Approaching a year since we tied up Serenity dockside in Jacksonville, FL and paused our Great Loop travels, we are packing up a rental van and heading back down south and will resume our waterway travels. At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, much uncertainty and unknown prevailed. We elected to pause our travels, return to the ozarks, hunker down and take care of our health. Food shortages were beginning with lock downs increasing throughout the country. Economic and political instability—what lay ahead? Fortunately, we are good to go. We pretty much have isolated and followed the guidelines. Our health is good, the food supply chain recovered and politically… oh well. The Ozarks locked down for several months, but for the past six months while not normal, life resumed with schools reopening, businesses adjusting to the protocols and traffic appears near pre-COVID volume. Other than masks, distancing and sanitation stations, hard to tell much difference when you enter Wal-mart or any other grocery store. I just got my first COVID shot last week. Our state seems to be very behind on getting the vaccine. Our area has experienced death and sickness due to COVID. In fact, my farmer neighbor David and his wife were both hospitalized together, with David succumbing to the disease. David and I had chatted at the corner fence post just two weeks before his hospitalization. He was well known in the community. He was about to start his 51st year driving the school bus.
Returning to the Ozarks we returned with a pretty good food supply from Serenity. We continued to augment through the spring and summer building up at least 6 months of staples. Additionally, since we were here locked down, we raised a big garden and raised some animals. It has been a pleasure with our animals; though tough during a few winter months when unusual arctic cold, ice and snow was around for over two weeks. I was busy during the day changing out warm water for frozen water every two hours.
Early April, 2020 we went to the hatchery and picked up our order of day old chicks. We got 55. 33 Cornish X meat birds and 22 barnyard mix of Rhode Island reds, Plymouth white rock and Red and Black Sex links layers. Amazingly, they all survived to maturity; the meat birds to freezer camp and the layers delivering over a dozen beautiful brown eggs a day. I also got a 8 week old ameraucana rooster. Mr Rooster has been so cool and well mannered, but likes his ladies. The Cornish X reach maturity in 8-10 weeks. An interesting breed, they eat continuously to the point they can barely walk at butcher weight. Our laying chickens have found new homes down the street. Mr Rooster joined a new flock of girls down the road and I still hear his crow each morning. The girls joined another flock of 50; another good friend who sells eggs. They will be well taken care of.
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| Layer brooder area |
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| meat bird brooder area |
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| Growing meat brids |
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| Farm eggs |
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Reading the paper
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| Mr. Rooster |
Also, my neighbors who watch our place when we are gone had a good calving season in the fall and spring and had a few more yearling steers than they had pasture. So we raised two, “BB Green” and “no name” from April until late January. My pasture held up until late November, when we had to provide hay. Each got grain everyday and were quite the pets. Mooing loudly each morning if I was not out at sunrise with the bucket of grain. As with beef animals, the time came to load them up and take them to the processor. They were well taken care of animals, with room to roam, shelter and good food and water. They have gone to freezer camp and are mighty tasty.
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| BB Green and No Name |
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Fall and the leaves are gone
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| Loading day |
Lastly, we wanted to raise meat rabbits. I got two does and one buck, each 8 weeks old in mid- April 2020 from a preferred breeder. They are New Zealand Whites. Waiting until they were mature at about 5 months age, I staggered the breeding of the does by two weeks. Both does were great mothers and each litter of “Kits” were healthy and well taken care of. While I handled the adults and Mr Buck was very affectionate and always enjoyed the petting and scratching, the Kits were not handled or played with. I am the processor and in 8-10 weeks I would have to dispatch and process the kits for the freezer. I did not want to get attached to the young rabbits. Several litters later and much meat in the freezer, the does, Mr Buck and the cages have been relocated to the same farm where Mr Rooster went to live. They will be well taken care of.
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| Mr Buck, Doe and Kits |
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| Rabbitary |
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| Kits |
We are not sure we are as prepared as we were nearly a year ago to resume our waterway travel. However, we will take at least two weeks to clean and renew the boat and our waterway knowledge while tied up in the marina. Probably will take a shake down cruise or two locally to ensure we and the boat are good to go. The Canadian boarder remains closed and those in the know seem to believe it will remain so throughout the summer. Alternatively, the Erie canal heads west to Lake Erie and we can remain in US waters. As someone else said—I don’t know what I don’t know; we will proceed up the Atlantic ICW and west on the Erie. Weather, COVID, mechanical, and health dictate the schedule and final destination. Follow along with us.
