Baymule’s 2020 Garden

[baymule]

That’s tough on farmers. Heartbreaking. Too bad people can’t or don’t know how to go buy a hog and slaughter it themselves. Of course, it’d be hard to find 20 people much less 20,000.

I haven’t planted the artichokes yet, that will probably be next week. We have been butchering Chickens. Slaughtered 7 this morning, had lunch, about to hit the kitchen tp cut up and vacuum seal the meat. Going to do more tomorrow.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

You don't let them rest thru rigor? I've only done one chicken in my life - a sick Jersey Giant, who got parted up and fed to the dogs back in 2011.

Well, I did do a chicken, pig, cow and lamb in a meat processing class in Grad School, but we were a team doing it.

 

[ducks4you]

Chickens are easy peasy lemon squeezy. I don't chop their heads off bc I like my left thumb too much. I bleed mine out, then decapitate, then skin them to get off the feathers, then cut the legs off. I take them to my 2 sided aluminum kitchen sink to eviscerate. The organs (except for the liver) goes to the dogs, and the rest of the guts go to the trash.
If I'm doing several I like to bag in an open plastic bag that I tie, then into a gallon freezer bag, that is labelled.

 

[majorcatfish]

poor pets......
ding ding..winner winner we're having a chicken pot dinner ..

 

[baymule]

@seedcorn I don't have to rest the chicken for rigor. If packaged and frozen, thawing out takes care of any rigor, no problem.

We set up a table outside under two oak trees. We have a cone we slip the chicken into, I slit their throat and let them bleed out. When we have several laying on the table, I go get the boiling water-in big pots that I put in my wagon. I scald, we start picking feathers, as we get one picked, DH keeps picking and I do the gutting, trimming and put them on ice. When done, we take the ice chest in the kitchen and I go over them, picking pin feathers, parting them out, washing the pieces half to death, pat dry, and vacuum seal.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't rest for rigor either. But I take them out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge on Sunday and cook on Thursday. That seems to take care of it.

I skin instead of pluck so I don't have to fool with hot water. My wife prefers them skinless anyway, we each have our preferences.

When I vacuum pack about anything the vacuum pulls moisture out of the product into the seal area. So I freeze in the bag before sealing. If I don't do that I sometimes don't get a good seal. That's mainly veggies and cooked meat. Instead of vacuum sealing my raw chickens I double wrap them in freezer paper using freezer tape. I also part my chicken out. If I plastic bag them the bones can poke a hole in the bag when I'm shuffling through the freezer looking for something. I can be kind of rough doing that. As I've mentioned before I'm not as gentle or talented as Bay.

 

[ducks4you]

I never thought about freezing before sealing. I have a sealer, never used...yet.
I DO double wrap, first with a wrap that needs a twist tie, then a ziplock bag, labelled.
Thanks!

 

[baymule]

I will freeze berries before vacuum sealing, so they don't smush from the draw of the vacuum sealer.

I planted my Painted Mountain Corn today, both the Texas plants from seed that I have raised for 6 or 7 years. I also planted Idaho plants from seed that @thistlebloom sent me. Our idea was to plant them side by side to mix up the genetics. She did last year and was successful. I planted seed last year, but my whole garden was a failure. So I am planting again this year, hoping for a good cross! I have to plant the seed in peat pellets, let it get about 4" high, or the crows pull up every plant as it comes up.

 

[bobm]

That’s tough on farmers. Heartbreaking. Too bad people can’t or don’t know how to go buy a hog and slaughter it themselves. Of course, it’d be hard to find 20 people much less 20,000.

I haven’t planted the artichokes yet, that will probably be next week. We have been butchering Chickens. Slaughtered 7 this morning, had lunch, about to hit the kitchen tp cut up and vacuum seal the meat. Going to do more tomorrow.

I worked at a University Vet Med Teaching Hospital, so I necropsied everything from a shrew to a killer whale . That included dogs and cats and other pet animals into the thousands. I was born on a farm and I owned a farm, so I also raised, butchered and processed just about every barnyard animal myself for my family to eat.

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

I will freeze berries before vacuum sealing, so they don't smush from the draw of the vacuum sealer.

I planted my Painted Mountain Corn today, both the Texas plants from seed that I have raised for 6 or 7 years. I also planted Idaho plants from seed that @thistlebloom sent me. Our idea was to plant them side by side to mix up the genetics. She did last year and was successful. I planted seed last year, but my whole garden was a failure. So I am planting again this year, hoping for a good cross! I have to plant the seed in peat pellets, let it get about 4" high, or the crows pull up every plant as it comes up.

What do you use the painted mountain corn for? I'm planting that this year and I'm excited!