If it sinks, the egg is still good.
If it rises a bit, you'd better use it soon.
If it floats, it's too old.
And always, when it doubt, throw it out.
Fill a bowl with water, and put the questionable egg in.
If it sinks, the egg is still good. If it rises a bit, you'd better use it soon. If it floats, it's too old. And always, when it doubt, throw it out.
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Spring is coming, time to think about chickens! I'll be loading up my incubator in the next few days; after the chicks and ducks hatch, they will be going outside to my chicken tractor. I wish I had seen this drawing before I built my Beverly Hillbillies contraption!
My bio page is now up, Tina Elliott, Billy Joe's Food Farm, and my first post can be found here, How We Transitioned From City To Country (And Why We Did So).
The Mother Earth News website is always helpful, and the print magazine is very inexpensive. I read it cover to cover, as soon as I get it. If you are interested in homesteading, you should think about subscribing. You will be very pleased with it, I'm sure. I got my subscription to Mother Earth News several years before we left the city for our farm. Mother Earth not only taught me SO much through the years, but was truly instrumental in helping me believe that living the homesteading life was possible for my family. The idea that I have transitioned from the city to the country, with the help of so many articles from my favorite magazine, and now my experience can be shared with the readers of that same magazine, well, it is just thrilling. I hope that now I can be helpful to others, who want to escape the grind but don't think it is possible. It is. We did it, and so can you. I look forward to sharing our story with you. My hope is that what we have learned, and the mistakes that we have made, will help you, inspire you, and make you laugh. Welcome to our farm!!!! It is a beautiful, and strangely warm, February day here in Kansas. Many doings are afoot outside, in a furious attempt to get ready for spring. Cleaning out the barn, finishing the rabbit enclosure hopefully before the babies are born, trying to construct the fencing for the broody house so we can hatch some eggs and sell some chicks, babying the seedlings so they will be ready for transplant, finding time to get a new load of straw bales for some raised bed gardens we are planing this year, and on and on the list goes.
I have so many articles waiting to be finished so that I can put them here for you, but I suppose I need to find time when the sun goes down for that; daylight is burning away and there is much to be done outside. My Newfoundland keeps finding bits of a rotting dear carcass, which is making her sick. Woke up this morning to a rather unpleasant gift from her, and found that I have probably killed my celery as well. It appears the pots were too close to the heater I use to raise the air temperature for our seed starting area, and the celery has collapsed. Ah well, I will just start more, and learn that celery does NOT like to be warm. And so, as I drain the last of my morning coffee, all these issues are bouncing around in my head, waiting for me to fix/build/care for them all. I leave you with this photo, which makes me smile, and the idea that homegrown food is not only good for you physical health, but your mental health as well. We finally accumulated enough pallets to do the fence for the broody house yard. This photo just shows them all in place, waiting to be connected. I will post a series of photos once it is all done.
You can't beat free fencing! This method really does work, and I think it is much easier for older bodies to handle. No tilling, no digging.
If you want to feel in control, plant a seed.
If you want better health, plant a seed. If you want to save money, plant a seed. If you want to teach your children, plant a seed. If you truly want freedom, plant a seed. The Wilderness Awareness School offers a free ecourse titled Nature Connect, to which I subscribe. Below is the email I received the other day, which I thought I would share with you for two reasons; 1. So you can go sign up for the free course and learn a few things and, 2. Because so much of this email rings true from my own childhood, and it really upsets me that so many in our culture have come to view being outside as risky, rather than necessary.
