Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

Poor Gertrude! Both of the turkeys are too large to fit through the door of the coop, so they have to just bed down in the fenced yard. Tom-Tom is fine with that, but Gertrude wants to roost. She has tried the past couple of nights to roost on the edge of the coop's roof, but the corrugated steel isn't strong enough to support her and it eventually bends down enough that she slides off with a squawk and "fwump!" DH is going to see if he can use the pergola (which she disdains) and a fallen tree branch to cobble something together for her. Oh, and she laid a beautiful little pullet egg this morning for us. about the size of one of the chicken eggs, with speckles.
DH, who until now has been adamant about NOT raising turkeys, has been charmed by Gertrude and Tom-Tom. Now he's talking about getting a couple or half-dozen next spring. If we do, we'll need to make a few adjustments to the housing arrangements. According to the woman that gave them to us, they love going after grasshoppers. Considering our ongoing problems with hoppers, that sounds great to me!

I have been hearing rumblings in the gardening community that our drop in bee numbers may be the fault of Vector Control getting a little heavy-handed with spraying for mosquitoes this year. Not sure what can be done about that... I haven't called them asking for help with skeeters in our area but maybe others are?

I got 11 pints of Dilled Green Beans done yesterday, and the cucumbers should be ready for canning this afternoon. I want to make some more Dilled Carrots since we are down to only 2 pints, and they are a favorite of DS.

Our weather has been unseasonably cool this month; mid 70's instead of high 80 to mid 90's. I blame the smoke; I think we are experiencing something resembling a mini "nuclear winter" (without the radioactive isotopes thank goodness).

 

[frustratedearthmother]

There's just something cool about turkeys! I've never raised any, but I keep threatening to get some Midget Whites.

Hope Gertrude can find a suitable place to roost, lol!

 

[sumi]

Aww, poor Gertrude! I had to laugh though, at that metal vision of her sliding off the roof! I met a friendly turkey at a friend's house some 5 years ago, who she reminds me off… This one, she was called Geraldine, got injured, so my friend's DD nursed her back to health. On Xmas morning she walked up to her father with Geraldine and held up two signs: "Merry Christmas" and "Now you can't eat me!" lol Geraldine became a pet and stayed with the family for some time.

 

[Britesea]

I'll bet Geraldine gave them some tasty eggs though!

 

[Mini Horses]

Can DS eat turkey eggs? Course you haven't had them long enough to feed him any but, is their make up like hens?

I believe he has issues with duck eggs, right?

 

[Britesea]

@Mini Horses We've only gotten 2 eggs from her so far, and one of them landed on a sharp stone and broke... so I have no idea if DS can eat them. We'll probably get a few more so there's still time to find out.

 

[framing fowl]

How fun! I got to have Royal palms for awhile at our last place. I like that sound they make. Ours were super friendly and curious. They'd follow me around like a pack of dogs. I'd love to get some here.

 

[Britesea]

What is really funny is that, after 30+ years of swearing he never wanted to raise turkeys, DH has been charmed by this pair and is talking about getting a couple poults next spring! Gdertrude laid another egg, but she laid it at the top of the ramp, and it rolled off and broke. By the time I found it, the chickens were gathered around pecking at it. Gertrude grabbed it and ran off, but I'm not sure if she was trying to protect her baby or she was greedy and wanted to eat it all herself...

I'm finally getting more than 1 or 2 tomatoes at a time, and I FINALLY have 3 young Delicata squashes on the vines. Now I just have to hope that they get enough warm weather to finish ripening. Temps are dropping into the low 40's at night now.

 

[Britesea]

I got stung twice on the face by yellow jackets Saturday evening. I didn't notice them hanging around the latch of the greenhouse when I reached up to close it up for the night. I ran into the house and slathered on a big gob of my plantain ointment, took a Benadryl capsule, and drank a bunch of water waiting for the burning and itching to go away. Finally, the Benadryl made me so sleepy that I went to bed 2 hours earlier than usual. I wasn't sure I'd be able to go to church on Sunday, but when I woke up, there was almost no swelling, and just the tiniest bit of discoloration at the sting sites. Plantain is wonderful stuff!
We picked up a case of nectarines and I got those freeze-dried yesterday, and a friend gifted me with a bag of about 3 pounds of slightly overripe peaches. I tried to cut them into slices and discovered they were clings-- I didn't want to mess with trying to get nice neat slices from them so I just mushed them up and added lemon juice and made fruit leather. I haven't done that in a couple of years, lol. Last night I cut them up and rolled them up in waxed paper and I now have a nearly full gallon zip lock of peach leather rolls.

I found some gallon sized bail top jars for sale at the grocery store and bought a box of 4 of them. I've already used them up so I have them on the list to buy more-- they are such a useful size! I think I can put the freeze-dried stuff in them, if I also add some oxygen absorbers. They might not last 25 years, but I don't think I want to wait that long anyway!

Today I'll be making pesto to put in the freezer. I'm not sure what to make for dinner yet-- I've pulled out some pork chops to thaw. Perhaps I'll cook them with some apples and cider vinegar?

 

[sumi]

Ouch on the stings! A friend of mine is trying to get rid of some wasps in their attic at the moment. He managed to get stung in his armpit by one Poor man was NOT happy. I'll let him know to try and find some plantain before he goes and messes with them again.