Roasted Root Vegetable Medley

The root vegetables that we planted in the winter are the perfect size for pulling right now and we've been enjoying them lately.  The ground is not too wet and not too dry, so when you grab the vegetables, they pull right up from the soil.  Years of working in compost, leaves and other organic matter into the garden is really paying dividends in terms of soil quality.

Here is a nice little 'mess' of root vegetables I pulled for supper tonight.  From left to right we have carrots, turnips, bull's blood beets and chioggia beets.

As far as roots and greens, they can both be eaten, but today I was in a charitable mood and tossed the greens over the fence to the cows, goats and chickens who promptly ate them and begged for more.  I brought the root vegetables inside and Tricia washed them and cut them up and put them on a cookie sheet.  She added a couple tablespoons of melted butter and olive oil, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, thyme, and salt and pepper. Then she'll garnish with parsley and toss around on the cookie sheet to coat everything nicely.

I think the vegetables look almost as good as they taste.  These get placed in the oven at 375F for 30 minutes.

Many times, if you steam vegetables or cook them on the stove top, the color fades away in the water along with nutrients and taste.  That is not the case with roasting vegetables.  When you roast vegetables, the dry heat of the oven caramelizes the sugars in the vegetables, yielding a delicious dish that gets us going back for seconds.

We still have a row and a half of carrots to pull as well as a row of beets.  I'm sure we'll steam some, but roasting them is my favorite way to prepare them.

Getting Caught Red-Handed

So I got caught red-handed.  Let me explain...

A while back we thought it would be a good idea to get some guinea fowl to raise with the chickens.  I always heard that they were great 'watch-dogs' against snakes. I had good childhood experiences with their eggs and just thought it would be interesting to have a new creature on the homestead.  So I got 4 baby guinea fowl chicks - straight run.  Three were males and one was female.  Although she eventually laid eggs.  She hid her nests very well and by the time we found her eggs, they were old and we were afraid to eat them.  Oh and another thing - guineas are very VERY LOUD!

After a bit, one of the guinea roosters got into a fight with another and was mortally wounded.  Then the female got killed by a predator.  That left us with two males. With no female guinea to show their affections to, they began to terrorize the hens. They were the bullies of the barnyard and gave the hens no peace.

On December 1, 2016 our hens laid their last egg, and they didn't start laying again until mid-February.  Although egg production often wanes in winter months, we had never experienced a complete stoppage of eggs like this.  I first thought that it had to do something with nutrition, so we changed their feed.  Then we thought that perhaps they had parasites.  Nothing we tried seemed to help.

Many times I lovingly refer to my wife as "theory woman."  She is very analytical and has a theory or hypothesis for everything.  She told me that she thought that the persistent bullying by the guineas had contributed to nervous hens and lack of egg production.   I could fix that problem, I told her.  I caught the guineas, killed them, scalded them, plucked them and cut them up.

Although I guess I'll miss their personalities, if they were contributing to the 'egg-drought,' we'll get rid of them.  And that's what we did.

When we butcher fowl, I always like to clean the gizzards as you can see what they've been eating or using to help digest their food.  In the 5 o'clock position in the photo below, you'll see a round, ball-like object.  It is aglow-in-the-dark Air-Soft bullet.  That is kind of odd, but I'm sure the kids shot the air soft bullet into the pasture and the guinea rooster devoured it.

So to test our theory, we were interested to see if egg output increased.  Did it?  The day after the guinea slaughter, a hen laid an egg, the next day another egg, then three, then four, then six eggs, ten eggs and thirteen eggs.  Although correlation doesn't imply causation, it is mighty curious the timing of the increase in egg-laying in conjunction with the guineas' demise  Several factors may by in play, but I don't think it is coincidental.  In another good turn of events, we are enjoying a fresh guinea gumbo right now!

Checking in on the Chicks

When you raise chickens, the sight you see below is not what you want to find when you feed and water the birds.

Another one bites the dust...

We have lost a total of three chicks - all of them being the Cornish Cross meat birds. We don't exactly know why they died.  One thing I noticed, though, on the Rhode Island Red birds was that some of them had "Pasty Butt."  Pasty butt is an ailment that chicks get that is essentially diarrhea.  It becomes a serious and often fatal issue, because the poop sticks to them and will actually stop up their vents.  Here is a picture of a chick with pasty butt.  It is not a pretty sight to behold.

