Winter Meat

O Wise One took advantage of the cooler temperatures to start the butchering of some of our winter meat. The young rabbits were ready to go in the freezer and so he decided to butcher them. These young rabbits were all born in early summer and fattened of with a combination of pulled weeds, garden culls and some purchased rabbit chow and alfalfa hay. In return we have added 17 bags of rabbit pieces to the freezer stash and 4 bags of rabbit loin. 

This is pure, white meat naturally low in cholesterol and fat. Easily raised in a small area with their diets easily supplemented with weeds and twigs around the homestead and garden.  On this homestead we use chicken/ turkey and rabbit meat interchangeably in most recipes. You are just as likely to eat fried or barbecued rabbit at my table as chicken. 

These loin strips will become breaded strips either baked or fried. I have even used them in stir fry. 

The livers are frozen and become catfish bait for future fishing excursions.

Every spring we have several litters born on this farm and spending their whole life here.

Raised in easily and economically built small cages and tractors. 

While most homesteads feast on beef we instead get through our winters on venison, some pork, rabbit, chicken, turkey and fish.  This results in investing in very few fences, stocking small amounts of hay for the two goats, and purchasing some wheat straw for bedding and garden mulches.

 We do feed our laying hens through the winter, butchering any extras and also feed our flock of adult turkeys also through the winter butchering our spring turkey chicks in the fall as soon as they are large enough to butcher. We maintain our breeding stock of rabbits also through the winter which is 3 does and a buck. 

            Blessings from The Holler

          The Canned Quilter

The Barnyard

The barnyard is full again this year. Lots of rabbits to butcher for the freezer and jars. 

Some roosters from the neighboring farm that they did not want to deal with. Destined for jars.

Mama and chicks. A friend brought me these eggs and I have no idea what cross they are. I have always pretty well raised Buff Orphingtons and it seems strange to have a bunch of little black chicks pecking around. 

The puppies aren't puppies anymore! Seems like just yesterday we were bottle feeding these guys.

The young turkeys are growing like bad weeds.

These young buff hens are really pretty though. They will make great additions to my egg production.

And Moxie's favorite place to sneak to on a late summer day.

Not quite a year old yet and still quite the hand full.

She's come a long way!

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Corn, Grapes And Rabbits

Last I posted about canning I had finished the first batch of corn and was ready to bag it. My corn was picked that morning and blanched in a large pot on a fish cooker out on the lawn. Once blanched we put it in ice water to cool and then I put it inside and started cutting it off the cob. Just me and a knife and bowl. Once cut off the cob we placed it in vacuum bags.

The end of the bags are folded down and they are stacked on cookie sheets and put in the freezer to freeze. (Not sealed)

We freeze the bags unsealed because if not the vacuuming process will suck any excess liquid up into the seal preventing it from sealing properly. Once frozen they can be sealed without that happening.

The great thing about doing it this way also is that they stack so nicely in the freezer. In the end we had 34 bags of frozen corn off the cob with corn still in the field. 

O Wise One has been busy also butchering rabbits. We also froze up 12 bags of rabbit pieces and 2 bags of rabbit loins. Pure white low fat meat raised right here on this farm. Used much the same way as chicken grilled, barbecued and smoked.

I also picked the first of the grapes to beat the birds to them. 

And canned my first 7 quarts of grape juice. 

Friday's jobs okra 

And LOTS of cabbage

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Ice For The Rabbits

With nursing doe rabbits with a cage full of young ones lots of cool water is essential in this heat that we have had the last couple days.

Several times a day we make trips to the rabbit pens with frozen bottles of water. The rabbits lick the cool condensation as the bottles melt and lay against and over the bottles to cool off.   

Don't forget that if you have lots of little ones in a pen that they drink lots. Those water tips will fit on a 2 liter coke bottle. Freeze them and make hangers out of old wire or clothes hangers. We hang several in the cages throughout the day and as they thaw the animals always have cool water. 

And another way to recycle those bottles. For us we don't drink much out of bottles but we get friends and family to save them for us! 

