Arcadia Farms

Wish List Wednesday | Chicken Breeds I’d Like to Own

Welcome to another Wish List Wednesday! Though most of us are stuck in a deep freeze, this is the season to be thinking about little baby chickens arriving in time for spring. (Learn more about the how-to’s and benefits of backyard chickens here.) Because it’s chick-shopping season, this month’s Wish List Wednesday is focused on chicken breeds I’d love to own.

Blue Orpington

Blue orpingtons are as docile and friendly as they are cold hardy (very). They are good egg producers and provide brown-colored eggs. Those would all make them a great fit for my suburban Michigan micro-farm, but the real reason I want one is because they look so awesome! Aren’t they pretty?

Lavender Orpington

Duh. Same info as above, but with the beautiful distinction of being a pale purple color. And unlike Blue Orpingtons, Lavender Orpies breed true, meaning that their offspring will look just like them. (Blue Orpingtons can produce black, blue or splashed offspring.)

Barred Plymouth Rock

She looks cool. She’s an excellent egg layer who isn’t deterred by cold weather. And, frankly, when she stops giving eggs, she makes an excellent roasting chicken. What Michigan chicken owner wouldn’t want ol’ BPR?

Easter Eggers/Ameracaunas

I think a basket (or egg carton) of multi-colored eggs is so beautiful! I’d love to introduce an Easter Egger or Ameracauna hen into our flock for their blueish-green eggs. These birds are good egg layers, very cold hardy and friendly (although also very active). They also tend to be a bit broody.

Click here to read the rest of this article including 6 more chicken breeds and their benefits.

Ok. Not really. It’s not a potion. No magic here. Just a yummy cup of tea that happens to be full of herbs known for their aphrodisiac qualities. It’s a sweet and simple handmade gift your tea lover will love on Valentine’s Day. If you’re an herb connoisseur you probably have everything you need on hand already. Otherwise, a quick run to the health food or grocery store will provide what you need, including:

• Round Coffee Filters
• Bakers Twine
• Stapler and Staples
• Stinging Nettle
• Rose Petals
• Lavender
• Oat Straw
• Whole Cloves
• Lindon
• Ginseng

First, create the tea mixture in a small bowl by stirring together all of the dried herbs. The mixture makes 3-4 tea bags. Here’s the recipe:

• 3 tsp Stinging Nettle
• 3 tsp Rose Petals
• 1 tsp Oat Straw
• 1 tsp Whole Cloves
• 1.5 tsp Lavender
• Pinch Ginseng
• Pinch Lindon

Click here for the complete tutorial and more photos!

Last spring’s Chicken Week seems a world away now as I look out onto giants mounds of fluffy snow. That week of posts introducing our first flock of chickens also discussed our plans and tips for chicken keeping. One of the central concepts in our plan is a paddock system. Chicken paddocks provide several benefits, including the reduction or elimination of expenses for commercial chicken-feed. In a nutshell, the paddock system works like this:

Multiple (i.e., four) fenced areas can be accessed from the coop. These areas are deliberately planted with vegetation that is healthy for chickens to self-harvest. The paddocks are also planted with an overstory (trees to roost in, especially for protection) and an underbrush (especially to hide from airborne predators). By planting perennial food, you further minimize the amount of work necessary on your part to feed the chickens (the plants come back every year). Paddocks are designed to be large enough so that chickens can forage there for an entire week without decimating the vegetation available. After a week, they move on to a new paddock. In a system with four paddocks, the first paddock will have three weeks to “recover” before the chickens are back to eat more.

Implementing our paddock system has been a slow process because it fell low on the priority list during warm weather. By the end of last summer (2013) we had created two paddocks to surround our coop. (The original plan called for four paddocks but we decided that two larger paddocks would be better.) This spring (2014) we’ll finally be ready to fill the paddocks with gobs of perennial, chicken-friendly food to give our girls plenty of yummy foraging material.

The Plan

Click here for the complete site assessment, as well as details about what we're planting and why.

Valentine’s Day is a mere seven days away. We celebrate Valentine’s Day, but not extravagantly. A sentimental card and a few tokens of love are usually the extent of gift giving in our family. Gifts often include flowers, candy, gift cards, special dinners and sometimes jewelry. Although we don’t (usually) give extravagant gifts for this particular holiday, we all (yes, the entire family) are still very particular about giving thoughtful, personalized gifts. Have you noticed how difficult it can be to find a great Valentine’s Day gift for a man? In years past I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find something modest but meaningful for my hubby.

