It is June. It's hot, but not as hot as normal, at least not for Texas. We just harvested and processed about 200 ears of edible corn - some of which actually made it to the freezer as corn on the cob, some of which is in canning jars on the shelf for adding to things like pizza. That's also corn that's been smoked.
Mike bought a BIG GREEN EGG and has been smoking things quite a bit lately. Pork shoulders, ribs, chickens, chicken wings.. and we are going to smoke the bacon we 'harvested' some time ago from our pig(s) when the pork shoulder is done and the smoker is just hot enough.
The turkeys on the edge of the smoker are simply... practicing. Some of them will eventually be big enough to go inside. These are Rio Grande Turkeys, but one of them seems to be white - the Rio Grande is a native to Texas.
The new BGE is a conundrum for Mike simply because he does not have to tend to it at all and the temperature is so constant, that there's no fiddling. He likes to fiddle. The old New Braunfels smoker sits, lonely, unused because of this new BIG GREEN EGG. Awww... It will have use again, I suppose, when we smoke the turkeys for making tamales.
I have begun attending online-only classes to some day achieve getting a master's degree. That, along with all the other things we do at our little farm, is quite enough for three people, but since there's really only me during the summer, it's a bit overwhelming. Mike's job requires that he stay out late to finish what he does since he hasn't hired someone else this year to help him out. It's hard on him and hard on me - since I'm the one that now has to do most farm chores as well as prepare meals, make lunches, tend animals, etc.
Right now, though, life is dangerously good. It feels good to go pick up stuff from the garden and bring it in, then ten minutes later, have it on the table to eat. And no chemicals!
The corn isn't Monsanto corn. I used diatomaceous earth to keep the critters off.
I am now making liquid soap, deodorant and lip balm along with dishwashing soap, laundry soap and dishwasher soap. All of which also take time, but I sell some of it and use the rest at home.
We now have three small goats - Gouda, Swiss and Cheddar. All of them are just as adorable as you can imagine and because the weather has been so mild, there is much for them to eat right now. That may change in summer, but by then, they will have grokked what alfalfa is and what alfalfa pellets can mean to them - and dried corn.
The young turkeys (all six birds) are just as happy as can be. I think we're going to have three males and three females this year. Going to harvest one of them early because it looks like a mixed breed and if SHE has kids, they won't be Rio Grandes, but probably a mix of white turkeys and Rio Grandes.
It's time to taste those luscious, BGE-smoked ribs that Mike is making. And perhaps have some corn on the cob from the garden.
Chow... literally.
Kristi
Mike bought a BIG GREEN EGG and has been smoking things quite a bit lately. Pork shoulders, ribs, chickens, chicken wings.. and we are going to smoke the bacon we 'harvested' some time ago from our pig(s) when the pork shoulder is done and the smoker is just hot enough.
The turkeys on the edge of the smoker are simply... practicing. Some of them will eventually be big enough to go inside. These are Rio Grande Turkeys, but one of them seems to be white - the Rio Grande is a native to Texas.
The new BGE is a conundrum for Mike simply because he does not have to tend to it at all and the temperature is so constant, that there's no fiddling. He likes to fiddle. The old New Braunfels smoker sits, lonely, unused because of this new BIG GREEN EGG. Awww... It will have use again, I suppose, when we smoke the turkeys for making tamales.
I have begun attending online-only classes to some day achieve getting a master's degree. That, along with all the other things we do at our little farm, is quite enough for three people, but since there's really only me during the summer, it's a bit overwhelming. Mike's job requires that he stay out late to finish what he does since he hasn't hired someone else this year to help him out. It's hard on him and hard on me - since I'm the one that now has to do most farm chores as well as prepare meals, make lunches, tend animals, etc.
Right now, though, life is dangerously good. It feels good to go pick up stuff from the garden and bring it in, then ten minutes later, have it on the table to eat. And no chemicals!
The corn isn't Monsanto corn. I used diatomaceous earth to keep the critters off.
I am now making liquid soap, deodorant and lip balm along with dishwashing soap, laundry soap and dishwasher soap. All of which also take time, but I sell some of it and use the rest at home.
We now have three small goats - Gouda, Swiss and Cheddar. All of them are just as adorable as you can imagine and because the weather has been so mild, there is much for them to eat right now. That may change in summer, but by then, they will have grokked what alfalfa is and what alfalfa pellets can mean to them - and dried corn.
The young turkeys (all six birds) are just as happy as can be. I think we're going to have three males and three females this year. Going to harvest one of them early because it looks like a mixed breed and if SHE has kids, they won't be Rio Grandes, but probably a mix of white turkeys and Rio Grandes.
It's time to taste those luscious, BGE-smoked ribs that Mike is making. And perhaps have some corn on the cob from the garden.
Chow... literally.
Kristi
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