One managed to squeeze into the duck run and attack a duck. Duck’s alive and eating, but legs are all messed up. Hopefully they’ll be back to working soon. Possum took a lot of .22 to the torso and head. It’s good and dead, which is good.
More Monday. It’s been a busy time with the flock these days.
Grey just lambed, and I was leaving her to do her thing, but after two hours, I went up the hill where she was hiding out and there was a dead black ram lamb, still in the sac. The other black (ram, probably, couldn’t get close enough to check for sure) lamb was up, a little wobbly, but able to nurse. She has only one teat, so that’s not the worst thing. She hasn’t passed the placenta yet. I took some pictures, will post them later today. This is depressing, but she is the most skittish when lambing and I had to choose between hovering over her and risking more labor complication vs. leaving her to it and taking this chance of a dead lamb. We may have to try in the future what we did last year, moving her to a small pen until the lamb(s) are established. This year we let her lamb on the main pasture and she ran off into the woods where it was full of twigs and moss and fallen logs and branches. Not easy to observe her or for her to move around, but definitely isolated the way she likes it.
SIGH.
Fascinating historical information on Medieval English foodways!
The Medieval period in Britain was a time of much unrest especially during The War of the Roses in l455,a fierce battle fought to protect the crown.
Food however, was as important then as today. At a feast during these times, all manner of dishes were presented. It was popular to have swan or peacock dressed up as a centre piece for the head table.
At each feast, there might be as many as twenty dishes. Other meal choices would be crane, young herons, quail, plover, blackbird and curlew. Most dishes were served with a strong savoury sauce flavoured with spices such as mace, cayenne pepper, cloves and ginger.
A Medieval Kitchen scene.
Medieval Banquet.
The poorer people lived mostly on pottage which was a broth or stock in which Chopped meat and vegatables were boiled with herbs and often pulses added. Most people in Medieval England had to make…
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Not so long ago, my husband and I, both fans of eating whole, simple foods from healthy plants and animals, decided it would be good to buy a bit of land with a house on it to raise some of those plants and animals. To be sure we haven’t got the animals yet, but people don’t tend to sell them until spring and it is still the winter months until round about April or so. As for the plants, we’ll grab some to plant after we get the animals because it is easier to keep the animals out once you see where they are most interested in cavorting beyond their allotted ranging area.
In the meantime, as the one who is home all day, I try to keep up with local, regional and national food and farming issues when I’m not wrangling a couple of great children and managing our little household. This little blog is meant to chronicle our journey as we acquire livestock and plants and learn to live off our household’s production of meat, milk, produce and other goods. Along the way I will certainly describe some of the numerous issues that affect America’s food supply, policy and production on local, regional and national levels, though with a special focus on what the deal is here in the Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest.
We’ll see how the road winds.
Food, Farming and Faith in Snohomish County 