Life on the Farm
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,...
Can you recycle soap scraps? That’s the question I asked a soap-making friend. Her response was, “Try it and see.” Well, I’m not into “try it and see” if I can find someone who has already tried it. So I...
When you grow your own sweet corn, you can have plenty of fresh, tender ears to eat, can, freeze, and make yummy pickled corn on the cob. But the first order of business is to choose the right variety for...
If you don’t know when a doe is bred, you can’t accurately predict when she will have her kids. So you’re left with watching for signs that the goat is about to kid. Kidding Signs Ideally you will be able...
Summer brings an abundance of strawberries, then blueberries, to our Tennessee farm. One of the many ways we enjoy berries is in berry butter. It’s delicious on toast or biscuits and is incredibly easy to make. Making Berry Butter We...
Understanding whether or not vinegar in your chickens’ water promotes flock health requires first understanding pH. In case you missed, or forgot, this part of chemistry class, let’s start with a quick review. The pH Scale The acidity or alkalinity...
Yukon Gold potatoes are ideal all-around spuds. They are not as mealy as white potatoes and not as waxy as red potatoes, making them perfect for any method you might use to cook a potato. They are smallish in size,...
Chickens are just big birds. And bigger birds than chickens fly really well. So let’s find out why chickens don’t fly. Or at least why they don’t fly as well as, say, a hawk. Wing Loading The short answer is...
That’s a trick statement, because celeriac is a type of celery. However, all the attempts I’ve ever made to grow regular celery ended poorly. So I was left with buying celery at the store. Since celery is sprayed with 29...