That’s how I happened upon it…

Bacon hearts.

Yes, my husband loves bacon that much.

Few things warm the hearts of the men in my home more than bacon (Owen loves it too). Clearly the two must become one.

Inexpensive, easy-to-make and irresistible – bacon hearts match every criteria I need in a gift for the boys. Do you have a bacon lover in your life? You can make these pretty porky hearts for them as well. Here’s how…

How to Make Bacon Hearts

Click here for the complete tutorial, including pictures!

Seeds come in many shapes and sizes. The tiniest seeds – such as radishes, carrots and onions – can be difficult to sow with precision. One way to address this problem is to use seed tape. Fortunately seed tape is easy to make, store and use, both in traditional row gardens and Square Foot Gardening raised beds. Seed tape helps you conserve seeds, minimizes (or eliminates) the need to thin plants later in the season, and makes a great winter-time project to give you a jump start on spring. Also gardeners with back issues will find this method of sowing seeds much less painful than bending over a garden bed. Plus if you’re a neat freak, it will give you control over having a beautifully, perfectly spaced garden. Won’t the neighbors be jealous?

For pictures and all of the instructions for creating square foot garden seed tape, click here.

I’m a Michigan girl, which means not only am I used to four seasons but dramatic, often vacillating transitions between those seasons. In the spring and fall it is not uncommon to have sunny, 80-degree weather and windy, perhaps rainy 40-degree weather shortly after (sometimes in the same day). Until recently, I always remember winter being abysmally cold and sustained with ample snow. The last few winters in Michigan have been very mild, even if they were sprinkled by some bad storms here and there. In fact last winter, I was still digging in dirt not long before Christmas!

This winter is making up for all the mildness we’ve recently experienced. We’ve had a record-breaking cold snap with day after day in subzero temperatures (not to mention the deep wind chill). I now have a new definition of abysmally cold.  And I should know – I’m an expert in hating highly disliking cold. I can’t stand being cold. I’m not really a fan of snow. I appreciate a white Christmas and then it can all go away as far as I’m concerned. Give me liberty summer or give me death the furnace set at 75!

I’ve never understood why people love winter so much. I especially dislike it when the weather starts just baaarrrrley turning cold in the fall (say, the first 60-degree day of September) and Facebook is alight with “Oh, fall is here!” and “Cold weather is coming!” and “I just broke out the Christmas music!” Really? Really?!? I get so annoyed with folks who drag Christmas into Thanksgiving and Halloween.

I’ve always thought of myself as a champion of holiday sanctification; a seasonal purist. Please – no Christmas trees before pumpkins, thank you! But then as December rolled into January and I started blogging about garden plans and seed starting and “Spring is almost here!” I realized… I’m one of them. I wish away winter just like the Christmas-music-in-September-Nazis fancy truncating summer.

Then I had another strange epiphany… trapped in my house for days on end by sub-zero windchills, I’ve spent a lot of time looking out. And contemplating what I see… and thinking about the bright side. And I realized… winter’s not all that bad. In fact, there are plenty of reasons to actually be thankful for winter. Here are a few…

Some Plants Need Cold Weather

Some of our favorite garden plants actually benefit from a cold snap. For example, according to Grey Duck Garlic, “garlic requires vernalization (exposed to cold) before or after planting. Cold temperatures stimulate garlic to sprout and develop a bulb.” Also many fruit trees – including Apple and Cherry – have a chilling time requirement. Here’s an explanation from The Housing Forum:  “Fruit trees require a period of time called chill time which accumulates throughout cold weather seasons. Chill time begins as soon as the leaves fall off of the tree and extends to the first bloom. Cherry trees require between 600 and 700 hours of chill time to produce ample and healthy blossoms.”

Cold Weather Diminishes Pest Populations

I’ve heard more-experienced gardeners talk before about the fact that winter weather helps to reduce pest populations, namely bugs. A deep freeze like we’re experiencing is likely to have a deeper impact. For example, a tiger mosquito’s eggs are destroyed below 10 degrees Fahrenheit. When it comes to garden pests, a deep freeze is hard on moth populations as well. Apparently adult moths mate at night when temperatures are above freezing, and since those days have been few and far between so far this winter, we might be in luck.

