What did you do in the garden today?

[Sooner Magnolia]

I got one of those cheap food slicers for less than $30 - but that was also 30 years ago. They now sell for $60-$70. Anyway, I recently found the same type at a local thrift store for $2.00, so I bought it as a backup. I suppose a real chef could slice cucumbers paper thin and you could see through them, but I can't. But I can set the thickness of the cut on my food slicers and run them through the machine in no time. Best thing, of course, is that my fumble fingers never get close to the blade as I always use the safety push guard. Perfect slices every time and no no band aids required!

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We have one of those. Have used it for cheese, slicing meat for jerky, and when we cured our own bacon we used it then to slice it in batches. Works best when the meat is just slightly frozen. Seems like too much trouble to use it for veggies unless you do a lot. They are kind of a pain to clean.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

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 .

Congrats on your new friend medal!

 

[Sueby]

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.

 

[WthrLady]

Too many years in a restaurant I guess. I drag out my Japanese ceramic knife and just prep veggies. BOY can I go thin! But you do not want to get your finger with that puppy. You won't even feel it until you do. She's as sharp as a surgical tool.

 

[MrLeeHo]

Finally was able to get outside to look at the garden/birds. No eggs but a nice haul of tomatoes and a few cukes. The okra is about 6-8 pieces/day right now but they look like they will explode over the next few weeks. We always try to harvest early and often with okra, believe it really does boost the production later in the season. So far, the golden tomatoes have been the wife's favorite. Haven't gotten enough of the San Marzano's to make a sauce yet but am looking forward to that (maybe next week). One green tomato had fallen off the vine. Made Fried green tomatoes earlier this week and came out better than any of my prior attempts. The only real difference this time around was that I layed the slices between 2 towels for a while to soak up the extra moisture. Breading stayed in place much better.

@WthrLady I spent most of my late teens and twenties working in restaurant kitchens and almost always choose a knife over some of the other tools I have in the kitchen. Some of that is probably because washing a knife and cutting board is much quicker than a madolin, food processor, or slicer...maybe lazy

 

[TJAnonymous]

Actually, I think Enos stayed sweet. Roscoe was the one who was a pain. I have definitely had both good and bad roosters over time. My husband didn’t like the alarm clock function on any of them.

I can relate. I just culled a jerk rooster about a month ago. I got tired of him charging anything and anyone that came around his girls. He wasn't even a year old yet. 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...."

Our chicken yards are approximately 40-50 ft from our house. The brick helps muffle some of the sound. I literally sleep with one ear open though... If I don't hear crowing or I hear the sounds of panic, I am out of the bed in an instant to check on them. I also set the timer on the automatic chicken doors for 7 AM so I AT LEAST get to sleep in until then....

 

[TJAnonymous]

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 .

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.

 

[Sueby]

Too many years in a restaurant I guess. I drag out my Japanese ceramic knife and just prep veggies. BOY can I go thin! But you do not want to get your finger with that puppy. You won't even feel it until you do. She's as sharp as a surgical tool.

I have a set of Wusthof knives that I keep extremely sharp & one morning DH woke me up saying, 'hold out your hand!' - so I did. He dropped the tip of his pointer finger in my palm.

 

[Sueby]

Look what I won in the BYC Summer Fair Gardening Show! I'm so excited to get my beautiful rooster pitcher.

 

[Ascholten]

Sharp slicers and such, yah you NEED to be careful. You might feel a little tickle, then realize that little nib of meat, like a little beanie weenie, is the tip of your finger. I laid a wrist open one night with a ceramic knife. It was one of those, you know, I know better than to be cutting towards myself like this moments when right when you say that, the thing slips and gets you. I was cleaning fish, and well drinking too, yes I know, im sure THAT didn't help the situation either. At that point there was NO way in hell I was going to go into the ER at 10 pm, smelling of booze with a slit wrist. I washed the thing with the veggie sprayer, poured alcohol on it, at that moment taught the cockatoo a few brand new swear words to use, and then crazy glued it shut. It healed up not too bad actually.

Another thing I already knew better but did it that night anyways, do NOT use ceramic knives if you are working around bone, you will chip them like a rednecks teeth in a heart beat if you hit bone with them or torsion against one.

Aaron