Young things

Well, here are the three new chicks. Notice the big comb already turning pink on the head of the one closest to you? Rooster, 99% sure. Notice the very feminine comb and stance on the one closest to the fence? Hen, 90% sure. The one in the middle could still go either way, but is leaning rooster. Drat! If I am correct I will return the two roosters as arranged, but will need to return all three if I can't get another hen of the same age. So cute though!

Next are the first apples on the goldrush tree. Thought I would show them to you before the birds destroy them all!

Banks, the big dog, caught a vole this morning in its way to the tomato patch. I won't share that photo! Thanks Banks for a job well done.

The problem

Here us the problem with hens. Hens beget eggs. Excess eggs beget angel food cake, which begets orphan egg yolks, which beget flan. Darn hens.

Oh, and I have three new chicks! Unsexed, so cross your fingers that at least two are female.

Basil harvest

Last year I never got around to harvesting much basil, and what I had in the freezer was lost to the hurricane, so my supplies were really low. So when I walked by the garden on Sunday and saw how beautiful the plants were, I pinched the top of every stem.

Here you see the washed leaves on parchment in a sheet pan - for hours of drying in a 150 F convection oven, and then after they were nice and dry. My hands smelled so good after crunching up those leaves. My basil jar now is full, so I can relax and enjoy fresh basil the rest of the season.