Hi friends! I hope everyone is surviving this heat wave! It has been HOT, and we've worked hard to keep the rabbits, chickens, pigs, and dogs hydrated and healthy, not to mention the humans! The garden has seemed to love the heat, though. Tomatoes and peppers are booming, beans keep growing, and the corn is robust. The kids and dogs have enjoyed time swimming at the lake, too.

Over the past week or two, I finished my first batch of kombucha flavored with blackberries and gooseberries, made tons of salsa with our tomatoes and jalapeños, and froze lots of beans. I recruited the kids to help snap beans so we could "snap chat" together. It's a nice opportunity to sit down and connect for a few minutes. I haven't canned any beans yet, but I did pull out the pressure canner for homemade chicken broth! We try to use all parts of the chicken and reduce waste whenever possible. It isn't often that customers want the backs or feet when they buy a whole bird, and making bone broth is a great way to put those parts to use before sending them out to the compost pile or feeding them to the pigs. Did you know chicken feet are really hight in collagen? It's true!! I reserve chicken feet for an extra healthy bone broth.

We're gearing up for the fall and winter CSA shares now. We have chickens to butcher in the next couple of weeks and put 60 new chicks in the brooder Thursday. Tyler also built a turkey tractor and put our turkeys on pasture this week! We'll have healthy, pastured, non-GMO fed turkey in time for Thanksgiving this year!!

Have you ordered your fall CSA share yet? If not, now is the time! We have a limited number available and interest is picking up. We're planning to add on to our brooder soon so we can raise more birds at a time, and we hope to offer rabbit meat with our shares soon! Click here to reserve your share in time for Fall! The deadline to order is August 15th and we'll start delivering in September.

Have a great week all, and remember: Happy chickens are tasty chickens!!