Biggest Batch, Faithful Crew
Ol' Jack Frost showed up in the valley this morning. It’s about time to fire up the wood stove. And the chainsaw.
No more chickens to move. We harvest our last batch of meat birds this Wednesday. Instead of saving the best for last, we saved the biggest for last. This was not only our biggest on farm harvest of the season with 320 birds, they were also our biggest birds, several of which weighing over 7 lbs. Although we don’t raise Thanksgiving turkeys, we have several turkey-sized Thanksgiving chickens. Go ahead and grab your ORVF chickens for the upcoming holidays.
Though it was our biggest group of chickens for the year, it was also one of our smallest processing crews of the year, making it a longer day than anticipated. That’s generally the way it goes for me, taking twice as long to do something as I think it will. Our faithful crew hung in there with us until every chicken was packaged and put away. A big thanks to Aunt Peggy, Uncle Jimmy, Bella Jane, Desiree, Marion, and kids. And to the many others who have jumped in to help out with processing this season.
Of the 320 chickens, we cut up or halved about 125 of them. Half chickens are a new option now available on our website. Like every year, we try to stock up chicken inventory for the off season. Those who have ORVF chicken shares will get theirs through the winter months, but otherwise, grab it while you can.
We’re thankful to have Ms. Desiree back in the valley for the rest of October. Not only did she help with chicken processing, she helped with sorting our whole chicken inventory early in the week as well.
More baby calves hitting the ground running.
Amy and I typically try to make the Bristol/Kingsport delivery together and make it a date night afterwards. Yesterday, however, we had to divide and conquer. Amy and the kids picked up a vehicle from the shop and ran some errands while I made meat deliveries and picked up a dishwasher for one of the cabins on the way home.
While bush hogging early in the week I started listening to The Constitution of Liberty by F.A. Hayek.
“To choose one’s government is not necessarily to secure freedom.” If we are not intentionally set on conserving the idea of freedom, we the people can throw it away and unintentionally opt to tyrannize ourselves if not careful.
“Above all, however, we must recognize that we may be free and yet miserable. Liberty does not mean all good things or the absence of all evils. It is true that to be free may mean the freedom to starve, to make costly mistakes, or to run mortal risks.”
“Freedom necessarily means that many things will be done which we do not like.”
Talking about government interference with the housing market Hayek writes, “Probably more than any other measure of this kind, it worsened in the long run the evil it was meant to cure and produced a situation in which administrative authorities acquired highly arbitrary powers over the movement of men.”
“In our efforts to remedy one ill, we may well saddle future generations with a burden greater than they will be willing to bear.”
“Liberty not only means that the individual has both the opportunity and the burden of choice, it also means that he must bear the consequences of his actions and will receive praise or blame for them. Liberty and responsibility are inseparable. A free society will not function or maintain itself unless its members regard it as right that each individual occupy the position that results from his action and accept it as due to his own action.”
Have a good week.
Will