CapeCodToday Blog Chowder

Jon,
You have to catch that homing pigeon and get the numbers off the band, then you can track the owners down online (yeah, sure!) I got one at Rock Harbor in Orleans that supposedly got off track during a training flight somewhere near Westport. The owner, who looked like a pirate, came to pick up the bird a week later. I found out that many times those birds are rented out for weddings, funerals, etc. and fail to return to the owners after the oohs and ahhs. (The moral being, blow bubbles, leave the birds out of it.)
Thanks for the lovely reminder of another of P-Town's beautiful seasons.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg, or for that matter, the jive turkey? Is the causative issue that engendered the higher rates of poverty, drop-outs and drug use the fact that a single parent headed the household, or is it more a case that single-parent households are more common among those already in poverty, already affected by drug and alcohol use and subsequently already more likely to be drop-outs and unemployed or unemployable? Without controls for those factors, the statistics get a little weak in terms of finding a direct correlation. Are we talking about studies restricted to the ghetto or the redneck rivieras or are we talking about studies that exclude the mitigating factors that those habitations include and, rather, feature a study sample garnered from rich, white, suburban single parents with grandparental childcare, homes without mortgages, maybe a little trust fund to help with the piano lessons and hockey skates and very good schools bolstered by very high propery tax rates with very good classmates and crime-free neighborhoods?

I hesitated at freezing any, but I'll give it a shot. I've heard you can freeze them in milk, but I think I'll vac seal them.

Ah, scallop bounty. At $40 a bushel and falling. Let's see, the market price is $20 a lb, a bushel cuts around 7 lbs, and cutters are getting $3.00 a lb. Best thing about the 80s was that one could cut scallops in their own shed without having a special set-up and inspect. I take that back, the best thing about the 80s was listening to "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant.

I was thinking one could jump on one from behind with a burlap sack, but they're pretty fast and jumpy for big birds. Plus, they can kick like the dickens. Better to find them along the power lines and hunt them properly, in season, calls and all.
Most folks I know who have tried local wild turkey say its quite gamy, but that's so subjective.
I smoked a turkey for T-Day once... took about 6 or 7 hours. That was all wrong. Deep fried isn't half bad, but a T-Day bird should really be baked.
Thanks for the cool photos, they really seem to be posing for you.

How I wish Braintree abutted Marblehead.
So, a guy walks into the Land Ho! and says, "I'd like a Sandwich and a Brewster with a side a Mashpees..."

Peebiddy, indeed, and for advanced speakers, Medford is definitely "Meffuhd", but for Cape visitors, Chatham is always Chat-um, while Eastham is never East-um, but rather East-HAM.
As a side note, there is a saying known only to locals that involves "Easthaming a beer," which is to leave two inches at the bottom of the bottle or can or cup, which results in heavy yellow jacket activity during high summer keggers and a messy clean-up for hosts any time of year.

What kind of a family needs 10 pigs for food? The Duggars?

Thanks Jonathan... Ana, after searching around, I've come up empty on red wine pickled onions. I have to get that recipe from you!
Samich - Child's Homestead? The benz's you say?? I think I've spent some time in that cellar, but I obviously missed the roots class there!

Our little boy has just turned two, and the thrill of "watering" the house has only increased as he's grown. Something has been lost in translation in our elimination communication. Aiming instruction is the next required course.
Tom, you are sorely in need of a pig or two in the backyard. Rather than avoid the gag sessions, you could jump into manure management with both feet (literally and figuratively.) Just think how much fun it would be for the kids, with months of barbeque to follow!

For all the fishermen who eye the omnipresent seals with antagonism, and for the swimmers who resent their presence and even their nitrogen-rich 'output', recently blamed for swimming bans, we offer you...(drumroll, please)...the great white shark. Just when you thought there weren't enough big predators immune from game wardens' enforcement...

That was a reply to Ned's comment, not yours Julie! But I suppose it works both ways!

We've been suspected of that kind of mojo. In fact, we always have some older birds around, and young roosters, that can be provided for such important occasions - and we also have the honey.

I wonder if it was a 'report' of possible cultivation from the folks in the big black helicopters that have been doing daily forays above my property.
From the booking photo, it looks as though (thankfully) Mr. Ranney skipped the blotter on that particular day. Just say no!

Walter - you are amazing. Will you take *my* kids up to the top of the Empire State Building?! I'm sending this to all my New Yorkaphile friends. I love the pics. You inspire courage.

