held but she did.  Some days, it seemed like a cuddle was more important to her than the treats I had brought because she would squat at my feet waiting to be picked up before she eat any treats.

I dug a hole in the corner of the yard and buried her there.  I am sitting here crying over a chicken - one of 28 that was just supposed to be a layer and not special.  I guess they all are special.  It feels like I have lost a friend.  Goodbye to a chicken who will remain nameless but will not be forgotten.  :(

Sui Choy Salad

I love Sui Choy Salad.  Sui choy is also known as Napa Cabbage or Chinese Cabbage.  I grew some successful two years ago so we pigged out regularly on it.  Last year my cabbage bolted and went to seed before it made heads.  This year is was very slow and seemed to rot off at the base of the plant.



I got the recipe from here http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=31446 .

Ingredients

1 head Sui Choy

1 c slivered or sliced almonds
1 package instant noodles - broken (not the flavour packet)
1/8 c sesame seeds

Dressing:
1/2 c oil
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c apple cider vinegar (I used Balsamic and regular mixed instead)
2 tbsp soy sauce
Bring dressing to a boil and then let it cool. Make sure sugar is dissolved.

In a frying pan, place the almonds, noodles, and sesame seeds. Cook them on medium heat, stirring them around in the pan until they are toasted. I found it is better to add the sesame seeds a bit later as they are so small and have a tendency to burn before the other bits are browned.

Wash and dry the cabbage. 

I usually slice mine in half before chopping it up.

It works quicker if you pile a number of slices together.

Slice the cabbage.

Place in a large bowl.

Stir the cooled dressing to mix and pour it on.

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Mix well and refrigerate.

Dish out and enjoy.

This salad is a good keeper.  It is tasty for several days.  (If it lasts that long)  ;)

Growing Grapes

There seems to be many different ways of growing grapes.  My neighbour has his in straight rows growing on wire and posts.  He has a soaker hose under each row to water them.

He prunes and train the vines and attaches them to the horizontal wires.  This photo was taken earlier this spring.

Our yard came with several grape arbors.  The grapes grow up and over and make a tunnel of sorts.  Some of the grapes growing here are very sweet, seedless green grapes (variety unknown) that are great to eat and also make lovely raisins.

We added the bark since it was just bare dirt and weeds when we came.  This arbor needs some work since some of the grapes grow in the wrong direction and lay out on the flower bed on the front side.  I think heavy duty pruning is needed next year to get the vines growing where we want them.

On the way to the Abbotsford Airport, I saw fields of grapes growing like this.

I stopped to look and the top are all tied down to the top wire.

No one was around to ask why they grow them like this and I haven't been able to find anything in my gardening books either.  It does look quite neat at this stage though, doesn't it?

Here they are several weeks later.  I'd like to see them now but haven't had the time to take a trip that way.

This is the second arbor that was here when we got the place.  There was grass, mint, tulips, roses and weeds all mixed up under here.  Nothing did really well because of the shade and the fact that you trample everything when you harvest the grapes.  So I dug everything out and rehomed the bulbs and roses.

My son added this outside section on as he came home with some new grapes vines one day a couple of years ago.

My honeybunch added a peak to the entrance this summer as the vines were always hanging too low.

He also added more cross poles so we could tie up the young vines to train them to go up and over.

Here is Inspector Lulu checking out the new digs.  She approved as we've found her snoozing here in the shade sometimes.  Now all we need is to put peaks on the other entrances and put in bricks of some sort for a floor and we have a nice little shady nook.

Here are some of the grapes that have a ways to go to turn a luscious dark purple.  They will soon smell and taste heavenly.  I also use these to make juice and jelly from them.

We also inherited some wine grapes.  They are small and seedy so not great for eating.  I haven't really used them for much yet except the chickens love them as a treat.  No waste and everyone is happy.  ;)



Apple Pie Jam

I made several batches of Apple Pie Jam.  I first saw the recipe rubyrogue posted on BYC  http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4172607#p4172607 .  I am always looking for different recipes and this one fit the bill.