Pasty butt can be caused by several things:

1. Stress from being shipped through the mail - our chicks were shipped,
2. Getting too cold - our chicks may have gotten cold as it was cold when they first arrived,
3. Getting too hot - the heat lamps may have gotten the birds too hot,
4. An infection - the birds could have picked up an infection.

The birds must be treated to avoid death.  Two treatments are to either hold the little chick's butt under warm running water or use oil on a Q-tip to remove the poop from their vents.  It was pretty cold on this particular evening and bringing the affected chicks inside for warm baths and blow-drying wasn't the option I went for.  Instead, I used some vegetable oil on a q-tip to remove the poop and lubricate the vent area.

The next photo is not a pretty one, but chicken raising can be nasty business and sometimes it involves dirty work that I'd rather not do.  But I'd also rather not have our chicks dying on us.

I worked on the four or five chicks that were affected and removed the poop from the vent area.  We also added a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to each gallon of water we put in the chicks' waterers.  This happened a week ago and we have not lost any more chicks! This is good news.  We will keep monitoring the situation, but for now the birds appear to be once again healthy and growing.

Senior Citizens Appreciation

Job 12:12

Wisdom is with aged men,

With long life is understanding.

This past Sunday evening after the Evening Worship Services, we held a Senior Citizens Appreciation meal for the senior citizens at our church.  Our youth wanted to honor them and show them appreciation for all that they have done for them over the years.  Twenty four seniors of our church family were in attendance for the festivities.  Our fellowship hall was decorated in Cajun theme complete with cypress knees, alligator skins, stuffed nutria, snapping turtle shells, and tanned animal furs. The tablecloths were made of quilts and the table on the right in the picture below was filled with antiques and 'relics' of simpler times.

There was a nice time of visiting before serving and, let me tell you, our church specializes in fellowship!  The youth stood in front of the seniors and read Bible verses about respecting elders.  Then each of our young people sincerely thanked the seniors for the model of Christian behavior that they provide.  They thanked them for teaching Sunday School and Bible School and being so giving.

Meanwhile, things were very busy in the church kitchen.  In fact, things had been busy all day.  Earlier in the day we had Sunday School followed by Morning Worship.  Then, it was the third Sunday of the month, so we met at 3:30 at one of the Nursing Homes in town to hold services for those who are unable to get out and go to church.  The meal was supposed to begin right after Evening Worship Services ended.  Evening Worship normally runs from 5 pm until 6 pm, but services ended about 25 minutes early, putting a strain on the chefs in the kitchen, but we quickened the pace and got things done.  Our kitchen staff is the best.

Our Young People served the senior citizens.  I mean they REALLY served them. Decked out in white shirts, black pants and bow ties or white dress, they provided top-notch waitstaff service with a smile, pampering those in our church who were above the age of 60.  They did a great job and I'm proud of them.

First the drink orders were taken and either sweet tea, lemonade or water was brought out to the tables. Then the salad dressing orders were taken and salads were served by enthusiastic smiling waiters. Then the diners were given a choice of spaghetti/meat sauce or chicken fettuccine and garlic bread, followed by a brownie dessert.  The meal wasn't rushed and everyone visited while eating, enjoying one another's company.

Then came what I think was the best part of all.  The Youth asked the seniors to give them advice!  And the youth (and all of us in attendance) listened intently.

You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. Deuteronomy 6:7

You could have heard a pin drop.  Numerous seniors gave the young people VALUABLE life advice regarding their spiritual development, choosing a mate, following the LORD, along with stories from their childhood and upbringing.  Many told stories of rough times that they lived through, but through faith in God and perseverance, they made it through the trials.  The seniors gave wisdom and instruction to the youth - advice they won't soon forget.

Everyone listened intently as they shared.  It was one of those times that you'll always remember as instruction was passed down from one generation to the next. On a night where we intended to be givers and serve the seniors, they ended up giving more than we did.  Funny how that works out!

At the end of the night, we had our seniors pose for a photo.

Then our youth posed with them.  It was truly a memorable evening!

Much thanks go out to our youth, Angel (shown below) who thought of this great idea, her mom, Patty, and Tricia for helping make it happen.  It was a lot of hard work, but the hard work paid off.

At the end of the night, everyone was tired.  Not too tired, though!

Deuteronomy 32:7

Remember the days of old,

Consider the years of all generations.

Ask your father, and he will inform you,

Your elders, and they will tell you.

