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 Golden Buff
As I talk with chicken keeping friends, I’m surprised that some don’t know that most chickens will cease to lay eggs when day lengths fall below 14 hours in the fall. As we move further into fall and shorter days, chickens will naturally reduce egg production. They lay eggs based on day length; long days and increasing day length mean spring to a chicken – time when they should be producing many eggs and raising chicks. The declining day length and harsher environment in fall and winter aren’t optimal for raising chicks; so chickens will naturally stop egg production, molt, renew their egg laying resources, and [...]
Continue reading Maintain Winter Egg Production – Add Artificial Light
 The fact that “whole” foods are beneficial and that “white” refined products can lead to increased levels of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancers have been well documented; so we switched to baking 100% whole wheat breads a few years ago. We found that dense, heavy, unappealing 100% whole wheat breads are not the norm – light, nutritious, nutty tasting breads are entirely possible using 100% whole wheat; it just takes the right ingredients and equipment.
Describing everything we learned about how to bake light, delicious whole wheat products would be an extremely long post – so I decided to break it [...]
Continue reading 100% Whole Wheat Bread Baking (Part 1) – Wheat & Milling
 Broody Buckeye Hen – Sitting For 10 Days & Counting
As of yesterday, our broody Buckeye hen has diligently been sitting on 15 eggs - for 10 days. She gets out of her nest box only to eat, drink, and relieve herself; and has only once signalled a desire to leave the broody box (see Building A Broody Box). We let her out and she took a quick dust bath in the pasture; and then climbed right back into the broody box and back onto the nest. So far, she’s exhibiting all the behaviors of an excellent mother hen, and we couldn’t be [...]
Continue reading Candling Broodies Eggs
 This is wonderfully flavorful; yet it seems light, perfect for springtime. You can serve Panna Cotta with just about any sweet or fruit topping; it doesn’t need to be strawberries - but the strawberries in balsamic are terrific with it. You’ve got to try it, it doesn’t look all that sensational, but it’s delicious!
Panna Cotta is an old Italian dessert, and I think this recipe was originally from Mario Batali; however, the idea for serving it with balsamic strawberries comes from the Barefoot Contessa At Home cookbook by Ina Garten.
1 packet unflavored gelatin (2 tsps)
3 cups heavy cream
2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
3/4 [...]
Continue reading Panna Cotta w/Balsamic Strawberries
 These cupcakes are light and moist, and the cream cheese frosting makes them just plain yummy. The recipe is adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties! by Ina Garten. We’re serving these at a Superbowl party, so we colored the frosting appropriately for our favorite team, the Green Bay Packers.
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 extra large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinammon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound carrots, grated
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans
For the Frosting
3/4 pound cream cheese, softened
1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners’ sugar
Preheat the oven to 400°F [...]
Continue reading Carrot Cupcakes
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