SteppingSoftly.com

I have gone back and forth in my mind whether or not I should blog about our chicken feast.  In the end I decided that I did want to chronicle the adventure that we had with our chickens this year.

We started out with 21 chickens and didn’t know just how many roosters we were going to have.  We said from the beginning that “we will just eat them” or “sell them.”  Well, I can tell you that nobody wants roosters.  Or should I say that nobody wants to pay for roosters.  You can find them on Craigslist, but I wonder if anybody really ever buys them.

Well, after a period of time we could tell who was going to be “et” and who wasn’t.  The roosters developed a lot quicker than the hens.  They got their wattles and comb quickly and their shape was altogether . . . different.  So after it was all said and done, we had—- eight roosters.  Not too bad.  Out of 21 we only had eight that had to be “dealt” with.

I went back and forth on how many to keep.  One or two.  Two or one.  Finally we decided that two should work for now.  We knew that we wanted to keep “Pretty” the Americana and one of the Dominickers.  One of those Dominickers was definitely more agressive.  One had given me nasty looks and wing flutters once before, but I didn’t know which one it was!  So . . . I made a guess.  When I went into the coop to choose, I chose the one that gave me the weird look.  At that point I hoped that I made a wise choice.

I think I did.

So.  Slaughter day.  We got our stuff ready and set everything up.

We decided to use the traffic cone method for draining all the blood after the heads were chopped off on the tree stump.

This method worked extremely well.   The bucket underneath caught everything that came down through it.  After wards, we just hosed the cones off.

I was the official chicken catcher.

I have to admit that I did cry the first time.  I couldn’t help myself.  We had those chickens for a while and I grow attached to any animal–rooster or not.  I puckered out my bottom lip . . . because the cameraman told me to.

I’ll spare you any pictures of the beheading.  Actually, we don’t have any.  Thank goodness.  Chris did the deed with his Dad’s help holding the chicken still.

I did the dunking in the hot water.  I dunked them for 20-30 seconds.

I did the plucking.  It was amazingly easy.  Nothing like what I thought it would be.

Chris did all the dressing, chopping up and skinning.

You may wonder if we let Bryce watch this event.  Of course we did!  I want him to know where his food comes from.  What a learning experience.  He was not there for the beheadings, but everything else—he saw.

He talked about eating his chickens for a long time.  In fact, yesterday he asked me when we were going to eat the rest of them.  I had to explain that we wanted the hens because they lay the eggs.  He said,” But they haven’t laid any yet!”  Patience, patience.

So, will we do this again?  Let me say that this experience was great.  It was so easy.  We thought that we would be doing it all day, but it only took about four hours to dress five roosters.  Pretty good for our first time.  We had no idea what we were doing.  At all.  Our neighbor Bill was a huge help.

So, we now have two roosters in our pen.  Pretty and Maybe.  The Dominicker that I chose to keep, Chris dubbed Maybe.  Because, after all, maybe we don’t need two roosters.  The third chicken that was not eaten is now known as Lucky.  Our neighbor’s brother-in-law decided that he’d like a rooster for his five hens that were getting up in age.  So, that rooster was very, very lucky.  I chose him at random.  The biggest Rhode Island Red roosters we chose to eat, so Tom got the smallest one.

We had grilled chicken for dinner that night with our neighbors.  And I put three in the freezer.  Not too shabby.

Filed under: Backyard Chickens, Cooking/Baking, Homesteading on August 7th, 2009 | No Comments »

Okay, after a few weeks of  “down” time, I’m back and hopefully will be able to post some new stuff soon.  Something was really wrong with our server/hosting thing-a-ma-jig, etc.  Obviously,computer stuff is not on my side of the list.  Chris handles all that.  So, I had to change my theme and start over.  Luckily we had saved everything, but I did have to upload all my pictures again.

So . . . I’m off to bed now to think of new and exciting things to write about tomorrow.

Filed under: Computers on August 6th, 2009 | No Comments »

We have really been enjoying are garden lately.  This basket is small in comparison to what we have been picking most days.  My favorite tomato this year has, by far, been the Golden Jubilee.  It has a nice shaped yellow/orange fruit with a wonderful flavor. They are the lighter colored tomatoes in the basket.

We experimented with corn this year, just planting several 10 foot rows.  I really didn’t want corn in the first place.  I try to follow the Blood Type Diet and corn isn’t on my “good” list.  So, therefore, I didn’t want to even grow it.  Well . . . let’s just say that next year . . . we will be planting more!  It has been delicious.  I can throw that “diet” out the window just for a few weeks of good corn eating.

Bryce also has enjoyed picking all the vegetables.  The problem is, he wants to carry them around and play with them.  The other day I found a lone ear of corn laying on the ground.  It had been misplaced by Bryce I’m sure of it.

Filed under: Gardening on July 12th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

One way that I try to “step softly” is by not using disposable products.  If it is disposable, ie. napkins, paper towels, etc I try not to use it.  I have been using cloth napkins and dish cloths instead of paper towels for quite some time now.  And it is fun.  It does drive some people nuts though.  After I had Big A, my Momma and mother-in-law could not imagine how I lived without paper towels.  They couldn’t function in the kitchen at all without paper towels.  It was way funny.  I do have to admit that I keep one roll downstairs for occasional use.  But, it takes me months to use the one roll.

If you are just starting out using cloth napkins I would recommend getting some plain men’s handkerchiefs to try out.  They are cheap and they dry quickly.  Yes, they are white and stain easily, but for day to day use they work great.  After you decide that you like using cloth napkins then you can make some yourself or find fun prints and patterns to match your kitchen or dining room.  I asked for some for Christmas and my Momma made me a dozen.  When guests come over, I use the pretty prints instead of the stained white ones

For replacing paper towels, I love white bar towels and the old-style thin towels that are used for embroidering.  They, too, are white but again, they dry quickly and they are not expensive.  They are also easy to come by.

Here are a few tips for using cloth napkins and dish towels.

• Only wash when soiled. Most adults don’t really dirty a napkin after every meal.
• Designate a place to store “in-use” napkins and use the same one until it is dirty.
• If you have a large family, designate a napkin ring for each member to identify their napkin between meals.
• Toss dirty napkins and dish towels in with other laundry.
• Use eco-friendly laundry detergent.
• Wash with cold water and line dry when weather permits.

So, there’s my two cents on a few disposables that you can easily rid your house of.   More to come

Filed under: Conservation, Green Living, Simplification on June 19th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

We tried out a new recipe tonight.  Actually Chris tried it out.  He had seen the recipe in an older copy of Mother Earth News and decided tonight was the night.  It was an article on discovering Cherokee Popcorn.  We topped it with whipped cream.  It was okay.  There are some things that Chris will do differently if he makes it again.  One thing–the most important thing–was that it really was not that sweet.  Maybe we should have topped it with vanilla ice cream like the article suggests!

Popcorn Pie

• 4 cups freshly popped popcorn, unsalted
• 1 cup toasted peanuts, unsalted (we used cashews)
• 2 T toasted sesame seeds
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup black strap molasses
• 1/4 cup water or strong coffee (we used coffee)
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (we used crunchy)
• 2 T melted butter, unsalted
• 1 9- inch prepared pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Chop popcorn in a food processor until reduced to the size of oatmeal.  Pour popcorn, along with the small crumbs and dust, in to a large work bowl.  Chop peanuts in the processor until they reach a coarse cornmeal texture.  Add the processed peanuts and sesame seeds to the popcorn.

In a separate work bowl, beat egg yolks until lemon in color, then add the honey, molasses, water or coffee, peanut butter and melted butter.  Beat until peanut butter is completely dissolved, then add to the popcorn mixture.  Stir with a paddle to form a thick, sticky batter.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold in the batter.  Pour the batter into the prepared pie shell and bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until the pie is set in the center.  Serve chilled or at room temperature.  This recipe yields eight servings.

Filed under: Cooking/Baking on May 28th, 2009 | No Comments »

Okay, I’ve been gone for a while.  But, you have to remember, I just got here too so . . .  I have some good excuses.  We had two sick cats, I’ve got tonsillitis as we speak, A’s got some sort of cold.  And rain.  Blame it on the rain.  We’ve had so much rain.  And then some more rain.  I am sick of rain.

I am going to try and get something put up tonight if I can.  We’ll see.  It won’t be much so don’t get too excited.

Filed under: Motherhood on May 28th, 2009 | No Comments »

Big A is a waterbaby.  She is on the short list of babies born under water.  Though, that list is getting longer all the time.  I had a super, duper wonderful birth experience at Carolina WaterBirth.  It was great.  I will never have a baby any other way.  That is a weird statement.

I chose to have a water birth for several reasons.  First off, the contractions are much easier to handle.  I was able to relax in the tub.  As soon as I got into the tub I felt at ease.  I felt like my contractions went away, but what I was experiencing was normal.

When you get in the tub you don’t feel the beginning or end of the contractions, just the middle.   Also, being in the water softens certain “areas” of the body and reduces blood pressure.  There are many other reasons to have a water birth, but I won’t go into all the details.  I will save that for another post, or for those who want more details.  You can learn more about water birthing here.

Filed under: Waterbirthing on May 12th, 2009 | No Comments »

Yes, I am a cloth diaperer.  And I love it.  I tell my husband all the time, “Have I told you how much I love using cloth diapers?”  I really do.  It is sort of weird.  I love hanging them on the clothes line as well.  There’s just something about it.  I didn’t use cloth diapers with Bryce, but I wish that I had because cloth diapers are simple and fun.  The amount of diapers that are now in the landfill really disgusts me.  Just think, the little poop packages are wrapped up tightly, then put into another plastic bag, then the trash can inside another plastic bag and then sometimes put into, yet another, plastic bag.  Terrible.  Did you know that on the packages of disposable diapers it actually instructs you to remove the poop from the diaper before placing it in the trash can?  Who does that?  Nobody.

Anyway, I digress.  I’m not exactly sure when I first made the decision that I wanted to use cloth with our second child, but it was a long time ago.  And, just like with the chickens, I learned everything I absolutely could about them.  I found countless websites about using cloth diapers, read all the facts and made my decision.  Two of my favorite websites continue to be Cotton Babies and Wildflower Diapers.

So, on to which kind I use.

I chose to use bumGenius 3.0 One Size pocket diapers.  These are not your Momma’s cloth diapers.  They sport stretchy sides, hook and loop closures and they don’t leak.  And, the best part . . . they come in lots of colors.  But you say, “Wow, those are really expensive!  Who can afford that?”  Well, let me tell you, they are not as expensive as buying disposables.  They will last you until potty training.  They expand from 7-35#.  But, that’s not the entire reason that I use them.  Really, it’s not the reason at all.  Here’s the real reason:

• Disposable diapers are the third most common consumer product in landfills today.
• A disposable diaper may take up to 500 years to decompose.
• One baby in disposable diapers will contribute at least 1 ton of waste to your local landfill.

And with using cloth diapers it only makes sense to use cloth wipes as well.  You just throw everything into your diaper pail and wash it all together.  I have some “bought” wipes, but I also use scraps of material and I have a plethora of baby washcloths that work well too.  I chose to use the dry method of “wiping.”  I have a small spray bottle filled with water and a few drops of tea tree oil.  When I need a wipe (and usually I only need one because they are so absorbent and work so well) I just saturate it with the solution in the spray bottle and voila!

My diaper pail consists of a 13 gallon trash can with a step-on lid.  My diaper pail liner is this one.  I have two and I rotate them.  On washing day, I just grab the whole bag out of the liner, dump the diapers out into the washing machine and then throw the liner in last.

So, there you have it.  I love using cloth diapers so much that I successfully convinced two of my sisters-in law to using cloth.  Now isn’t that just dandy?  Don’t you just want to go out and buy a cloth diaper now?

Filed under: Cloth Diapering, Making Home on May 11th, 2009 | No Comments »

Okay, my most recent hogger (is that a word?) of time on the computer has been a great little website called BackYard Chickens.  Not Facebook, not Craigslist, not plain ‘ole email.  BackYard Chickens is my new friend.  I have posted several questions on the forum lately and scrounged around and learned lots of information from the Learning Center.

When I get into something, ie. chickens and ducklings, I am an information hog.  I want to learn everything I possibly can about it.  Now, granted, I have also learned lots of information from some of my other favorite sites like Countryside, Grit and Mother Earth News, but I love the message board on BackYard Chickens the best.  If you ever thought that you’d like to have chickens, you should be able to find everything you need to know from this site.

Filed under: Backyard Chickens, Homesteading on May 9th, 2009 | No Comments »

Okay, the real reason that I haven’t blogged lately is simple.  I don’t know what to blog about.  I haven’t gotten into the rhythm yet.  I have so many ideas of things to talk about, but I can’t choose which one to write about first!  What a great problem to have. So, I am going to try hard to put something on paper.  Uh, keyboard, I mean.  Come back soon . . .

Filed under: Uncategorized on May 8th, 2009 | No Comments »