Just another Day on the Farm

Feeding Back your Egg Shells to your Hens

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

feedingyoureggsheelsbacktoyourhens

The Hens are laying like mad at the moment. It feels like spring with the glut of older and pullet eggs coming in the house at the moment..

We are getting between 7 to 8 dozen a week at the moment, 2 dozen are being hard boiled for this and that, fresh are being scrambled for breakfasts and extra’s are being feed to the pig/hounds/purrpots.

That leaves a lot of shells (well other then the pig, who gets them whole), I could crush them and use them for the compost/garden, which is what I will switch to in the spring , when the hens will all be out eating bugs and such and crunching up their shells for extra yummies.

However in the deep of winter, the girls are getting their oyster Shell but it never hurts to increase their Calcium Carbonate intake in a totally safe and natural way.

I never feed back raw shells or bigger pieces to them.. Its just not worth the risk of creating egg eaters to me. I collect them in a bucket, letting them air dry as I collect a few days worth at time, then after I use my oven for something else, I turn the heat down 200 or you could go 250 if you wanted and I bake them 20 to 30 minutes.. Its not fussy here, you want them dried out.

Once they are cooled enough to touch, I just take the potato masher to them and get them to the point you see above.. lots of folks do feed them just like that, I have read it in books but I go the final step, I throw that into the blender and give them a final grind.

*The main ingredient in eggshells is calcium carbonate (the same brittle white stuff that chalk, limestone, cave stalactites, sea shells, coral, and pearls are made of). The shell itself is about 95% CaCO₃ (which is also the main ingredient in sea shells). The remaining 5% includes calcium phosphate and magnesium carbonate and soluble and insoluble proteins.

This blend can be sprinkled into their regular feed. Its a healthy way to recycle their shells back to them in the deep cold dark winter. It also cuts costs for their bought Oyster Shell and saving money is always a good thing!

Love Chickens? Here are a few more posts that might interest you?

Want to learn how to keep your Chickens Laying in Winter?

Want Chicks? Tips on Working with a Broody Hen!

Buying Chicks from the Hatchery? Chick Care 101

Guest Post “New Year Goal Setting” by The Practical Dreamer

Posted on December 30, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

The Do’s and Don’ts of Goal Setting for 2019 – Setting Yourself Up For Success

With the new year quickly approaching many of us are turning our thoughts to New Year’s resolutions and goals for 2019. In fact, a quick google search for “Goal setting 2019” returns over 12,000,000 results, and a quick browse through those results shows a dizzying number of approaches and techniques for effective goal setting.

Yet statistics show that nearly 80% of News Years resolutions (which are effectively goals by a different name) fail by the second week in February. How many of us have made a resolution in the last week of the year to work out more? Or save money? Effectively we are setting a goal for ourselves for the upcoming year.

Yet most of us will fail to meet that goal rather spectacularly. I know I’ve done it, and I’m willing to bet you have, too. So does that mean that resolutions and goal setting simply don’t work? I know a lot of people who refuse to set goals and resolutions. They don’t see a point. I’ve been there. Yet, as Winston Churchill is often quoted as saying, “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”. So, then, is there a right way to set a goal (or make a resolution) that will succeed?

Absolutely! They key is to set yourself up for success, which means following some fairly simple do’s and don’ts.

Do manage your expectations

Knocking off a list of dreams for the new year can be deceptively easy. I want to make more money, exercise more, and lose weight. Simple, right? Except it’s not. How are you going to make more money? What exactly do you mean by exercise more? How much weight?

If you’ve set a goal that is completely unattainable you’re destined to fail before you’ve even begun. In order to set goals and resolutions that will last past Valentine’s Day they have to be realistic and reasonable. Of course they should be a stretch, but not so much that you can’t ever get there.

Do celebrate your success

This one goes hand in hand with managing expectations. We all want something amazing to happen in 2019, and it’s totally possible. However, our tendency as humans is to concentrate on the negative. Instead of celebrating that pound lost last week we beat ourselves up that it’s “only” a pound when Julie down the road lost 5.

A huge part of why most of us miss hitting our goals is because we are so concentrated on what we *didn’t* do that we totally fail to acknowledge what we did. Small wins are important. They are what will ultimately get us to our goal.

