Neighborhood Watch

This beautiful barn owl is part of the neighborhood watch on mice, voles, and other rodents. This one is a fairly large owl and it is difficult to tell the difference between male and female. The owl does not hoot, but it make a loud screetching call. The wing span is enormous and the white face has given the owl the nickname of ghost owl. Since it was viewed near the full moon, we will call it the moon owl! No matter the name nor the sex of the bird, it sure is a beautiful bird! 

This February Snow Moon had the perfect timing of shining brightly on Valentine's Day. 

As you can tell we are all under the spell of the Night Watch!

Beef or Bison Pot Pie

Warm and hearty meals begin with whole foods from the farm and from local farms. Friends of ours raise pastured beef and fellow farmers in the Rogue Valley raise pastured bison...either meat is delicious when it is raised out in the pastures in the farm fresh air and grazing to their heart's content! The London Broil cut of meat is quite tasty and best when slow cooked. We had a 5 pound bison roast that had been slow cooked for about 4 hours in the oven. The shredded meat was super tasty after roasting with garlic, onions, apples, and a few spices.

The meat was shredded and set aside. Next, the homemade version of cream of mushroom soup was made: 1 small onion, chopped fine 1 clove of garlic, minced 2 cups of sliced mushrooms 3 Tablespoons of butter. Saute together first onions and garlic until onions are soften. Add sliced mushrooms and saute just until softened lightly, which is about 2 minutes on medium low heat. Add 3 Tablespoons of flour to vegetables in pan and stir to cover. Add all at once: 2 cups chicken stock and stir Mixture will thicken, Then add 2 cups milk or milk sustitute Stir until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. This smooth and tasty sauce will cover the meat and vegies for the pie. Leave on warming heat until ready to use.

2 carrots, chopped, use 2-3 leftover baked potatoes, chop into small bite sized chunks, 1 left over sweet potato works well too. 1 cup frozen peas Add all to shredded bison. Use a 9" x 13" pan, line with parchment paper. Place meat and vegetable mix into prepared pan and evenly distribute. Pour warm, creamy mushroom soup sauce over meat and vegetables. Place in preheated 375' oven. While the base of the pot pie is getting warm and bubbling, make the herbed cheese biscuit topping: 2 cups flour 1 T. sugar (scant) 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup vegetable shortening 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1 cup milk Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and stir. Add shortening and with hands mix until flour mixture resembles coarse corn meal. Stir in cheese and seasoning. Add milk and stir. Remove pan from oven and drop biscuit mixture on top of bubbling goodness in spoonsized pieces. There should be enough biscuit dough to cover the top of the meat mixture. Return to oven and bake another 25 minutes.

Be sure the biscuit tops are cooked all of the way through. Check by gently moving the top of biscuit to one side or the other. If it is still gooey underneath, return to oven for a few more minutes. Serve with coleslaw and fruit salad, and family gathered around the table.

Carbonation

The chicken coop was cleaned out over the weekend and all of the carbon rich manure was put into the garden. There were thirteen piles, but the little two-footed feathered friends made a quick job out of distributing the compost.

The hens don't like a dirty coop and they won't lay eggs if they think there is a bad odor in the nest boxes. It is a slow time for egg layers anyway, but the hens that are producing deserve a clean spot to lay.

Hard at work in her own pile, this golden sex link hen will make easy work of moving and sanitizing the straw and manure. This will add great nutrition to the garden soil. Isn't it amazing how warm it looks? There are frozen bits of snow in the shadows! Night time temperatures are dipping to the low 20's. Nothing like a hen party to warm up the January days!

Great Eggs and Happy Hens

As we are collecting just a few eggs a day from our flock of 19 hens, we are grateful for the golden goodness and for the opportunity the hens have to rest. Their favorite spot to hang out is on the south facing side of the house on the sun bench!


This poor little hen happens to be molting now, in the cold days of winter. We make sure she is getting extra rations of walnuts, pork fat, and sunshine! She systematically turns herself in the sun to expose all sides of her body. Our hens are laying about 260 days out of the year and need a rejuvenating season. For some, it is now.

This is a great book! We got to go and listen to Joel Salatin speak in Jackson County a few years ago thanks to Annie. She mentioned on her blog that he was coming to visit British Columbia and we got to wondering if he would be visiting Southern Oregon. He was and he did! Joel Salatin is a great speaker, writer, and farmer. His common sense practice of farming is stretching across the country. One of his many great practices is raising chickens for meat and for eggs. Folks, This Ain't Normal, goes beyond farming practices and looks at food, food production, and the future of food. It is also written with great humor and a very enjoyable and informative book to read. Here's to happy hens~

Prayer Birds

The Great Egrets continue to spend time in the front pasture and they looked like prayer birds today. There are about 20 of them in this particular group. The is one off to the side in solitude. The colors of this January day are transformed by the low level light and the sun close to setting.

They were all basking in the sun as the fog lifted today. It was brilliant as you can see and the birds were graciously poised in prayer ~

Great White

Egrets are filling the front pasture grazing and eating the perfect meal for a foggy, white day in January!

They eat fish, frogs, small reptiles, grasshoppers and other insects. At this time of year they are probably munching on the frogs and insects. Whatever their dining pleasure, we certainly are enjoying the view.