2017 Meat Birds - 1 Week Old

The Cornish Cross Meat birds in our garage are a week old.  Actually they are probably a week and three days old, but I'm not splitting hairs.  They are in a brooder and are being warmed under two heat lamps.  The have two - 1 gallon water containers along with 5 feed troughs.  They eat an enormous amount of feed and already the garage smells real bad.  The birds have atrocious table manners as they sit in the feed trough and poop in it while they are eating.

The birds haven't been stressed, but we have had some fatalities.  3 Cornish Cross chicks have died. I'm not really sure about the cause of death.  None of the Rhode Island Reds (RIRs) have died, although they have had an ailment that I am currently treating.  Perhaps I'll talk about that in tomorrow's post.

In this weekly installment we'll track the weight gain of the chicks over the 8 to 10 week period and discuss their lives, challenges and other interesting tidbits about them.  If you look closely, you can notice that there is beginning to be some feather development on the wings.  A week ago they were little fuzz balls.  Now they are putting on feathers.

I put a newspaper over the kitchen scale for obvious reasons, zero out the scale, and put the ol' boy up on the scale for weigh-in time.

Last week he weighed 1 1/2 ounces
This week he weighs 7 1/2 ounces
Last years' birds at one week old weighed 8 ounces.

It looks like we are right on track

The Greatest Invention of All Time

Yesterday's post was all about putting some hard work in to move a pile of dirt from where it was delivered to the garden which is located about 30 feet to the south and west.  It was hard work, but I kept at it until the pile disappeared.  I worked up a sweat.  Even though it was only around 80 degrees, my shirt was soaked and so were my pants.  I had the good sense to wear gloves, so I avoided blisters from shoveling.  I was exhausted when I was done.  I slept like a baby and woke up sore in my shoulders and back.

I had another ailment, though.  Walking back and forth with sweat soaked pants that rubbed continuously all day, left me chafed.  We always called it chapped growing up.  Whatever you call it, it is uncomfortable.  Where the wet clothes rub your legs, it irritates the skin, making it red and inflamed. It is painful to walk and probably looks quite funny from a bystander's perspective because the chafing makes you walk bowlegged.  To the victim of chafing or chapping, however, it is not funny at all.

I have memories of this affliction from my childhood and I posted about it in the Red Rice post from back in 2013.  I describe the chafing problem in that post briefly.  What I didn't get into was what we did to try and treat it.  My great-grandmother's remedy was to fill your pockets with the leaves of a China Berry tree to the inflamed area.  That didn't seem to do much good.  Nothing seemed to do much good.  It seemed as if you would just have to suffer through the discomfort every time you worked hard as there was no cure.  Or was there?

Back in elementary school, we learned about Eli Whitney inventing the cotton gin and interchangeable parts.  We also learned about how Samuel Colt invented the Colt Revolver, Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone and Thomas Edison and the light bulb.  All notable inventions to be sure.  But I'd like to nominate this product as the greatest invention of all time:

Gold Bond Medicated Powder - I only wish I had known about this back in my red rice pulling days

Gold Bond Medicated Powder.  Oh my goodness.  The cooling - the relief.   This product dates back to 1882 when some doctors from Rhode Island formulated it. Amazingly, in 1912 the formula was sold to Mr. John M. Chapman, who achieved great brand recognition and distribution, according to Wikipedia.  Hmmm.  Get it? Chap man?  Chapped man?  From this gentleman's name, it appears he may have had a genetic predisposition to being chapped, so no doubt this product was near and dear to his heart (or his chapped parts).

Okay, so this post may be sort of tongue-in-cheek, but it is a good product that gives great relief to hard-working dirt movers or red rice pullers everywhere.  For full-disclosure, Gold Bond Medicated Powder did not pay me a penny for this favorable review, unfortunately.

Another Load of Topsoil

About a year and a half ago, we posted in THIS POST about higher ground about ordering a load of topsoil to raise the level in the garden.  The torrential rains we experienced in August 2016 reinforced the fact that we needed some more soil.  The rains soaked the garden and it seemed to never dry out. That resulted in sickly plants and even worse, a delayed fall garden.

I was determined to not fall prey to a low-lying garden area again, so I ordered a dump truck load of topsoil.  I thought it was a steep price at $220 for 14 yards of soil, but I talked to someone in Lafayette today that paid $275, so I guess it is all relative.  I moved the trampoline to the south and west and asked the dirt service guy to drop the load of soil on top of the craters that Big Boy dug underneath the trampoline.  He obliged and now I had my work cut out for me!

