Saturday

I have 30 chickens that are desperately wanting to be butchered. I do not do this lightly and feel it is a sacred act. I give these chickens the happiest life I can and am grateful for their willingness to become food. They do not suffer. They are so fat that they waddle from their food tray to their water. These are Cornish Crosses and I don't like raising them because they are bred to gain weight rapidly in a way that robs them of their essential chickenness. There are other breeds of chickens that are just as desirable for food but are not bred to be freakish. We bought these because the eighty eggs I had incubating were a hatching disaster and it was too late in the year to order the ones I would have preferred. They will be delicious however.

Despite this years onslaught of mosquitoes and deerflies, we live in paradise. We have a small farm, twenty acres and we have a small flock of laying hens, 11 geese, 5 turkeys, 5 goats and 4 sheep. We have the capacity to raise all our own food. We don't, but we do raise much of it. This year was not a good gardening year but we do have excellent yields of potatoes, onions and garlic. Tomatoes hate humidity and except for the beans other things were disappointing. We were negatively impacted by deer, who ate our peas to the ground before they could pod and feasted on other vegetables. We have lived here over 35 years and the deer were never quite the problem they have been this year. We are restyling the garden and fencing it in.

I have to wash my dishes do my recycling and maybe process some chickens.

I will talk to you tomorrow.

Peace, Gregg