From Farm to Fork....

This year we decided to raise meat birds for customers and have them processed at a USDA butcher. We chose Poulet Rouge, naked neck chickens, which we got from a local hatchery, Foxhollow Poultry Farm. We raised the chicks in an old stock tank and when they were big enough they moved to a fenced pasture. 

This breed isn't pretty, kind of looks like a  dino/turkey cross. The processor called them Turckens.  Speaking of which, he said that these birds, unlike most heritage chickens he's processed, appeared to be firm and tender. He said it might actually be a good alternative to a cornish cross. Oh yeah. 

So basically, Chad wrangled up the chickens the night before and loaded them into our livestock trailer. The he got up at dawn, did chores and drove 3.5 hours to the Nebraska border with the chickens. Whoo! In a truck with a not working very well AC. The problematic AC is why we didn't go with him on a family adventure. 

So then he called and said everything was late and he would be an hour late to the drop. Some customers didn't  provide phone numbers and all I know them from is FACEBOOK! Ack! So I loaded up the kiddo and drove an hour and a half to the drop to meet people, take their addresses and promise home delivery. THEN Chad was held up even more by the storms and a massive traffic accident on I-80! Good thing I left when I did because I was 10 minutes late to the drop. 

We split the deliveries and I took central metro and Norwalk while he took Altoona. We sold out the day before just by posting on FaceBook.  When we got home we right away put one in the oven to roast. At 9pm we all sat down to dinner. Oh my was it amazing. Totally worth it. 

The whole experience really drives home to us why we have personal relationships with our customers. Why we meet them face to face and they can ask questions and we can answer them, share tips, and talk about our farm.

Talking about our farm reminds us of how good we really have it. Thank you all!

Playing Around Portraits

Heat Wave......

Heat index will be and probably is as I am writing this in the 110-120 range here in Iowa this week.

My husband is prone to heat stroke. He's been hospitalized for it once (even if he claims it was food poisoning.....it wasn't). Still he insists on drinking soda in the heat or when he's doing hard labor or both. He's the smartest man I know except when it comes to this. Everytime I start to explain that soda pop actually leaches important minerals and couple that with the excreting of minerals through sweat and you got a whole mess of trouble.

If he won't listen to me say the words, at least I can document it here:

What is heat stroke? 

"How can dehydration be prevented?
Take precautionary measures to avoid the harmful effects of dehydration, including:

• Drink plenty of fluids, especially when working or playing in the sun.
• Make sure you are taking in more fluid than you are losing.
• Try to schedule physical outdoor activities for the cooler parts of the day.
• Drink appropriate sports drinks to help maintain electrolyte balance.
• For infants and young children, solutions like Pedialyte will help maintain electrolyte balance during illness or heat exposure. Do not try to make fluid and salt solutions at home for children." 

Yikes. Oh there's more. Here:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1742-7843.2007.00053.x/abstract;jsessionid=E6048CB10B8230E2340632FA7161977F.d03t02

and here:

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/content/full/97/4/667?view=long&pmid=17329656

So, please be smart in the heat. Make good choices and stay hydrated. 

Merciless cute kid photos to drive my point home. :)

Cinderella

The Missoula Children's Theatre came to town and did a one week long intensive theatre camp. We heard about it on Saturday, the auditions were Monday morning, and the performance on Friday. So basically the kids had 4 days to learn the script, the music, and the choreography for a musical called Cinderella.

And they did it, they did it well.

Presenting, Lil'Bug's stage debut!

A rare photo of Mama.... waiting for the lights. Blueberry Girl was really jealous and several times this week marched p to the director and demanded to be included. Alas, she is too young and will have to wait. She was Lil'Bug's biggest fan though and her encouragement and enthusiasm could be heard throughout Chariton.  

Lil;Bug was really nervous. Four days isn't a lot of time to remember all the cool moves and song lyrics!

She was front row pumpkin girl. 

Deep in thought. There was some drama back stage......see? Real life happens outside of school too. 

The older kids in the cast were awesome. They took to Lily and were sweet to her and the little kids. They did an amazing job with their parts too.

My sweet pumpkin.

My sweetie pie.