I've been gardening for most of my life and have been a devoted fan of organic gardening the whole time. It just makes so much more sense to work in harmony with Mother Nature than to fight her. Besides which it is better for the planet and better for our bodies. Here you can see what I'm planting and harvesting, with gardening hints and resources thrown in for good measure.
Over the weekend I attended a fun chicken show. It was a double show put on by the Apache County and Four Corners poultry clubs. It's a lot of work getting the birds ready for a show, they have to be bathed and checked over, nails and beaks trimmed. We oil their legs and combs to make them shinier and to bring their color out.
Black Silkie hen
When you go to a double show you pay double entry fees, but you save on hotel bills and travel expenses. This show is very nice and has some nice awards, which darn I didn't take any pictures of.
One of my black Silkie hens was Best of Breed in one show and Reserve of Breed in the other. Since there were quite a few Silkies entered that was pretty good. One of my blue hens was Best Variety in one show and 3rd place in the other.
Buff Ameraucana cockerel
My buff Ameraucana cockerel was Reserve Breed in one show and Reserve Variety in the other. There were only about 5 Ameraucana entered in total but still not bad. He does have a large number of faults that I'll be working on going forward.
Buff Ameraucan hen
My buff Ameraucana hen was 2nd place in both shows, but her competition won the class, AOSB (Any Other Standard Breed)
Me and some of my chicken buddies, Marcia and Suze
I didn't get any more pics of my chickens, silly me. I was too tired by the afternoon. A couple of my Welsh Harlequin drakes traded off being Best Light Duck and Reserve Light Duck. they didn't have a lot of competition though.
If you've never been to a chicken show it is a lot of fun and pretty amazing to see all the different breeds. Next time I'll try to take more pictures.
I know I haven't been around much lately. Loosing my brother and his son just 3 weeks apart really took the wind out of my sails. But I have been working the garden and have a lot of things to be grateful for. The new pullets are laying.
I'm really pleased with the color of the brown layers and olive eggers this year.
The farmers market in Globe is finished and now we are in Superior 9-12 every Saturday morning.
2 does came to visit one day. I'm glad they didn't get into the gardens.
The kittens are getting big.
And so are the chicks.
The meaties were getting big so we processed them on Monday. These guys don't look that big but the biggest ones dressed out over 4 pounds without feet, necks or giblets! There were 21 of them, nearly 80 pounds of meat. Wowza. We had to cut them up to get them all in the freezer. Next up soup stock from the carcasses. Lots of work but certainly worth it to know where your food comes from.
