Turkey Harvest

Earlier this year, I came home from Murdoch's, the local ranch supply store, with 10 baby chicks and high hopes for self-sufficiency, at least in the egg department. However, to Bill's chagrin, as if the chicks weren't enough, I also got suckered into picking up three baby turkeys as well. I thought, what the hell, why not?

We'd come to enjoy the soon-to-be giant gobblers, who, when allowed to roam, basically followed us around like they were our pets. Whitey, the only female, really had a thing for me, while the two Toms basically flirted with whatever walked by.

So, this morning, Bill and I both awoke with a certain feeling of dread in the pits of our stomachs, as today, at 23 weeks old, our turkeys were facing harvest day. None the less, we were resolved to having three birds in the freezer by nightfall. Getting the damn things out of our crafty turkey/chicken arena proved to be one of the most difficult, as we didn't build a gate into the 6 foot high fence that made up the bird corral, and by now, two of the three turkeys were too big to fit back through the chicken door into the coop, which we had access to.

We managed to wrangle a ladder over the fence, and somehow were able to lift the big birds up and over without falling and breaking our own necks. We both sustained a few flaps to the face in the process.

Thanks to a tutorial on turkey processing (kudos to Howling Duck Ranch), we managed to proceed with our own turkeys fairly efficiently. The dunking tank, to prep the birds for de-feathering, is a drum that we hope to eventually turn into the stove to heat a wood-fired sauna.

The dogs stuck close all day long, and were rewarded eventually with some cooked up gizzards.

Here's our final product! All dressed out, the big ones came in at about 32 lbs each, and the small one at 18.

Why Blue Cloud "Power Co"

In October 2010, Cassie and I purchased a house in central Montana.  This wasn't just any house.  It situated on 15 acres and is about a mile from the closest electrical pole.  This doesn't sound like much, but as far as the power company is concerned, it might as well be 50 miles.  Blue Cloud Creek runs right through the middle of the property.  We are told the creek rarely runs, but been flowing like gangbusters for the last couple of months.  Although the house is far from the electrical grid, it came well equipped.  The previous owners built the house in 2006 with the intention of growing medical marijuana plants here.  Growing plants in Montana (and without a greenhouse) takes a LOT of power.  They took this into consideration when they built the house and install a solid off-the-grid electrical system.  The system came equipped with solar power, an already aging wind turbine and an overworked propane generator.  Even though they bought good equipment, they had a few things to learn about maintaining it.  

More to come, promise.

First things first.

This is us...and a bowl of oatmeal on one of our travel adventures in Maine.  

We met in Moscow, Idaho in 2004. I was working for the University of Idaho and Cass was finishing up some prerequisites for grad school.  We were both looking to meet new people and decided to give the world of internet dating a try.  That's right, we're a match(.com) made in heaven. When Cass left Idaho for PA school in Billings, Montana the following year, Baxter (one of the illustrious hell hounds pictured below) and I refused to be left behind.  Alas, Billings was not for us in the long run. A mid-winter tour of the Northwest brought us through Montana's capital city of Helena.  We liked the community, the recreational opportunities and the job prospects.  We decided to move to Helena if we could both find gainful employment. Finding a job for myself turned out to simpler than expected.  I quickly settled into a GIS (mapping) position with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.  Cass joined me in Helena after her didactic year at PA school and spent the next year doing clinicals in Helena, around Montana and in Colorado.  Once school was finished, she landed herself a job at the local hospital in the Emergency Room and Urgent Care.  

Cass and the hell hounds, Stewie and Baxter.  If you're not familiar with this term, 

let me enlighten you, courtesy of mythicalcreaturesguide.com: 

"Hell hounds typically have features such as black fur color, glowing red eyes, 

super strength and/or speed, ghostly or phantom characteristics, and sometimes 

even the ability to talk....Hell hounds appear out of nowhere suddenly 

and have been known to vanish in the blink of an eye." 

Ok, so that's Stewie. 

Baxter, not so much. He embodies more of MGM's Droopy character. 

Mountain Kitties, Grayson and Tiger.