Whitey on the moon

Isn't you tube the best

Don't count your chickens

Ten allegedly fertile eggs were purchased. Nine were successfully transfered under the broody hen, Michelle, one was broken in the process. Two live chicks hatched and seem to be doing well. One dead chick was found partly out of it's shell and six turned out to be duds. I opened each one and apart from a really bad smell of rotten eggs there was no sign of any thing resembling a chicken.

Michelle is becoming very protective, even aggressive in her defense of her hatch-lings. When I tried to put more food in her coop today she puffed herself up and jumped out of the door attempting to peck me several times. She spends all day training the youngsters in the ways of hens apparently if you are a hen you should first scratch the ground vigorously with your claws then peck at the scratched ground.

Michelle's baby

Some time ago the new black hen, Michelle, went funny. She stopped laying eggs and retired to the nest box to incubate the plastic dummy eggs that were in there. Each day she would appear for around 20 minutes or so and then go back to her sitting. It was apparent she had gone broody. I purchased 10 fertilized eggs and last Saturday morning we found the first hatch-ling.

Kraut

Before and after images of the Sauerkraut.

The sauerkraut has been a success. My German wife has eaten it and pronounced it acceptable. I've been making Reuben sandwiches and the next batch is now fermenting in the hall cupboard. Now that I have pickled cabbage I'm looking for my next conquest, look out courgettes.

Fishing Rods

The clump in the Japanese garden turned out to have both white and pink flowers. Still going strong on Christmas eve.

Sauerkraut

For once I have managed to grow some decent cabbages, but now in the height of summer the last thing I feel like eating is cabbage. 

The solution is to make some sauerkraut. Apparently fermented food has health benefits and tastes good as well.

 The process is very simple all that you need is a large plastic container, salt (3 tablespoons) and finely chopped cabbage. I added some caraway seed (2 tablespoons)  as a flavoring.  The cut salted cabbage is placed in the container with a plate and a weight to press it down. The cabbage releases a lot of liquid that covers the cabbage. The lacto-bacteria do there magic in the absence of oxygen so the weighted plate helps keeps the cabbage covered by liquid and the good stuff happening. 

 The fermenting cabbage is in the hall cupboard as it is the coolest place in the house at the moment. Apparently four to seven days is all that is needed until the kraut is ready to eat.  

Baa

Long drive today to pick up a couple of two tooth weathers. These will be paddock mates for Whistla now that the young horses have gone. 

The two weathers are a cross including some merino and the funny colour is supposedly part of their charm. Barbara has been researching training sheep on the internet so I guess these two can look forward to some serious bossing around.
They also mean a lot more work for me as I make the fences sheep proof to protect the garden.