Homestead Progress Update

I brought back ten pounds of large wild Georgia shrimp. This is one of the advantages of still having family on the coast. Mel and I do love our seafood. I boiled two pounds for us for dinner. Along with some potato salad and some cocktail sauce, it was some great eating. I carry two 1 1/2" thick styrofoam coolers with me when I go home just for this purpose. I'll travel down to the docks when the shrimp boats come in and fill them up. $3 a pound sure beats the price of frozen shrimp here at almost $9-$12 a pound. The savings almost cover the gas for the trip. Next trip is for crab in the fall. This one trip allows for us to have shrimp twice a month for a year. With the addition of crabs, we will be set for seafood for a year except for fish. We can always fresh the fresh water lakes here for that.

The rabbitry is coming along. We've got the two long sides complete. Not bad considering we are
both using one hand a piece. Imagine what we could accomplish if both of us had two good hands.  It would be done by now. We've had a cool break in the heat this week. The lows have been in the 60s. Daytime temps have been in the high 70s to low 80s. It makes me want to grab a sweater in the mornings. Very unseasonable for almost July, but a welcome break doing construction and canning. Four more pallets and supports and we can raise the cattle panel roof and hang the cages. Then, it's onto the chicken structure.

I've got to butcher some roosters this week even though they are gorgeous looking. We've ended up with five roosters out of the twelve straight run that we bought in the spring. They are running the hens ragged. Especially Broody, our one functioning leg hen, she's an easy target for them to mount. It turns into a gang bang with three or four roosters pinning her to the ground. Not a good thing because they can injure her more. Most days, she'll stay on the front porch because she knows we're right on the other side of the screen. She'll squawk and protest rather loudly when they gang up on her.  We'll rescue her and beat the males away so she can eat and rest.

The chicks are full grown except for in weight. They are as big as the older hens and they have assimilated into one big flock of chickens.  We've got to get them contained. The roosters are fighting. The hens run for cover. The roosters are even picking on the cats. They are still wary of the dogs, which is a good thing. The dogs will kill them. But then again, the dogs also protect them. Nothing can come anywhere near the flock while the dogs are around. Not even old Sheba, the white German Shepherd, from up the hill. She'll be warned off and even chased up the driveway away from the chickens. Not that she's ever attacked the chickens in the past. Sheba is more dangerous to our dogs if last summer was any example.

I've got one more trip to make. This time to North Carolina to pick up about 40 cases of canning jars. Why go all that way for them? One of our YouTube subscribers picked up the jars from the Amish community for free for me. That's worth the travel expense. Canning jars ain't cheap. It's a necessity for any homestead. Thank you, Ellen, for getting them. I'll also be picking up about two hundred pounds each of wheat, barley, and oats. It will provide us with baked goods and feed for the rabbits and chickens for a year from the community. All GMO free. If I've got to drive that way anyhow, it only makes sense to load the truck up.

I wish I could get soybeans that way. The nearest non-GMO soybean producer I can find is in Washington state. I order enough to make my tofu and soy milk with. I can't afford the shipping for a couple hundred pounds worth for the animals. But I do the best I can. Yes, I've read all the info against soybean consumption. But I'm part Japanese, I've eaten it all my life.  What's more, I love it. I guess I could grow it myself. I haven't seen any of the local farmers around me grow it.

I had thought to plant some of the cotton seeds that I picked up on my last trip home. But the agriculture department has some pretty steep fine against growing it without a permit. It would take using pesticides against weevils, which I'm against. Of course how much damage could a bush or two really do? I'd rather not take the chance right now. Maybe one day, I will. Seeds, when stored properly, don't go bad. There's no immediacy to plant it right now.

So that's our week. If you haven't checked us out on YouTube, I invite you to stop by. Now that we've got all our camera, computer, and audio difficulties fixed (crossing my fingers) we are back up.

Y'all have a blessed day.