A diary of the projects, hurdles, rewards and family life at we recorded at Wise Acres, our former homestead in Horsefly, BC. (Careers and teenagers have forced us back into the city, at least for a little while.)

Sunday, July 19, 2009

10th Annual Town-Wide Garage Sale

Today was Garage Sale day in Horsefly. Here's how it works...if you would like to be part of the town-wide garage sale, you must register your home with the organizer. Then she makes up a map and lists all the participating houses on the map. Maps are available for purchase at local shops for $2 with proceeds going to the Christmas Hamper Program. Then rain or shine...everyone drives around, hunting for bargains. Here are the treasures we found...
Yes, that is a Vita-Mix which I got for a meagre $5 and that thing beside it is a jelly strainer, which can also be used for making cheese and yogourt and that one was a dollar! We also got a few buckets and odds and ends and a nifty tin cooler with a spout which looks great for lemonade.

We're staying pretty lean still after our last move, but possibly next year, we will have a table.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

While the sun shines...

It's time to make hay in the Cariboo! As you drive through the countryside, rolled bales of beautiful, fresh cut hay fill the fields. Hay sheds that have slowly been emptied over the winter are once again being filled up. It's a tricky business, making hay. Weather conditions must be just right...some unexpected rain can spoil the whole lot.
So the other day when Uncle David called to say he had some square bales ready for us and we could come and pick them up, we didn't waste time and hooked up the trailer, packed some snacks and off we went. We all enjoy the 45 minute drive through beautiful Beaver Valley to get to the ranch. We have seen all kinds of wildlife on that road, like eagles, black bears and even a cougar. And then there is also the not-so wildlife that make it an interesting trip...wandering cows, horses and the odd dog that will try to chase us down the road.

It took us two trips but we picked up almost one hundred bales, which should last my sheep about 10 months. Uncle David made them nice and small (maybe 30-40lbs) so the girls could handle them. And that they did...
hay bales make excellent building materials!

And since we are on the topic of hay...this is one of my favourite photos...by Florian Krumsiek, check out his site Inspired by Imagination

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Silly sheep

Last night when Erich was feeding the sheep, one of the hay bales came apart on it's way out of the barn, spilling all over the alleyway, so he left the sheep gate open so they could graze. We usually leave the door to the chicken coop open as well, so they can come and go. Well...this is where I found Brownie this morning...
What a completely silly sheep...this is what she was doing in there...

Doesn't she know that sheep aren't supposed to eat grain?

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Catching up

It's been a busy few weeks around here. Today I am supposed to be catching up on housework (inside) and laundry, so of course here I am blogging :) In the midst of preparing for Arts on the Fly (which I will post about as soon as I get some pictures) and chicken processing, a few other things have happened which I thought I would catch you all up on.

Last week we got 5 ready-to-lay hens from our local feed store. They are a little shell shocked after being introduced to my old girls, who took to chasing them around pecking them. Once they establish that pecking order thing everything should go smoothly.
In the garden things are really starting to grow, grow, grow, after almost a week straight of rain...
...sugar snap peas are climbing...
...we had a great spinach salad last night, complete with our first two ripe strawberries! I've also been enjoying the arugula on my favourite pizza of all time...tomato sauce, mozza cheese and blobs of goat cheese with fresh arugula sprinkled on top when it comes out of the oven. Yum!

And in the greenhouse, a tiny little pepper is growing...I think it is a California Wonder variety...
And speaking of growing, little Knut is starting to grow into those long legs and big paws...
And finally, yesterday I was quite excited to pick up a package from the post office that contained...
yipppeee my new spinning wheel! It was beautifully packaged and came with these extra goodies...
... a pile of roving and three spools full of spun wool on a lovely Lazy Kate. Now I can start processing some of my lovely Icelandic fleece. After I do that aforementioned housework and laundry...ugh!

From pasture to plate

**Warning vegan-inappropriate content follows...

This week-end we butchered our 142 meat birds. They were 9 1/2 weeks old. It is just bizarre that they can go from this...
in such a short time to this...

**Photo courtesy of Herman Saksono

We didn't take any pictures, which many of you will likely be grateful for :) But if you want to see some more detail, you can check out this blog.

It was an amazing experience for a number of reasons.

First, we really, really know where our food is coming from...no nasty anti-biotics or growth hormones for these guys...just grass and clean, organic feed, clean bedding and some room to roam.

Second, as meat eaters, I think it's our responsibility, even for the kids, to understand that meat doesn't mysteriously arrive at the store in plastic sealed packages, we are taking a life and we do that mindfully and with the least amount of cruelty to the animal as possible.

Third, because we had so many, there was no way we could process them alone...not to mention that since we had never done it before, I wasn't sure how it would go...we enlisted the help of some friends, neighbours and family. We had 6 adults helping with killing, plucking, eviscerating and packing, as well as a few kids here and there catching chickens for us and my wonderful cousin-in-law kept us fed and hydrated all day. We feel so grateful to have had so many willing and helping hands.

Fourth, wow...what a lesson in anatomy! I remember as a child, being fascinated by the giblets of a turkey my mom had in the sink. In the process of eviscerating these guys, it was amazing to me to see the undigested grain in the crop, the rocks in the gizzard for breaking down that food and the surprise finds like a small bullet we found...(chickens will eat anything and most ranches around here need to control the gophers as cattle fall into their holes and break their legs)

Fifth, we have about 65 chickens in the freezer ranging from 3 1/2 pounds to over 8 pounds, to feed our family over the next year. We bartered some for a pig, some for the use of pasture/chicken tractors and the rest for all of those who were willing to help us out in this endeavour.

We will definitely do it again next year, but maybe not quite so many!