Author Archives: lionoatmealpluto23254

I’ll start out by talking about sweet potatoes it is a very desirable trait for the consumer or the home gardener to have a variety that keeps and stores well. We have some varieties that I have had in the basement for almost 2 years and they are still usable. That’s fantastic for the consumerContinue reading “When is a Desirable trait not so Desirable”

BySharon Peterson January 26, 2023 What foods DO require pressure canning? These directions are for pressure canning low-acid foods. This includes any meat and most vegetables, all of which must be pressure canned. What foods DON’T require pressure canning? Pickles, jam jelly, or fruits are all high-acid foods. If you are preserving these foods, you need toContinue reading “Pressure Canning: How to Can with a Pressure Canner”

If I could be granted just one wish before people ordered anything from us it would be that they understood what genetic diversity is. This “passion” “ job” whatever you want to call it that we have taken on requires many many hours of work. I love the work! Most days during the summer it’sContinue reading “Understanding Genetic Diversity”

November : Blue Slate Turkeys – $100 for the set. One hen. One Tom. 5-6 months old. Must go together. Baby chickens: Barred Rock, Black Sexlink, maybe one Black Australorp. Born October 1-2 of this year so now 6 weeks old and I can pick female from males. I also have: Lavender Orpington, Echequer Leghorn, cream legbar, Bielefelder,Continue reading “Shop: 2022”

Should I Buy Chicks from Breeders or Hatcheries? Should I buy chicks from breeders or hatcheries? As a homesteader, you may find yourself asking this question. Even if you haven’t asked yourself this question, it is a good question to consider when deciding where to source your homestead flock from. While both sources have theirContinue reading “Opinion: Should I buy from Breeders or Hatcheries?”

30 years of working on preservation and we finally have reached where we have all of our chickens, ducks and geese in better buildings with easier to work with facilities. When we started many breeds were disappearing rapidly and a choice had to be made between waiting for cash flow and build a suitable structureContinue reading “Constructing an Economical and Efficient Poultry Building”

Homemade feeds can work and at one point in my life worked well. Between my first and second years of college my parents moved to the warmest part of Idaho the Lewis-Clark Valley just south of the Palouse where peas, lentils, barley and spring wheat are farmed in large areas. I could get a feedContinue reading “Poultry Feeds #2”

Every year I judge between 6 and 10 4-H poultry shows for various counties in eastern Iowa. It is always a fun experience to interact with the youth and pass on what information that I can about specific breeds and tips on raising and showing. It is always good to help perpetuate an interest inContinue reading “Poultry Feeds #3”

020 marks 50 years that I have raised poultry. It all began in the Spring of 1970 with 4 small ducklings that I lost to a weasel at 6 weeks of age and then came a mixed breed very old bantam hen with several chicks and 3 old White Wyandotte hens. I wasn’t quite 9Continue reading “The Best Feed For Poultry: 50 years of Experiments Part I”

Credit: Glenn Downs (opinion article) When I started this operation back in 1988 the goal always was and always will be to not focus on profit but preservation and education. When Linda and I got married in 1993 we continued on the same path. We have always stuck to that goal even though it hasContinue reading “Year 2050: Where Have All the White egg Layers Gone”

Group of chicken on a farmyard in a village located in Mazowieckie Province of Poland Not long ago, most farms and households in the United States played host to at least a small flock of chickens. Chores such as collecting eggs and butchering birds were a part of daily life for all but the mostContinue reading “Backyard Heritage Chicken Breeds”

There are so many reasons to save seeds. You can save them to make sure you have the selection you want or to preserve a family heirloom. You might be inspired to save seeds as a budget measure, saving seeds and saving money at the same time. Working with a variety to select characteristics youContinue reading “Why You Should Save Seeds”

A strong dual purpose chicken, the Black Australorp is a fun heritage breed chicken to raise (and to say!). A good choice for both egg laying and meat production, this heritage poulty breed chicken traces its heritage to the Orpington, bred in the village of the same name in Kent by William Cook in theContinue reading “Black Australorp Chickens: Heritage Poultry Breeds”

Your flock could be the best source of meat, eggs, and homemade fertilizer for plants. by Adobestock/trongnguyen What are the benefits of raising chickens? In a word, poop! Learn how to put chicken manure as fertilizer to use in your garden.  Fresh, nutritious eggs and homegrown roast chicken dinners are reason enough to raise yourContinue reading “Benefits of Raising Chickens”

There are four main ways you can obtain chicks: from a mail-order hatchery (almost year-round), from a local farm store (mostly in spring), by placing fertile eggs in an incubator (anytime), or by placing fertile eggs under a hen that has “gone broody” (usually in spring). If you decide to order by mail, you canContinue reading “Raise Your Best Flock Using Broody Hens”

|Originally Published on May 1, 1970 1 / 2 An example of an anaerobic compost method, this type of compost pile should be turned every few weeks. Tangy red tomatoes, butter peas, crisp lettuce, sweet onions, corn on the cob, watermelon that drips off the chin and other succulent goodies … fresh from your ownContinue reading “An Introduction to Organic Garden Fertilizer and Compost”

HENS: Young hens: $10-15 24 months old and up: FREE ROOSTERS: Pure breed roosters that I hand raised are $5 each grown. For most breeds, I cannot tell they are a rooster until they are several months old. I do not breed or sell mixed roosters. EGGS: Eating eggs $1.00 per dozen. They are refrigeratedContinue reading “2018 Prices”

|Published on May 9, 2014 We have had a variety of heritage breed animals on our Ohio farm. We want to help save their genetics by raising them and their off-spring. Our lives are enriched not only by their presence, but also because of their produce.We currently have Dutch Belted cows, Narragansett turkeys, Dorking chickensContinue reading “Help to Preserve Rare Heritage Breeds”

Originally Published on March 1, 1973 Red raspberries should be planted at least five hundred feet away from other raspberry varieties to prevent the spread of berry diseases. Special Note: All material here reprinted from Grow It! Copyright © 1972 by Richard W. Langer. The title of this excerpted chapter is “Berries.” One of the tastiest spots onContinue reading “Growing Rasperries, Blueberries, Currants, Grapes, Strawberries and More”

Credit: Originally Published on February 1, 2002 by Mother Earth News (https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/endangered-heritage-java-chicken-zmaz02fmzgoe/) Learn how to save the endangered heritage Java chicken. I drive backward in time every day on my way to work. I leave Chicago and busy Route 38 behind, then head up a gravel road to a white-picketed yard full of plump chickensContinue reading “Repopulating the Endangered Heritage Java Chicken”

*Certain chicken breeds have become extinct and more are about to become extinct. *There are about 25 billion chickens in the world today but more traditional or ‘heritage’ breeds are increasingly at risk of becoming extinct. *This is because industrialized chicken farming and factory farming bred in qualities to enhance meat and egg production. LittleContinue reading “We can’t lose Heritage Breeds”