Gracie and the rabbit hutch and other adventures

We had our first sweet corn last Saturday. I cooked extra thinking that I would use it in something, such as fried corn and potatoes. After two days, with more corn coming in, I fed it to the chickens. Best thing ever!

Gracie was not cured of her broodiness. I did more research and found The Chicken Chick who spoke authoritatively against any cure involving ice or cold water. Keep them out of the nest boxes and in as much light as possible until they are cured. The longer a hen has been broody, the longer it takes to cure her. She recommended a rabbit hutch. Needless to say, we did not have one on hand. Gracie had been broody quite some time. We worried about keeping Gracie in the cat kennel for an extended period of time because the wires on the bottom were so far apart. We were afraid it would hurt her little feet. A rabbit hutch would be better because the wires were closer together. Or we could cover the bottom of the kennel with hardware cloth, but somehow we would have to cover any wires that stuck up out of the ends. It seemed hard. On the other hand, a complete rabbit hutch kit was available at Tractor Supply in Harvard for only $50. Easy peasy. I ran to town Sunday morning to pick it up.

Gracie in the rabbit hutch

Anna Vic had gone broody again too. The Chicken Chick said that broodiness was contagious. You may recall that in previous posts, I said it was Nelly Elly who was broody. I apologize for this mistake, which I’m sure you noticed. The rabbit hutch was too small for Gracie and Anna Vic, so we put Anna Vic in the kennel. She has bigger feet, in any case. She immediately started tossing food to her companions on the outside.

After two days, both were cured.

It is so dry! We have not had significant rainfall since the Big Storm on July 18. We watched the radar so hopefully, and front after front dissipates or splits, going north and/or south of us. Last Sunday it was oh, so close. We watched the lightning from clouds tinted pink by the sunset. And not one drop of rain.

When it got a little darker that evening, Hilda and I clipped the wings on the pullets. They had been getting a bit too enthusiastic about flying. The broiler round up was coming on Thursday. We didn’t want to have to worry about the pullets flying over the fence in the fracas. I had read that chickens don’t see well in the dark and figured that it would be easiest to grab them then. This turned out to work very well indeed. I climbed up into the coop, grabbed the pullets one at a time, and held them. Hilda pulled out their wings and wielded the scissors. As I mentioned last year, wing clipping involves cutting off the tops of the flight feathers on one wing. It does not hurt the chicken, being analogous to us clipping a fingernail or getting a haircut. The shortened feathers on one side put the chicken off balance so she can’t fly anymore. The next morning, the pullets rather sheepishly walked down the ramp instead of bursting forth in a flutter as they had previously. And thus we have the figure of speech.

Antonia with her wing clipped

Monday morning, I cut the garlic bulbs from their leaves and put them in bags. There were a total of 270 bulbs from the four varieties we grow (Purple Glow, 50; Smarakand, 67; Chet’s Early Italian, 79; Inchigium Red, 74). Will that be enough?

I had plans for Monday afternoon that were thwarted by the realization that it was time to harvest the sweet corn. Terry plants varieties that mature at different times, the earliest being 66 days and the latest 75 days. Last year I waited too long to pick the corn, and it got starchy and tough. Freezing did not improve it. I wanted to be sure to catch it while it was still sweet and tender. I picked all the ears that seemed ready, and mostly I was right. Terry, Hilda, and I shucked one tray full. Hilda went to the kitchen to start the water boiling and started the blanching. Terry and I finished shucking. Hilda, bless her heart, did the rest—boiling six minutes, cooling in an ice bath, cutting the kernels from the cobs, and packing them into zip-top bags for the freezer. From the cobs, Terry estimated that we’d processed 10 dozen ears.

Terry shucks corn

One tray of shucked corn. Is it not beautiful?

