Summer Breeze Ice Tea

Blackberry Summer Breeze Iced Tea

The Texas heat can be cruel, but some of the good things about summer include tubing on the river, BBQ with friends, and Iced tea. With the summer garden at its peak, there are plenty of fresh herbs to choose from to make blended iced tea. Some herbs immediately spring to mind: the mints, lemon balm, and lemon ­verbena. There certainly are others, including some of the familiar culinary herbs, that provide cooling refreshment as the temperatures soar. I have grown a small herb garden this year so that I am able to use my own herbs. Blended with your favorite tea and mixed in a blender with ice and fresh fruit makes a delicious treat that is sure to sooth your soul. Don't forget to keep all the poultry cool its going to be a hot one. I have also included a tea for chickens, yes they like tea also.

Freshly Picked Garden Minestrone

Serve with fresh baked cheese bread

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 /2 onion diced
1 scant cup olive oil
pinch of oregano
3 whole fresh diced tomatoes

1 cup diced zucchini

1 cup diced yellow squash

1 whole fresh diced potato

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of tomato soup
1 tsp chicken bouillon soup base
1 1/2 tablespoons sea salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes

Cajun seasoning
10 ounces Rigatoni
3 tablespoons fresh basil, coarsely chopped
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, saute chopped onions and garlic in olive oil, when browned, stir in tomatoes and simmer, stirring occasionally. Add 6 cups cold water. Add salt. Stir in diced potatoes, squash, can of tomato soup, and kidney beans. Bring to a boil, then drop in Rigatoni. Cook pasta and squash until done.
When pasta is cooked, remove from the heat. Add basil, and some of the grated cheese. Sprinkle to taste with sea salt, and freshly grated black pepper. Add a light dusting of Cajun seasoning (optional), as you like it. Serve hot with cheese bread.

I picked the squash, potatoes, garlic, oregano, basil, and onion out of my garden today as I was preparing this dish.

Elephant Garlic and Roma Tomatoes

Yellow Squash

Giant Sunflowers and bananas

Small Herb garden growing in sections of plumbing pipe

Snakes on a plane ??????.......I mean Henhouse

Rattle snake ready to strike next to my broody hens

You can see how large he is

Wow today is Easter and we had quite a surprise, a huge rattler curled up next to my 2 broody Silver Laced Wyandotte hens. The one pic is upside down because my son was standing above it when he took it. It shows you how darn big the snake was. What saved my hens was that they did not see it curled up next to them. I have a 17 year son who is not afraid of rattlers. He wants to be a Navy Seal when he gets older. He shot the snake in the head with his high powered pellet gun. I am very grateful to have my son around and especially at times like this. This is the 4th large rattler we have killed this year. I attribute their heavy presence to the drought and because we have water out for the chickens and of course where there's chickens there's mice. Rattlers love mice. I have a healthy respect for rattlers.

Narcissus the Guinea Fowl

This is the funniest story I have written in awhile. It seems that my guinea fowl have discovered their reflections in my Smart Car. These 2 guineas spent the whole day attacking my car. They have literally become obsessed with themselves. My car has little scratches where they have been spurring the guinea guy that they keep seeing. I ran them off several times but they come back immediately and resumed their chaotic frenzy. Does anyone out there have any suggestions on what to do? If so please e-mail me at carondesign@yahoo.com.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

I can not be trusted around poultry

Look at that cute face....some folks say its a face only a mother could love?  Well let me be honest, there's absolutely nothing to love about a raccoon once one has attacked your poultry. I recently had a pen full of Coral Blue guineas ravaged by a raccoon. It was absolutely horrifying to see how my birds were killed and one nearly dead when I woke up and found them. The night before that the coon tried to kill my White China goose but the gander alerted me with his stressed out screams. I ran outside to find him fighting off Mr. Rocky with his bites and wing slapping. Raccoons really can be your worst nightmare, because they will slaughter every last bird that is in a pen that they are able to get into. One of the best deterrents is a coon proof pen.This can be accomplished by following these tips.

