My neighbours have a flock of hen, with a brave rooster. They produce eggs for the family, and sometimes new chicken are born. But there can only be one rooster in the flock; otherwise they start fighting. And these birds, they are not just peaceful seed eaters, they can be vicious beasts too, killing frogs or pecking an injured hen to death. So we have a deal; their young roosters come to my place to grow up. If they have enough space and there are no hen around, they won't fight with each other. And in the autumn, when the temperature begins to fall below freezing, I'll kill the roosters for meat.

Last summer I built a small shelter next to my barn, and made a big cage next to it, so that the young roosters have a safe place to stay at. Later on as they grew up, I let the gate open so that the roosters could roam free at my yard, foraging for their food. Unluckily, one of them got killed either by my cat or dog - I didn't see who did the actual killing, but it was the dog who ate the little rooster. Well, yesterday I got four young roosters for this summer. Maybe I'll let them grow bit bigger before letting them roam free.

Today I harvested the first pumpkin for this summer. Ah, and I turned on the freezer. I froze nettles (briefly boiled, then cut) and raspberries. The season for raspberries is already almost over, so I'm bit late. Anyhow, it always feels like a turning point of the year, when storing the first foodstuff for the coming winter.