Not much of a harvest so far this year

Tomatoes have been very disappointing this year.  Flowers just didn't seem to get pollinated.  I'm guessing it was all the rain.  Same with green been, cucumbers and peppers.  Just not a lot of fruit on the plants.  Though the plants seem healthy enough.

The one thing that did rather well were the root crops.  Carrots were big and tasty and the Yukon Gold potatoes were great.  Still waiting to pull the sweet potatoes.  The vines are everywhere so hopefully they are doing good as well.

Started a second crop of green beans so hopefully they will do better.  Still plenty of time to get a second round of vegetables in the ground here in Kentucky.

Rain....Rain....and More Rain

It's been a pretty wet spring here in Kentucky.  The grass is green and the garden is growing.  A bit too fast however.

Most of the lettuce bolted during the earlier than expected 92 degree days.  I did plant some corn and while it doesn't seem to be doing that well, it has shaded a few radicchio plants that seem to be developing ok and haven't bolted yet.

Some early cucumbers and lots of flowers.  My hope is that there's enough pollinators buzzing around during the few sunny moments to pollinate.

The herbs however love the rainy days and are growing like crazy. And the chickens aren't so crazy about all the rain either.

Spring planting time is here

Spring is here and it's time to get planting here in Kentucky.  So far I have the following planted:

• Tomatoes (cherry, grape, early girl, big boy, celebrity)
• Radishes
• Lettuce (romaine, butter-head,)
• Corn (first time growing)
• Bell Peppers (red, green, yellow)
• Carrots (short variety)
• Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Asparagus 
• Parsley
• Rosemary (replant - this year's cold winter killed existing plant)
• Basil
• Stevia (sweetener)
• Dill
• Nasturtiums (edible flowers)
• Sage (replant - this year's cold winter killed existing plant)

Still to be planted are:

• Onions
• Pumpkin
• Cucumbers (pickling)
• Squash (acorn, butternut)
• Green Beans
• Lima Beans
• Sweet potatoes
• Seedless Green Grape vine

Still lots to do but things are growing, humming birds are back so I got the feeders our quickly and it's getting hotter by the day.  Going to be a short spring and an early summer here in Kentucky.

Gobble Gobble Gobble - Adding Turkeys this year

                                            

Adding turkeys to the backyard flock this year.

Like their chicken relatives turkeys have been breed specifically for the dinner table.  They come in many colors.  I have just received 12 white broad breasted turkeys.  These are the same ones that are raised for the grocery store.

The chicks are very cute and sweet.  They almost seem to enjoy human company.  They have a different kind of peep than chickens which is much easier on the ears.

They also have a cute bump on their beaks which will turn into a rather ugly thing called a "snood".  The ugly stuff hanging under their chin is called a "wattle".

Not so cute once they get older.

In as little as 20 weeks the hens should be 22 lbs and the toms should be a whopping 34 lbs.  That's a lot of turkey.  I've only named two (Christmas and Thanksgiving), probably won't name the rest.  

I know you might that's cruel, but what will you be eating on Christmas and Thanksgiving?  

I will be eating a bird that was raised humanly, given the run of my small but green and sunshine filled little urban farm and getting to eat feed, grass, bugs and all the things turkeys are supposed to eat. 

Cross turkey off the grocery store list.

Sad and Gruesome

Chicken is the worlds number one source of protein.  More chickens are eaten than any other animal.  And I love the taste of chicken and wouldn't give it up for anything.  If you've seen some of my early posts you've seen the horrible way factory raised chickens are treated.

It was my hope that these videos were old and that the poultry industry had cleaned up it's act and I'm sure some of the processing plants have done a much better job than they did in the past.

But the reality is that factory chickens still live in horrible conditions and meet and cruel end just so we can enjoy chicken fingers, chicken wings and of course our Sunday dinner of roast chicken.

I have to warn you this video is pretty gruesome and illustrates that not every poultry processing plant has made improvements.

Do not show this to your children.  The date of this YouTube post is March 14, 2015.

Click on this link to watch the YouTube video.

The Way Chickens are Killed is Hell on Earth and Legal.

If you don't currently raise your own chickens for meat, consider it.  Do some research there's a lot out there.  You can start with my earlier posts and ask me any questions you have.  I'm happy to help.

While chickens will still have to die to provide us food, There's no reason their short lives have to be any harder than they have to be.  If you raise your own meat chickens you can decide how they live and how they die.  And yes it can be done humanely and with as little stress and anguish on the chicken and on you.

Take charge of the food you eat and responsibility for getting it to your table.