Poultry Apocalypse 2015

Every year chicks are ordered. They arrive fairly unscathed despite their journey. This year, unfortunately, that was not so. It seems this is the year of the poultry apocalypse and it isn't pretty.

Admittedly, my order was placed a little later than normal. The busy-ness of our home has me running a bit behind tradition. The confirmation came stating our chicks were shipped, but the pick up call did not. Four days passed before we received a late night call, after postal hours, that the chicks were in. By morning the results were dreadful. Nearly half our birds were DOA. Those that remained didn't last long.

Contact with our hatchery confirmed the error had occurred in transit; the birds seem to have sat in shipping between there place and ours. Rising temperatures and enclosed trucks led them to their fate. Graciously our hatchery re-ordered.

Confirmation came, but the call did not. Again, though one day earlier than the last, our birds were still not here until three days past their scheduled pick up. Again, the results were fatal. With dread and remorse I contacted the hatchery seeking a solution to the mix up. They were on top of the error and eager to resolve as well. Bless them.

As of right now, half the birds we anticipated are alive and seem to be holding their own. We decided to accept credit to the account and not attempt further shipments right now. The hatchery is working to reach out to the postal offices regarding care of live animal transports. It has been a tough season, but it is a blessing to work with a wonderful company.

A few lessons learned:

*stay on top of the anticipated arrival date- it would not have helped this time, since the birds truly were not arriving on time- it does help you prepare

*be open and honest with the post office and your hatchery- both sets of employees were helpful and ready to answer questions.

*know your hatchery- we have a long excellent history with our hatchery and it really helped during this mess.

*accept what you can not change and move on- I hate losing them, but I can't fix it. Focusing on what is truly helps.

*be ready for disaster- have electrolytes, incubators, isolation areas, and even a hair dryer available for emergencies.

The hatchery we have used for many of our homesteading years is Murray McMurray Hatchery; excellent company with very considerate and helpful staff. I highly recommend them.
 

Finding the End of the Cabbage Harvest- Finally

   Believe it or not, I may have finally reached the end of the incredible cabbage harvest- remember the crazy story about test beds and my husband who seriously hates cabbage. Making one final batch of sauerkraut brought to mind a familiar setting: grandmothers gathered, knives in hand, and a crock so large I could curl up in it. Stroll with me... back to the prairie:


   Down in the garden Grandma has a knife in hand and large buckets to fill; spring cabbage is ready for harvest. Pulling back the large outer leaves, she cuts the large firm heads. My job is to load them into the buckets as she chops them but the fresh spring air and warm sparkling sunshine keep distracting me.
   Back in the big farm kitchen the cabbage heads are washed before the hard cores are cut out. One by one the cabbages are shredded into fine pieces and sprinkled with plenty of fine salt. Worked and wrenched the salty shreds fill bowl after bowl all around the room. Time for the big brown crock to make it's way to the garage....we're making sauerkraut.
   In the coolness of the garage, Grandma fills the large crock with the salty wet cabbage shredded the day before..the wooden 'plate' is set in it's place to weight the cabbage under it's juices. It takes forever for cabbage to become kraut! Yet, as we daily 'churn the kraut' our minds wander to the various things she will make with this tasty treat: kraut and hot dogs, even my favorite sauerkraut pizza!
   Day after day we wait for the kraut to be just right..then packing and canning and setting on the scary basement shelves...just another blessing of this spring's bounty.

   Living in the humid south rarely affords me the laborious task of kraut making. My batches are few and far between since our cabbage season is short and our humidity is high. This year brought a longer cold season, offering the opportunity for hearty cole crops-- well, that and those buried soaker hose test beds.

For those of you asking, no, he doesn't eat sauerkraut either.

Better grow tomatoes in those beds next!

Offerings of Spring

 

The splitter-splatter of raindrops continue in intermittent cycles outside my window. Here and there a bird offers a song to break the melody. I managed a short walk around the property during a break in the rain to find signs of life; offerings of spring.

The herbal garden has greened up quite nicely with spots of color from daffodils and hyacinths. There in the foliage I spied a few early rose buds hinting at their presence. Soon this area will be filled with colored petals and the fragrance of citrus blossom.

Behind our house the woods are full of honeysuckle underlay with the white bloom of dew berry. Every time the sun pokes out bees scamper for nectar, pollinating to ensure a bountiful harvest is coming.

Tree buds can be seen if you look hard enough. Yesterday saw the first hints of pollen dust on every flat surface. Allergy season is sure to hit soon.

In these moments of transition inspiration can be found, for God has not forgotten. As sure as He will unfurl the leaves, He surely will unfold His plan for me. Such welcome sights offer me a realization: that every aspect of my life- be it home, office, blog, business- be a place of comfort and welcome; a place where we linger a bit, long to stay a while, and seek to come again.

The gloom of clouds may stay longer than desired, yet out of the rain will unfurl the glorious beauty of inspiration.