CUTTING A PINEAPPLE
The first time I dehydrated fresh pineapple several years ago was also the first time I had ever cut up a fresh pineapple. I was really intimidated by it because I had heard people comment about how difficult it was. Fortunately, I did not find that to be true. I used directions I found on You Tube that took the scariness out of the process and now I can approach a pineapple without a trace of fear!
HOW TO CUT A PINEAPPLE
First, I washed the pineapple.
Next, I cut off the top and bottom.
Then I set the pineapple back upright to slice it into half …
… and then into quarters
To remove the core, I made a V-cut into each of the quarters.
Next, I cut each piece in half again so that there were eight pieces.
Then, I cut each section crosswise. Since I am using these pineapple pieces for dehydrating, I tried to cut them fairly consistently in about a fat 1/4″ slice. When preparing a pineapple for other uses, uniform slices may not be necessary.
Finally, I sliced along the skin. It’s not necessary to get extremely close to the skin. If you do, you’ll have to do too much clean-up.
It only took about half an hour to prepare both pineapples for the dehydrator!
INTO THE DEHYDRATER IT GOES
I did a little trimming to remove bits of “eye” that was left in the fruit.
Then, onto the trays and the dehydrator was started!
These will take 6 – 12 hours to dry so should be ready to package before I go to work in the morning. The two pineapples filled five trays.
LEFTOVERS
Keep those skins and cores. There’s more magic to come!
IS IT RIPE?
While not the price I would have preferred to pay, when I saw pineapple in the grocery store for under $2.00, I brought two home. It’s been six or seven years since the last time I dehydrated fresh pineapple, so it is time to do it again.
Then I wondered: “how do I know these are ripe?”
The usual sniff test (you want it to smell sweet) does no good since I haven’t regained my sense of smell. So, I had to find other ways to determine if they are ready to process.
There were a lot of multi-step processes out in google-land to search through, but I settled on two tests that I can remember in the future. They are:
- You want the skin of the pineapple to be more yellow and less green. (Brown is getting toward the rotting end of the spectrum, but don’t get rid of one just because it’s brown. Cut it open to see what can be salvaged.)
- You can easily pluck a leaf from the top of the fruit.
Luckily, after sitting on my counter for two days, these pineapples are ready to process … tomorrow.
THE FINAL SISTER
The corn hasn’t made much progress, but I was running out of time to plant the green beans. So, I got several tomato cages, turned them upside down, and planted the beans around them. My Three Sisters Garden is definitely not what you see in the pictures, but it has all the components.
I was despairing about all the unused garden space, feeling like I am wasting opportunities. However, I realized this weekend that planting for some of the Fall garden begins next month and next month is almost here!
Last year I struggled to find enough growing space for cool weather crops because all my space was still being used by summer crops. So, it works out nicely that I have empty space.
I want to try broccoli (fall planting begins July 1), cauliflower (begins August 1), and beets (July 15) again. They didn’t do well last year. I’d like to try some cabbage (July 1). Maybe I’ll do carrots again (July 15); they were pretty successful last year. Then of course, all the greens for the chickens (lettuce, kale, etc.) get planted beginning August 1st. I need to take inventory of what seeds I have this week, so I know what I need to order.
The cosmos has started to bloom. They are pretty!
SQUASH BLOSSOMS
Things are moving along with the squash!
Last night I found this:
By this morning, when I left for work, it had fully opened!
Ooh, excitement is brewing in the garden!
HERBS IN THE HENHOUSE
Caboose made it through the night. Yes, I was concerned that I had over-stressed her and would find her lifeless body this morning. I’m glad that wasn’t the case.
Her comb is still limp but her feathers and clean and fluffy. She came right up to me, so I’ll take that to mean she isn’t holding a grudge. However, when I let the chickens out to free-range tonight, instead of going back to the coop at bedtime with the rest of the flock, I found her standing in the middle of the front yard. If it had been any darker outside, I wouldn’t have seen her. Poor dear. I will continue to keep an eye on her and certainly hope she pulls out of whatever is ailing her.
Caboose was part of the original batch of chickens that we incubated eggs in 2020 (click the link to read how she got her name).
As measure to support every chicken’s health, I put a layer of fresh bedding in the coop. I trimmed my citronella, mint, rosemary, oregano, and sage plants and put those in the coop also. They are all chicken-safe herbs that provide benefits to their health and well-being.
