Thanksgiving Dinner

September.... a little early to be talking turkey. Except this guy just offered himself up. I know I've posted a few pics of him. I love taking photos of this guy. He's that right combination of ugly, pretty and fascinating. We originally planned on eating all four turkeys we bought as poults. Then we decided we'd butcher one male and keep the two females and the other male to breed. The healthiest male and female got picked off by predators.... so much for survival of the fittest. This leaves us with one injured and very sick (respiratory infection we can't seem to kick) female and pretty male who got over being sick. I told Chris I like having turkeys and since they have both been sick maybe we should keep them as ornamental turkeys... just for fun to watch and listen. I have to admit, over the last couple weeks as he has been putting on weight again I have begun to rethink his position as dinner, but ornamental was still winning. Until a little while ago. I was wrapping up putting the dishes in the washer and told the girls they could go look for eggs in the barn. I'd be there in just a minute. Howler didn't even make it off the porch. I heard a loud thud and crying. From the best I can piece together from Howlerspeak the turkey either pecked at her or scratched her, getting her finger. She's fine, but she's a little traumatized from the experience. Well, my decision is made. I'm not sure if he will make it to Thanksgiving, but hopefully he will. I'd love to have the family over and have fresh turkey. But one more outburst I may snap his neck and make a surprise turkey dinner for Chris.

This is what life is like on a farm. All the animals here are food, either for us or a predator. They are not pets. We have an abundance of ducks right now as well who are about to be thinned. Going into winter predators are going to start getting more desperate. We have a few months before this happens, but I would rather be the one having the feast instead of cleaning up the carcass. This is part of the reason I wanted to homeschool. I want to share a couple of stories from some chicken enthusiast friends of mine.

One of them has a granddaughter a little older than Tamarin. When she was in kindergarten the teacher had all the kids in circle and asked them where eggs come from. Her granddaughter answered, "The chicken poops it out!" The teacher was appalled by that response and told her, "No, they come from the store." I'm sure she was trying to redirect the conversation into the lesson she was wanting to teach, but my friend's daughter was very insistent, "No, the chicken poops it out. I've seen it!" This landed her granddaugther, a kindergartner, in the principle's office. Seriously.

Another story from another friend of mine: Her brother and sister-in-law came to visit. She was talking about her chickens and the sister-in-law was shocked to hear she butchered her own chickens. The sister-in-law threatened to call the police on her for animal cruelty if she did that while they were there. My friend brushed it off, not caring for this extended family member anyway, but the irony was not lost on her when the sister-in-law ordered chicken when they went out to eat that same night.

There is a disconnect between our food and where it comes from. Many kids and adults both think our food simply gets to our plate by magic. Think Star Trek materializers. It's created at a molecular level by a computer and that's all there is to it. I want my kids to see the face that goes with their food. I want them to see the life that they have, help to nurture it and understand the sacrifice that goes with eating it. I want them to see how hard it is to keep plants alive during a hot summer and appreciate those who work to make food for the rest of us (the natural/farmers market way, not the gmo/cash crop way).

When my kids get to history lessons I don't want working outside, hunting, gathering, farming, fetching water, chopping wood to build a home, etc to be completely foreign concepts. When they read about Huck Finn wading down a creek or hiding in a cave or the wilderness from My Side of the Mountain. I want these to be things they can see in their head because they have experienced it. These are things that are important to me. As you can see the farming and homeschooling go hand in hand for me. They are part of the same goal.

So anyway, my advice to those of you out there, homeschoolers or not, is get your kids out into nature. Get them first hand experience with food! Get them to experience life outside in the abnormal way that used to be normal! Not just man built parks with slides and jungle gyms or on game fields. Help them figure out that they are part of and responsible for this beautiful place and the creatures in it.