The Cob Oven, Mid-Build

My darling hubby bakes bread.  Really yummy bread.  The only downside is how much the oven can heat up the house in the summer.  It's for this reason that we've been talking about building a cob oven in the backyard.  We had thrown some blocks down as an outline for where we thought it would fit best, and threw in a few of the big rocks in the yard that were becoming less decoration and more in the way as the garden expanded.  That is where it sat for a couple of weeks.

Then we had a leak.  Well, more an area that was getting over-watered that oozed out into the walkway between the long bed and the strawberry/grape bed.  We did some digging to make sure it wasn't a leaking pipe, and noticed the squishy clay soaking up the runoff.  Nice squishy clay that would be perfect for the base of a cob oven, and hey, the hole is already started.  So we kept digging.

And now there is a gaping hole in the walkway.

Once he got started, it was hard to slow down.  He built up the base using part of the patio block we pulled up to make room for the patio planter, part of the decorative blocks we had lining the patio and filled in the middle with big rocks we had used to decorate the yard long ago.  The top layer of cob in the base is holding in the insulating layer of sand.  On top of that sits the bricks.  Right now we have the first layer of the oven. Next is an insulating layer that is heavier in straw.  Then one more layer of cob to seal it up.

There's a dome of sand in there for support.  We'll dig it out after the next layer goes on.

I can already smell the bread.

Hoop House

Apparently, Em takes too many photos.  Blogger said she was out of storage.  But we just had to show off our new hoop house.  And other things from this week...

That's right, one more bunch of grapes decided to grow.

Onions

Detroit Red Beets

Halo and Sunflower

Her feathers are looking better.

We used PVC pipe and plastic and went most of the length of the long bed.  

It was almost instantly warmer.

Butchering 101

We had our first hands on lesson in butchering today.  Our meat birds were looking nice and fat, and kinda having a harder time moving around.  So we decided it was time.  As soon as the boys headed off to school we turned on the babysitter (TV) for Riley and blocked the screen door so she couldn't surprise us.  

And then we began.  (I tried to keep the graphic images to a minimum.  Sorry if I upset anyone, but we were butchering live animals.)

We unceremoniously just picked whoever we could catch first to be the first one in the tube.

The first slice.  It was hard to watch, I'm sure tougher for Hubby to
 do than me to watch, but still.  Mostly, I was hiding behind the camera for this part.

We gave many thanks, silent and aloud, to these lovely creatures for giving their lives for our nourishment.

After a dunk in warm water and a soak in cool water while the rest
were killed, we started pulling feathers.

A quick rinse to see if any spots were missed.

Hanging out in the sink, waiting to be eviscerated.

Pulling out the guts.

I would have liked to have helped with this part more.  Riley began to be concerned that we had killed all of the birds, so I took her out to talk to her about which ones were still in the yard and which ones weren't.  We got to the laying birds, and she told me we could kill them, too.  I asked her where we'd get our eggs from if we killed them and she answered that we could keep that one, pointing to the closest bird, and that we could kill the others.  She was very gung-ho about the whole thing.

After the cleaning and soaking, ready to be vacu-sealed.

Roo came in at a very nice 6.32 lbs.  The rest were 5.5 to 5.7 lbs.

Interestingly, it wasn't as upsetting as I thought it would be.  Maybe because we talked about it before we brought them home.  Maybe because we didn't really name them, aside from Roo, but even that was just short for rooster.

I definitely think we'll do this again.  We might wait until the temperature goes back down, or not.  I don't know.  I worry that it'd be hard to keep them cool in the heat of the summer.  We'll take a break for now, that's sure.

We are thinking of roasting two birds.  One that we already had in the freezer from the store, and one of ours.  Just to do a taste test and see how much of a difference there really is.  I think we can both say we've never had a chicken this freshly butchered before.  I can't wait to try it.

More to Love

We invited some new critters to come stay with us.  Maybe it was the excitement of the last week.  Maybe it's that my hubby doesn't want to have to buy manure anymore.  Maybe it's their cute furry noses.

Yep.  We got bunnies.

Two girls.

And one boy.

 Now, the tough part is that we're thinking about breeding them for meat.  You read that right.  We're going to try eating little bunnies.  Not these three.  They'll be the constants that we'll give real names to.  The rest will be named Monday Dinner, or Stewie...  I think I'm going to find it difficult.  Ok, I know I'll find it difficult.  But I'm willing to give it a go.

And in that same theme, we're going to raise broilers also.  We got 5 Cornish hens today, too.  They're ugly little birds.  It may just be the stage of feather growth that they're in, or the different than normal feed store we got them from.  They won't live with the other chicks, because of the difference in age and at some point the feed.  We know it will be a bit different than raising our layers, so it will be like a new adventure.

This part of our journey is going to be an interesting test for me.  I was raised to love and coddle little animals.  I knew meat came from animals, but like most people there's a certain disconnect when I go to the store and pick up a foam tray with processed meat wrapped in plastic.  I didn't know the animal as a living creature.  I can only imagine it will be hard.  But there's enough video out there with how the big companies treat (or mistreat) their animals that I know these animals will be loved and cared for.  And eventually, eaten by grateful diners.  Thankful for the freshness and taste that gets lost in the big chains.  Hopefully our cooking does them justice.