Citronella is good for keeping flies, gnats, and mosquitos away. That’s not just me reading from a book. I experienced it when I put a pot of Citronella on my front porch several weeks ago. It magically cleared the area of flying insects, and I can stand on my porch without having to swat hordes of bugs away from my face and body. I need to grow some out next to the coop too, or even better I can get a hanging basket of it and hang it in the run. Unfortunately, there was no more Citronella available at several nurseries I checked so that will have to be something I do next year. Apparently, you can put it in their nesting boxes to help with heat stress. Since the silly chickens aren’t using the nest boxes ….
Mint is a nutrient-rich herb that offers lots of health benefits to both humans and for chickens. Just like with us, it helps chickens digest their food more effectively. Menthol, one of the active ingredients in mint, helps prevent and treat respiratory conditions something to which chickens are very susceptible. Placing mint in the coop helps repel bugs and mice.
Rosemary is commonly used to help chickens with pain relief, healing wounds, and promoting respiratory health. It is a great-immune-boosting food for them. Additionally, while we like the aroma of rosemary, it is an unpleasant one to pests, bugs, and parasites.
Oregano is used to strengthen the immune system and is thought to help guard against common poultry illnesses such as salmonella, infectious bronchitis, avian flu and e-coli. I have previously used oregano oil in their water as immune support throughout the winter but stopped when my bottle ran out. It’ll be a real treat for them to eat it fresh.
Sage is known to be anti-parasitic and to promote egg-laying and is rich in antioxidants and vitamins. It’s also used to reduce the chances of salmonella, and other common chicken diseases.
There are many more herbs that are useful for chicken health. These are just the ones I used today.
Caboose Gets a Bath
It has been a busy evening. I do enjoy that I can come home and get things done on the homestead for an hour or so before the dark and/or the mosquitos chase me inside.
Caboose has been acting unhappy and unwell. She spends a lot of time in the coop, her comb is droopy, and she just has an air of “I want my mommy.” Figuring out what’s wrong with a chicken is usually a tricky thing. One thing I noticed was she had a dirty bum, so tonight she got a bath.
Just like last year, when all the chickens got a bath (click the link for pictures!), I got a tub of warm, soapy water, a washcloth and a towel and cleaned her from head to toe. She actually seemed to enjoy it.
Once she had a clean bum, I checked her vent for mites and was happy to see that is not the problem. On the other hand, that would have been an easy fix.
One towel was not enough, and it got completely soaked before she was dry enough. The water-logged feathers threw off her balance and she was weaving about like she was drunk. I watched her for a long time after putting her back with the other chickens to be sure they didn’t pick on her. I was pleased to see a couple of them gently helping her groom her wet feathers.
I hope the bath was good for Caboose. I will continue to observe her to try to figure out what’s bothering her.
The second task of the evening was to pick the last of the peas and pull the plants out. I was really surprised how many more peas there were tonight as I have been gathering all the ready-to-pick pods every evening for more than a week.
Hot weather is not good for peas here and the plants were deteriorating, so it was time for them to come out of the ground. I think I might plant green beans in that bed next since the corn in the Three Sisters Garden is not growing tall enough to provide the support the beans need.
It was a hoot to watch the chickens fling pea stalks everywhere! They received the majority of the plants, but I also saved aside a big pile for the worms next feeding.
We had a special treat for our dinner, too. When I went to Moore Generation Farms last fall to learn to process chickens (click the link for that post), I commented about how incredible the livers looked. Grocery store livers have been looking unhealthy for a long time and I haven’t had any for quite a while because I just couldn’t put something in my mouth that was pale pink and mushy when it was supposed to look dark red and firm. I was surprised, and grateful, when they gave me several packages of chicken livers. I made a package tonight and they were as lovely and yummy as I expected. My sister will be so jealous!
Having a productive evening sure was a nice way to end the work week!
POOR PITIFUL
THREE SISTERS GARDEN
My corn plants are poor, pitiful things while the fields of corn I pass each day are lush and knee high. I’ll leave them in the garden, but I don’t anticipate the situation to improve. It has, after all, been 5 weeks since the corn was planted. It appears I’ll be buying corn for the chickens for winter.
I’m going to have to plant the beans soon. Since they are runner beans, and the scrawny corn plants will not support them, I now also need to figure out a trellis system for them.
