It’s the first day of Autumn and it couldn’t feel more fall-like. It was 57 degrees when I got to work this morning (6 am).
Last night Randy worked on my mom’s car while I pick tomatoes. They were a mess after all the rain, split and not good for anything but chicken food. Tonight I will tackle the okra and peppers and hopefully dig a few sweet potatoes if it’s dried out some.
Our Cornish Rocks are getting big. We plan to weigh them tonight to see how long we have until they are butchered. We did slow-growers this time around (as opposed to fast growers). They are so much healthier and since they are free-range all day we have a sea of white pecking around behind our house. Their mobility hasn’t been hindered as they’ve gotten bigger like the fast-growers. They are still able to run, climb the ladder in the coop, and move about all day. Makes it a little harder to put them in our freezer, but the work they require does make it a little easier.
Our lambs did well at the sale, so that is behind us for another year. We banded their tails (this is for sanitary/health purposes since they are a wool breed), but did not castrate to try to practice more humane animal husbandry. This didn’t seem to affect the price we received at the sale in any way. We also held on to our lambs until they reached a higher weight in hopes they would avoid a feedlot altogether or at least not have to stay for as long a period of time. These are two steps we have implemented as a way to raise our animals more humanely, but still make a profit (or at least break even, haha). We would love to sell our livestock directly off the farm, but that just hasn’t worked for us in the past.
Pansies have been planted. Mums are in bloom. Pumpkins have been set out. The scarecrow, “Scary,” is at her post. All is festive at our home! I usually do a festive, fall dinner on the Autumnal Equinox, but instead we plan to have dinner out with friends. Hope everyone has a wonderful first day of Autumn!
A Simple Prairie Life 