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Pickled Eggs

6/21/2015

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While backyard eggs may last longer than their store bought equivalent, the do not keep forever.  Therefore, there is a need to preserve eggs for later.  This was common practice before modern transport and shipping provided fast refrigerated transport.  One of these methods was pickling eggs. 

A common item in old-time bars, pickled eggs involve the same process as creating pickles from cucumbers.  Boiled eggs, lots of vinegar, some pickling spice, and pickling jars and accessories.  Since pickled eggs are not a common food item anymore, we had no idea what one would taste like.  We were not sure if we would even like them.  So we created a test batch with Quail eggs from a relative's farm and a few of our backyard eggs. 

We also added some beet juice to some of the jars to create pink eggs. (The beets were also pickled in the spirit of "waste not want not".) 

We did not water bath the eggs to seal them for shelf stability so they must remain refrigerated until use.  And they must be used quickly.  They were not very pickle flavored the first few days.  After week though they are very pickle flavored.  They are not too bad tasting either.  I can see why this was a common method of preserving a good protein source in the past. 

 

 




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Potato Buckets

6/7/2015

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Getting potato plants to grow is not particularly difficult.  However, digging, hilling, and harvesting them is hard.  Potatoes do best with rich soil amendments like compost.  They require dirt and amendments to be build up around the plant as it grows.  Then to harvest the potatoes one must dig them back up.  This last step almost always leaves some potatoes in the ground.  This creates volunteers next year in places that you may not want them.   I have grown potatoes in the ground before.  So I am familiar with all those steps.  However there is an easier way. 

Last year I tested growing potatoes in buckets with the bottoms cut out.  Since the bottom is gone, the water drains but you still have the walls of the bucket to contain the "hill" that must be built around the plant.   It worked well enough that I decided to try again this year.

To do this I started with some cheap buckets from the home improvement store.  I painted them so they would look better in the garden.  Then I chose the final location I wanted the buckets to sit in while the potatoes grew.  This is the final location because once I begin to fill the inside of the bucket, I cannot move them. 

Then I added about eight inches of dirt and compost and placed a seed potato on top.  (A seed potato by the way is a potato that has  started to grow shoots and has not been treated with a growth inhibitor.)  Then I put a few more inches of dirt on top and some mulch.  As the plants grow I have added more mulch.   

The best part is that harvesting the potatoes requires no digging.  I can either lift the bucket up and let them fall out the bottom, or I can tip the bucket over and dump them all out. 

 




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New Chicken Coop

6/7/2015

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A few weeks ago we decided we needed to rethink how we were housing the chickens.  The chicken tractor we build last year has worked great and is very secure.  However, the run is very short.  Getting myself in and out of the run looks like a circus act.  And once in there, I cannot stand up.  This make cleaning the run very difficult.   

Therefore, we decided to say goodbye to the chicken tractor and build a new stationary coop.  This one would have a run tall enough to stand up in.   

After much preparation and construction we now have the finished coop.  This coop is tall enough to stand up in. The door can be opened and closed from either side.  The door opens in so the chickens can not rush the door to open it.  The ramp and the floor are open grating dipped in plastic coating.  They have a ledge in front of the door which turns out to be useful for examining a chicken.  And the chickens like to jump from it and flutter to the ground.  Chickens do not really fly but they can use their wings to assist large jumps.  A couple of them can jump/fly up to their ledge.


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