This year has been a successful year for beets. We grew a F1 hybrid from Johnny's called Merlin. We love them. Big healthy and very tasty. Where appropriate we grow heirloom plants but beets are not something we'll attempt to save seeds from in the near future. Although we have been enjoying the thinnings for several weeks, we just got around to harvesting them in earnest. This batch is from the front yard row.
It is very weedy. Our trip to Michigan left this row in shambles. I'll cover this row with a black tarp, kill the weeds and sterilize the soil for a few weeks. After that I'll plant a cover crop. These are the littlest beets after sorting and removing the larger ones for this first batch.
Here are some of the larger ones in the queue for the cooker.
These beets are partially cooked and will cool so we can slip the skins off, slice them and stick them in jars.
As I type the last quart of fifteen is being added to this canner.
These will be pickled beets and here are the spices to be added to each jar.
Other recent additions to our pantry and freezer are two quarts of black raspberries, three quarts of black berries, fourteen quarts of green beans.
The sheep are working out nicely. We have kept them in a fifteen foot piece of snowfence and move it regularly along our fence rows. They are excellent at keeping me from having to weed eat the fence rows.
A simple piece of tarp for shelter and a bucket of water are all they need. We plan to shear them before butcher. I also hope to tan their hides. So far sheep seem to fit well into our farm. Lamb being my favorite meat affords them a little more latitude than usual.
The dogs are doing well. They are shedding their puppy coats and look a little scruffy.
Astrid is an excellent livestock guardian. She also has enveloped our house into her sphere of protection. Visitors are notified that a large dog lives here with a deep menacing bark.
The other night Tabitha went to the barn with a flashlight and Astrid did not recognize her. Astrid ran around at lightspeed to the upper paddock to surround her. Astrid and the boys closed in on her to attack from front and rear. This scared Tabitha and she yelled their "disarm" word. They immediately stood down and marched around with ruffled back fur snorting heavily. Scary but kinda makes a person feel good about personal protection.
Astrid is nine months old and will only get better at her job. She is probably 75% grown in size. The boys, Captain Jack and Ianto will be quite a bit larger than Astrid. They come from larger stock and they are boys. We feel lucky to have these dogs. They are on a raw meat diet plus table scraps. Very healthy and anxious to please.
7 comments:
Every time I see that canner of yours, I'm a bit envious. I wish I had a garden big enough to justify one like that. Perhaps in my future.
I like lamb a lot, too, though I tend to like it in a sauce or stew that makes it a bit less healthful.
Karl,
I have 3 large dogs, including 2 Pyrs, and I would love to know what you do/ how you manage to keep the 3 of yours in raw meat. I've wanted to do that with my dogs and I've experimented with some options, but right now I'm still buying a lot of dog food.
David Z
I'm not normally afraid of dogs, especially my own, but I have to say that had I been in Tabitha's shoes, I probably would have been quite intimidated. Glad she kept her wits about her ;).
Is having a "disarm" word standard protocol for LGDs? I don't know much about them so have no idea. Glad Tabitha had a way to "disarm" them before they attacked her!
Ed, Yes that canner is a daunting item. For serious canners only.
Pablo, My favorite is lamb chop, marinated in olive oil, lemon juice fresh mint and rosemary. Then grilled until "char-rare" with a bit of mint jelly on the side. (*as i wipe the drool from the corner of my mouth*)
David Z, We butcher our own stuff, chicken, cows and soon to butcher pigs. We save almost everything frozen. If a farm animal dies they get it. We also get my father-in-laws off-fall from his butchering. We are just taking order of 150 chicks that we'll raise and butcher. heads and feet are frozen. if we run low we might feed some chicken gizzards our hearts and lastly livers. I also keep a bag of kibble around for emergency food but only use it as a last resort.
Wendy, I'm not afraid of dogs either but those situations are startling. Astrid is 1/4 Anatolian shepherd. They are fearless and will completely disregard their personal safety to protect their pack. The Anatolian seems to be strong in her behavior. Henry Would never have mounted an assault on a person of this caliber.
Amy, They have one negative word "MINE" it means stop whatever you are doing and be submissive. We don't use "NO" because we use that on the kids. They don't respond to it for BOB who feeds them. I think that is weird.
mmm. Lamb. every Fall I make a white bean chili w/ lamb that does not hide the meat taste. Wish i could talk the hubby into having one for the freezer.
That is alot of beets! :)
Love that the dogs fit so perfectly & you have them trained so well. ow comforting to know that NO ONE can sneak up on your place. Kudos on raising such great ones.
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