Life on the Farm
Many plants have names that refer to chickens. Some are essentially weeds like the chickweed that tries to take over my garden. Others are ornamentals like hen and chicks, which grow either indoors or out. Here are nine fun chicken-theme...
Lavender, or a sort of pastel slate blue, is one of the loveliest plumage colors in chickens. The color lavender is not common, primarily because of the breeding challenges involved. Still, several breeds come in lavender varieties, including Ameraucana, Marans,...
Every few years our Yukon gold potatoes develop seed pods, also known and potato berries, that look like little green cherry tomatoes. Last year we had an abundant crop of potato berries, so I wondered if you can grow potatoes...
If you are considering getting ducks, you likely already have chickens. To help you understand the habits and needs of ducks, here are just of the many ways ducks differ from chickens. Brooding Requirements Ducklings in general are much hardier...
Decades ago a restaurant in the town where we do our shopping served an amazing fresh strawberry pie that my husband Allan and I always stopped to enjoy. Then one day they switched to aspartame. Thereafter, we decided that if...
How difficult can it be to make perfect hard boiled eggs? All you need is eggs and hot water, right? Well, not exactly. Of the many methods I have tried, some resulted in eggs that were impossible to peel. Others...
Numerous folk methods floating around the internet claim to accurately determine the sex of an egg before or during incubation. But do they work? Can you really sex an egg before it hatches? Technically the gender ratio of chicks at...
Nubian doe Frosty was extremely timid and cautious. Before she would do anything new, she took her sweet time checking things out. So when she had her first kid, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a mother. She...
Making homemade mayonnaise is unbelievably easy. Just whip together fresh homegrown eggs or egg yolks, vinegar or lemon juice, salt, and oil. Exactly what ingredients you use and how you put them together is the secret to making homemade mayonnaise...
Chickens have been associated with people for so long that our language is peppered with idioms deriving from that association. Even city folks who have never seen a live chicken use such expressions, often without realizing what they actually mean....
Deer hunting season means time to replenish the year’s supply of venison. One of the things I look forward to each fall is making corned venison. It’s so easy to make, is more healthful than lunch meat from the store,...
