Goose Eggs and Garden

Spring is springing! At least for a few days! The robins have invaded our yard in earnest and the temps have been above freezing for a few days. That will probably change of course. It's the Midwest you know!

Grampa has been busy planting lettuce, onions, kale, spinach, peas and radishes. Our gardens are set up so we can put a green house over each one, but we are missing the tubing we need to do this so we just put plastic on the soil for now.


Our biggest problem is keeping the chickens from scratching up all the seed. They love to scratch around in the loose dirt and find all the goodies we don't want them to find. We are trying to figure out how to fence the gardens in this year since we haven't had much luck fencing the chickens in the pasture.


We were discussing the noise the guinea fowl make the other day. Grampa hates it. I pointed out that the sheep are actually louder. He told me the sheep make money. He doesn't know how to make money with guineas. He was telling me he didn't want to listen to anything that didn't make him money. "Shoot," he exclaimed (with a great big mischievous grin), "I wouldn't even keep you around if I didn't think you were worth something. You make me dinner every now and then (and then he said some other things that can't be repeated in polite company)" Don't worry, I did hit him! Good thing I know he loves me. I just have to apologize to my daughters-in-love. Devan and Tristina, it's genetic. When your husbands are stupid, just take into account where they come from ;)



So ... guinea fowl anyone? Grampa says he will sell them at the Burlington Pigeon Swap if we've still got them by then.

I have nearly 50 hand-blown goose eggs ready to decorate and available for Easter. We have been getting 2 ever other day so I will have a few more by Easter. They have just one small hole on the large end. There are several simple crafts you can do with your kids that are really pretty.


Of course you've seen my golden goose eggs - very simple, just spray paint them gold and put them in a basket! I have golden goose eggs and smaller "nest eggs" in this basket.



Last night I used a glue gun to attach some sparkly cording to these eggs and then spray painted them with glitter spray. I've also rolled eggs in glue and then in glitter for a stronger sparkle effect.


Some sites that look interesting are:

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/easter/ribbon-eggs.shtml

http://freestuff4kids.net/2008/03/06/13-creative-ways-to-dye-and-decorate-easter-eggs/

http://www.ehow.com/how_2163885_decorate-easter-eggs-tissue-paper.html

http://crafts.kaboose.com/oil-and-food-coloring-marbled-eggs.html

I've got some chicken eggs that I've blown too. Here's a picture of them with a goose egg.


I don't have to many chicken eggs blown and on hand, but it wouldn't take long to get a batch together! Thought I'd take the biggest and the littlest chicken egg in this picture and put them beside a tape measure so you can get an idea of their sizes. The little one is a pullet egg ( from a hen that has just started laying). We should be getting lots of these in browns, blues and greens soon. The large one was a double yolker. They are fairly rare.


This next picture is of a typical sized chicken egg next to a goose egg.


Goose eggs are not only bigger than chicken eggs, they are also much thicker. They still break, but not as easily. This makes them easier to work with for crafts.


If you are interested they are 75 cents each plus shipping. Call or e-mail to order.

I'm taking a goose egg pie to a sick friend this afternoon.

Recipe:

2 goose eggs (or 4 chicken eggs)
1/4 cup milk
1/8 tsp natural sea salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced ham or bacon
1/8 tsp garlic
1/8 tsp chili pepper
1 cup grated cheese

Whip eggs and milk until well mixed. Add all remaining ingredients except 1/2 cup cheese.
Pour into oiled pie plate. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Then cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until firm. Add the remaining 1/2 cup cheese to the top about 5 minutes before it is done.

This recipe freezes well. Just put the uncooked mixture on a level place in the freezer. Then thaw in refrigerator before cooking.

God Bless You All! ~Grama Sue

Spring is teasing us! We have a few days of warm temps then we plunge back down! All the sheep but 3 have lambed. We have 24 little ones so far!



The geese are loving this weather and giving us eggs. I have a supply of blown goose eggs if anyone is interested! $0.75 each plus shipping.


Our chickens have gone off strike status. We are getting around 20 dozen a week now. We are also getting a few pullet eggs from the chicks we bought last fall. By next month we should have 40 to 50 dozen a week. Still not enough to fill the orders we have, but getting closer. We have ordered another 150 chicks, but it will be late October before they start laying.


I wanted to show you all some of the variety we have in egg colors. When I took them outside so I could get a good picture this little hen was very interested!



She seemed to be asking, "What are you doing with my eggs?"



I bred some blue roosters to my brown egg layers last year. I am so pleased with the khaki color that resulted! It is fitting for a mom that has 2 kids who are full time military! If you look carefully, the egg on the upper right is two toned. We've been getting one like this almost every day.

