Corned Venison
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?
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...
Pickled Corn on the Cob
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...
12 Signs a Goat Is About to Kid
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...
Berry Butter — Strawberry or Blueberry
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...
Vinegar in Your Chickens’ Water — Good Idea or Not?
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
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,...
Why Chickens Don’t Fly
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...
Can’t Grow Celery? Grow Celeriac
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...
Return of Dual-Purpose Chickens
Dual-purpose chickens are the classic backyard breeds. Farmers, like my grandparents, kept them to produce both eggs and meat for sale, until the introduction of commercial hybrids developed solely as layers or solely as broilers. In commercial production both hens...