I use the word "necessary" because I believe that human beings are meant to spend the majority of their waking time outside, doing. I think that the increase in the diagnosis (as well as prescriptions for medications to treat those issues), for a host of mental and physical illnesses are due to the fact that people rarely spend any time engaged with the natural world; getting their hands dirty, breathing fresh air, listening (not just hearing), and seeing (not just looking at), sights and sounds that are naturally ocurring. I honestly believe that being indoors so much, and no longer being connected with nature, is truly driving people crazy. Add to that the national obesity problem and children who have no idea where their food comes from, and we have the makings of a disaster. So read the latest email from The Wilderness Awareness School, go sign up, and then Go Outside!!! "Welcome to Fear-ville" One of the biggest obstacles to connecting with nature (and life in general) is fear. As a kid growing up in New Jersey, I had what is now seen as an idyllic "free-range" childhood. My parents instructed me to "Go outside and play -- and don't come back until dinnertime!" I roamed the surrounding areas with bands of kids without adult supervision for the whole day. Much of that time was spent in "the woods". A nearby nature place of swamps, trees, and stories big enough to get lost in. I built forts, dug for treasure (or China), and always found something in nature that I couldn't explain. I came home covered in mud with holes in my pants. Cuts, scrapes, poison ivy, and the occasional sprained ankle from jumping out of a tree were par for the course. I got cleaned up and applied band-aids where necessary. I ate dinner and went to sleep, dreaming about the day's adventures. "Stranger danger" wasn't a concept (and perhaps coincidentally, neither was the 24-hour CNN news cycle). The infamous "Jersey Devil" was the only thing I knew for sure I didn't want to encounter in the woods. Of course I knew that the Jersey Devil only came out at night on campouts, so I crossed that off the list of potential dangers as well. Things have changed. Welcome to Fear-ville. One of the most common fears is the fear of the unknown. Nature has become the unknown. What was the last movie you saw about people who went into nature and had a fun, safe time? If you exclude horror movies that take place at broken-down, creepy campgrounds, the rest are usually about some struggle between humans and nature gone bad: Bloodthirsty Sharks vs. Humans Mutant Spiders vs. Humans Crazed Birds vs. Humans Gigantic Snakes vs. Humans And my personal favorite: Killer Slugs vs. Humans You learn in these movies how dangerous nature is, and with every push of the red-tailed-hawk-call-button "KEEEEERRrrr..." some new life-threatening hazard appears to the fearful actors. Contrary to portrayal in popular media, you are much safer spending time in nature than many other aspects of your life (like driving). So, the first big step to greater nature connection is realizing that everything in nature isn't "out to get you". A little research will show you what the real nature hazards are in your area. (Do any poisonous snakes even live nearby?) Further investigation will teach you how to avoid these hazards, or what to do when you encounter them. Some ideas for research: Large Predators (Bear, Cougar, etc) Venomous animals (Snakes, spiders, etc) Stinging/biting things (ticks, mosquitoes, etc) Hypothermia/Heat Stroke Getting Lost (specifically, how to avoid it) Waterborne diseases Anything else that is scary to you right now! If you become familiar with all these topics, you will be on your way to a greater sense of ease outdoors (and life). As you learn more, you realize that your lack of knowledge and understanding can keep you away from nature. When I moved to Washington State, I had to come to terms with sharing the woods with Mountain Lions and Bears. There may have been a few rogue individuals roaming the New Jersey wilds when I was growing up, but seeing the Jersey Devil was probably more likely. Frankly, I was afraid of these big predators. So, I read up on how to respond in encounters with these larger predators. After that, I felt somewhat prepared. Later on I learned about bird language, and felt really prepared. I'll share more about bird language in a future email. How well do you know your area? How comfortable are you there? Download our free "Nature Tourist Test" and find out for yourself. From the Vegetable Gardener, a really great list of plants for supporting bees and butterflies. If you plant a vegetable garden, have an herb garden, or have fruit trees, this idea will not only benefit you, but also you local bee and butterfly population. When it comes to vegetable and fruit production pollinating insects are the very lifeblood of the garden. For the majority of food plants they're 100% necessary, so it's important to make pollinators at home in the garden and encourage them to stay. This is yet another reason that my heart belongs to herbs -- they're incredible performers on so many levels. In the kitchen as food, seasonings, and garnishes. They're found in everyday beauty products and their natural health benefits have been proven time and time again. As if all of those things weren't enough, many herbs produce flowers that are completely irresistible to pollinating insects, as well as an unlimited number of wildlife species including native bee species, honey bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Complement your vegetable garden some polliantor-seducing herbs. Herbs That Attract Butterflies Butterflies are the happiest in sipping on flowers planted in areas with good sun and little or no wind.
Herbs That Attract Bees Bees prefer single-petaled flowers as they make it easier to get to sweet nectar. Try planting:
Check out the Vegetable Gardener's site for the rest of the list, including plants for hummingbirds! |