You move 16 tons and whaddaya get?  Another day older and deeper in debt...

Armed with a shovel and a gorilla cart and a hankering to do some good, honest physical labor, I began my task.  I wanted to get the job done before a rain came so that I could spread the soil easily throughout the garden.

My plan is to continue the job I started back in 2015 in the post I referenced in the first paragraph and that is to fill in the furrows between the rows.  I have an infestation of nutsedge or cocograss that keeps me busy in an endless weeding process.  I laid down some cardboard between the rows and began dumping the top soil on top of the cardboard, filling the furrows and then using my shovel to spread the dirt out evenly.  Perhaps the cardboard will frustrate the weeds to keep them from coming up, but I'll keep my expectations real low.  Nutsedge (cocograss) is a pernicious weed.

It took me a while, but I keep at it diligently and before you knew it, I was almost finished.  You can see the progress below.  In the garden where you can see Bull's Blood Beets and Chioggia Beets in the foreground and Swiss Chard on the next row, there aren't really rows anymore.  The ground level is all flat now.

Here is another shot looking straight down the row.  Now I ordered top soil and I must say that I was a little disappointed in this load.  If you look closely you can see dirt 'clods' and in chopping them up with a shovel, there was a bit of clay in my 'top soil.'  I wasn't real excited about putting any clay in the garden but most of the top soil was okay.

It will be beneficial to have the soil level raised by several inches.  Although drainage is certainly key, having a higher soil level will help to dry out the garden quicker.  I will say this - I was happy when the dirt pile was completely moved. Stay tuned as tomorrow, in a topic related to this post , I will give my nomination for the greatest invention ever made.

For Your Eyes Only

Last week we talked about purchasing and prepping seed potatoes for this year's crop.  We cut them up and set them aside to let them 'scab' over.  By Saturday morning, they were ready to be put in the ground.  First, however, I had to get the soil ready.  I want to show you a little something new I'm trying this year with the rows.

I staked out a 30 inch row with an 18 inch walkway between rows.  I dug out the 18 inch walkway.  18 inches is the width of two shovels side-by-side, so one shovel-ful goes to the row on the right and the other goes to the row on the left.  When you get to the end of the row, you have enough dirt on the row to hoe up and plant.  The photo below shows the staked out rows and walkways, along with a bucket of seed potatoes.

A long row to hoe

I told my uncle that I was planting potatoes and he reminded me of some advice that my old Science Teacher, Stuart Buck, would give us about planting potatoes. He'd say, "Be sure to plant your seed potatoes with newspaper and green onions." When we'd ask why, he'd say, "So they can read the newspaper when they get bored and onions for drought as the onions would make their eyes water." Mr. Stuart passed away in March 2016.  Mr. Stuart, I took your advice.  This photo is for you!:

Planting potatoes is easy.  Simply dig a four inch hole, drop a potato in with the eye facing up and cover.  Potatoes should be planted 12 inches apart.

While potato planting is indeed easy, it is back-breaking labor.  I am finding that, even though I don't consider myself old, I just don't have the stamina or energy level that I had previously.  But you've got to keep going.  Those potatoes aren't going to plant themselves.  No sir.  On the last row, the sun was quickly sinking in the sky... and I was tired.

I called out to my bride and she came to the garden and helped me get the rest of the crop in the ground. As we finished the job, the sun ducked under the horizon. The potato crop is in.  Hallelujah!

Prepping Seed Potatoes for the 2017 Crop

Tricia normally goes to the feed store every Friday morning to purchase Dairy Ration for the cows and goat, alfalfa, hen scratch, and the occasional bucket, rope or other item for the animals.  This past Friday, I sent her on a mission to come back with seed potatoes so that I could cut them and allow them to scab over so I could plant.  The mission was NOT accomplished.  The feed store was out of seed potatoes.  We had been beat to the punch.

Not to worry.  They proprietor had more seed potatoes on order and they would be in this week.  Tricia went back yesterday and picked up 15 pounds of seed potatoes. Looking at last year's crop that you can read about by clicking here, we will be hard-pressed to out-do the production of that crop.  The statistics in that post's second to last paragraph were very interesting to me.  Based on last year's figures, every pound of seed potatoes will produce 10 pounds of potatoes.