I have updated my Beyond the Paycheck intro on the right side of the blog website. The first two paragraphs are the same, but I changed the end. If you get this by e-mail and would like to check it out you'll have to go to the website.

I'm thinking I probably ought to do this monthly during the winter. Come summer though, I hope to have at least a menu of what we available on a weekly basis so local folks can order home delivery.

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

State of the Projects Report

Here's the state of the projects report! We haven't reached my goal of 30 by a long shot, but we have found some things that work and some that haven't.

Plans for next year:
1. I'm planning to offer home delivery of produce and eggs.
2. We plan to continue to going to farmer's markets.
3. We'd like to establish our own roadside stand.
4. I'm exploring the idea of providing a welcome service for this area.

We'd like to produce pastured turkeys, chickens and rabbits for meat sales, but we haven't quite figured out the logistics of pasture areas and butchering yet. We hope to do a little of this for ourselves this year just to get a feel for it. Maybe next year we'll offer some for sale.

We are also very interested in breeding chickens for hatching eggs. We have to figure out how to keep them seperate in order to do this. We can't keep the chickens we have in the pasture right now. They roam the yard, the garden and the surrounding fields at will right now. Once we figure out how to contain them, maybe we can work on breeding.



1.The garage sale

Bit the dust. We have such a big demand for eggs. We had to have more room for chickens. So now the all the feed and equipment is in the garage instead of in the feed shed.




2.Pastured raised eggs

Wow! There is a huge market for these out there! Hy-Vee in Macomb wants 60 dozen a week, Ducks in Nauvoo goes through 3-7 doz a week, we can sell 15 to 20 dozen a week at farmer's markets and we have several people and offices that have expressed an interest in having eggs delivered. We've only just begun to tap the tip of this iceburg. Naturally, a great deal of our efforts are being focused here. We have ordered 125 more chicks to fill the feed shed with.




3.Sheep

Hair sheep are incredibly good mamas. It has been so cold and they are popping out babies with no problems. But the chickens are making us more money. We plan to downsize the herd to only 4 or 5 ewes and a ram.

4.Cows

Don't have any at the moment, but Grampa would really love to have a milk cow or two. We have bought bottle calves to raise and sell for several years, but we're not sure we'll be able to do that this year. Chickens are going to be top priority! Grampa says he wants to be the chicken king of Hancock county first. To be truthful, I think he probably already is. There just aren't many egg producers around here.

5.Egg noodles

We are working on our taxes. It is amazing, but we sold almost as many dollars worth of noodles as we did eggs last year. I've managed to start making some noodles for the markets this year. I could have sold more, but didn't have the time to make them.

6.Natural and recycled crafts and craft supplies

My golden goose eggs and blown eggs were a hit. Not as big a hit as the noodles, but we'll be doing this again.





7.Great Pyrenees dogs

Haven't seen Pinky for quite some time. She disappeared at the same time our mutt came home with a huge wound on his back. A couple of weeks later the cat came home with a very similar wound. We really loved this breed though. We would still like to breed these dogs, but we'll have to wait for a while.




8.Honey bees

It is amazing, but we still have one hive alive after the ice storms. Grampa had a bad reaction after being stung several times. I won't let him work the hives anymore. I'm not crazy about taking care of them myself. I'll do what needs to be done to utilize the 4 hives we have, but this won't be a big money maker for us.

9.Avon

Have just started to push this. I've made the 30% level. I'd like to get to the Unit Leader minimum and then focus on recruiting.

10.Farm crops from the 10 acres we own with our son

Fairly good year, considering the fact that the company that was supposed to spray the weeds was really late getting it done. We will be converting a couple of acres of it to sweet corn this year.

11.Garden produce

Didn't produce nearly enough! Trying to figure out how to do more this year.

12. Affiliate marketing

No income yet, but I haven't given up hope. Just got to figure this one out. Remember, you can help me out by ordering your vitamins through the ad on the right column of my blog!

13. Building low maintenance gardens

No time! Maybe someday.



Here's a picture of the latest species addition to our farm, guinea fowl. What are we going to do with them? I have no clue! They were given to us with a bunch of chickens.



God Bless You All!

~ Grama Sue

Happy New Year

Granddaughters! They had so much fun decorating Grampa. We really enjoyed having them here last weekend. I'm mostly OK with not having kids in the house all the time, but when they come to visit, I realize how much I miss them.

Happy New Year! My prayer is that all of you are blessed with all the blessings has in mind for you in 2009! Oh yeah, I know I'm late (seems to be a common theme in this blog). I've been having some problems with my camera software and I promised I'd post a picture of our egg cartons. So here it is, by request of those those who live so far away that they can't buy Grama Sue's Rainbow eggs:

I've also had problem with transferring this from my MS Word program to Blogger. Anyone else experiencing problems? It won't let me copy so I'm having to retype everything.

