green-chiles, originally uploaded by Cyndy.

We bought these from the farm down the road from us where we have bought our chile the last 3 years. These are Sandia hot. The farm roasts them and does a great job. No effort peeling them later because they are roasted to perfection. They are huge, meaty, and addictive. I only bought 25 lbs today, but needed it ASAP to finish more salsa and apple-green chile pie filling. I'll buy at least another 25 lbs, and hopefully 50 lbs, which should last until next harvest. This was the best harvest in years. These are the biggest chiles I've ever seen. Yum!

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Doing What Chicks Do, originally uploaded by Cyndy.

I picked these little girls up at the post office this morning. They spent the first 3 days of their life in transit. No food or water. They are making up for it now. I have 6 Easter Eggers and 2 Dominiques. They are peeping in happy mode right now. They are all supposed to be girls. We'll see. Actually I wouldn't mind having a rooster by mistake, but had I ordered one, I may have ended up with more than one and that would be very bad. One rooster per flock, unless you have a much bigger flock.

This past April I got 6 Americaunas from the feed store. They were so precious, friendly and appreciative. They were so much fun. One was named Amelia. I didn't have the fencing right and a dog found them. He used them as a personal play toy. I think he had been attracted to Amelia's declaration that morning that she was instead an Emilio.

This time my fence is ready to zap any threats to my chickies, but I think I will still opt for more reinforcements. I have a few weeks before these girls are ready to go outside, but they grow extremely fast.

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12 pints Salsa, originally uploaded by Cyndy.

I pressure canned this for many reasons.
The pressure canner is cooler and takes less water, and less energy, plus I don't have to lower the PH with vinegar or lemon juice like I would need to do per USDA guidelines if I water bath canned them. The texture between the two methods is the same. Not fresh, but it will be very welcome during the winter.

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Harvested, originally uploaded by Cyndy.

Salsa fixins, plus a few extras.

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Pickin' Time, originally uploaded by Cyndy.

Time to make the salsa.

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