Snow Replenishes Waterways

Water is an important natural resources, especially in Michigan. During the summer drought two years ago some waterways were very low and dry. Since snowfall eventually replenishes tributaries and aquifers, it also replenishes our lakes, ponds and streams in time. National Geographic reports that “the recent Arctic blast that gripped much of the nation will likely contribute to a healthy rise in Great Lakes water levels in 2014.”

Winter Wonderlands are Beautiful

Have you looked outside? My yard looks like this – isn’t it beautiful? From within a warm house with a warm cup of tea in my hand, all that white stuff’s not so bad. (P.S. The pictures just don’t do it justice!)

Cabin Fever and Quiet Time

No one likes cabin fever, especially when you’re really trapped inside and not just staying home to be road-wise. But if we’re honest, most of us could benefit from a day or two of quiet together-time at home with family. Our family has broken out books and games and crafts during the last few snow days that haven’t seen the light of day in a while.

Winter-Related Sports and Commerce

Not all of us are stuck inside during snowy weather. Some crazy people live for the day when there’s enough snowfall to ski, snowmobile or go sledding. For yet others getting out into the elements is less about choice and more about employment. We’re so indebted to the men and women who make their living by clearing roadways, parking lots and driveways so that the rest of us can go about our business safely. All of these activities have an impact on our economy by creating seasonal jobs and income.

Spring Really Is Coming

Ironically, one of the benefits of winter is that it helps us appreciate warmer weather. Close friends of ours from Malaysia often commented on how much they loved the change in seasons, with winter ranking as their favorite time of year. They came from a climate of warm, warm, warm day after day. That sounds pretty tempting when I’m lugging water out to the chicken coop with a -30 degree wind smacking my face. But if Michigan was always warm, warm, warm day after day I would never get to experience that euphoric feeling when the days suddenly turn substantially warmer and the sun on my face reminds me of how much vitamin D I’ve been missing (and how great it makes me feel)! Or when I awake (physically and otherwise) to the realization that songbirds brought me out of slumber. Or when the trees explode with green seemingly overnight and I remember how full of life the world is. I plod through the winter and do my best to be thankful for what we receive. But when songbirds and sunshine and green things remind me of just how cold and stark and quiet the winter has been, I appreciate these things all the more. Spring really is coming… and that hope would be meaningless if it weren’t for winter.

Did you enjoy this article? Visit www.arcadia-farms.net for more info on eating healthy, saving money and buying locally. 

Earlier this month I shared my Main Garden Plan for 2014. If you’re interested in seeing what I’m growing in our 1,152 square feet of raised beds, click here. In that post I mentioned that I had not yet created a plan for the Fenceline Garden, a 100-foot x 2.5-foot raised bed along the perimeter of our fenced backyard. For the last two years I used this space to grow vegetables for our CSA. This garden is divided visually by the ten 10’ sections of fence behind it. I typically treat each 10’ section as its own bed. Since we are no longer operating a CSA this space can be re-imagined. In fact, as soon as we determined that a CSA wasn’t in the cards for 2014, I started thinking about transforming the Fenceline into an herb, cut-flower and kitchen garden. Herbs because I would love to produce all of my own (and I use a lot of herbs in my cooking); cut-flowers because I love flowers indoors and the beauty they bring to the yard; and a kitchen garden because I’d rather walk 20-some feet to pick lettuce for a sandwich than 200+ feet to the Main Garden.

Despite the fact that I’ve been pondering this for nearly six months, I could never quite seem to land on a design that seemed ‘right’ and sustainable. I won’t bore you with all of the failed approaches I took – but I will bore you do want to tell you about the design I finally felt was just right!

Click on the image below for an expanded view of the chart and all of the details, including companion-planting ideas.

Once upon a time I followed a very strict Candida diet and experience several great health benefits including weight loss and increased energy. The benefits for me outweighed the costs, namely food I had to give up. In fact those benefits are so great that I’m looking to realign the food I eat with the diet again. Unfortunately one of the items that doesn’t align well (ok, at all) with the Candida diet is traditional hummus (because it is made of beans which are a no-no).