Do forgive yourself

This is the flip side of celebrating success. You’re human. I’m human. Every single one of us is going to screw up. We’re going to fail. We are all utterly, beautifully imperfect. It’s part of what makes us all unique. So for goodness sake forgive yourself!

Seriously, you’ll make mistakes. You’ll fall flat on your face. Over, and over, and over again. That does not, however, make you a failure. So take a minute or two to wallow in your latest set back, but then pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and move on. Don’t beat yourself up. And for goodness sake don’t give up! Learn from your mistakes. Maybe re-examine your expectations and adjust accordingly.

Don’t compare yourself to anyone else

You are you. You will always be you. Which means you can’t possibly be someone else. So don’t expect yourself to move towards your goals the way anyone else does. If someone else is succeeding, celebrate them. Support them. Don’t judge yourself based on their success, though.

That is the quickest way I can think of to demoralise yourself and knock you off the path to your own success. I can think of a million beautiful platitudes about the journey being your own, and ever single one of them is true. You will get there if you let yourself, but it may not look the way you expect, and it certainly won’t look like anyone else’s path. Stop comparing yourself to others and celebrate what you’ve accomplished!

Do break things down into bite sized chunks

Moving into the practical for a moment, break things down! Seriously, “Lose weight” is a great goal, but it’s overwhelming. How are you going to lose weight? Do you need to exercise? What does exercise look like? What about your diet? Do you need a gym membership? What about….argh!! Stop! Looking at the big picture is great, but not exclusively or you’ll drive yourself nuts and walk away from the whole thing as impossible.

Break it down. In January cut out soft drinks for 30 days and see where it gets you. My husband lost something like 20 pounds just by cutting out Pepsi for a couple months. February you’re going to look at portion size and adjust things there a little. March you’ll start looking at moving more. Take the stairs at work. Park at the back of the parking lot and walk in. April you’ll add an after dinner walk now that the weather is getting nicer. May you’ll add a weekly bike ride with the family. Not even 5 months in and you’ve made 5 fairly easy changes to your lifestyle and I’ll bet your weight has shifted down.

The best part is that by breaking it down into bite sized chunks and giving yourself time to turn each step into a habit you’ve set yourself up for lasting success. The same types of chunking down can work for any goal you’re working towards.

The key is to make it manageable.

Set yourself up for success!

Do remember to live!

It is so easy to get caught up in reaching our goals to the point where we put blinders on. I am famous for it. I’ll be so concentrated on reaching whatever goal I’m working on that I forget about living my life. How many times have you told yourself that you’ll buy that gorgeous outfit when you’ve lost 10 pounds, or you’ll plan a vacation when you pay off your credit card debt? We’re all guilty of it.

The simple fact is that we each only have one shot at this life, and if we waste it driving towards goals, what’s the point? I know I don’t want to reach the end of my life finally having lost all the weight and made my fortune only to look back on my life and realize that I didn’t actually enjoy it. I’ve come to the realization that I would rather take an extra month or two to pay off my debt if it means taking my family on a small vacation now, rather than waiting years for the right time. Or lose the weight slower because I’ve had a glass of wine or piece of cake with good friends.

Obviously we need to be realistic (see point 1!!), but it’s also important to love the life we have while we’re living it. Not “some day”. Live today. Plan for the future, set goals, dream! But also, play with your kids, enjoy the sun on your face, go on a date with your loved one. Do something you’ve never done before. Create a bucket list and cross something off it!

Heck, that might even be a good goal for 2019…cross one item off your bucket list (and yes, it’s totally cool if you didn’t know it was on your list until you did it…).

At the end of the day we all have some idea of where we want to go. It might be something fairly short term like the weight loss example I keep coming back to, or it might be something bigger. Something life changing. Regardless of what your goal is, you can absolutely get there. What are you goals for 2019? I’d love to hear about them!

Personal Note from Farmgal

I want to give a shout out to Melissa, I have known her for a number of years now, first meeting her here in Ottawa area, then staying in touch as her family moved to England and back again. I will be sharing a guest post now and again over the year in helping to promote her new adventure as a life coach.