Some, but not all of the seeds I planted last week (zucchini, crook neck, watermelon, etc.) have germinated and pushed leaves above the dirt. Hopefully, the squash will live up to its reputation and I will be gifting my friends and neighbors with an overabundance when fall comes around.
CHICKENS
We had rain throughout this past week. Some of it torrential. The result, besides not having to water the gardens all week (!), was absolute slop in the chicken run.
It was disgusting, slimy, full of flies and even I could smell the stench (after covid, my sense of smell only works for very strong odors, so it was definitely foul).
The rain cleared Friday evening and Saturday morning was spent mucking out the chicken run. We scraped it all the way down to the ground. Then I coated everything with diatomaceous earth and Oscar hung a fly trap. That’s the first time we’ve had so many flies that we needed a trap. Nasty!
I am still trying to get the hens to stop laying in the coop. With Eager still being broody and not letting the other hens lay in the bowl they had adopted as their chosen egg-laying spot, they have been laying everywhere in the coop and run. Everywhere except the nest box. This results in some really dirty eggs.
I purchased a fancy nest box and had it attached to the perch system at the level they usually perch, thinking it would be just a step away for them to go have a nice sit-down in a private spot. But my imaginary degree in Chicken Psychology failed me. Only Pecky will use the darn thing so I have to figure out how to convince the others to use it.
The first thing I did was pull the bowl, Eager and all, out into the run. She sat there a few moments wondering what was going on, got huffy, and stomped into the coop, grumbling all the way.
Second, while we had the perches pulled out so we could clean the run, Oscar moved the nest boxes closer to ground.
If that doesn’t work, I’m out of ideas.
UGH! BUGS!
If you didn’t know, the South has A LOT of bugs. This is the time of the year when the bugs return with a vengeance. At night the air is so full of bugs you can’t open the door without several inviting themselves inside.
With bugs come bug bites. I have bug bites on my feet and ankles. I have bug bites in my knee pits, shins, calves and thighs. I have bug bites on my arms and my back. Every day, I have new bug bites that need scratching. I remind myself that “this too shall pass” as spring moves into summer but, until then, UGH!
MAGIC
We had two magical and exciting things happen on the homestead this week.
First, firefly season began! I love seeing fireflies. No, I never converted over to the Southern moniker: lightning bugs. I held on to “Firefly” because the word just sounds as magical to me as seeing them is. The next few weeks will involve watching for each night’s firefly display.
The other excitement is that the automatic chicken door has been installed. We’ve been waiting a year for this moment!
Last month, I won some money at work — enough to cover the cost of the door kit. I chose the Omelet door. It has great reviews for the security it provides, and I like that it opens and closes horizontally instead of vertically.
Of course, Oscar let it sit around for a month before doing anything with it. He has an aversion to doing new things. I tried to encourage him to overcome his delaying tactics by having him do the morning AND evening chicken chores (usually we split them). Nevertheless, it took me saying “Now” and standing out there while he installed it to get it done. SMH.
As you might imagine, both of us were standing on the back porch tonight to watch the Magic:
IN THE GARDEN
The heat this week and weekend has been in the upper eighties and at times into the nineties so all outside work has been in spurts. I only got little things done but they added up to a nice bunch of accomplishments. Most notable is the planting I was able to do.
This weekend I planted zucchini, watermelon, and two kinds of yellow summer squash seeds in the Three Sisters Garden.
I had transplanted some tarragon, oregano, sage, thyme, and marjoram into my new “Leaf” Greenstalk planter on Monday. This weekend I transplanted rosemary into a couple of pockets. I direct-seeded the entire top level with nasturtiums as pest deterrent and, of course, because they are pretty. Lastly, I direct-seeded the remaining pockets with some borage, spearmint, and basil. This Greenstalk is now fully planted!
It may not look like much now but if everything grows, it’s going to be spectacular.
Hmm, if everything grows, I’m going to have to learn how to use all this stuff.
WORDS TO LIVE BY
— Arthur Ashe
DID YOU MISS ME?
I’ve been MIA for a couple weeks but it’s been for good reasons.
Two weekends ago, Oscar developed Covid symptoms and was completely wilted. So, he got none of his weekend chores and projects done. Yes, he tested positive. I was feeling puny too so none of my weekend projects got done either.