Next time I'll try t give a "State of the Projects" report. You wouldn't know it by our bank accounts, but we've had a very good year. We've accomplished a lot and learned volumes!

Thank You LORD for:

My teeth!

Sometimes God does miracles - I've experienced a few - but most of the time He answers our prayers with solutions.

Several years ago, my teeth were so bad I was resigned to getting false teeth. My gums had been bleeding since I was 16 and my teeth were brown, terribly porous and falling apart. I didn't want to put new teeth on a credit card. Grampa would be getting a bonus that would be big enough to cover the bill in a couple of months, so I was determined to wait. In desperation I started to do 2 things. I swabed them with tea tree oil and started taking coral calcium.

Within a month, the gum infection cleared up and my teeth grew much stronger and whiter. So much so that I didn't have to get false teeth. Whenever I've tried to get away from either of these two treatments the problems return, but whenever I go back to them my teeth and gums heal up.

Last year, I switched to natural sea salt and Ester C instead of regular C. The Ester C has a lot of calcium and the natural sea salt has trace minerals so I thought there was no need for the coral calcium.

A couple of months ago I realized my teeth were getting very dark and porous again and I was having a lot of pain too. I decided to go back on the coral calcium and my teeth are almost back to normal again!

If you are interested in tea tree oil and coral calcium, two warnings!

Tea tree oil tastes NASTY!!! But you can get used to it.

And most vitamins and herbal supplements are made in China. My brand, Puritian's Pride is made in the USA. If you click on the ad in the right column on my blog ( If you suscribe to this by e-mail, you'll have to go to the website.) and order, you will help me out too!

Uggh! For some reason I can't seem to get this all into one font. Sorry about that!

God Bless You All!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the North Pole, or so it seems! We’ve even got an aspiring Santa here! Our kids can’t wait till Grampa Tom puts on that suit and bounces his little grandbabies on his knee. His beard is almost all white now and the hair is starting to turn.

Only our youngest will be home this year and no grandchildren, but we have all kinds of babies coming next year!

Spence and Tristina recently had an ultra sound that confirmed a little boy is on the way! He will be named Walter Terry Whitson, Walter - after his Daddy, Grampa Tom, and Great Grampa Whitson, all of whom bear the first name of Walter and Terry - his momma’s family name. He is due the end of May.

We also found out that one of our “adopted” kids is due the first week of June. Our little Katherine will finally be a big sister!
.
Then, I’m talking to my daughter a few weeks ago and she starts telling me she’s been offered a job running the nursery at the on base church they attend but she turned it down because she wouldn’t be able to lift soon. “Why won’t you be able to lift?” I asked.

“Well when I get the circlage…” she starts to explain.

“What? Circlage? Are you not telling me something?” replies a suspicious grama.

“Oh shoot! I knew I couldn’t do it! And we had such a creative way to announce it at Christmas!”

The kid never could keep a secret. I swore not to tell anyone but her daddy that she was pregnant, but hopefully most of the family has received presents from “Justin, Mary Jo, Olivia and Jellybean”, so I can announce it to everyone else. She is due the first week in July.

Our chickens are still on strike and we sold some sheep for about a third of what we wanted for them, but Grampa Tom got paid big bucks to dig out his parent’s driveway this week! They were victims of some fraud several years ago and the bank that had allowed it, after they had repeatedly asked them not to honor electronic transfers, refunded much of the money they had lost. They graciously shared some of it with us! Thank you Mom and Dad! Course now Grampa thinks he ought to get paid beau coup bucks every time he plows a driveway ;)

Not much about the business this week, but we’ve got so much to be thankful for!

Thank You LORD for:

New life!

Generous people! Thank you to Mom and Dad and my wonderful sis Sharon!

Our wonderful family!

A warm house!

No broken bones in spite of the ice!

Jesse, the child I got to keep. Well, kind of, he did move out and get married, but at least he’s only 10 miles away. He came to our rescue when the water froze up the other day. Thank you Jess! And thank you Devan for sharing him with us!

Oh and for all the beautiful clothes I got in the last couple of weeks! I hate shopping for clothes. I’ve never been too talented on the fashion front. Shopping is for the most part just an exercise in frustration. Give me some pretty hand-me-downs and I’m tickled pink! This last week I visited with both my Daughters-in-love. They are both so talented in this area and they both gave me some beautiful clothes! Thank you Tristina and Devan!

The fact that my computer is working much better since I took it to see its previous owner in New Jersey. Spence didn’t do anything to it. I think it just wanted to see Daddy.

