Sorry no garden vegetables this week, just lots of garden work. But we get about 2.5 eggs from 3 chickens daily. This morning "mama", as the boys like to call her, made a simple scramble and served it with homemade whole-wheat bread. She used a sandwich bread recipe found in the April issue of Cook's Illustrated Magazine.
We keep our layers in a pen that we move around on the grass in our back yard. Even though we live in a neighborhood with houses on all sides, they get to free range a lot. When we're outside, they're free to roam; and the mobile pen keeps them on fresh grass all the time. Since the ground thawed recently, and they've been able to do more scratching, their yolks have returned to a deep and delicious orange. We're thankful, because we found a miller who makes chicken feed with local grain and organic Fertrell minerals. We don't eat organic all the time, but we do love our organic free-range chicken eggs!
One is an Americana; she gives us blue eggs. One is a Wells Orpington; she gives us the biggest eggs. The third is a Gold-Sex link; she's the friendliest. They're all part of the family. C. James our oldest calls them Cracker, Cruncher and Muncher. We really love them and their eggs.
In this picture Q. James our youngest is eating mama's homemade strawberry ice cream. She used frozen strawberries from last year's harvest.
mmmmmm, strawberry ice cream. I cant wait for strawberries to appear in the patch.
ReplyDeleteThat cone sure looks good, Hmmm I have some strawberrys in the freezer I need to do something with ...that's a good idea. Having a chicken to me is like a pot of gold and having 2 eggs a day, it's a gold mine> :o)
ReplyDeleteWe just love our flock of hens and the bounty of eggs they provide. It really is a great combo to have a food production garden and a small flock of layers too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me I need to do something with the strawberries in my freezer...my plants are setting fruit. Ice cream would be a welcome treat. You sound like you love your hens as much as I love mine! Aren't they the very BEST!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your first Harvest Monday! Boy that ice cream looks good!
ReplyDeleteI would love to have chickens for fresh eggs. During the summer I can get free ranged eggs from the farmers market, but over the winter I have to live with store bought. It just isn't the same.
ReplyDeleteI wish we have organic free-range fresh eggs like yours. I enjoyed looking at your photos seeing how your boys are having so much fun helping with gardening.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for posting. Sorry for my delayed response... busy day. Your blogs and our conversations are very wonderful!
ReplyDeleteJane, I can't wait for strawberries to come either. Unfortunately, we're entering the fourth year with these particular June-berry plants and they're petering out. We expect to replace them this fall.
Gingerbreadhouse7, I love your tea and chocolate! When you get to making strawberry ice cream, may I recommend mama's (that's what the kids call my wife) method. She blends the berries first. It makes the ice cream smoother, with less icy strawberry chunks and more creamy goodness.
kitsapFG, believe it or not, we're from Washington. We know Kitsap well. We have friends in Port Orchard and Gig Harbor. My wife grew up in Auburn. Washington or Pennsylvania, I couldn't agree with you more, keeping a garden and chickens for fresh eggs equals paradise (even in the compost bin)! Thanks for posting.
Lynda correct me if I'm wrong: either there's something in the freezer that needs to be eaten or, there's something from the garden that needs to be vacuum-sealed and put in the freezer.
Robin we love harvest Monday. Look at all the people we're connecting with, and, can you believe it, they love gardening too!
Daphne, thank you for putting up a post that lists Harvest Monday participants. It answered my specific question; now I know where to look for the harvest! Our chickens began laying with natural light this week, I'm thinking that means you'll very soon have the kind of eggs you enjoy most.
Malay-Kadazan girl, thanks for visiting our blog. Our boys do enjoy gardening, and I'm thankful for that, but it's with a 3 minute attention span. They'll pretend play in an imaginary jungle with gorillas and leopards for hours, but real life...they take that in commercial length segments.