Melissa has always been a amazing ear to have listen and give sound advice afterwards. I am proud of her for taking this skill to the next level along with her training done towards this.

I have worked along side her on a few different community based programs and I can honestly say that she just gets calmer and steadier in times of pressure. Its a lovely skill to have in life!

If you have a goal to reach and want to work with a couch to help make them happen! Do consider sending a Note to Melissa and seeing if you connect. Check out her New Facebook page and please consider sharing it on your media if you would be so kind. Lets get her information out so folks can find her 🙂

Melissa Clarke is a wife, a mum, a daughter, and a life coach. When she’s not running to keep up with her children she can be found creating, reading, or working out (although that doesn’t happen nearly often enough!).

Posted in Life moves on daily | Tagged Realistic Dreamer Life Couch | 4 Comments

Canning Dark Brown Beans

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

It seemed like the perfect day to can up some dark spicy beans. I set a whole bag of navy beans to soaking last night, changing the water twice. This morning into my big pot went the beans and my 3 change of fresh water and into a simmer they go till tender.

At that point it was nice and easy to finish off the recipe for getting them ready to can.

Three cans of tomato paste 8 oz
Half a cup of Montreal Steak Spice
1 cup of Fancy Molasses
1/4th cup of seasoning salt

Mix it all together, bring it back to a boil, it made 14 pints and I used the jars to put up a nice mixed veggie soup for Dh’s lunches.

Into the pressure canner for 75 min for pints. I normally make my Dark Brown Beans with bacon in them as seen above but these ones are meat free

In our store, only Libby’s carries the Dark Molasses Beans (the maple ones and the lighter ones are far more popular locally here in ontario, where as in Alberta the Dark Molasses ones are very popular).

They used to go on sale for 50 cents a can for years and that was cheaper then I could make them myself..

Then they moved the price to 77 cents a can and then it jumped to a dollar a can..

Now for the last year.. they never went on sale.. I have not seen this kind of bean on sale at all in 2018 and I was looking for it.. the maple went on sale for 1.00 and I saw the regular kind on sale for 1.20 each..

No, they have been sitting on the shelf at 1.70 per can.. Given that the canned food is processed and that means it also is taxed at 13 percent here between the fed/province tax and that can of beans now costs 2.02

That’s a crazy high amount for 390ml of canned beans.. I just can’t do it..

As I want to eat more beans this year, not less! I am going to have to make more baked in the oven in smaller batches and can more up for instant grab and go jars.

So I am back to canning all my own beans as I can do them for .63 cents per pint at this time. I will need to play around with recipes to get them as close to the kind I like.

Posted in Charcuterie, food, Food Production and Recipes, frugal | Tagged Canning, Canning Baked Beans, Cost cutting measures, Dark Baked Beans, Frugal | 5 Comments

Orange Cranberry Jam

Posted on December 28, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Cranberries are such an awesome treat for Christmas but watch for those sales that “should” come after boxing day on them. It’s a perfect time to pick up extra bags and make up some awesome Cranberry jam.

This is a very simple recipe to make and can up using a water bath method.

4 cups of cranberries (or two small bags)
1 can of frozen orange juice (I used no pulp)
2 cans of water in the orange juice tube
1 tsp of salt
5 to 7 cups of sugar (I went with five because I didn’t want to it to sweet, please do not reduce it below 5 cups if you want to can it.. you can reduce it below 5 cups if you want to freeze it. If you want it sweeter, can use up to seven cups of white sugar)

Take your cranberries/juice/water/salt and add it all to a big heavy steel pot, bring it to a boil and then drop it down to a simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes till the cranberries start all popping, if you want chunky jam, use a potato masher, if you want a smooth jam, carefully take it off the stove and hit with a stick blender till you get the smoothness you want.

Put it back on med-heat and add your sugar stir in and continue to stir while you bring it to a boil, skim the foam. Jar into hot jars, wipe your rims and into a hot water bath for 20 minutes for shelf stable Orange Cranberry Jam.

Bet you thought I forgot the pectin? Nope.. I just like this one as is. Its got natural thickness to it. Its a cross between a jam/butter in texture.. just lovely!

