More goats

We bought two new goats today, both five months old. They're both Boers, one buck and one doe. We needed a buck anyway, and he's a nice looking little guy, so we jumped at the chance. The doe was bottle-fed, so she's very friendly and tame. Between that and looking very good, we couldn't help but get her. I may end up bottle-feeding all of my replacement doe kids next year, or at least some of them, so that my herd will become easier to handle. Once the herd as a whole is tame, I should be able to let the does raise their kids without losing too much tameness.

I'm planning to train the buckling to graze on a tie-out, so that he can clear out areas too small or dense for the doe herd to get into. I'll be keeping an eye out for a cheap wether to be his friend, or if necessary I can save one from a future kidding.

The Chicken Marathon

Fifteen slaughtered, approximately 35 to go. Two bags of feed left. Will Mel slaughter all of the chickens without having to buy more feed? Tune in next week to find out.

Pick a Peck of Pickled Peas

Since we have so many peas, I decided to pickle a batch. I used this recipe to pickle five pints of snap peas. There are still a few left over for salads.

For the snow peas, I'll freeze most of the tender ones for stir-fry later, and try pickling some of the others. The really tough, overgrown ones will be evaluated for shelling pea suitability. Anything that's left will be fed to the goats.

The shelling peas will probably find their way into a casserole or two, or maybe a pot pie. I know this will come as a shock to my mother, but I've actually found that I like peas that are fresh from the garden.

In the home garden, the tomatillos are massive with a lot of fruits. Salsa verde! I also picked the first two pickling cucumbers, since they were getting too big. Not enough to make pickles, but perfect sliced thin and marinated in Italian dressing. I know, another shocker. But oddly enough, cucumbers also taste good, fresh from the garden. I'm really looking forward to my slicing cucumbers, which are Lemon Cucumbers.