Tony, my father was quite fond of you and always spoke highly about you. I know he loved getting your emails. Tight lines - B.

As for crabbing in ponds, ideal tide level would have to depend on where you are crabbing from and what kind of flush the marsh gets. When I scoop in ponds, it is from in the water, and I like the tide to be high enough to hit the grass on the banks, which entices the crabs to hang around close to shore and even move into the grass a bit. Low tide doesn't seem to work anywhere I've tried. High tide usually results in the crabs being too deep - unless, of course, you are scooping from pilings. Outgoing is a little better than incoming, as the crabs hang out waiting for bait to flow by as the tide receeds.
I have found fresh bluefish or pogies are the best crab bait. Using pogies has the added bonus of your getting to snag them, which is another story altogether. Keeping some snagging hooks in the tackle box is key. But bluefish heads and tail sections have the added bonus of your having had the pleasure of eating them the night before. Either way, big aggressive crabs will be your reward.
I use a crab net that is attached to a pole about the same length as a broomstick.

Thanks pizza... j. - I certainly mean no disrespect to the wonderful Vietnamese crabbers, if the other locals showed up in equal numbers and possessed even a fraction of the enthusiasm for this delicious catch, I too suspect we would see a more equal representation in poaching. Night fishing for crabs with a spotlight is great fun. We make regular trips to Sound-side docks with a big spotlight and find blue crabs clinging to the pilings. Netting a crab from a piling is no easy task, and with boats secured tightly to the docks with rope, there have been many near catastrophies as a crabber with net and bucket and light trips over the lines and almost takes a midnight dip!

I hope it is not an allergy situation... maybe a 'turkey fryer' set up with a propane tank would allow you to cook with impunity the stinky treasures of the sea. I use a cast iron pan right over the gas for blackening blues.
Scallops sound divine!

That sounds delicious! I will definitely make a note to do that this summer.

Charcoal, or biochar, is a great addition to the garden. Peter Hirst recently did an interesting story for Cape Healing Arts called "Black is the New Green." The wood ash that I use is the white remains of woodstove burns. While a good source of potash, it is also alkaline, making it a no-no for acid loving plants like blueberries, strawberries and azaleas. I use it to correct acid soil, the same way one would use lime.

That's a lovely story, Richard, and funny. When I was starting out with laying hens, I was impressed by tales of the "deep litter" method, in which a layer of wood chips a foot or so deep would be left to 'cook' like a compost pile through the year. The idea was that the composting guano would give off heat for the birds. Figuring that I would have an unheated henhouse and knowing how cold the temperature can dip during the winter, I was sold. However, what sounded like a surmountable task of digging out the litter each spring soon revealed itself to be a job for a jackhammer and a crew of burly shovel-wielding toughs. It would have been much smarter to sprinkle a shallow bed of shavings over the floors and change them every month or two.
Interestingly, or disgustingly, the meat birds condense all of their life processes into a short span, and the mess they leave behind is multiplied exponentially in comparison to layer birds. That cleanout is a task I dread, but good garden fertilizer is in abundance here - a welcomed by-product as the gardens get going this spring.

Supposedly the town has a permit from "way back" that is simply renewed each year.
The late hour may have had something to do with catching the low tide, which, interestingly enough, was the full moon astronomical low tide that corresponds with the traditional running of the herring and other local saltwater lore like the movement of white perch and chubs.
Is it dangerous? It would be if you happened to try to pull a boat up there after the tide came in. That huge hump of sand on the flats is probably not on any map of the Bay's terrain.

Well, I'd hate to be a spot burner, but... get on the Mid-Cape and head toward the Sagamore Bridge, once you go over the bridge, drive North for about 4 hours and you'll be right in the action!
My sources for catches of sea-run trout are pretty mythological. I have never caught one, but I've heard tales that excite the imagination. Until I see it for myself, I'll keep dreaming.

Are you serious? That's hilarious.

I'm reading Joseph Earl Dabney's "Mountain Spirits," about moonshine. Gives an interesting perspective on Prohibition, while introducing readers to terms like "thump likker" and "bootleg bonnets."
Dabney quotes a 'top official of the ATF' as saying, in regards to Prohibition, "We as a nation haven't recovered from it to this day, and I don't think we ever will."

We try to keep some extra burners open for all the 'leftover' shellfish, which get steamed open and gobbled up. Last night's soft-shell clams and cherry stones took a hot sauna together and were all gone in minutes. Save that broth - it's magical.
My town requires mussels be more than 2 inches in longest diameter, and that they be harvested from open areas, according to your permit type - be it commercial or recreational. I would think most towns are similar.