This past weekend, friends of mine, the Parks, came to visit from Wyoming. Happy Days! I haven’t seen them since 2018. They tried to visit in March 2020 and actually got as far as Maryland, but that was the weekend the country started shutting down for the Pandemic and rather than finish their planned trip, they had to concentrate on finding a way back home. As you can imagine, we had a lot of catching up to do and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
GARDEN NEWS
I was So Excited to find lots and lots of pods on my pea plants! I planted a lot more peas this Spring than I did last Spring because, well, I want more peas.
I took today (Monday) off from work and started on some of my belated transplanting. I was able to put three Kabocha pumpkins in the Three Sisters Garden and one in a homemade container*. If that one survives, I plan to give it to the friend who originally told me about them.
I transplanted one tomato plant in a homemade container*, four in the original Greenstalk planter.
, and two in my deep, green planter of this Spring’s failed Kale planting.
I transplanted my Gypsy Peppers into another layer of the original Greenstalk planter.
I moved last year’s thyme plant (split it into two plants) from the original Greenstalk planter to my new “leaf” Greenstalk planter. The “leaf” Greenstalk planter gives more pockets than the original but they are also more shallow. Mine is intended to hold mostly herbs and I already have tarragon, sage, oregano, and marjoram planted there. I used one level for my Habanero pepper seedlings though.
At that point, the cloud cover disappeared, and it got too hot to work outside.
I still need to direct seed zucchini, crook neck squash and watermelon (all those starts died) in the Three Sisters Garden. I also have a lot of empty pockets in the two Greenstalk planters. That can only mean one thing – I don’t have enough plants! Hmm, what should I do about that?
*Homemade containers: I saw a You Tube video about wrapping a cardboard box, inside and out, in a contractor’s garbage bag. Then you pull a big of the inside bag out through a small hole for drainage. I made three to try this year. They are not attractive, but they are inexpensive.
CHICKEN NEWS
The hens have been laying 6-8 eggs a day. That is, until Eager decided to stop laying and go broody. She has planted herself where everyone else has been laying their eggs and she won’t let anyone in. You can hear the arguing in the hen house as everyone circles around Eager, grumbling at her to “Get Off!” She just growls and fluffs her feathers at them. Oh, the drama!
The result is, we have to search for eggs every day. After all, when you have to pop out an egg, there is no holding it in. So, I’m finding them dropped everywhere in the coop and run…but not in that fancy nest box we have for them. Only one of the Cream Legbars will lay in the “real” nest box.
I wouldn’t mind letting Eager hatch a clutch of eggs, but we just are not prepared. If the hoop house conversion to a chicken house were finished, I’d move her and some eggs into that. It’s not ready, however, so we have missed opportunity this year.
FOOD PRESERVATION
I processed the last of the strawberries by coring and freezing them whole. We thawed and had some of them with our breakfast when the Parks were here this weekend. How can one fruit hold so much Yum?
I did some rebel canning. I cooked up a ham I had purchased when they were on sale at Easter, cut it up and canned it. It’s called rebel canning because, strictly speaking, cured meats are not approved by the USDA for home canning. However, bean and ham soup and split pea with ham are approved for canning. My rebel heart says, if they (USDA) really doesn’t want us to do it, they need to explain why there’s that incongruity. The only thing I could find is that they weren’t happy with the results back when they researched it in the 50’s but that they haven’t done much updated research for several decades. Plenty of people do it successfully using modern canning methods though, so I’m willing to try it.
Finally, I cooked the 20-pound turkey that has been taking up space in my freezer. Don’t get me wrong: I am grateful my employer gives us turkeys each Thanksgiving, I just need to make room for this year’s additions to the freezer.
The plan was to prepare the turkey and have the Iredell County contingent of the family come here for Mother’s Day dinner. However, that was the weekend Oscar came down with Covid, so we canceled the dinner. Since it was thawed, I went ahead and cooked it and now have many packages of sliced turkey and cubed turkey in the freezer. I used a package for hot open-faced turkey sandwiches for one of our dinners while the Parks were here. Mmm-mm that was sure tasty.
TIMMY THE DACHSHUND
Saturday was Timmy’s birthday. Happy 15th birthday to my Timmy! He had his annual well-doggie check and is doing okay for a senior doggie.
Two Chickens Homestead 
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