Week 20, 2011

We are slowly wrapping up the season. Thankfully it has gone very well. I am really excited about the peaches, nectarines, and the plums that have produced abundantly. Unfortunately, when they are ready to be picked, they are ready. The peaches have been falling off the trees and every night I pick them off the ground and either give them away or cut them up and freeze them. Jennifer makes a great cobbler. But we get a little bit overworked cutting up peaches at midnight. They attract a great deal of flies, wasps, love bugs, stink bugs, and bees. In fact, I got stung by a wasp while making a blind reach to pick a peach off the tree the other day. I am really looking forward to giving them to our members this Saturday. I would be nice if they ripen a bit over time. Maybe next year I will pick them early and let our members ripen them at home.

The corn, watermelon, cantalope, cukes, zukes, peppers, pumpkin and beans are growing pretty well. I am very disappointed by the new zucchini for us "Costata romanesco". It did very poorly being prone to viruses. Our saved zucchini seeds seem to be doing better. All in all it looks like we will finish well this year.

I had to remove one of the older Dixie Chicks from the flock last Saturday. I did some reading on the matter and figured I had general idea. It wasn't a pleasant task, but in the end it was best and it turned out fairly well. It took a lot longer than I thought. I had a bunch of learning on the job. The chicken ended up as Copper's food for the week. Next time it should be quicker. I think that a whole bunch of folk wouldn't eat chicken if they were left to the task of preparing their meal with a start of a live bird. You really have a whole bunch of time to think about things when you are preparing the bird. I feel that this week I will need to cull out the rooster as he is beating up on one of the older Dixie hens. Her comb is nearly off and he won't let her off of the nest area.