I have had chickens for many years and for those many years have spent countless hours cleaning eggs, and tossing cracked ones to my dogs.  No telling how many I have thrown out.  Well, no more.  Recently, while catching up on my Instagram posts, I came across the "Best Egg Box".   After reading their reviews and watching some of the videos posted by people that had this egg box, I was ready to sign on the line and get this amazing box for my flock.  It was a little pricey, but when I sat and thought about the eggs and time it would save, I dove in with both feet.  A couple of clicks later, and it was on it's way.    I now had to do some renovation in my chicken house to get ready for it.  Something the girls were none to happy about.

Here are couple of the girls ready to stand their ground.  I was not going to take away their cozy nest in the corner.  I have 18 hens right now, and it seemed that they all like the same nest in the corner.  This was going to be a challenge I could see.  Well, with hammer in hand, I forged on.  Had to get the house ready in time for the new box.

I started at the back of the house and began pulling out their roosts and the tray of nests that my son had made for me.  Sorry, Matt, but they have to go.  All the while, I had an audience of angry, noisy birds.  I figured that the egg production would stop due to their stress and just to show me.

Even as I continue to advance, these two would not give up their stand.  The were going down with the ship.

This gal, had my back the entire time I was in the coop.  I didn't know if she was friend or foe, but she never attacked.  Just watched my every move and talked constantly in her native tongue.

As always, UPS did not let me down, and my box was delivered on time and ready to assemble.  It wasn't much of a chore.  Took me about an hour to put together.

The beautiful "best egg box", ready to go to it's new home.  It's not light, weighs just over 40 pounds, so a two wheeler was necessary to get it into the chicken house.  Once inside, I was able to get it hung without too much effort.  One side was attached while balancing on a block of wood and then I leveled it and attached the other end.  

The trick to this box, is the girls go inside and lay their eggs which is on an incline.  The eggs roll down away from them into a tray on the front from which they are collected.  The girls cannot eat them, and they will not soil them, or not as bad as in the past.  To entice them to go inside, I placed a small amount of nest material and taped up one portion of the red flaps.  It wasn't long before I knew that it was going to work.

Yea!  My first egg.  And oh so clean!!  What a wonderful design.

From dirty and soiled to nearly spotless!  I am so happy.  They did such a good job and took to it so fast that I treated them with a swing!

Now we just need some nice summer weather so that they can enjoy the swing.  I will probably have to add a couple more so they don't fight.  You know how girls can be! 

​So, if you are tired of washing eggs, not to mention the health advantages of cleaner eggs, don't hesitate to get a "best egg box".   It is well worth the expense.  You can also get a smaller version.  I went with the 48" one as I plan on increasing my flock.  Have 25 babies right now that I will be introducing to them in a few weeks.

This has been a busy week.  As I adjust to "retirement", I find that it is not at all what I expected.  I am just as busy or even more so than when I was working five days a week.  I really don't know how I kept up with what I did then, because I am finding it a struggle now.  

This week started with putting up jalapeno peppers.  I freeze them so that they can be used for cooking with all winter long.  We like things spicy around  here and they are a welcome treat on a cold winter's night.  I start by cutting of the stem end and then slicing them into three to four pieces depending on the size.  From there they go to the food processor, seeds and all.

This has been a busy week.  As I adjust to "retirement", I find that it is not at all what I expected.  I am just as busy or even more so than when I was working five days a week.  I really don't know how I kept up with what I did then, because I am finding it a struggle now.  

This week started with putting up jalapeno peppers.  I freeze them so that they can be used for cooking with all winter long.  We like things spicy around  here and they are a welcome treat on a cold winter's night.  I start by cutting of the stem end and then slicing them into three to four pieces depending on the size.  From there they go to the food processor, seeds and all.

After they are chopped I put them in quart freezer bags and flatten them out so that they stack on top of each other in the freezer.  As you need them, it is easy to just break off a portion and place in your dish.  I also do this for sweet peppers, carrots and onions.  Makes it very easy to use.