Speaking of being stoned (which thankfully means something gentler here than in other parts of the world), did anyone notice that the pic is of a SEAGULL smoking a fatty, not a tern?? Funny....

There is a pregnancy test, but it is a blood test (for progesterone) that has to be mailed to a lab. There false positives possible, and the sample has to be taken at a certain time of the month... Add the cost of postage and the cost of the test and I just haven't 'gone there' yet.

If you tie flies, you know what a full hackle costs, and they all came from some rooster, maybe friendly, maybe not - but you'll never know. I had to stop short at using any of the pet white rabbit's fur for zonkers.
I did try to bury our first rooster, Henry the Auracana. I put him about 3 1/2 feet down in a hole in the woods and he was gone without a trace the next day. That's deep!

Samurai - Thanks! I just went to Thuan Loi Food Mart yesterday. Incredibly nice people. And that fried beef sandwich with the Vietnamese mayo was delicious. We came home with all kinds of goodies. I will throw a post on here soon with pictures. Let's just say Thai canned mackerel with peppercorns on seaweed crackers has been a huge hit in my house for a couple of days.
I was psyched to see how much grocery product is in there. I was expecting a few cans of straw mushrooms, baby corn and sliced bamboo shoots. Now I have a local place to buy Sriracha Hot Sauce! YAY!

It has been interesting and depressing to observe the exodus of the best and brightest teachers from the public school system as the MCAS has taken over the educational scene. Charter schools are getting some great teachers out of the deal. The problem is not the testing, it is the way the teachers are being stripped of their freedom, creativity and ability to educate on subjects that fall outside the test questions. I remember watching Elvis' Blue Hawaii in a particularly bad history class, that featured a teacher taking swigs from a bottle hiding in the bottom drawer of his desk. Freedom to inspire shouldn't be confused with freedom to sit on your tenured you-know-what until retirement kicks in.

Just quickly - MCAS is tied to funding for individual districts. It is a measure of how well the school system is educating pupils, not how well all the students in town have been educated. Most school systems do not allow homeschooled children to take the MCAS - even though the student is technically under the 'jurisdiction' of the local principal or superintendent. I think they should allow testing, but it was explained to me that the MCAS is really designed to measure how well the school system is functioning.

conservative, hard data is hard to come by in the homeschooling world. Each school system deals with it differently, some requiring parents to report to a superintendent, some requiring that they deal directly with the principal of the school they would be going to.
Many principals require only a yearly "letter of intent" the parent sends in, with no meetings to check dated work samples or test results. Other principals have sent truant officers to parents' homes if forms are not sent in on time.
High school homeschoolers are less common, but some parents pull their children specifically to get them out of a stagnating academic situation and into more advanced coursework. The elementary years are the most common.

We have family in Cambridge who pick up Yuzu juice for us when they're coming down - maybe at Kotobukiya.
Nobu Matsuhisa has a mean lobster recipe that involves a sake reduction sauce with yuzu juice - it is delicious and the lobster is halved lengthwise for a striking presentation. You can find it in Nobu: The Cookbook, available at Cape libraries through C.L.A.M.S.

That is absolutely true.

Balogna - here it is, from my favorite foodie mag.... http://www.saveur.com/article/Food/Duck-Pate

balogna - Ive thought of including them on my chick orders, but I haven't made the plunge. I'd still be importing grain from VT for them... maybe I should build their pen in the swamp. (I don't think the D.E.P would dig that.)
I can email you the recipe off-blog if you like. It uses pork lard. Yummy.

Wow, thanks for the info. Burning Spear is fantastic - "the man from up in the hills, African teacher, Winston Rodney." Live in Paris is a must-have album for reggae fans.
I hope they'll do something further down Cape when the weather is hot, hot, hot.

Standard layer feed in Orleans is around $13 for 50 lbs. The organic runs about $24 for 50 lbs. I can't imagine getting cat food for that price - I'd like to know where! My cheap-o cat food is $3.19 for 3.5 lbs, almost a dollar a pound. So for 50 lbs, that's......
They must have a really great source of free feed. If it doesn't have poultry, it is probably an okay feed for them, but may lack the calcium they need.

My cats' bag of dry food contains corn and soy and guess what's third? Chicken-by-product meal. That is ground up chicken parts. Cannibalism does rarely occur with poultry, but as a regular feed I think you are asking for trouble. Spongiform encephalopathy, anyone?