Huge bummer, because I really like hummus. (Really!). As much as I like it, I like having energy a lot more so I started searching for a suitable substitute. I’m pretty pleased with what I found: Muhammara. It’s a delicious red pepper dip originating from Syria that, while I can’t say is a perfect substitute for hummus, is still super yummy and satisfies my need to snack. The recipe I found was good as-is, but it was missing something. To get it just right, I made some adjustments and now I especially like it (and so does Ryan)! Here’s my new-and-improved slightly altered recipe for Muhammara.

Click here for the recipe.

Earlier this month I shared the 2014 Main Garden Plan for Arcadia Farms (and you can see it by clicking here). I’m still working on plans for the Fenceline Garden because I’d like to transition it from a garden of annuals to a space for perennial fruit and herbs. (Here’s a picture of what it looked like last year.)

The seed catalogs have started pouring in and, just like last year, I’m looking to get a jump start on my spring garden by starting seeds indoors. Because last year’s garden was the source of my CSA produce, I needed to consider criteria such as yield (high), days to maturity (short) and uniqueness as I selected seeds. This year the Main Garden’s primary function is to feed our family although I will occasionally be selling excess produce or crops planted especially for our brokerage customer(s). That allows me to have different criteria, including:

• Suiting our family’s tastes and needs
• Limiting varieties to better facilitate seed saving (less chance of cross-pollination)
• Timing for personal consumption (spread out) rather than commercial (large amounts maturing at once)

Fortunately I’ve assembled quite a collection of seeds over the last few years – including purchases and seeds from my own garden – so I have relatively few seeds that I need to buy. My plan is to save even more seeds from the garden this year and slowly reduce my dependence on outside sources.

Click here to read the rest of this article, including:

• My seed sources
• Tips for starting and transplanting seeds
• FREE spreadsheet you can download to help you determine and track when to start seeds
• A list of plants that do best when sown directly
• A list of plants that can be transplanted (started indoors)
• A review of different methods for starting seeds
  

Welcome to 2014! I’ve decided to ring in the new year by sharing my 2014 garden plans with you. For those of you who are unfamiliar, our farm consists of two principal gardens: The Main Garden and the Fenceline Garden. Today I’m going to be sharing the Main Garden plan. This year is certainly a transition for us because it is the first year we’ll have a giant garden but no CSA. The planning was made simpler by my established crop rotation plan.

Click on the image below for all of these details:

• My garden crop rotation plan
• Tips on succession planting
• New inter-planting ideas using the Three Sisters method
• More tidbits about my personal garden selections and plans
  

It’s that time of year when we make promises to ourselves in the hopes of making life better. Did you know that only 8% of Americans actually achieve their New Year’s resolution? In fact by the fourth week of January only 64% of us are still working to achieve the goal we’ve set. Maybe that’s why 55% of us infrequently or absolutely never make a New Year’s resolution to begin with.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

I’m no stranger to making major changes and I’m certainly not opposed to embarking on new adventures, but I also realize that small successes give us momentum to tackle bigger changes with confidence. Instead of resolving to lose 30 pounds or pay off $50,000 in debt, what about starting with a simpler resolution? The feeling of success you’ll get from making it into the elite 8% just might give you the chutzpa needed to tackle your bigger goals. Here are four New Year’s resolutions I think you can complete like a boss.

Make Your Own Laundry Soap

Why

You should make your own laundry detergent because it’s cheaper and more natural. In general, laundry detergent available on the grocery store shelf contains “a cocktail of potent cancer-causing chemicals, some of which the manufacturer doesn’t even have to list on the label. This loophole reduces the odds that you’ll ever discover what’s in there. Not only are these chemicals potentially damaging to your health, but they are also contaminating waterways and harming the environment.” (source)

Those unnecessary ingredients also make store-bought detergent unnecessarily expensive. As you’ll see at the end of this article, you could be washing your clothes for pennies a load without sacrificing cleaning power.

How

Last year I wrote a blog post describing the simple process of creating your own laundry soap. For instructions, click here. I’ve had good success with this recipe although I sometimes doubt how well the powdered version is working in my cold water loads. Solutions include dissolving the soap in a half cup of warm water before adding it to the wash and creating liquid laundry soap, which I’m going to attempt later in January.

How Long To Win

In an hour or less you can make enough laundry soap to last the entire year. Get right on this (before the close of January) and you’ll be one of those prestigious Americans who faced the resolutions-monster and won!

Transition to Natural Sweeteners

Why

Well… duh. It’s pretty hard to argue that more-natural is less-healthy. And since a significant percentage of resolutions made revolve around health and well-being, it’s hard to argue that Americans aren’t interested in being healthier.

