Turkey Beards, Kale Chips and Does a Baby Shit in the Woods?
Heritage breed "Beltsville Small White" Vinnie
So, I was holding my Turkey Vinnie today (yes I am aware that that sounds super weird, they are lovely creatures and quite smart and friendly and make great pets) to show one of the kids friends how friendly they are, the air he holds in his chest to look all big and how when you press on his chest and the air is pushed out he sounds like a horn, the skin under his chin is a wadle, the long skin on his nose is a snood etc..
Then I noticed something on Vinnie's chest, it felt like a burr so I asked my 6 year old Theo to pull it off, but when we looked closer it was attached and looked like a clump of very hard wire like feathers growing from the centre of his chest. I was worried he had a growth so I rushed to the house asking if anyone had heard of this! my brother in law quickly googled and found out it is his "Beard" and only the most handsome Toms get them and they can grow quite long. learn something new every day;)
A picture of Beltsville Small White with a prominent "beard"
Turkey Fun Fact:
Turkeys are the only birds that reproduce a sexually, AKA parthenogenic. Ok, that means they can have fertile eggs without a Man around, but they will only have boys! Crazy!
A specific line of hens was discovered and developed to lay eggs which will hatch into clone "sons" since in birds the female is XY and males XX. Which is the opposite of us mammals.
Ben Franklin wanted the turkey as the USA bird but the bald eagle won the vote.... I think the turkey would have gone over well?
Kale Chips:
We grew Kale in our garden this year for the first time. It grows like a weed, and we love Kale so this is a good thing! I have heard about how amazing the Kale chips taste so I decided to experiment. Well, good thing I did because I have now found my new addiction, and it's a healthy one!
Pre-heat oven to 300 degree celcius
Bunch of Kale with the heart removed to leave the green leaves only no center.
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Sherry or Wine Vinegar
Pinch Sea Salt
Mix in a small bowl to help disolve salt.
Coat the leaves completely with the mixture, use your hands in a bowl or shake in a bag.
Place on cookie trays
Cook for 35 minutes
Spicy Kale Chips:
Add a dash of Tobasco Sauce or Cayenne Pepper to the mix
Kale Nutritional Facts:
"One of the healthiest vegetable around"
-Cholesterol Lowering benefits
-Risk-lowering benefits for cancer
-detoxifying power
-at least 45 different Flavanoids in Kale which provide ANTI-INFLAMMATORY and anti-Oxidant benefits
1 cup of cooked Kale equals:
Nutrient %Daily Value
vitamin K1327.6%
vitamin A354.1%
vitamin C88.8%
manganese27%
fiber10.4%
copper10%
tryptophan9.3%
calcium9.3%
vitamin B69%
potassium8.4%
iron6.5%
magnesium5.8%
vitamin E5.5%
omega-3 fats5.4%
vitamin B25.2%
protein4.9%
vitamin B14.6%
folate4.2%
phosphorus
3.6%
vitamin B33.2%
Calories (36)2%
THATS AMAZING!
Great site to get more info on how awesome Kale is:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38
Poop:
We recently went berry picking which took us about 2 hours. Well, my 3 year old had to "poop"... this is a farm, with no washroom, and I didnt happen to have a potty, or extra clothes for her in case I told her to hold it and she couldnt.
SO, what do ya do! Well, baby had to shit in the woods! She did very well, she could have cared less and a nice doggy poop bag cleaned everything up so as not to leave our "poop" print on mother earth;)