If stored in a cool dark pantry, it will be good for up to a year. Use it for jam but so much more than that. .use it in salad dressings, use it in sandwich’s its outstanding with old aged cheddar cheese! and don’t forget to consider using as glaze for meat, or adding a kick to your homemade BBQ.

Made 4 pints plus a bit leftover for fresh use.

Posted in Canning | Tagged Easy Orange cranberry jam, How to make orange cranberry jam, Making homemade jams, Orange Cranberry Jam, Waterbath canning | 9 Comments

Happy Anniversary

Posted on December 27, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

20 years of being together with my wonderful mountain man and today we are having our 19th wedding anniversary. Its been a challenging year in many ways and I am beyond grateful that you were at my side though it all dear!

Note to self, must take more “couple” photos though 2019.. So many great single photos but not nearly enough “couple” even if they need to be selfies LOL

Posted in At the kitchen table | 5 Comments

Self Reliance Challange 2019

Posted on December 26, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Once again Lisa is having a 31 day Self Reliance Challenge for bloggers to join in with.

Make a resolution to be more self reliant in 2019! Being more self reliant helps save money and increase your confidence and skills. I’ve pledged to share my self reliance posts, tips, and plans with you in January 2019 as I challenge myself to learn new skills!

I am going to be working with fellow bloggers listed on her page, I also have included a link to the main site with all the bloggers in my side bar if you ever want to check them out in more detail.

If you are a Pin Gal the group has you covered! Follow the link to our board, where you will see all the new posts from all the homestead bloggers in the challenge.

If you are blogger and want to join, please feel free to drop me a note or go right to lisa’s site and see will get you all set up. You do not need to post daily and you are allowed to link back to older posts as well.

I am trying something new this year.. I have written out a schedule for the full 31 days and I have a daily plan on what goes out when. I might love this or I might hate this! Its a busy month and I am interested to see if this will help or hurt me for keeping things on track.

Sometimes having a subject matter can be great and other times if I am not feeling the writing flow with it, I can’t get it come out when something else needs to be written first. In hopes of keeping it moving correctly, I have one backup post already done for each of the “general” seven day subject matters done in the plan. This means if I hit a bump on my writing, I can use the pre-written one and or the older post that is related to the subject matter and well worth bringing out again.

I break all the rules because I do write most of my post fresh daily, rather then writing ahead of time but I think that most of the time that is perfect for my blog as I keep to the season’s and the happenings on the farm and our outings/trips and so forth.

I am not taking on any “new” for this challenge.. instead I am going to focus hard on what I KNOW inside and out.. I am going to try and look at programs/kits/How to that are second nature to me and share them.

These will be tried and true write out and tips on how we do things on the farm, with new fresh updates on posts written years ago with new photos in some cases. While I admire so many of the bloggers trying new things and new challenges and learning curves.

It got my thinking cap on and I decided that I would go the other way!

Posted in 31 Day Self Reliance Challange | Tagged 31 Day Self Reliance Challange, 31 Day Self Reliance Challange 2019 | 2 Comments

Farmgal’s Christmas Journal 2018

Posted on December 26, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Dec 21st.

Its raining.. they say that we are going to have record breaking rain today and into tomorrow, its melting the snow on top and just sitting floating on the sheet of ice below it, there is some movement but right now, things are mainly just sitting in puddles over ice.

I am interested to see how it will go, the collection system for the rain garden worked very well in the fall but that was while water was also releasing into the ground below.. this will be a good first test run on what we will be getting in the spring melt/new water movement in the yard.

The last of the xmas gifts arrive in the mail today and I can’t wait to share them with you after they get opened, I know what they are but I will wait.. they are from the critters, do you do that.. maybe that is just my family but just like the critters get food presents/photo sessions, the critters also gift things back.. as adults Santa does not visit the farm. What would have been santa gifts are now gifted with the farm or the critters names LOL

I keep waiting for the Blue Jays that come though the yard each day and always make a stop at the hawthorn bushes to find the red roofed suit hanger.. soon I hope!

Hubby got home a bit later then normal but that is because he was kind enough to stop for a few things at the LCBO store, I asked for a smaller bottle of Baileys (so I can have fancy coffee and loaded hot chocolate) and a some Crown Royal in my tea over the holidays. Hubby does not drink at all, so they will last me a good while.

