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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

relish and the plague


Happy note: Juzzy gave me the recipe for her grandmother's tomato relish, untill now rigorously guarded by her father. Hmmmm, mmmmmmmm. Eight bottles before work yesterday - all for us! well, perhaps I will give Juzzy a bottle too.........
Now I know that relish recipes are a very personal thing, and I am very pleased to say this is the BEST recipe I have ever come accross, and we LOVE tomato relish, we have it on EVERYTHING, and now I hold the key to a forever supply of the good stuff!
Sad note: Chicken news is mostly bad. The plague is upon us. First Maurice, then Mongo, and now Gretel (this afternoon) are dead. Charlotte doesnt look too hot either.
As far as I can tell, Maurice looked like he had a sub-acute form of infectious laryngotracheitis, which if true, he would have bought in with him when we bought him 6 months ago, and which in theory, could be slowly making its way through the flock. Maurice had the tell tale chronic conjunctivitis. Unfortunately the symptom cluster for Mongo and now Gretel does not match any of the forms for "trac" as it is sometimes called - no pus, no mucus, no nasal discharge and no coughing. Just depression, and wilting, a bit of nodding and then death. I am at a complete loss as to what is going on.
So, the list of folks wanting to buy baby fluffies have all been informed that due to a bio-security disaster, there are no more fluffy-monsters for sale. I think that is the end of the fluffy breeding enterprise for some time to come. We are down to 2 adult fluffies, 10 young fluffies and one poor normal chicken, and of course - three indestructable ducks. I don't know what I am going to do about poor Charlotte - she HATES the fluffies, and I can't really put her in with them anyway untill I know if she is going to get sick, die and/or infect the others. And if I buy her a buddy, she may just end up infecting it as well. So she will just have to hang out by herself for a while. Sheesh.
Determined to end on a good note - the 100 foot challenge is a breeze! The BRANDYWINE tomatos are SUBLIME. Joe's ROCKMELONS are to die for. It is a good time of year in the garden, thats for sure ( if you dont look at all the newly dug chicken friend graves.......)

8 comments:

Lucy C said...

Oh...that is so sad...

The Duck Herder said...

I know! and to make matters worse, one of the 10 little chicks broke it's leg and ended up in the chicken grave yard as well!

melissa said...

BAd bad luck...
I love silkies but got rid of mine ..they seemed to get sick ...a lot whilst nothing else did ..I read that they are prone to this and are well known fro it ..not hardy ... I hope your get well .

Anonymous said...

I don't know how I ended up on your blog, but I think it's cool! You're a very engaging writer.

Anonymous said...

The blog is cool, I mean, NOT the death of beloved chickens.

Sherd said...

Well, I guess the chickens, in the long run, will contribute to the goodness of the garden.

Poor lil chookas. Poor lil hippie. Hope it clears up soon.

Anonymous said...

Hi duckie! I'm back. I've been reading very few blogs lately and have missed yours a lot. I hope that my busy time is behind me now and I can return regularly to you.

I KNEW you'd love brandywines, and relish, I have it on everything too. It's great to have a recipe you love.

I'm so sorry to read about your chooks. How sad for you. I hope the rest of them survive and thrive.

The Duck Herder said...

Good news Sherdie - Miss Nefley is doing just fine except her babies are almost as big as her now....

and Rhonda - you were SO RIGHT about the brandywines - they will be a staple in the duckherder garden forever!

I love how few seeds and how much firm flesh they have, and such a lovely flavour. I am eternally indebted!