You can also lay these frozen bottles in your chicken, goat and dog water bowls to keep them cool!

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Escape Artist

O Wise One came through a couple days ago with a hangdog look and announced he had escaped rabbits. Seems he had unlocked the door and walked away for a minute and they made an escape. He managed to catch them all with the dip net with the exception of this one little gray guy. Baby O had named him EDGAR. Seems Edgar has taken up residence under the chicken house and is waiting them out.  My solution is the shotgun. Sorry ladies but I am a true gardener and a loose rabbit is asking for trouble. 

The last time Baby O had this happen she was 8 and her daddy brought in a little rabbit from a nest he had ran over with the lawn mower. She put her wild rabbit in a cardboard box only to wake up the next morning and it had not only gotten out of the box but ate an entire tray of tomato plants I had sitting on the floor awaiting planting the next day. I was not amused and they were both in the dog house. The next night I had live traps set up in my kitchen trying to catch a small rabbit that was slinking around my house in the darkness (probably looking for more tomato plants). Needless to say the new rule was no more rabbits (or any other wild critter) in the house. Someone has to be the voice of reason in this crazy family. They finally did catch the baby rabbit years ago and he was returned to the wild. His great grand bunnies are probably eating my beets as we speak. 

As for Edgar I'll keep you updated!

Edgar..Wanted Dead Or Alive : )  

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter 

Spring Babies

Our first batch of turkeys are out of the incubator

There is another batch in the incubator that should hatch next week and one of the hens is broody. Looks as if we will again have plenty of Bourbon Reds for the freezer and jars. 

The first two batches of baby bunnies were also weaned yesterday. Remember they were born during that last snowstorm : ) The mothers have already been bred for one more litter hopefully before it turns too hot. 

These are also destined for the freezer and jars.

Those cute little fluffy chicks are also growing like bad weeds and will make nice contributions to the the freezer.

We are considering setting another couple dozen eggs or hoping a hen will go broody which would be even better. Our winter meat provisions are coming along. Next on the list is the baby pigs and we have already put in our order for piglets.

How's your winter meat production coming along?

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter 

Farm Cute!

Is there anything cuter than baby bunnies?

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Snow Babies

In the middle of our May snowstorm all 3 doe rabbits had babies. Two litters survived and the third one lost her litter. 

How's that for a pile of cuteness. Just a bundle of tiny ears and paws.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Rabbit And Noodles

With fresh eggs in abundance and rabbit freshly canned I decided that it was time to make some homemade noodles and rabbit. Believe it or not I had this on the table in an hour.  Chunks of sweet white meat swimming in a thick broth thickened teeming with onions, peppers and green onions. Quick doesn't always have to be fast food. 

I started out with a quart of rabbit and broth and a quart of broth. 

Out of the pantry I dug up some dried onions, red peppers, and green onions. All out of last years garden. 

Into my cast iron pot went my broth and my meat, dried onions, peppers, green onions, pepper, salt, thyme, rosemary and parsley. Then I let my pot come to a full boil and boil for about 10 minutes.  

Earlier I had already mixed up and cut my egg noodles. For the recipe click HERE

So they were waiting to go in my hot bubbling broth. 

Just drop a few at a time into the hot bubbling broth and allow them to cook until done stirring as you add more noodles. 

Once the noodles are done I simply mixed 3 tablespoons flour with a half cup of sweet cream and poured into the hot broth and noodles and allowed to simmer for several minutes and thicken. Then turn off and they are ready to serve hot. You can do this with canned chicken, turkey, and even venison. With venison I use canned venison stew meat, mushrooms and make a very thick broth and then when cooked add sour cream for a stroganoff type dish.  

With that I served a skillet of hot buttermilk biscuits. For the recipe click HERE

And a sweet potato cake for dessert rich again with those farm fresh eggs (like the noodles) and bits of grated sweet potatoes from last falls harvest. Another home cooked meal fresh from the farm. Homegrown rabbit meat, sweet potatoes eggs and spices. A good hot meal for a late wintry drizzly day.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter