Chicken bandit, and family all home

This past few days have been hard on my chickens I have lost 3 broilers from the heat and 1 Freedom Ranger attacked and killed last night. I think it was a raccoon a magical raccoon that can walk thru electric fence as I can find where the coon came thru or exited the fence. I am going to camp out tonight with the chickens and try to catch the midnight bandit. I am glad to see it cool down it is easier on me and the chickens as they were drinking about 16 gallons of water a day and I was having to visit them twice a day.

I am glad to have my family back home, they came home from summer camp Saturday afternoon, it is great to hear the pitter patter of my little boys feet as he walks across the floor, and even better to hear my wife snore. Ole Jack, Kenny Ray's beagle escaped Monday night right before a thunderstorm hit , Jack is afraid of thunder and lightening. As Kenny Ray was moving him to the barn , he got loose from him and ran away. We searched for him about 45 minutes but could not find him. A lady in Fairborn called the next morning and asked if we had a dog with a cow bell on him. Tari told her yes , and the young lady brought Jack home. Jack had traveled about 5 miles from home during the storm. We are glad Ole Jack is home also.

Good night and I love you

I have been a bachelor for a week,some what anyway. With Kenny Ray and Tari gone to boy scout summer camp for a week , they will come home Saturday. I had Tari fix 3 cans of Salmon into patties for me to eat this week. I like Salmon patties and I have had them for dinner and supper since they left, Breakfast has been muffins and raspberry jam. I can honestly say I am ready for a hamburger tomorrow. It has been a sleepless week last Saturday night Kenny Ray and I was out to about 1am fishing, Sunday did not get home til about 11 pm, Monday and Tuesday I went fishing Til about 10:30 pm and midnight after the fish were filleted and in the freezer. I got home from work last night showered and lied down to read about 7 pm and I took my glasses off to rest my eyes and I woke up at about 11:30 pm when Tari called. I usually like to be in bed about 9 pm, and these late night caught up to me. I remember when I could function good on just a couple hours of sleep a night, but as Tari always reminds me that was a 100 lbs and 20 years ago. I have not been a bachelor very much in my life as I got married right out of high school it is strange sleeping in the bed alone, it's funny all the little things you miss

after being married 28 years . like good night i love you and having my back hugged. The hard part this week as been the lack of communication as her cell phone has no reception there. Tonight I am writing while I do a load of laundry as I just finished cleaning up a little. So goodnight Tari and son I love you.

Sauerkraut Mountain style

The weeds are winning in my garden. I was thankful back in April that it was dry as managed to get most of my garden planted earlier than I ever had in in the 21 years that I have lived here in Beavercreek. But now with April rains in June My garden is soaked and some of the tomato plants are turning yellow. I need to get some more beans in if it will dry up a little this week, if not I will go fishing , and add to the freezer as there is a good catfish bite on now. Kenny Ray , Biscuit {Dan} my nephew , my mom and I picked about a gallon of Black Raspberries last Thursday night after work and mom made some more jam yesterday, while Tari and I made some sauerkraut from 4 nice heads of cabbage out of the garden and she also made me some Cole slaw. I make my sauerkraut like my grandparents did and I assume my great grandparents as well. Here is my recipe.

Brewer family sauerkraut

1 shred cabbage and place in jar, leave 1inch head space

2 pour 1 tablespoon of pickling salt over cabbage in jar

3 add cold well water to cover cabbage { try to avoid city water} and dissolve salt

4 cover with lids DO NOT TIGHTEN leave loose for 2 days then tighten lids and store

The above picture is 6 quarts that Tari and I put up yesterday. Mom and I will be busy for the next couple of weeks picking berries and canning beets as they should be ready this week as well.

Black Raspberries and my little boy

Kenny Ray got home yesterday, he spent the first part of the week with his Grandmother at the farm in Bainbridge. They went down to pick black raspberries for some home made jam. They took some books for reading and did a little fishing. I have written in the past how much I hate it when he is gone the house becomes a tomb. Tari and I always miss him something fierce. While we will enjoy the jam I do not know if it was worth him being gone 2 days, next week he and Tari will be gone for 7 days at boy scout summer camp. I will surely be lost with both gone. I took Kenny Ray to his archery league last night and we had a great conversation as we talked for almost 2 hours as he shot. I got about 5 hugs and I love you daddy. Here is a little Appalachian American poetry

In the body of a man
but still a little boy
my heart swells with joy

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life Matthew 6:27

This morning as I was feeding and watching the chickens as they were devouring the fresh grass and scratching for bugs. I thought of all the grass I was not using and what a waste . God has provided such a bounty of food right in front of me. Now I know I can not eat grass, but God has provided turkeys and chickens and cows that can process grass and the insects that live in the grass. While I was sitting there I thought about what all God has provided in each season for food. In early spring There are fresh greens as Poke Salad and Cresses a wild lettuce , Morel mushrooms or dry land fish as mountain people call them. Summer brings berries to eat Black Raspberries and Blackberries, Mulberries. In the fall you have Hickory nuts , walnuts, Paw paws, Persimmons. these are just a few items that I can think of off the top of my head. Now I can not think of to many none meat items for winter. But winter is the time of year that you need more calories that only meat can provide and winter is a great time to hunt wild game.

Today though people like to call themselves civilized so they buy most of their food and allot

precooked and assembled in a factory. Even God has an answer to this unnatural food it is called

growing a garden and preserving the excess. Raising chickens and a beef , go fishing and learn to fillet fish for the freezer. Food is never a problem if you look to God the answer is already there.