The tree is still standing. Last night it warmed up and the ice from our roof started crashing to the ground. This huge crash at the north end of the trailer woke me up. I knew Grampa was in the TV room where the crash came from. Scared me silly!

And my last, but most important, expression of gratitude today - the fact that You gave up everything to come to earth and bring light, hope and salvation to our darkness! Thank You LORD JESUS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

THANKFULNESS

Our egg production is way down. We had been getting 20 – 30 dozen per week, but with this cold weather and snow we were down to 10 dozen this week. Grampa Tom decided he’d better put the water and the feed back inside the hen house. Hopefully that will help.

The lady that was staying at my MIL’s decided to go home so I’ve been spending some much needed time cleaning my house. Our finances are so tight right now, but several years ago I learned a secret that literally opens doors for miracles to occur. When I started doing this, I had done all that I could do and we still didn’t have enough for groceries. People started giving me money. I’d go to church and not be able to get my kids in the car for all the groceries stuffed in it. There were even times when I’d open the cupboards knowing there was nothing in them to feed my family, and I would find food that simply wasn’t there before.

Why was I opening the cupboards? To lay hands on the non-food items in there and thank God for them. That’s the secret! Thanking God for what you have and focusing on that.

With the economy the way it is, I want to challenge you to do what I did then and am doing now. Sit down and make a list of things you are thankful for and every time you are tempted to panic, read it over and add to it. There’s just no better way to calm your nerves and give God a chance to work. Post it here and/or on your blog and challenge others to do the same!

Grama Sue’s Thankful List
(This is so partial!)

Thank You God for:

1. Your great mercy
2. My wonderful husband
3. All the food I have stored in my pantry
4. My comfortable bed
5. My friends who bless and encourage me
6. The wonderful doctor we have in town who made the time to see me when it was time for her to leave
7. My house that is so easy to heat and cool
8. My computer and the internet
9. Warm clothes
10. Crocks and all the varieties of these comfy shoes that are out now!
11. My digital camera
12. My assessing job
13. My sleeping around job
14. My parents who challenged me and held me to high standards
15. The gift of wonderful in-laws who love me
16. Running hot and cold water
17. Cars and roads to drive them on
18. Upholstered furniture … LORD we are so spoiled!
19. My automatic washer and dryer
20. My stove, 4 refrigerators, and my chest freezer
21. My chickens and sheep
22. The chickens and guinea hens that were given to us last week
23. Lighters and matches
24. My huge bathtub
25. My Bible and all the wonderful online tools to help me understand it

OK, I’m going to quit for now. I need to get some lunch and go to town.


God Bless You All!

No More Cock-A-Doodle-Do!

Or at least that’s the plan. We went out at about 10am this morning and rounded up 15 roosters (turned out to be 14 and one hen, but sometimes it is hard to tell). We spent all day processing them. Grampa Tom killed and plucked while I cut and gutted.

Between Grampa and I, it takes us a total of about 20-30 minutes to process a chicken. Not exactly cheap meat, but I’d much rather eat chickens I’ve butchered myself than those processed in a FDA approved packing plant. My kitchen has to be 1000 times cleaner and I’m not known for my housekeeping !

I’ve seen programs about how those places work. In my kitchen, if I accidentally nick the intestines, all the fecal matter is immediately cleaned up, the chicken is doused with bleach and then rinsed with copious amounts of clean water. In one of those big packing plants, all chickens regardless of weather they’ve been contaminated or not are placed in large vats of chlorine and fecal matter laced water to soak up whatever. Yuck! I’m also constantly bleaching and rinsing my sinks and all the equipment throughout the process.

Not to mention the incredible taste difference between slow growing pasture raised chickens and those mutant things that the factory farms grow!

I’ll miss the roosters. Well maybe not at 2 am, but I really enjoy incubating my baby chickens and they are so beautiful! It’s just that with this large of a flock, we can’t afford to feed enough roosters to keep the flock fertile through the winter. We thought about penning up a few roosters and bringing hens to them come spring, but the logistics of it were more than we could handle right now. We can’t even keep the hens where we want them now, much less trying to keep a separate flock! They are always in the garden and all over the place. Maybe next year I can find someone who has fertilized eggs I can incubate.

One thing that amazes me every time I butcher is the difference in lung size between one chicken and another. Here’s a picture of lungs from 4 different chickens.

The other organs of all these chickens were of similar size, yet some of the lungs are huge and I have a hard time finding others! Makes me wonder how some of them breathe! They all appear healthy so why the difference? Maybe one of the youngsters reading this will take up the challenge and find out for me. The smallest lungs on the upper left hand are actually from a bigger chicken than the last ones on the lower left. Interesting.


God Bless You All! ~Grama Sue