Dec 22nd

It was frozen and snowing this morning, so much for the heavy rain and freezing rain they said was coming for Saturday.. the rain ended mid afternoon on Friday and total the area is white with a fine dusting of new snow. We did the normal farm stuff and then we decided that it would be a perfect way to bring in winter with some time together in the local forest. I took my camera, I was on the hunt for birds.. while we heard them and we caught glimpse of this and that.. Only this pretty dove (who was sure it was hidden in plain sight) stayed still long enough for me to get a really nice photo of it.

Hubby said good eye, he missed it totally. I was like freeze. I spotted a lovely wild turkey high up in a tree on the edge of a open area and I thought for sure if we were careful that I could get up to get a nice photo of it.. but it flushed out, you have no idea how I wished I had been able to get a good photo of it come flying down out of the trees to the ground below.. It was lovely to watch!

I need to make the nuts and bolts mix yet but otherwise we are ready for Christmas! I am happy that we can relax and just enjoy the coming days. Hubby got another chapter done on his new novel. good for him!

Dec 23rd

The sunrise this morning was stunning and I am sorry to say that I do not have photos of it for you.. I will see if I can get some soon. The day is cold and crisp but sunny.. the winter windows for the big barn went up and in place, allowing sun to still come in but stopping all “draft/fresh air” from coming in. That is the last big push in the big barn to get it ready for lambing. I will need to check over the lambing kits and see if they need any touch ups.

The house smells awesome, I have Cedar/Orange/Cloves on 🙂

Well as tomorrow is Christmas eve, I figured I had better get our version of a tree up an the box’s of presents that have arrived out from family and friends. I did not want presents on the floor, nor did I want to have lots of hanging or shiny things to get LeeLoo kitten really excited about

I like it very much.. Hubby and I are not wrapping our gifts, we do sometimes use the same gift bags for years now but this year we are only doing stockings and one bigger gift each. I am looking forward to seeing what the critters and farm got me LOL

We don’t have santa visit but we get gifts from the critters/farm.. of course our critters get food gifts on Christmas!

It was a quiet lovely evening of reading/writing

Dec 24th

Hubby was up at the normal time as he had to go to work, it was more like a half day of work as they are always given the nudge to go home around lunch but that means that the bus’s are crazy so he heads out about 1pm. It also means he need to drive in much further for a different park and ride so that the can come home early.

He was cleaning his office and doing some shedding because its not like there is much pressing on Christmas eve.. He came across his Whale Cove CD photos from 2003 I will share just a few there as I want to do a full post on it soon.

This is a overview shot of Whale Cove, Nunavut, Canada. taken by Dear Hubby in Late July 2003.

Atop a hill overlooking the community is a whimsical whale’s tail monument built in 1967. The monument celebrates the close association of Whale Cove residents with the resources of the sea. At one time the local co-op operated a cannery in Whale Cove, and shipped canned muktuk or whale blubber to the south. From the hill or the monument, visitors can easily see the whole community.

He was leading a exploration trip for collecting rock samples on behalf of the Canadian government. He is wearing his Nasa Cap from when he went to the mar’s Base camp the year before! Our Sweet boy is at his side on this trip.. Most of you know him as the old man, he lives to be 17 and half years old.. so close to 18 years my sweet Vaskur.. Here he was still so young! They were thrilled to have found a snow bank on the off-side of the rocks to cool off in on their hiking that day.

Dec 25th

The hounds let us sleep in which was lovely, we enjoyed hot chocolate and opened our presents.. I got some very nice gifts from my family and Books! from hubby and critters

We took a lovely winter hike, it was a touch brisk at -15 but filled with bright warm sun! You are going to be seeing a lot of hiking photos, we are planning a trip this spring and we (by that read me) are going to be starting our walking/hiking to get in shape for the trip. I have my eye on a couple pretty tougher moderate/longer hikes. I know that I need to be in better cardio shape to make that happen.

It was a truly sweet day with my man, it was quiet but it was so peaceful.. I could not have asked for a better “us” day.. Thankful for the phone to touch base with family on both sides of the family.