Cat food? You got me on that one. Chickens are naturally omnivores, so a diet of grain is a little poor for them. If they can forage outside they get the perfect balance - worms, bugs, grass, rocks, etc.
Cat food has grain, protein - and a lot of weird stuff in it. I would avoid eggs from chickens fed a lot of cast off product, but that's just me. Maybe some people like the flavor of melamine.

I've never had a hen last that long. We have OPD evidence photos to prove what the coyotes last did to our flock. (They were worried it was voodoo!)Luckily the rooster made it to Cape Rental World alive and hid out.
If I had old hens and didn't want to eat them, I would give them to someone who did. I gave several to some Brazilian acquaintances. They don't mind the butchering - nor do I.
Someone told me the best offense is a good defense when it comes to predators. I agree. If you have dogs, that's great. If not, keep them doors locked! And remember the raccoon's dexterity when choosing a latch. I have boosted the difficulty level of latches using carabiners in the past.
Good luck with your new coop.

They are delicious... and nutritious!

Murr, thanks! There are beekeepers locally who place bees at cranberry bogs and other nectar-rich locales. If you have an orchard in need of pollinating, seek out any beekeeper - they may be looking for a source of different-tasting honey and even some nice real estate with lots of sun for a hive or two.
I have sold honey in the past, sometimes to folks who suffer from seasonal allergies. It is suspected that eating honey foraged from local plants constitutes a type of allergen therapy, in which the body becomes acclimated to the allergen without the ill-effects of exposure to heavy amounts of the pollen. After a time, exposure to those irritants does not produce the immune response that results in the symptoms of allergy. Well, that's how I read it, anyway. I'm not a physician. I know someone who swears that drinking milk from goats who eat poison ivy cures his allergy to the weed.
This brings me to your next question. I don't plant for the bees. I do plant for myself, and the bees seem to make a tremendous difference in the fruiting of all our vegetables.

Thanks Malcom. If you have any questions relating to beekeeping, blast away and I may be able to assist.

Wouldn't Mr. Obama be the virgin queen?

I bought my first Charleston Chew in Livingston's, with the proceeds from fetching Mrs. Marsh's newspaper from the store. Thank you for the photo, it looked much the same when I frequented it in the late 70s or early 80s. Brings back memories.

Thanks, Jonathan. I can't handle more than a sip or two of the strong stuff, myself. After a lifetime of picking the same types of berries, it is nice to find a new use for them; one that makes an interesting and affordable little gift.

No, but I did have him in the backpack at a pond just off the highway yesterday. We were doing a little research and reeling in some fish. He loves to watch the bobbers come in jumping around.

What a fascinating shot - of an intriguing subject.

Manatee, they really are tasty! There were still a few around a few days ago. Rock Harbor in Orleans had them in very late this year, for some unknown reason. In fact, the big schools of big silversides really just showed up this month. You can catch them easily on Sabiki rigs if you have a dock to jig them off. The kids love it and all gather around for an education in marine biology. Last year we had a good run going on Sabikis, with tommy cod, sea ravens (as they are called here), silversides, snapper blues and then tinker mackerel (!) all being pulled up to the amazement of a growing crowd of little kids. Fun!

Cahuna, they show up mid-July and should be gone, err, now. Everything that eats fish likes to eat them. I have been mostly watching cormorants devour them, but have also seen snapper blues biting off their tails. Bass enjoy them.
Do not keep them for any length of time, though you could vac seal and freeze them, but I haven't tried it. Regarding bait, if you hang out where silversides are found you will hopefully, sooner or later, hear the sloppy splash of pogies, which are the ideal bait.
Tight lines,
B.

I hear ya Cahuna. Heating with only self- felled and cut and split wood, in addition to the scrounged cordage (thanks NStar,) I think I have finally figured out the hot water conundrum of how much diesel is required in the now mostly neglected oil tank (sorry, Oil Express.) It seems to work out to about 6 gallons every 2 weeks, but it runs out a little bit sooner than that and I have to bleed the boiler. If I was rich I would go for solar thermal, but until then I'm happy to see the cost of diesel decline.
Things aren't so bad for us, though they are bad enough for many. It just makes you feel better to know you can be a little productive and supplement the larder with self-caught or home-butchered or home-raised 'delicacies' when there's precious little else to be had or even when there's plenty.

Baloneysandwich - I challenge you to a clam-off any time, any where, any temperature. Tools or no tools. Seriously. But I can guarantee you wouldn't have temerity to show your face.
Let me know when you are ready to go.