So, did anyone remember that I planted brussels sprouts?

Because I forgot that little detail until the end of last month.  Not completely, of course, I mean, I knew that there were still brussels sprouts in my garden hanging out, but I seemed to forget that I needed to actually harvest them.  Mike has quite a taste for brussels sprouts (seriously!), so after Christmas we decided that it was time to be brave and see if our little sprouts were actually harvestable.  And mostly, they were!  Mike cut down the stalks and trimmed the sprouts, and we kept about half of the batch and gave the rest to my parents.  The straggler sprouts that fell on the ground during the harvest were quickly consumed by Bullet and Lily, who will eat anything. 

Brussels sprouts in the garden, December 2011

Our half of the brussels sprouts harvest

Since the brussels sprouts were frozen anyway, I just bagged them up and stuck them in the chest freezer.  Allegedly, staying out through a few frosts makes brussels sprouts sweeter.  I certainly gave them many opportunities to become quite cold, so hopefully they'll be delicious.

On the chicken front, Taperman's gift to the girls was a platform for their water container, as they were kicking quite a bit of litter into the water and it was just gross.  I think they were very appreciative.

We had yet another dog/chicken debacle last week, but once again it was much better than it could have been.  Mike and I did a big refrigerator purge of Christmas leftovers and brought a huge load of food out to the girls, which thrilled them.  We're talking pie, cheesecake, pasta, lots of good stuff.  Unfortunately, neither Mike nor I shut the gate to their yard.  Big oops.  Then we let the dogs out.  For a while.  Another big oops.  We finally noticed what was going on, and rushed outside.  The girls' survival instincts are getting much better, as most of them hid under tree trunks and branches and played dead, which is remarkably effective.  Lily was chasing a few girls around, but Bullet seemed to be thoroughly distracted by the food, which I think is what ultimately saved the girls.  We sassed the dogs and tied them up, and then began the chicken round up.  By the end of the afternoon, we had accounted for all but two girls, and while two were injured, all of thegirls that we could find were alive.  Before bed we did one last check outside, and found the last two girls huddled near the garage.  This was about a week ago, and the injured girls seem to be doing much better.  Egg production has tanked though - apparently trauma is not conducive to laying as we've gone from a yield of 9-10 eggs a day to 2-4.  Poor chickens.  Clearly, one of my new year's resolutions is to be a more responsible chicken parent.