The thing is… sugar is delicious. And addictive. And readily available. Trust me – I struggle constantly with a sweet tooth! Fortunately I live with a fabulous family that has been supportive of gradually transitioning to sweeteners that are less-processed than the white (or brown) sugar you can pick up in the baking aisle.

It’s taken us time to get here. I used to hate the taste of honey. Now I sweeten my plain yogurt with it daily. It wasn’t until I started trying to eat real maple syrup that I realized how different it tastes from Log Cabin… and that I didn’t care for the real stuff as much. (That’s also when I realized that most store-bought maple syrup is actually maple-flavored corn syrup.) It took persistence to retrain my taste buds, but the transition has been worth it. We now buy honey in bulk (I currently have a one year supply on hand) because we use it so much.

How

For a guide to finding and using natural sweeteners, check out this article from Nourished Kitchen.

You can learn more about cooking and baking with honey by checking out this post.

How Long To Win

We tend to believe the adage that it takes 21 days to change a habit. More recent research and thought suggests it may take more like 45 days – with an especially critical 14 day withdrawal stage at the beginning. Similarly, the pace at which you can change your tastes in food is heavily related to your mental mindset toward the new (and old) food; it can take months. With a positive perspective and daily consistency, you can probably get there in 3 to 6 months.

Drink Raw Milk

Why

Research – both scientific and anecdotal – suggests that raw milk has several health benefits not retained by its pasteurized counterpart. Or perhaps a more accurate way to say it is that pasteurized milk has been altered in ways that reduce its health benefits and, in some cases, actually cause the milk to be more harmful than healthful. The general premise is that raw milk contains proteins, antibodies, a perfect balance of minerals and good bacteria that are destroyed, altered or diminished during the heating process of pasteurization. In addition to all of these health benefits, many people (myself included) think that raw milk has a superior flavor and texture to pasteurized, homogenized milk. For a more in-depth discussion of the pros and cons, as well as scientific support, check out my post on raw milk by clicking here.

How

The State of Michigan has currently outlawed the sale of raw milk. That’s sad, because it is so much healthier than the alternative white beverage we like to pretend is still milk. However, the State has not yet gone so far as to ban drinking raw milk from your own cow, goat, etc. So currently the only way to drink raw milk is to own your own animal. Don’t worry – you don’t have to run out and buy a cow (and hope your neighbors won’t notice the mooing from your garage). Instead, you can lease a cow from a local farmer. This arrangement is called a herdshare and it typically involves a boarding fee (for the care of your cow) and share fees (which cover the cost of milk). You lease the cow and you pay a farmer to do the work for you. For a list of resources in Southwest Michigan (including prices) click here.

If you live outside Southwest Michigan you can still find sources at www.realmilk.com.

How Long To Win

Spend an hour doing some research. Find a couple of vendors and call them with your questions. Pick a farm and send off your first payment. With two hours or less invested you’ll be winning at this New Year’s resolution thing long before January ends. Carve out some time on that to-do list early in the month to make sure you win!

Compost at Home

Why

Composting – the process whereby organic matter is decomposed – is a beautiful thing. The process takes material that would otherwise be waste (and possibly end up in a landfill) and turns it into something very valuable and usable – rich soil. Compost contains nutrients and micro-organisms that are beneficial for plant growth. Compost can be used as a soil conditioner and/or fertilizer in your home garden. Did you know that plants “eat” nutrients from the soil and can deplete those nutrients over time? Composting at home means that you can make use of your table scraps (like apple cores and carrot peelings) and yard waste (like fall leaves and grass clippings) to keep your kitchen garden happy and healthy within a mutually-beneficial system. Even if you don’t have a vegetable garden, compost will work wonders on your flower beds or simply spread out over your lawn.

How?

Composting is easy. Composting requires a few components: Fuel, micro-organisms and heat. Your food and yard scraps provide the fuel, micro-organisms magically show up (kind of) and though initial warmth invites them, those magic bacteria will supply their fair share of heat.

