What did you do in the garden today?

[GardenTillers44]

We did get out in the garden a bit today. Harvested 3 - 5 gal buckets of herbs for drying. Our new dryer is really getting a workout and running almost 24 hrs a day. We feed a lot of these herbs to the chickens and want to make sure we have enough stockpiled for the winter. Hard to gauge now that we have 20 instead of 6. Tomorrow we are drying peppers and I am starting my hot pepper mash. I'm doing it Caribbean style from a recipe I picked up from a lady in Belize. Once the mash is ready, I can dilute it with carrot puree to sweeten it and get it calmed down. The mash itself will peel paint!

 

[igorsMistress]

@GardenTillers44 what do use the hot pepper mash for?

 

[Pensmaster]

We raise Butternut squash every year. 19 on the vines now. They keep well into winter and you can ripen them by putting them on a windowsill or table that gets some amount of sun or bright daylight. Rotate them periodically. They stay rock hard until you cook them.

Chickens get quite a few of the winter squash. Treats during bleaker months

 

[Pensmaster]

Garden did remarkably well for the temps we had while gone for several days.

 

[GardenTillers44]

@GardenTillers44 what do use the hot pepper mash for?

As a base for my hot sauce. There are a lot of recipes for this. I like the carrot based hot sauce that is popular in the Caribbean region. We use it like you would tobasco.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I recently saw an advertisement for a chicken feeder that is supposed to keep birds & rodents out of the feed. It has a lid, and the chickens have to stand on a long metal plate on the ground in front of the feeder, and that opens the lid. I really doubt that would work for my chickens though, because they are older (about 4 years old, and I don't know if you can teach old chickens new tricks), and also they are always scared of new things. They probably wouldn't go near it! If I knew it would work, I would buy one in a heartbeat. (I never realized why people who are cowards are referred to as "chickens" until I got some chickens and saw how they are basically scared of their own shadows...)

pics! cut & paste..

 

[GardenTillers44]

Chickens get quite a few of the winter squash. Treats during bleaker months

Great idea! Might check out the farmer's market for late season squash on the cheap to stockpile. Maybe we can swap eggs for squash

 

[CapricornFarm]

So sorry to hear, Cap. I hope your dog is okay.

The more i look at him, i am concluding his jaw is probably broken. If he refuses food and water like this, he will die. Tomorrow will tell the tale. I set him down in the grass but he did not try to pee or anything. Sigh, looks like i killed him.

 

[Pensmaster]

Great idea! Might check out the farmer's market for late season squash on the cheap to stockpile. Maybe we can swap eggs for squash

I swap eggs for spent grain from the brewery. Chickens love it. Only one to two dozen eggs for 10 five gallon buckets worth of compacted grain.
Good idea on the farmers market. Sometimes I don't get enough from my vines. Also I collect the pumpkins from Halloween that people haven't cut open. Once got one so big it took two of us to load it into truck.

 

[GardenTillers44]

Very sorry for you and your pet. Don't beat yourself up, it was an accident. Sending hope your way for a recovery.