Dec 26th

The morning saw us up at a much earlier time, it was just time to get up and moving, So many eggs coming in the house, I feel like its spring in that way.. eggs for breakfast, finding ways to add eggs to this or that.. feeding scrambled eggs to the hounds, feeding hard boiled eggs by the dozen to the pig..

The girls are laying between 7 to 8 dozen a week pretty much and there is NO way for us to eat that many and sales are slow right now.. so they get turned into critter food, something that is very good for them but sad to be using good farm fresh eggs for in a way.

Its Boxing day! The flyers are full of sales, full of deals trying to get folks to spend just a little bit more, put just a little bit more on credit for many.. we are staying home, there is only one thing left on our to buy list and we checked online.. its not on sale and even if it was, I would order it online and still avoid the stores, the crowds and the craziness!

No, I expect that the truth is we will not spend a dime today.. its a grey overcast day, so glad we basked in the sun as much as possible yesterday, it was such amazing blue sky’s!

We are back to overcast today.. so much grey these days!

How is your boxing day? Are you staying home? or are you braving the crowds? Shopping online? Relaxing or heading out for a event deal? I have seen a number of my friends talking about getting out to different events today..

I looked at them and went.. nah.. I think I will spend time with hubby/hounds/horse’s. I wish I could go for a ride but its way to icy out there to ask that of the horse’s, I can barely walk around, its like bambi on ice out there.. would never do that to my boys.

Posted in farm journel | 4 Comments

Merry Christmas! 2018

Posted on December 25, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Merry Christmas 2018 to you and your lovely families! May you have been blessed with a white Christmas if where you live its possible, maybe the day bring you lightness and lift your hearts with the sounds of song and laughter!

Dear Hubby and the farm critters out did themselves this year on my Christmas books! So many interesting things to read, try and do. It will be a grand time reading and working my way though them.

Everyone have a great day!

Posted in At the kitchen table | 3 Comments

Christmas Eve is upon us

Posted on December 24, 2018 by Just another day on the farm

Mr Bojangles has been with us now for two years this Christmas.

Its been a growth year in many ways, this also means its been a difficult year and there has been loss. Sometimes you seem to be able to move forward and there is so much room for the new and other times as much as it hurts, there is loss that happens to open up that space for new growth.

Miss Brandy is still missed so much, but without her passing, Bojangles would not have come into our life! Bo will never replace Brandy, they are so different but Brandy reminded me of just how much room in my heart and life I had to hear a snicker greeting me.

More often than not, the truth is both. This is the first Christmas in a long! time that Hubby and I are having the holiday’s as a couple only. Its been an adjustment and then some to get a grip on the fact that we will not be sharing time over the holiday’s with family or friends this year.

Samwell was truly a family horse, first living with us here before moving to alberta to be loved on by both my mom and dad and then heading up to northern alberta where he carried my brother and his girls on many an adventure. Despite his advancing age, it was still a surprise when he went down and the vet helped him over.

It’s just us, the critters, the farm and forest that will be sharing the holidays together and closing out 2018 and bringing in 2019.

When Samwell moved on, there was room in the pasture and our hearts for Caleb to come to the farm.

I have been doing a lot reflecting lately and part of that is been looking at photos, I love my Christmas Photos of my horse’s. It got me thinking though, sometimes people or animals you care about move on. It’s not easy but that is what is going to happen.

Sometimes you are going to just lose them totally! You are going to grieve!

However if you can when the time is right for you, open your heart and embrace the future, bring in the new! You will have to build those new relationships, learn each other and create those bonds.

The new will never be the old

but you have to keep moving into the future and embrace what you discover there.

It’s Christmas eve and Dear Hubby and I will be doing some traditional family things, we will open our one present before bed, we will be snacking on things that connect us to our families and childhood. We will be making new memories, new photos for me to look at in the years to come.

One part of me is grieving!

One part of me is in the here and now!

One part of me is filled with sadness at what was!

One part of me is filled with Joy for what is!

One part of me is filled with hope for what the future can be!

Today.. Well today..

I will honor the past, live in the day and allow myself to see the future for all its many truths both positive and negative..

Blessing to you all!