What did you do in the garden today?

[Ascholten]

I killed the first aggressive rooster we ever had (RIR) with a baseball bat. It came after my daughter (who was around 8 yrs old at the time) and spurred her. I was bound and determined that jerk was never going to touch my kid again. I *almost* felt pity on the poor thing as it ran from me in terror before I cornered him.

Aggressive roosters need to go. I took one out with a frying pan the other day. he came at me when I had my back turned. I had the pan to put the eggs in, thankfully did not start collecting them yet, he clawed me in the back of my leg and drew blood, I turned around and he was all bowed up for a second run, so I swung it at his head, pow, see you you rotten $^$$%^&^%& There is NO need for ANY animal that is aggressive towards you PERIOD. Nobody liked his rotten ass anyways because of this behavior, I just finally had enough of him to do what everyone else wanted to.

Aaron

 

[Ascholten]

I had a aunt in MO. bash a rooster with a galvanized bucket . Laid him out - killed him she thought . Set water to boil for scalding him . Went to get him and he was running around . Then she was twice as mad .

Think how mad she would have been when she stuck him in that water and he came to!

Aaron

 

[igorsMistress]

@Sueby deserves some congratulations everyone. She won third place in the gardening show! You can find her pics on this page, https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...er-fair—outdoor-gardening-show.1472122/page-4

lovely photos Siueby!

 

[Sally PB]

I watered everything in the gardens today; we could use some rain now. Maybe tomorrow night/Friday morning. Then it's going to get hot and muggy again.

Today was fantastic, though. I'm grateful for that.

I am resigned to my Cherokee Purples being the size of large cherry tomatoes. Sigh. I hope they taste good; I have a couple that are turning now.

 

[Iluveggers]

I watered everything in the gardens today; we could use some rain now. Maybe tomorrow night/Friday morning. Then it's going to get hot and muggy again.

Today was fantastic, though. I'm grateful for that.

I am resigned to my Cherokee Purples being the size of large cherry tomatoes. Sigh. I hope they taste good; I have a couple that are turning now.

So odd...I am having the opposite problem! I planted yellow pear tomatoes and chocolate pear tomatoes, and some of them are almost fist size! I like them tiny...what on earth is going on?

 

[gtaus]

Seems like too much trouble to use it [a food slicer] for veggies unless you do a lot. They are kind of a pain to clean.

Well, yes. When we make cucumber salad it is the perfect tool for me as I can quickly, perfectly, slice up any number of cucumbers for a cucumber sour cream salad. I don't take out the food slicer to cut up a couple of veggies to throw into a lettuce salad. Having said that, my slicer takes me no longer to clean than a mandolin or any other of my manual slicers. If you are good with a knife, then you probably don't need a food slicer.

I originally (30 years ago) bought the food slicer to cut our homemade bread baked in the bread machines when that was the fad. Problem was that Dear Wife and I liked the fresh homemade bread too much and I would say we ate probably 2-3x as much homemade bread compared to the store bought bread. I can't remember the last time we used the bread machine to make bread. But I do remember how much better our homemade bread tasted. I guess we both got too busy with work schedules and no longer had the time to make our own bread.

 

[gtaus]

Yea I have a meat slicer too - way too much work for veggies! I also have the food processor, it has a slicing blade but also too much work! I like my little hand held mandolin best - easy to carry, easy to clean, etc. I don't even use the meat slicer for meat. I slice my jerky meat by hand.

Probably why I got the second food slicer for only $2.00 at the thrift store. I know Dear Wife has no use for any slicers or other gadgets like that. Just give her a sharp knife and a cutting board and she is happy. Me, I like the gadgets, I guess.

 

[gtaus]

The sad part is that he was even a jerk AFTER he was dead. Tried to eat him and he was so tough it wasn't worth the effort. I swear I could almost hear him crowing "I hope you choke...."

Reminds me of the story how to cook an old hen. You put the old hen in a big pot of boiling water along with some rocks and your veggies. You let everything cook in the boiling water for about an hour. Then you take out the chicken and eat the rocks.

More seriously, the French have some chicken meal that starts with a 2-3 year old chicken. Younger chickens I guess are too tender. I cannot remember what the dish is called, but here in the US the French restaurants have a hard time serving the dish because most commercial chicken growers do not have chickens that old. If someone knows what I am talking about and can name that chicken dish, please let me know.

Dear Wife asked me about cooking up our hens when they basically stop laying eggs. I told her that I do not know if they would be worth the effort. I saw a YouTube video of Joel Salatin and he was feeding his old chickens directly to his pigs. I thought that was probably a good idea from his farming point of view. I know many people here on the BYC forum might not approve, but his chickens are not his pets, so he found the best use for the old chickens as he made room for his new chicks.

 

[gtaus]

I was cleaning fish, and well drinking too,

What could possibly go wrong?? Sounds like you came off a bit lucky. Could have been much worse. When I clean fish, not only do I always cut away from myself, but I refuse to let anyone stand by me in case the knife slips. My fish knives are probably the sharpest knives we have in the house, so one bad slip could be trouble.

Having said that, in Boy Scouts we used to say that a dull knife was the most dangerous...

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Reminds me of the story how to cook an old hen. You put the old hen in a big pot of boiling water along with some rocks and your veggies. You let everything cook in the boiling water for about an hour. Then you take out the chicken and eat the rocks.

More seriously, the French have some chicken meal that starts with a 2-3 year old chicken. Younger chickens I guess are too tender. I cannot remember what the dish is called, but here in the US the French restaurants have a hard time serving the dish because most commercial chicken growers do not have chickens that old. If someone knows what I am talking about and can name that chicken dish, please let me know.

Dear Wife asked me about cooking up our hens when they basically stop laying eggs. I told her that I do not know if they would be worth the effort. I saw a YouTube video of Joel Salatin and he was feeding his old chickens directly to his pigs. I thought that was probably a good idea from his farming point of view. I know many people here on the BYC forum might not approve, but his chickens are not his pets, so he found the best use for the old chickens as he made room for his new chicks.

I think you mean Coq au vin. Translates to rooster in wine. I think the long cooking time and acidity of the wine help break down the older bird. A 45 minute trip in the pressure cooker can also work (If you take it out of the box LOL).

I tend to let my girls retire and live out their days since they free range anyway and food costs aren't horrible. Predators do some natural culling as they slow down. Extra boys will be eaten or re-homed.