Dusk and the Rabbits

Today I decided to breed my does for the last time before spring. I like to give my rabbits a break from raising litters over the winter. So I was puttering around, letting the rabbits do their thing when Dusk wandered in. I don't mind when Dusk comes to visit, he's always well behaved. Of course, it helps that he has absolutely no prey drive at all. While it might be a dogs' 'nature' to run down a rabbit, it's not in Dusk's nature to even dream of harming another creature.

Hanging with the rabbits is a special treat for Dusk. If working with the rabbits is my favorite chore, it's definitely Dusk's favorite pastime as well. When he sees them, his ears perk up and the tail starts going a mile a minute. He doesn't mind baby rabbits climbing all over him and he likes to visit everyone. His favorite buddy seems to be Ocean. Ocean is a Creme D'Argent and my main buck. None of the rabbits are frightened of Dusk but most just ignore him. Not Ocean, though, he seems to like Dusk's company as much as Dusk likes his. Ocean will hop right over to him and settle down next to him. I don't know if you'd call it friendship but it sure looks like it's a mutual understanding.

Ocean and Dusk hanging out, shooting the rabbit poo.

Making Salsa

We've just come off of two beautiful weeks of Autumn glory. The days were sunny and crisp, rosying my cheeks and warming my heart. It was a great time to work outside and enjoy the colour and the accomplishment. Sometimes life is just like biting into an apple.

Yesterday, the inevitable weather temper tantrum happened and kept me inside. Being in a warm home with a wood fire going made up for the rain and gusty winds. Looking outside at the flash of red in the old maple by the house turned the sky from a depressing grey curtain of cloud into a perfect backdrop

Well, if I can't be outside in the Autumn air with its indescribable crispness, I'll be in the kitchen, experiencing the 'other' Autumn smell as pumpkins, apples or tomatoes are processed for the winter. A lot of baking happens in the fall here at the DaM Farm. But today I decided to make salsa. I always can my tomatoes first then if there's any left over, I'll make salsa. It was a great year for my tomatoes and I harvested about 11 - 12 bushels (listen to me, talking farmer talk - bushels!) so there was lots of extras. This is the third year I've made it but it's the first year I've done it from scratch. I used a package salsa canning mix previously. I looked around at various recipes and decided on a fairly simple one to start with, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro and dried crushed red pepper. One of the recipes suggested that draining the tomatoes after cutting would make a thicker salsa. I love thick salsa and did find my salsa a bit on the runny side so I did that. I kept all the juice that I drained out and made tomato juice. I figure it will be great to add as liquid to the crock pot for roasts stews and making chicken or rabbit stock. I still have a load of tomatoes left so I will be making another batch of salsa. We love it here, 24 bottles is not too much at all.