Talkin' Chicken - TJ Ranch Farm Update

Our chickens are loose; they run all around. I guess now a days the term is “free range”. Our chickens, like all chickens, lay eggs; but finding them is an Easter egg hunt all year long.

In the “old days” there was ‘candling’ to find out if the egg was edible. We put our discovered eggs in water and if they float, it’s time to toss them. Sometimes we let the hens sit on their eggs and then watch her leading her baby chicks around. There will be various hens with their chicks behind, each day the number diminishing due to various obstacles in the life of chicks here on the farm. Our chickens are known for breeding fighting roosters. I’m not sure how we started with them because we don’t raise roosters, but they are tough and do survive the elements. The eggs are small and cream colored with dark orange yolks.

Periodically the roosters fight on their own. It’s their nature and although I don’t believe in adding power to their battles with sharp spurs, etc., cocks are pretty brutal and fight whether you bet on them or not. Periodically we kill a gallo (rooster) and make soup. Too tough to eat, they make an excellent broth which we freeze for future use.

We’re thinking of getting some “ponedoras”…egg layers. It takes about 6 months of careful care before the chicks lay eggs, so it’s usually better to buy older chickens ready to lay…but for now…come join us at TJ Ranch and hunt for some fresh eggs. You won’t regret it. See ya………..

Happy New Year - I'm back!!

The "holidaze" are over. In Puerto Rico they last a long time...through Three King's Day on January 6th. Today is January 12th and it's a Puerto Rican holiday, Maria de Hostos...and next week is Martin Luther King Day...so here in Puerto Rico we celebrate any holiday we can.

We followed our Christmas tradition and made pasteles (similar to Mexican tamales). Pasteles are made with a dough of grated green bananas, pumpkin, various root vegetables and coloring and have a meat filling of chicken or pork. They are then wrapped in paper and banana leaves and tied in a neat little package to be boiled. We also made some of yucca, which can be boiled or baked in foil and are called empanadas. We set up our assembly line with "abuela" leading us to a record 473!! At 85, abuela Raquel, doesn't tire.....a cap on her head, string around her neck (for wrapping), we set up our factory. I found a paper from 2006 that said we had made 347. Some of our pasteles are gifts, some we eat right away and serve our guests, some we sell, and the rest we freeze. Pasteles taste the best in summer when no one has seen them for months...easy fast food....boil 'em up and you have a full meal....yum!

It's a new year and I'm still talking about my garden. My tomatoes are slowly appearing, the peppers don't look great and I have more seeds to start while picking up goat poop to mix with my compost. Like most things in the jungle, certain plants go wild without much care. Check out our roof garden. Unlike most roof gardens in the city, our roof garden appeared on its own. We've already have eaten stuffed chayotes and are drying out our loofahs...waiting for the next harvest.

And so...welcome 2009....we're ready! We're gonna try to grow more food, try to continue our morning walks to the end of the farm..touch the banana tree and then cirle the camping area "track" and come home for breakfast, and try to meet more people from more places than ever before. January has brought us wonderful people so far and we're looking forward to meeting more.

I'll be talking to you soon...with more pictures and more info from TJ Ranch, Arecibo and Puerto Rico. Adios and Feliz Ano Nuevo!!!

I have good news and....

Well the good news is that we're inThe Lonely Planet guide book for Puerto Rico.... that makes 3 guide books that I know of...Lonely Planet, Moon, and Alternativa (a local guide book that we were in volume 1, but I don't know if it's come out again.) We also will add a Trip Advisor badge to our site, when I learn how. So the good news is that we're getting good reviews and we're "out there". If you know of any other guides (Fodors anyone?), let me know.

The bad news is that we haven't had inquiries nor bookings. Vacation plans are on hold during hard times and the economic incertainty lately make traveling a luxury many can't begin to think about. The people who have come down from the states lately said that their airfares were pretty good, so if you think that the upcoming winter may get you down or if you're picturing the warm water surf....make your reservations NOW!

In the meantime, we're keeping up with maintenece...the pool deck is freshly painted and we're getting our garden together so you can have fresh vegies.

Here's a picture of Tony cooking lunch for some local guests that stayed last month....fried rice, vegies and pinchos (kebobs)..Mmmmmmm Buen provecho!!!

Fresh Food or Food is everywhere in Puerto Rico

We don't have a magnificent garden (yet), but we do have food to eat. As I look around, I see 3 fresh breadfruits (pana), a couple of avocados (aguacates), some oranges (chinas) and puerto rican pears (pluma rosas) falling from the trees. It's a little early for oranges, but you can see them slowly changing from green to orange. Although I try to "buy local" it seems that when the markets are selling avocados, I have my own. It's only in an off month(like December) when we want avocados and they are nowhere to be found...
Mangos are summer fruit, oranges are November through March...I wish I knew when everything pops up.
I remember a day when we were getting ready to eat a bacalao salad and Tony and I each said, "Wait a minute." We each headed out the door and in opposite directions and came back with an avocado. "Now we can eat!"