Colonel’s Blog, Earthdate 19 October 2023…
Hey Y’all!
Good evening and happy Thursday!! We’re having beautiful weather these days. We had a bit of rain last night and are starting the day in the 50s with highs around 70 with plentiful sunshine. This week has been all about harvesting, and not from the garden. On Monday, we took 5 hogs to the processor and picked up the 5 lambs we dropped off 2 weeks ago. All 5 hogs are sold as wholes or halves. We averaged about 280 pounds live weight for the 5 and converted at about 72% live to hanging weight. We were very pleased! We will pick up the finished pork on Monday or Tuesday next week. Monday evening, we set up the stations for chicken processing. Tuesday morning, we started processing birds and worked until afternoon. We processed 12 big birds to cut and 40 to keep as wholes. Wednesday, we butchered the 12 birds into pieces, placed them on trays, vacuum sealed, and froze the pieces. We now have boneless breast, leg & thigh quarters, legs, thighs, wings, livers, hearts, feet, and backs/necks as a stock pack. We then shrink-wrapped and froze the 40 whole birds. When we finished that, we processed the remaining 37 birds. This morning, we shrink-wrapped and froze the 37 whole birds. We were able to process the birds faster than ever this time, largely due to amazing assistance from Mrs. Auntie Fiat and my mom and dad. HUGE thanks to Kathy for her help processing birds Tuesday and Wednesday and mom and dad throughout! Final count is 12 birds into pieces and 77 birds whole in the freezer. The 12 averaged about 7.5pounds (each breast weighs a bit over a pound so the pack of 2 boneless breasts weighs over 2 pounds!) and the 77 averaged around 4 pounds. All totaled, we put right at 400 pounds of chicken in the freezer this week. That process freed up the chicken tractor so today we moved the next batch of 78 beef chicks out of their brooder and onto the pasture--left and middle of bottom pics. That freed up the big brooder, so we moved the 51 layer chicks into the big brooder--last pic. It seems like our lives have been consumed by chickens! Oh, except for the podcast we recorded Monday evening.
Scheduling issues meant we weren’t able to have our oldest daughter, Rebekah, on the podcast to talk about her journey to the Ozarks. So, we asked our youngest daughter, Makaylah, to be on the podcast to discuss the freedom of homeschooling. Makaylah is 11 years old and absolutely amazed us with her awesome performance on the podcast! This is one to watch, I’ll post the link below. She answered questions with thought, insight, and poise. Check out her take on homeschooling. We also discuss an unlikely opponent to school choice wins in Republican states…homeschoolers. Description to follow:
Free to Learn: Unraveling Homeschooling with Makaylah
🎙️Join us in this captivating episode as our youngest star, Makaylah, gives us an exclusive glimpse into the world of homeschooling. From her first steps out of public school due to overwhelming stress to the freedom of setting her academic pace—this episode is an exploration of education outside conventional classrooms.
🐖 Farm Update:
We've been bustling on the farm! From the hogs and lamb headed to our freezer to the upcoming chicken processing and how our loyal LGDs kept some pesky raccoons at bay—we've got updates!
📚 Homeschooling Insights:
Discover why we chose this route for Makaylah and learn about Missouri's homeschooling regulations. Makaylah shares her daily routine, which interestingly blends academic pursuits with practical skills like gardening and animal husbandry.
🌟 Special Interests:
Get a sneak peek into Makaylah's favorite subjects, her Taekwondo journey, and her dreams for the future, from cosmetology to zoology.
🔍 “Did You Know?” Segment:
We delve into a recent article from "The Hill" on the potential implications of school choice programs on homeschooling and the concerns it raises for some parents.
🌐 Next Time:
Stay tuned as Rebekah brings us a heartwarming story of HOPE in our next episode.
If you found value in this episode, please like, share, and subscribe. We'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback—drop us a comment below! Remember, education is not just about what's taught but how it's experienced. 🌱
Episode 12 Dust’er Mud Podcast
Local Farm Report for 15, 16, 17, & 18 October 2023
Harvest:
46 Chicken eggs
29 Duck eggs
15 1/4 Gallons of milk
200 Pounds of lamb in the freezer
400 Pounds of chicken in the freezer
Cheers!
Psycho & Shelley
We ate one of those beef chickens tonight.
I think most of us have forgotten what real, good chicken is supposed to taste like!
Yum!!!