Molika Ashford at Live Science says it well:

“It may seem almost like a magic trick: leftover veggies from last night’s dinner and yard debris go into a pile, and nutrient-rich fertilizer comes out. But that’s what happens in an outdoor compost pile. Microbes, worms, snails, insects and fungi decompose organic material aerobically, which means they use oxygen as they breakdown the materials in the pile. Bacteria are the powerhouse of a compost pile. They break down plant matter and create carbon dioxide and heat. Run-of-the-mill microbes usually start off the process, but as their consumption of the compost materials raises the temperature of the pile, heat-loving microorganisms take over. Compost can get up to 100 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (40-60 degrees Celsius) as it brews.

Larger critters such as worms, slugs and insects also digest the decomposing matter, pooping out finished compost as they munch their way through. Their secretions improve compost’s texture, binding small particles into larger crumbly bits.”

You can compost anything that was once alive. However some items work better than others. Vegetable and fruit scraps, cleaned egg shells, used tea bags, fall leaves, grass clippings, weeds from the garden and coffee grounds all work well. You should avoid items such as flour, sugar, bread (or anything containing yeast), meat, bones, eggs or dairy. These items can produce foul odors and attract pests.

In Michigan and other cold-weather-states, there may not be enough initial warmth available to start composting outdoors this January. No worries!

You could start small with a bin for food scraps like this one…

Or you could start vermicomposting…

Or you could setup a full outdoor system using winter-composting advice found here….

In warm weather states, just toss your organic matter into a pile. Turn it every few days to allow for adequate oxygen flow and even heating. Then just stand back and watch while last night’s left-over mashed potatoes turns into what gardeners call black gold.

How Long To Win

Setting up your system can be super easy, especially if you start with the counter-top stainless steel container. You might need to invest an hour or so of setup if you pick another route. Otherwise, this one is all about forming a new habit – tossing your food scraps into the compost rather than the trash. Give yourself 45 days. Your sweetheart will be congratulating you on your New Year’s resolution success round about the time Valentine’s Day rolls around.

Tips for Winning

Despite the more bite-sized effort needed to successfully tackle these resolutions, you’ll still need some willpower and careful planning to get you across the finish line. Here are some tips to help you along the way.

1. Write it down. Having a written plan is proven to help people achieve their goals. Post your goal somewhere that you’ll see it – on the fridge, you bathroom mirror, in your car, etc.
2. Tell somebody. A little accountability goes a long way.
3. Be yourself. If you could care less about whether or not you eat processed sugar, don’t try to change just because of some ethereal idea that you should “be healthier.” Pick something you’re actually interested in doing.
4. Start again. If you fail, try again. All of these resolutions have a relatively quick turnaround. If you reach the third week of January and find that you’re slipping (or have completely fallen away) from your goal, start over. It won’t be long until victory is yours!
5. Keep it simple.  Take one day at a time. As I mentioned, these are quick-turnaround goals. Just focus on sticking to your plan each day and before you know it, one day will melt into 45.

What do you think? Can you pull off one of these micro-sized resolutions? (Hint: The answer is yes… a resounding yes. Go for it… you got this!)

Did you enjoy this article? Visit www.arcadia-farms.net for more info on eating healthy, saving money and buying locally.   

In mid-November I shared that our hens had stopped laying eggs completely due to molting, cold weather and minimal daylight hours. Though chickens can and will lay occasional eggs during cold, dark winter days, we decided not to endure an entire winter of feeding chickens who aren’t ‘giving back’ (or the shame of buying eggs at the grocery store)! After research and input form other homesteaders, we settled on the following plan:

1. Add artificial light in the early morning hours so that the hens receive at least 14 hours of light a day.
2. Use an eco-friendly white light in our heat lamp. Saves money and energy.
3. Avoid using a red heat lamp to insure against the scenario where the chickens get used to the extra heat and we subsequently lose power.
4. Feed more protein to the flock.

Today I’d like to give you a quick update on the progress of our plan.

First, I bought an outdoor automatic timer found in the holiday lighting section of Menards (less than $10). Though I can only plug one thing into it at a time, it allows me to create several (maybe a dozen?) different schedules for times of the day and days of the week. We’ve opted to turn our light on from 2:30 AM to 8:30 AM every morning. It’s a little longer than necessary, but based on the shifting time of the sunrise it will keep us covered without me having to remember to revise the schedule. (Call me lazy…)

The day after I finally go the light installed I went out to feed the chickens. I peeked into the coop from the door opposite the nesting box to see if there were any eggs. (I’d been doing this for several weeks – since the chickens hadn’t laid in egg in sooo long – and because it’s easier then hopping the fence to get to the nesting box.) I noticed that an egg was laying on the floor of the coop below the nesting box; it must have rolled out. How exciting! We had an egg! I hadn’t expected the light to work so quickly…

I hopped the fence, opened the nesting box and, imagine my surprise, when I discovered 16 eggs! No wonder one had rolled out…

The lesson: Yes, chickens still lay winter eggs naturally in the absence of supplemental light and heat.

