In case you get the impression that small farm life is too cute for words, I present goose processing day! Yes, this happened between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I’m just getting it on the blog now. Sorry!

It started out sunny and cautiously optimistic. The geese were not amused, however, by my clever plans to corner them quickly and calmly, and the rest of the day was a bit… difficult.

My husband, bless his heart, at one point looked across the second goose carcass at me, with a fistful of down mostly stuck to his wet, cold hands, and commented, “I don’t remember agreeing to this when I said ‘I do’!”

On the bright side, our customers said the geese were remarkably meaty and not nearly so greasy as they were used to in store-bought geese. I’m guessing that’s because we feed very little grain (except in winter), and they kept themselves busy grazing and wandering all over the farm.