Here are 15 pounds of seed potatoes.  These should produce 150 pounds of potatoes if all goes according to plan.  Can you see the 'eyes' beginning to show themselves?

Last year we planted Lasoda Red Potatoes and Yukon Gold Potatoes.  I was really pleased with the Lasoda varieties' yield.  While the Yukon Gold variety didn't produce as well as the Lasoda, they stored really well.  I was looking forward to planting the La Soda variety again this year.  Well, wouldn't you know it, the Feed Store was unable to get their hands on any and instead, the variety they got was the Pontiac variety.  As the name suggests, they were developed in Michigan, while the La Soda variety was developed in Louisiana in 1948.  I guess we'll see how this northern cultivar grows down here.

The Pontiac had some nice eyes bulging.  I inspected each and they appeared to be in good shape with plenty of eyes.

Now you could plant each seed potato whole, but it wouldn't be very efficient.  I like to cut them up into chunks, ensuring that each chunk has at least one eye.  Each eye will grow a plant and each plant will produce some nice potatoes. So I grabbed a knife and started cutting.

Before too long I had two trays full of cut up seed potatoes.  But they are not quite ready for planting yet.

I like to leave them outside and let them scab over.  This allows the cut portion to heal and develop a hard protective layer.  I was taught by my grandpa to do this or you run the risk of the potatoes rotting in the ground.  I'll check them each day to see if the cut end has hardened and perhaps they'll be ready to plant this weekend.

As a little bonus, I do have some La Soda potatoes in the potato bin left over from last year's harvest in early May.  I'll plant them.  Even though they are small, they have long sprouts.  I think it will be interesting to plant the Pontiacs and some La Sodas and compare the yield.  It was great weather today. Hopefully the weather will hold as is through the weekend so that we can get them in the ground

2017 Meat Birds - 3 Days Old

It is that time of year again!  I placed an order online from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, MO for some day old baby chicks.  I ordered:

• 15 Female Rhode Island Reds priced at $3 each, and
• 75 Not-sexed Jumbo Cornish Cross @ $2.10 each

They shipped out on February 13th and this morning, February 15th, we received a call from the Post Office that we had a shipment of live baby chicks.  Tricia drove down to the post office and picked them up.

They come in a box with holes in it and straw at the bottom.  It always amazes me that the day old chicks can be sent through the mail from Missouri down to Jennings, Louisiana and you can open up the top and they are all alive!  They give you a few extra, so when Tricia counted, there was actually 17 Rhode Island Reds and 84 Cornish Crosses.  The extra are in case in die in shipping and I'm told to generate heat in order to keep them warm during transport.

Tricia set up the brooder in the garage. I was supposed to have this done, but I was counting on them coming in tomorrow.  Tricia did a good job.  The brooder is actually a roll of aluminum siding that is unrolled and taped together.  Heat lamps are clipped to a fiberglass pole running across the top.  A blue tarp covered by newspaper lines the bottom.  On top of that wood shavings are poured as bedding.

Tricia mixed up water for the chicks to drink, adding 2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 cloves of minced garlic to a gallon of water.  As Tricia unboxed the chirping birds, she dunked their little heads in the water to re-hydrate them after their migratory trip down south.  And you thought it was only ducks and geese that migrated south for the winter?!  Chickens do too.  She also fed them some 28% Game Bird Starter Ration.  They immediately started scratching and eating.  The heat lamps are keeping them nice and warm.  They appear to be healthy and comfortable.

So as we normally do each year, each week I bring one in and weigh it so that we can keep track of their weight.  The reason being is that in approximately 8 to 10 weeks, this cute little fluffball will be ready to butcher and put in the freezer. Sounds cruel, right?  We don't look at it like that.  Chicken is Food and as the commercial says, "Eat Mor Chikn!"  We track the weights because we plan to butcher as soon as the birds are 6 pounds as a 6 pound bird yields a 4 1/2 pound carcass - our goal. We've found that this is the perfect size for us.

I would assume these birds were hatched on the 12th, shipped on the 13th and arrived this morning, the 15th.  That makes this Cornish Cross the ripe old age of 3 days old.

The bird weighs in at 1 1/2 ounces at 3 days old.  We'll see this little guy at next week's weigh-in and at that time, we will give a report of the birds' health and activities of the previous week.