True as this may be, I had no idea how many eggs per day this 16 represented (it had been three to four weeks since I’d checked… I think… I wasn’t keeping track) and one egg every few days is still not going to cut it as justification when Mr. Shank is reviewing our feed bill.

At any rate, using the light seemed to work fairly well. The girls started laying about 3 eggs a day. Recently we’ve had several four-egg days.

However, two things happened that made me alter the plan. First, the chickens did seem to be getting restless, even a little aggressive from their 6-hour stints locked up inside the lighted coop. Also, on very super cold days (of which we several in late November/early December) they stopped laying completely. With these things in mind, I decided to switch to the red heat lamp.

As I mentioned in last month’s winter egg production post, red light has proven to be useful in calming chickens’ nerves. (Weird, right?) I’m certainly not conducting a scientific experiment here, but I can say that the hens seem to be calmer now that we’ve been using the red light. I have no idea if it’s just a factor of time or if it has to do with the warmth of the heat lamp, but the two chickens whose feathers were very sparse have filled back in nicely.

So far things are going well – we’re pleased with three or four eggs a day. I’ve been cooking up food scraps (like carrot peelings, apple cores, sweet potato leftovers, bits of steak, etc.) into a warm batch of… goop… for the hens to enjoy. And though I know they’re a heavy breed intended to withstand winter just fine on their own, I can tell that they’re not fond of the snow. They come out in the morning to eat and drink but usually spend their day in the coop.

I bet they can’t wait for six-eggs-a-day season spring.

Did you enjoy this article? Visit www.arcadia-farms.net for more info on eating healthy, saving money and buying locally.   

This is our first winter with chickens. As I was putting up the Christmas decorations this year I thought it would be fun to spread some yuletide cheer to the chicken coop. It’s nothing extravagant, but it makes me feel extra Christmas-y every morning when it’s time to feed the hens and gather the eggs.

The coop looks especially neat in the early hours of the morning when our red heat light is still on. (The lamp is currently on from 2:30 am to 8:30 am every morning to provide enough light and heat for egg production.)

I’m already looking forward to getting extra-creative with decorating the coop next year.

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Last summer I shared with you that I love tea. I grew up drinking at least a cup a day, guided by my mother who throws down a pot or so in the same time frame. One of the things I treasure most about get togethers with my mom, brother and sister-in-law is enjoying a pot (or two) of tea together, especially since I’m usually the only one in our little nuclear family who gets excited about brewing a cup.

Since my relatives enjoy tea so much I decided last year to make them handmade herbal tea bags. I found some recipes online and used this tutorial as a guide to creating my own tea bags. It was a super cute idea (and I was super excited about it!) but alas, I completely underestimated how much time it would take. The bags weren’t nearly as pretty as I wanted them to be. And I cut my time so close to Christmas that I didn’t really have time to taste-test and adjust my recipes. Ultimately some of the bags turned out well but most of them were forgettable (if not bad).

Such a bummer…

So I promised myself that I’d try again this year – and that I’d start much, much sooner. So the week of Thanksgiving I paid a visit to our local health food store and picked up a couple dozen bags of various herbs and spices. Ever since I’ve been experimenting with and adjusting herbal tea recipes. My goal was to develop at least a dozen unique flavors. I didn’t quite make it there, but I’m really pleased with the six recipes that are ready.

Something Beautiful

I know that sometimes we make homemade gifts because they’re inexpensive, quick or simple to make. (And there’s nothing wrong with that.) Although they hold potential for the exact opposite, I feel like sometimes today’s homemade gifts are a little impersonal. I really wanted these teas to be the antithesis to all of these things, both to make them a sweet gift and simply for the joy of creating something beautiful.

That’s how I stumbled into the idea of making an advent tea set. I wanted to make something pretty to look at, meaningful and enjoyable to use. I guess I won’t know for sure if I hit the mark until my not-to-be-mentioned-till-they-receive-this relative provides a review. Meanwhile, I’m excited to share the results with you.