Matthew 6:26

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. are you not much more valuable than they?

What a tremendous faith that one would have to have to live by the above verse.

I will pray for you and myself for that faith.

Weeds and wet weather

Tari and I tried weeding the garden some this evening as they are calling for rain tomorrow.

This past week was wet and hot and humid which is good for the vegetable's but the weeds like it better. I was almost weed free until the rains hit and they multiplied like rabbits. I did have to dust my cabbage for the first time this evening as I was starting to get a little insect damage. I caught a white fly under the row cover on one end and that is where i have the most damage. I did thin some of the fruit off the apple and peach trees. I found one Japanese beetle on some flowers here at home but they have not appeared on any fruit yet. I am off tomorrow for Kenny Ray's birthday, so not much extra work will be done tomorrow just feed the chickens and we are going down to cabin to mow grass and the rest of the day will be spent either at the pond or on the river bank.

An old friend, a cousin and garden update

I had a surprise today visitor today Big Ronnie, I wrote about him in January in looking up an old friend. We talked about an hour about old times when we were growing up together. I told him I was writing all those stories down . And that Kenny Ray loved to listen to the stories. When I got home this evening I called my cousin Nova, to see how everyone was doing and to ask her if she would write down some stories or anything that her mom and brothers and sisters would like to add to the book I have been writing about my family. My family has always passed loved to tell stories and I want to write them down for future generations from humble beginnings as share croppers thru the great depression to a small farm that was the garden of Eden for my Grandmother Sarah Belle Brewer. I may post some of it here or on my other blog Ramblings of a Appalachian American after some final editing. I posted a picture of the first tomato of the year here today I took the picture Sunday June 6 just before I popped it in my mouth. we have a lot of heat and rain here last week and the weeds are growing strong I need to get a hoe in the garden maybe tomorrow evening. The rabbits are reaching havoc on my beans I have replanted some spots 3 times now.I think I will replant again and move the ole Jack closer to the garden.

I went over to my mother's house this evening to set a post and tie a tree to it to straighten up.

We walked back to garden and I noticed a Japanese beetle on her sunflower I will check my peach tree in the morning as they always attack it first. I need to spray something on it to try and save as it is loaded with peaches. It looks like it will be a good year for fruit the apples are so loaded down I think the branches will break . I picked some cherries for the first time off one of my trees about a pint and I have about a dozen plums also. Looks like i might get some canning done

next week as the beets and cabbage should be ready. I had my first losses of chickens Saturday

2 of them got caught under the pen as I was moving. I still have 110 on pasture and 6 turkeys.

Chickens are ready

Kenny Ray and I took the first batch of chickens to the butcher shop this evening. I started with 40 and never lost a one , and the 3 turkey's are growing nicely as well. I have started another web site for anyone interested in purchasing a 100% drug free chicken, raised on grass and in sunshine with a buffet of grass and bugs. You will find an order form on the site as well. The site is still under construction. I hope to finish the site this coming weekend as Tari and Kenny Ray

birthday are this week and I have a couple of day's off. There never seems to be enough time to get all the work done. Here is the address for the chickens if you are interested. http://brewerandsonspasturedpoultry.blogspot.com

God bless and goodnight as 5am comes early.

I am against fishing in the rain

Kenny Ray and I hauled down supplies for my mom and sister Friday night down to the farm for their weekend visit. He and I got up Saturday morning and went fishing in the Pond, we caught several fish 2 really nice 4lb Channel catfish. I came home Saturday afternoon but Kenny Ray stayed as Dave and Dan came down and a couple of other boys with them , one with purple hair

and another boy that comes from a anti hunting family. Kenny Ray said dad they would not even fish or swimming in the pond as the water looked dirty, all they wanted to do was watch TV and play video games. It is a shame, what those Boy's are missing. Then their is Kenny Ray who has bad allergies and a touch of asthma, he said to me one day It's not fair I want to be outside all the time Dad but these stupid allergies.

I ended up at Greene county Fish and game club by myself Saturday evening after coming home and feeding the chickens as Tari was at her Aunt Pam's house. I fished til dark catching 2 nice channel catfish I brought these home and filleted them out for my Lunch one day this week.

On Sunday Tari and I went and picked Strawberries, about a gallon and a half. She mad a nice

strawberry pie.That evening she and I went back to Greene county and went fishing for a couple of hours. We did not catch anything it was very hot.

Monday morning went and took care of chickens they are ready to butcher they have gotten so fat they can hardly walk. I have an appointment for Thursday morning for the first 40 chickens. Kenny Ray and I will spend the day in Greenville as it is about an hour and half from here, we will just wait on them. I cleaned out my old and worn truck in the afternoon just waiting on Kenny Ray to get home. He got home around 3pm , we talked and he went in to the refrigerator to get some tea and seen my catfish filet's in a bowl," hey dad come and fry this fish"

there went my lunch. He and I decided to go back out to the club and fish that evening but as pulled into club it started raining, I said son let sit here a few minutes and see if clears up. We just sat there about 15 minutes talking, and then he sang " i am against fishing in the rain". It is from a Hank Jr. song "I am for love". I can not hardly stand it when Kenny Ray is gone somewhere without me the house just seems so empty and quiet. Even as I write this morning I can hear him breathing/snoreing in his room across the hall.When he is gone my home is just a house, he walks in the door it becomes home.