Fish Mulch, Karl, Ducklings

With the clearing weather the spare freezers were turned off and the fish frames collected on Thursday given a chance to defrost a little and into action came the mulcher. We've found the most efficient way to mulch these into a fine mince is through the chipper.

The mighty mulcher

Fish frames, heads and offcuts

The girls like to get in involved

A couple of kilograms, double bagged and on cardboard cat food trays. The cardboard prevents the bundles freezing together

Karl the rooster lives over in the chook pen but being a lover not a fighter he doesn't get out much in case the other roosters pick on him. He will sneak out when no one is about and have a little food and water. To compensate we bring him over to the house every afternoon to get a decent feed and eat some grass.

He is a perfect gentleman with the two yard girls and finds food for them. The other afternoon I was feeding the magpies their mince and Karl and Bootsey came over for their share. I gave them both a small piece but Karl didn't eat his preferring to offer it to Bootsey. You may be familiar with that call roosters make to say there is food here. Continuing to feed the magpies I received a solid ding on my foot. Karl requesting more mince which I gave him but again he called Bootsie rather than eat it himself. A few minutes later another ding on the foot from Karl as a reminder that they were waiting. Try and convince me that chooks aren't real people just caught up in feathered suits.

Karl always has a little food and then a drink. He is very conscious of the need to drink plenty of water



Karl being laid out. Being such a calm individual he can be picked up and rolled about in your hands without flapping. If you place him on the ground on his side he stays put.

This is Bootsey one of the two well behaved yard chooks

All the ducklings hatched today. Only one has a slight problem of throwing its head back which could be a sign of not getting sufficient sugar to the brain. We have been taking turns to eye dropper sugar and water into its beak a few times each hour.

"The Backyard Duck Book" by Nyiri Murtagh is the best duck bible around. Jean has read it from cover to cover several times and says it is clear and easily understandable and very thorough. We borrowed our copy from the library but it is so good that we ordered a copy online.

Finished the Korean Kim Chi batch. This is a good recipe.

And a large Fudge slice which we tasted for morning tea after a very thorough session in the pool.

Kim Chi and Sauerkraut

Found a good recipe for Kim Chi "How to Make Kim Chi". Tested it today but because the Chinese Cabbage (Wong Bok) wasn't ready used a normal cabbage with great success. Even though it is only just made it already tastes fantastic. Will definitely be making a lot more. Didn't have any apple or pear to add the final garnish but will try that another time. Possibly this variety of Cabbage which we forgot to record has its own sweetness.

The Sauerkraut technique is from a Russian country girl who lived on a farm near Smolensk before WW2. Her family made barrels of this each year to see them through the Winter. Very simple, just cut up the cabbage into strips add just enough salt so that you can taste the salt and scrunch the cabbage until it is well bruised and oozing liquid. Put it into a glass jar, stuffing it in with a wooden spoon so that no air holes can be seen. Put a glass jar on top with some weight so that the cabbage is covered with its own liquid and leave it for about a week to ferment then seal the jar and refrigerate - it is ready to eat but will keep forever. Three variations than can be tried are 1) a table spoon or two of finely chopped carrot. 2) Caraway seeds to taste. 3) Dill seeds.

Chopping Cabbage for Sauerkraut - by not making it as fine as the shop bought product a better mouth feel can be achieved.

 





Sauerkraut Beginning Ferment

 

Kim Chi freshly made