I did the second picking yesterday. Dad, Hilda, and I shucked. This time, I kept track of how many ears we had, which was 12 dozen plus 7 ears. Some of them were runty, though. Hilda and I boiled, cut and packed. When we did the final count, we had 11 2-cup bags and 30 1-cup bags of corn. Will that be enough?

12.5 dozen ears in the second picking

Out in my restoration area, a new flower is blooming. This is biennial gaura. It nearly as tall as I am. The Peterson guide says, “Note the cross-shaped stigma typical of the Evening-primrose Family.” And sure enough, when I looked at the close-up picture, there it was.

Biennial Gaura

Biennial gaura, close up. Note cross-shaped stigma at the top just right of center

As scheduled on Thursday, Terry and I caught the broilers and loaded them into two cages. Hilda opened and shut the gate, later saying that she felt like she hadn’t done anything. I reassured her that her role was pivotal because we could not have managed to go in and out with both hands on a chicken. The leg hook that worked so well for the dual purpose chickens last year was not very useful. Sometimes we could catch their toes, but the hook was too small to fit around their huge ankle joint. (A chicken knee is between the thigh and the drumstick. What we think of as a chicken foot is just their toes.) Hilda reminded me that at the butcher, they carry the chickens by grasping the upper part of the wing next to their body. The chickens calmed down immediately when grasped thusly. I wish we’d thought of that when we had to move Gimpy in and out of the coop. Even without the hook, we had the chickens loaded in 15 minutes. We’re getting better at this.

Glory bound in the back of Terry's truck

Hilda and Dad picked up the chickens this morning. The largest weigh 7.5 pounds (presumably the roosters). The smallest were 4.5 pounds. This photo compares this year’s chickens with the last remaining dual purpose chicken from last year. Any questions about why we went back to broilers?

Left to right: 2.5 lb dual purpose, 4.5 lb hen, 6.5 lb rooster, 7.5 lb rooster

Terry and I went to the McHenry County Fair last night. I had my annual corndog. I fell victim to consumerism, however. A regular corndog was $5.00. A jumbo corndog was $6.00 and 2.5 X the size. I got the jumbo. It was too much. I ate it anyway. Will I remember next year? I was not able to photodocument my enormous corndog. I hadn’t gotten my camera out before receiving said corndog, and by that time Terry was in possession of a gyro that required both of his hands. He was, therefore, not able to do anything helpful, such as hold my corndog while I got the camera out of my purse.

McHenry County Fair

We headed for the beer tent after our main course. Much to our annoyance the beer tent was behind a fence with the motorcross racing, and everyone entering the area had to pay $5 admission. Terry refused, and I didn’t argue with him. “We’re not paying $10 a piece for a beer,” he grumbled. It seems to me that if they are going to charge admission, your first beer should be free. What the heck!

We did our usual things, looking at the antique tractors, going through the 4-H displays, photo contests, vegetable contests, buildings of commercial exhibits, and some of the livestock barns. 

The cow wash by the cattle building

We got ice cream cones at the food booth sponsored by 4-H and the County Extension. I love the butter pecan. Terry has finally come around to not buying an elephant ear. The elephant ear is fried dough that has gotten to be the size of a real elephant’s ear. It is too much. I have converted him to mini-donuts. I would have gotten the smallest size they sold. A half dozen would have been perfect, but (consumerism again) the smallest size was a dozen. Terry got the largest instead, the Big Bucket O’Mini-donuts for $8.50. (Actually, the bucket wasn’t that large.) I didn’t count, but I think it must have been at least three dozen. And then, because he is full, he didn’t eat ANY, even though they are best when they are hot from the fryer. I was full too, so I only ate six….

Terry orders our mini-donuts

Bucket of mini-donuts, which can be held  easily with one hand

This morning, I had one of my favorite summer breakfasts: vine-ripe tomatoes with cream cheese on toast, lightly sprinkled with sea salt and black pepper. Basil is good too. Sometimes I use blue cheese instead of cream cheese.Oh, the ephemeral pleasure of really good tomatoes!