Making the Cabbage Last

We rescued four or so heads of cabbage from the chicken that kept getting into the garden and we've made cole slaw, smothered cabbage in a cast iron skillet with beef tallow and we've made a cabbage, rice, and ground meat casserole that is so good! With the last remaining heads, we decided to make sauerkraut.

Last year we really messed it up.  Instead of measuring, we estimated the volume of cabbage and were way off.  The sauerkraut was very, very salty.  It was edible, but too salty.  I'll show you in a minute how we made sure things were right this year. From Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions Cookbook, we used the following recipe. For a quart of sauerkraut, you will need a medium cabbage shredded, a tablespoon sea salt, and 4 tablespoons whey.

Here is our nice fat cabbage, ready to be transformed into sauerkraut.

We shredded the cabbage in a food processor and then with a meat tenderizer, we pounded the shredded cabbage to bruise it and release the liquids within the leaves.

Then, in order to get the measurements right, we packed the cabbage into quart sized jars.  NOW WE KNOW exactly how much salt and whey to add!  Much better than guessing and guessing wrong.

We knew that we had three quarts of cabbage.  We poured it all back in the bowl and added 3 tablespoons salt and 12 tablespoons of whey and stirred it all up.  The whey was separated off when Tricia made kefir.  Whey is a natural preservative. Since we had 3 quarts of cabbage, we tripled the recipe.  Then using a canner's funnel we filled three quart jars with sauerkraut and packed it down with a spoon until it was packed in the jars.

Here is a picture of the fresh-made sauerkraut prior to putting the lids on.

We put the lids on tight and left them at room temperature for 3 days before putting them in the back of the refrigerator.  You can eat the sauerkraut as soon as you want, but we find that sauerkraut gets better with age.

We will open up a jar in a couple of months and enjoy.  I've labeled the jars so we know when to open up a jar to eat.  Sauerkraut is especially good served cold on a hot day.  It is tangy and refreshing.  It also aids in digestion.  Sauerkraut is preserved by lacto-fermentation and in addition to preserving the cabbage, it has lactobicilli that aids in digestion, increases vitamins and produce helpful enzymes that are healthy for you.

Pruning the Navel Orange Tree

This weekend it really warmed up.  As I walked by our citrus trees, especially the navel orange, I could vaguely smell the fragrance of orange blossoms.  What do you know?  The trees were beginning to bloom.  Not a lot, but in a week or two, the trees will be covered in blooms and I'll want to pull up a chair beside the trees and just enjoy the aroma.

While I was thinking about the trees, I made a mental note that I needed to research how to prune citrus trees.  You see, the fruit from the navel orange tree is so heavy that it caused a couple of branches to break this year.  Other branches that didn't break became so heavy that the limbs bent over and much of the fruit touched the ground and ended up rotting.  I want to see if I can keep that from happening this year.

As if on cue, my son, Russ, who is in the last semester of his senior year at LSU and majoring in Horticulture, sent me an email that stated the following:

We went out to Burden a couple weeks ago with the fruit specialist Dr. Johnson and pruned citrus and then last week we pruned peaches and table grapes/muscadines.  I learned alot.  Here was the homework for the class.  Thought you would want to read it. 

How to prune a citrus tree.  A rule of thumb is to cut what is necessary, then what is needed, and finally what is impossible.  First, prune everything below the graft line because those shoots are the root stock Poncirus trifoliata which is thorny and produces sub-par, non-ideal fruit.  Next, lift the skirt. That means cut branches that are growing down to the ground.  Prune away branches from your pants pocket down to keep the bottom of the tree open.  Next, focus on pruning any shoots that are growing straight up or any exceptionally tall shoots that you wouldn't be tall enough to pick fruit from anyway. Of course, prune away dead or decaying branches.  Finally, prune some branches from the middle of the tree so that you can somewhat see your partner on the other side of the tree.  Basically, you are trying to thin out the tree to open it so picking fruit will be less of a hassle.  

So I followed the instructions in the bolded paragraph above and here's how the navel orange turned out:

I realized immediately that I should have taken a 'before' photo.  Suffice it to say that pruning the navel really opened things up.  The cows enjoyed my pruning exercise as well!

Russ does a lot of freelance landscaping and told me that he pruned a lady's citrus last year and that she remarked to him that she noticed an increase in the production following the pruning.  The tangerine trees were pruned right after we picked all the fruit off of them.  They are nicely shaped and seem to be doing well. We'll see how the navel orange does after its "haircut."  It'll definitely be easier to harvest in December.