As usual I adapted the recipe slightly.  This recipe made 8 1/2 pints.

Ingredients

14 c apples – peeled and cored

½ c lemon juice

2 c homemade pectin

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp allspice

3 tsp cinnamon

8 c sugar

Peel and core apples.  I place them in a bowl of water with some lemon juice added to keep them from turning brown.

Chop apples - I use pulse on my food processor so there are some larger chunks left.

If you chop it too fine, it turns our more like spiced applesauce instead of jam.

Place apples in a large heavy pot.  Stir in spices, sugar, lemon juice and pectin.

Heat to a rolling boil stirring so as not to stick or burn.  You can see that it becomes more liquid at the start of the heating process.

Keep boiling the mixture until it thickens.  Do jam test for doneness.  Have a saucer in the freezer and add a bit of jam and let it cool.  Jam is done when the sample wrinkles when pushed with your finger instead of oozing around.

Fill sterilized jars leaving some space at the top.  Wipe off rim and seal jars.  Process for 10 minutes in hot water bath.

Remove from canner and let cool.  Make sure lids have sealed before labelling and putting away for the winter.

The jam has a nice taste and texture.  I prefer it to apple butter because I like the bits of apple.  Very yummy!  Enjoy!  ;)



Fresh Raspberry Pie

My family loves fresh raspberry pie.  Unfortunately you only have the short raspberry season to enjoy it.  I've made this recipe for over 20 years. 

It starts with a baked pie shell.  You can you a frozen shell if you wish or make your own.  I use the same pie crust recipe I've used since the beginning of time. 

Pie Crust Ingredients
2 c flour
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 c Crisco or lard
6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

This makes 1 9" pie.  I used 1/2 for the raspberry pie and saved the rest for another project.

Glaze Ingredients

1 c raspberries
1 c water
1 c sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch

Sort raspberries so firmer, nicer looking ones are for the pie.  The softer ones can be used for the glaze.  Rinse berries quickly so they don't get to wet or the crust will get soggy.  It takes about 4 cups of raspberries for the pie depending on how high you pile them.

 

Combine 1 cup raspberries with 1 cup water in a small saucepan.  Mash berries and bring to a boil to bring out all the juice.  

Simmer several minutes until all the berries are mushy.

Strain the liquid and return to the saucepan.  As you can see below, some of the seeds went through the strainer (I am missing my finer strainer) but that is not a big problem since you will be pouring the liquid on raspberries with seeds anyway.

Add sugar to juice and stir well.  Mix cornstarch with a bit of cold water to dissolve and add to the hot juice, stirring constantly so lumps don't form.

Stir the glaze until it thickens.  You can see below how the liquid clears up as it thickens.

Pour or spoon the glaze over the raspberries.

Continue adding the glaze covering all the berries.

Refrigerate for several hours to set the glaze.

We didn't wait long enough for the pie to completely set so the first pieces were a little messy.  Very tasty, just messy looking.

The next pieces looked better when the glaze had a bit more time to set.  But sometimes you just have to jump the gun and cut into it before the glaze is set.

After having this pie, we prefer it to fresh strawberry pie.  The tartness of the raspberries offset the sweetness of the glaze.  Enjoy!  ;)



Birds on the Wire

I heard a racket out the front window and looked out to see what it was.

I snapped the pics from my front step not wanting to move too much and scare the birds away.

They were stretched along the wire chattering away.

 

I couldn't tell what kind of birds they were as they were not close enough for me to see them clearly.

One would hop off and another would take their place.

A bunch of birds were also in the tree under the wire.

Here is a close-up of the tree with the birds gathered.

From what I could see, some of the birds had lighter coloured heads while others had dark heads.  They were in different shades of brown.

Seeing all those birds reminded me of a short cartoon by Pixar called For the Birds.  I hope you get a chuckle out of it like I did.  Enjoy!    ;)