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| Eugene brings the first crate of hens into their pasture |
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| The hens did not want to leave their crates |
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| So we lifted them out and they soon started wandering around checking out their new digs |
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| Temporary living quarters |
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| The first 13 eggs laid |
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
We Have Layers
After 10 years without laying hens and 7 years on this new farm without them we finally jumped on the Eggmobile and now are the proud stewards of 18 golden comet hens.
Right before Thanksgiving my friend and fellow farmer, Debra Bowles, emailed me asking if I wanted to take 40 laying hens that an octogenarian wanted to get rid of. I thought abut it for a minute, asked Eugene if he was interested and we decided that it was time to get back into pastured eggs.
So after several days of phone tag with a guy named Brian with whom we were going to split the hens we ended up going straight to the farm where the hens lived and picked up 18. We were supposed to get 20 of them but counted badly so ended up with 18.
We got the girls home on Saturday morning and that is when they started their new lives as pastured poultry, something completely new to them. The first few hours were obviously terrifying to some of them but all of them have come around and now seem to be happy being outside where there are always interesting things to do and eat. Already they have learned wings are for flapping (something they could not do in their tiny coop), dust/dirt baths are great and chickweed is a wonderful thing to eat.
Unfortunately we were not at all set up for layers when we got the message that these hens needed a home so right now they are living in tractors meant for meat birds that we have cobbled nesting boxes and roosts into. But by this evening or sometime tomorrow they will have a brand spanking new mobile egg house to in which to live.
As it is we lose a couple of eggs a day due to poor laying conditions for the girls but considering we get an average of 15 eggs a day we can afford to lose a few at first
Friday, October 12, 2012
Made a Batch of Pickled Jalapeno Peppers
As usual I planted more peppers than we needed for the Farm Share Initiative so instead of ignoring them until they rot and can be tossed on the compost i decided to can them and this is the result. I have not eaten any as the jars re still cooling as i write this but i am pretty sure this will be far more incendiary than any jar of jalapenos I might buy at the grocery store because I left in all the seeds and ribs and these peppers have been really hot this year.
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| Sliced peppers |
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| They were sliced in the Cuisinart using the slicing blade. I also stood each pepper up right (they have a nice flat surface where I cut off the stem) so they make rings and not random shapes |
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| The brine which is q1.5 cup water 4.5 cups vinegar (I used both apple cider and white), Plus a Table spoon of Kosher salt and a Tsp of whole cumin seeds. bring all this to a boil and it is ready to use |
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| The canner |
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| My gloved hand. It is essential to use gloves when working with hot peppers |
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| Funnel in place so stuff doesn't get on the rim which would mean the lids won't seal |
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| Gloved hand poking peppers into a jar. You need to really pack them down. If my hand did not have a latex glove on I would be in a world of hot pain for over a day. Wear gloves! |
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| Filled jars before they go into the hot water bath |
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| Putting filled jars into the hot water. Make sure the water covers the jars and that they boil for at least 30 minutes |
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| Finished product cooling on towels for at least 12 hours |
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Making Pickle Relish
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| whole cucumber. I used Armenian cukes because that is what I had |
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| Cut in half |
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| Remove the seeds |
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| cut into chunks and put in the food processor (or cut finely by hand) |
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| The result |
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| Add salt to bring out the water and let sit for at least an hour |
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| The other ingredients-sweet onion, red onion, green peppers, ripe (yellow and red in this case) and garlic |
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| Like the cukes put through a food processor or chop very fine by hand |
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| this has been salted and is sitting and waiting for as much liquid as possible to be expressed |
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| after sitting for an hour I pressed out the excess liquid in this colander |
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| The brine-salt, sugar (no more than a cup) vinegar and pickling spices |
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| washing jars |
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| Jars being loaded into the canner to be boiled/sterilized |
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| Finished product |
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Monday, August 06, 2012
US 127 Yard Sale-2012 Edition; Saturday and Sunday
Photos from the last 2 days of 2012 Boulder Belt Yard Sale in no particular order
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