I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately about one of my most popular posts, Garden Betty’s Homemade Whole Grain Chicken Feed. Since I started feeding my chickens a whole grain diet in December 2011 (when they were still pullets), they’ve been as happy and healthy as ever. All three ladies are in peak egg [...]
homesteading
In my kitchen, space is a premium. Not only are all the drawers and cabinets filled to capacity, but so are the counters (what precious real estate we could dole out to our appliances) and even the vertical space above our heads (by way of two hanging pot racks). Adding to the problem was the [...]
Before we moved into our present home, we lived in a 2,000-square-foot loft in an urban neighborhood. Our kitchen took up over 200 square feet of that open space with cupboards and cabinets galore, and an island counter that was so massive, friends joked about having go-go dancers groovin’ on it while we hosted dinner [...]
If you asked most people what color egg yolks are, they would likely answer yellow. Yolks have always been associated with the color yellow, which is unfortunate because backyard chicken keepers know better. Backyard chicken keepers know that yolks can and should be a bright, bold orange, and those bright, bold orange yolks are a [...]
It’s the middle of winter. You’re getting very few eggs from your flock, if any at all. They’re still in the stages of molting, or they’re just finishing up their last molt. With their reproductive systems taking a rest and your chickens shedding their coats, winter is an important time for them to rebuild their [...]
Have you ever wondered why a hard-boiled, farm-fresh egg — from your own backyard or from the farmers’ market — is such a pain to peel? As any backyard chicken keeper knows, a day-old egg is notorious for being sticky and difficult. The shell comes off in bits and pieces and you inevitably peel part [...]
If you follow my Facebook page, you may have noticed a few recent posts from my new project, This Is La Buena Vida, which launched this past weekend! The site aggregates all of the images from my new Instagram account @GardenBetty. As a photo-centric blog, This Is La Buena Vida is my personal pinboard for [...]