1.  Never use chicken wire, use strong wire that is used for cattle. (No chicken wire ever, chicken wire is a death sentence for your birds)
2. Do not leave the top of the house or run uncovered, it has to have a roof or a heavy duty wire top.
3. Do not leave small openings or gaps unless they are covered with wire.
4. Always put several locks or latches that are difficult to open. (Raccoons have hands like monkeys and can figure out how to open certain latches)
5. Cover the ground around the outside of the house where they sleep at night (locked in) with wire or metal so that the raccoons can not dig under.
6. Always lock all doors to the house where they sleep right at dusk because raccoons come out at night and sometimes they arrive early.
7. Remember the words "Fort Knox" when you build your coop/hen house.

 After the attack I rushed out a bought three types of traps, the Pied Piper, a hand trap and a regular ole' trap from tractor supply. Results are no raccoon yet. Tomorrow we are making a barrel trap that we made as kids. It worked very well. A barrel trap is simple, inexpensive and considered humane. Any type of barrel or smooth trash can works. Set it next to a picnic table or something else that helps the raccoon to climb up to the edge of the barrel and fill it about one third of the way with water. Place a board over the edge of the picnic table that should end midway over the mouth of the barrel. Set bait on the board, such as sardines or tuna. Do this nearer to nighttime so that other animals will not eat it. The raccoon should walk onto the board to eat the bait and will fall into the barrel. The water in the barrel will weigh the raccoon's fur down, keeping it safely trapped in the barrel proof pen. Another great deterrent is a Livestock Guardian Dog or a LGD. I will be naming the 2 LGD's I just purchased Hansel and Gretal. I recently purchased them from a lady in Holland, Texas. If you need a LGD I will give you her contact information. I will be calling them Chicken Guardian Dogs.

I am a chicken guardian dog

Rhode Island Reds - An American Classic

"I'm just enjoying the view out of my pen"

What can I say, the name speaks for itself, they originated from Rhode Island and were developed by crossing the Red Malay Game, Leghorns and some Asiatics in 1904. There are 2 varieties the Rhode Island Red and the The Rhode Island Whites with 2 different types of combs the rose comb and the single comb. There are also bantam versions of the Rhode Island Reds. This is a dual purpose breed that makes an excellent choice as an egg layer of brown and dark brown eggs or as dinner with their nicely colored yellow skin. Reds can be also seen at poultry shows across the nation and are the subject of breed club chat rooms. I am posting pics of some RIR chicks that I purchased recently from a breeder who has many generations of his red own specific bloodline through the mail from Minnesota. They already possess big chunky breasts and legs, and are richly dark red in plumage.  I was thinking how good they would taste but I think I will show them first, I have some hopes for them. I will also have another bloodline to study in separate pens. I am curious to see the difference between these two bloodlines and will document the outcome. If you are interested in Rhode Island Reds be sure and join their breed club. Enjoy the pics. If you are interested in breeding Rhode Island Reds and showing them I have started a Rhode Island Red Breeders site called Red Barrons.

Wow look at that grasshopper over there, do you see it?

Well he's gone now, I swallowed him with one gulp !!

Javas- Second oldest breed of chicken in America

We are really old

Read about Javas in this months issue of Exhibition Poultry magazine. It is a free publication that may be downloaded off the Exhibition Poultry Magazine website. The article was written by Christine Heinrichs who is a professional journalist who began writing about heritage poultry after her daughter and her acquired their first chickens in the 1980s. She has written regularly for publications such as the Poultry Press, Backyard Poultry Magazine, Exhibition Poultry Magazine and has written her own books, "How to Raise Chickens" and "How to Raise Poultry." She is also a regular guest on Andy Schneider's Chicken Whisperer radio program. Visit Christine on the web at The Official Poultry Bookstore.com blog.