Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It is a gorgeous day out. I took the dog's for a walk around the property.

We have used guns to dispatch birds. Sometimes it's better than putting everyone through the stress of rounding them up. I have a few extra cockeral I can't quite part with, so for now they stay penned up separately until I decide what to do with them

 

[jvls1942]

a long time ago my brother and we raised 200 chickens for meat. we butchered all of them on one weekend. 100 each day.
on the first day his three little boys let the chickens out of the coop while we were inside finishing our coffee.
We herded what we could back into the coop. and out came the .22's. I think we shot about 50 birds that day. all head shots.. good thing we don't have real close neighbors .
today we did three chickens. Nephew took the pellet gun after the white rooster.
tried for about an hour. couldn't get close enough for a shot. those birds know when they are wanted.. LOL
This rooster has been sleeping high up in the pine trees in the wind break.. sooner or later he will make a mistake..
.....jiminwisc.........

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's a lot of birds to process. It must have felt very repetitious.

Sounds like a smart rooster. Hopefully you get him eventually.

 

[jvls1942]

we were young then with young kids. yesterday we both commented on how did we do a hundred a day ?? as the kids got older the job got easier,. but the kids being helpful lasts only a couple of years before they leave on their own..
I doubt that any of them ever butchered a chicken after they left home..
I went to work on a chicken farm the summer after I got out of eighth grade.
we butchered 700 fryers three times a week. all cut in half from neck to tail for
the restaurants for half a fried chicken.
I really learned how to clean a gizzard fast
The Show Boat was a big customer back then. I think the Chicken In The Woods was, too.
the farm was near Conover.. I think on Twin Lakes.
.....jiminwisc....

 

[jvls1942]

good last day of November.
can you believe it ? the lake is not frozen over yet.. usually we could go ice fishing on TDay..
......jiminwaUSAu.......

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It was pretty cold this morning here. Probably what it's supposed to be at the end of November. I predict another mild winter as I see no signs that it will be a cold one again. Winters aren't as bad as I remember them decades ago.

I have plans to go through my seeds soon to see what I need for next year's garden. It's always a toss up whether I want to order seeds, or get them in the store. Hopefully I don't need too many.

 

[wyoDreamer]

The dogs and barn cats sure have a thick coat of fur this year, to me that says a cold winter.
The guineas have finished molting and look so nice in their shiny new feathers - the poor old guys seem lonely with just the 2 of them. I will have to get some babies to raise next spring to keep them company.

I am ordering 50 strawberry plants for spring delivery. I have been looking for Fort Laramie strawberries for 8 years - but I usually look too late. I finally found a place with then in stock.

We have the fence up around the garden, but don't have fencing on the gates yet. The dang deer have been in the garden all fall cleaning up the stuff I didn't get to yet. I was weeding the strawberry area and found that I actually had a few plants that were thriving. The deer ate them down that night, I took a load of old hay out to much the plants and they were all gone!

We panted an apple tree last spring, it was doing great! I went out to wrap it to protect it from the rabbits and mice and found it broken. The deer used it as a scrape and tore most the branches off before it snapped a foot above the ground. I suppose I should wrap what is left and see if anything grows on it next year.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Those deer sure can cause damage. If it's not them, than it's the rabbits gnawing the trunks, or mice setting up residence at the base of trees.

What part of Wisconsin are you in @wyoDreamer ? I'm seeing just average coats on critters here. I am around the center of the state. About 60 miles south of @jvls1942 .

Wisconsin seems to get split in half by the jet stream, and it seems to depend on which side you happen to land. North and you get the Canadian weather, south you get that warmer stuff.

 

[jvls1942]

nice weather we are having. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. When the snow comes I have a hunch it will be a good storm.
I hope my tractor is fixed by then.
Yesterday I started making wine. We had to take 60 pounds of blackberries out of the freezer to make room for venison.
I worked on the wine all day. took a lot of breaks. at the end of the day my back was kaput.. but I managed to juice all of the berries and removed all the seeds.. I have two 5 gallon carbouys fermenting and one pail of juice in a pail doing it's first ferment
today my back feels pretty good so I am going to take it easy and try to not aggravate it..
No word from the tractor fixit guy. I am taking that as good news..
......jiminwaUSAu........

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's a lot of blackberries. We planted a few measly plants this year. Yours must be wild ones? We don't have any on our land that I'm aware of.

Today was beautiful out. What make of tractor? We currently have a farmall 574.