I’ve included all of the information and printouts you need to make an advent tea set for the tea lover on your Christmas list. Here’s how it works: Every day has a handmade tea bag. The tea bags are stored in a pre-made container. I wanted to use a Christmas tin but none of the stores I visited had quite what I was looking for. Instead I settled for this super cute box from the holiday section of Wal-Mart. (If you hurry you might be able to buy the same one!)

Each day’s tea bag has a tag with the date on it. Each bag is also preceeded by a divider card. The divider has the date on the face and a Christmas-oriented scripture on the backside. The idea is that every December morning before work (or perhaps every evening as you unwind) the recipient can read and reflect on an inspirational card while enjoying a cup of tea. There are 25 cards (and 25 tea bags) to last you all the way until Christmas Day. The divider cards are printed on heavy-duty photo paper and should be sturdy enough to last for several years. That means next year I’ll be able to supply a stash of 25 handmade teas to be ready for the following Advent season.

A few more details… the tea tags are attached to bakers twine because it comes in pretty colors but won’t leach color into hot tea. I bought some Christmas-y twine in the dollar section of Target and found even more colorful varieties in the party section (near the plates and cups). The bags themselves are made from regular (cheap!) coffee filters. My sewing machine broke down just as I was beginning to sew these so I had to improvise. I ended up figuring out a no-sew folding technique that looks just as cute and actually saved me a ton of time. I’m excited that anyone – even crafty folks with no sewing machine – can make these.

Advent Tea Set Tutorial

Supplies & Equipment Needed

• 25 coffee filters
• bakers twine
• 9 sheets of photo paper
• 3 sheets of cardstock
• scissors
• assorted herbs and spices (click here for recipes which list amounts for a single serving)
• measuring spoons
• stapler
• mono-adhesive
• craft glue
• tea container (mine came from the holiday section at Wal-Mart)
• Tea Dividers printout (click here to download)
• Tea Tags printout (click here to download)

Make the Tea Bags

1. Cut a piece of bakers twine into a 6? length.

2. Fold a coffee filter in half.

3. Fold the filter in half again. Reopen to previous half-fold position.

3. Fold each side into the center line created by step 2.

4. Fold each side in again to meet the center line.

5. Staple the bottom of the bag to help it retain it’s form.

6. Mix a single-serving of the tea recipe in a small container.

7. Use your fingers to pry the opening of the bag open as wide as possible without completely unfolding it.

8. Transfer the mixed herbs into the bag. Using a 1/2 teaspoon may help.

9. Carefully tap or shake the bag down so that the tea is compacted to the bottom. This will make it easier to close the top. You can later disperse the tea more evenly throughout the bag.

10. Laying the bag flat on a hard surface, fold down the top-right corner of the bag.

11. Place the bakers twine onto the bag and fold the top-left corner down over it. This will create a point at the top of the bag.

12. Fold the point down toward the bottom of the bag being careful to keep the twine secure under the flaps. Fold the twine up straight across the point (now pointing down) and up past the top of the bag. Secure both the top of the bag and the twine by stapling across it.

13. Create tea tags by cutting out two of each number. Place one tag face down and add a few small dots of glue to the center and the corners. Place the top end of the twine on the center glue dot then cover the entire thing with the second tag (face up).

Make the Divider Cards

1. Print the Tea Dividers, preferably on photo paper or card stock.

2. Cut each divider along the dashed line (top, bottom and sides) and fold along the dotted line. Once folded, the number should be on one side and the scripture should be on the back.

3. Line the three open sides of the divider with mono adhesive and press it together.

4. Repeat for all divider cards. For Christmas Day (Day 25) there are three options to choose from.

Assemble the Advent Tea Set

1. Place the #25 tea bag in the bottom of the container.

2. Place the #25 divider card over the #25 tea bag.

3. Place the #24 tea bag on top of the #25 divider, followed by the #24 divider.

4. Repeat this process until all tea bags and dividers have been added.

5. If you haven’t already, print the Advent Tea Recipes card. Cut it to fit into the container. Slide the card inside the container flush with the back side (behind the tea bags and dividers).

6. Close. Give. Smile.

I really enjoyed making this, and I can’t wait to give it!

Did you enjoy this article? Visit www.arcadia-farms.net for more info on eating healthy, saving money and buying locally.