After that it was off to the garden to see what needed weeding.  I find that my turnips have been taken over by grass and in no time I have it back in shape.  With the raised beds and using the no soil method, the weeds are easy to pull.  However, don't think they won't be taken over if not tended to.  

Since these are coming up kinda spotty, I tossed some lettuce seed in today to fill in and give me a treat as well.  Speaking of lettuce, I put out 72 heads after this.  I like the butter head type and put an equal number of each.  That way we can make a nice mix that is tasty as well as beautiful.  They are in the tunnel with the radishes, spinach, broccoli and cabbage. Very small right now, but will grow very quickly.  

I haven't mentioned that we have a pool.  That is because I have yet to get in it since I have been retired.  "Sandy", however, loves it and thinks it is just for her.  Basically, it is.

So, to wrap up today, I canned 14 pints of green beans, and 12 pints of sweet and spicy onion marmalade, as well as put in a pan of new beans and potatoes for dinner.  Quite a days work if I do say so.  All while Sandy enjoyed the pool!

My beans are doing great this year.  I have sold many of the filet variety at the Camdenton Farmer's Market, and now the canners on coming on strong.  I plant the variety called "Contender" for canning.  It is a very quick grower, stringless, and very prolific, meaning we have lots of beans.  From the time you put the seed in the ground, you will have a crop of beans in a little over 50 days. I usually put out two beds that are 4 X 16 feet and we get more than we can possibly eat, so I have plenty to share with the rest of the family.

If I had it to do over, I would have made the beds only 3 feet wide.  At 4 feet they are quite a stretch to reach the beans in the middle.  Thankfully, we have hoop supports every 4 feet, so I can use those to balance with while I reach for the beans.  If you are putting in beds I would highly recommend only going with 3 foot width, or do as I did with the hoops.

Your beans are ready to pick when they are about 7 inches long.  You should just start to see the bean shape forming in the bean.  If you wait too long, they will be tough and have too large of beans inside.  These are just right.  The one on the right is pushing the limit that I like.

I like to get comfortable when snapping beans.  Make sure that you have everything that you need within reach so you don't have to get up for a bit.  Here I have my bowl of beans to snap, a clean bowl to put the snapped beans in, and a small bowl for the ends or any bad ones that I come across.

As I said, make sure that you have everything within reach while you are snapping beans.

Both ends should be removed and then I usally snap into 3 pieces.  Notice how "meaty" these beans are.  

This session of picking yielded me with two five gallon buckets of beans, which when snapped equalled above.  Make sure that you keep your beans cool if you need to store them before canning.  We keep ours in our walkin cooler if necessary.

I am canning according to the "raw pack" method.  This means you fill the jars as full as you can with uncooked beans.  I think they are fresher after canning with this method.  Add a 1/2 tsp of salt to each jar and then fill to the rim with boiling water.  Also, your jars should be clean and hot.  If not they will break when you add them to the pressure cooker.  Trust me.  I know from experience.

Make sure that you remove all air bubbles, by working your plastic spatula around the edges of each jar.  Wipe the rim with a clean towel, apply a hot clean lid and band and you are ready to process.

I process at 15 pounds of pressure.  This is achieved by assuring that I have the 15 down on the spout.

Here you can see that the pressure has built and soon you will hear the sweet sound of pressure being released by the jiggling of the pressure weight.  Process pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes.  Start timing when the jiggling starts and adjust your heat so that you get at least 4 "jiggles" per minute.

The finished product.  From the two buckets, I processed 19 pints, and 14 quarts with enough left over for a meal for us.  Not a bad days haul!  Let the jars rest undisturbed for 24 hours and then check the seal.  The center should be pulled down and a distinct "full" sound when you tap the lid.  If your jar does not seal, either reprocess or put in the refrigerator and eat within a few days.   Happy Canning!

I was thinking about what to write about the other day and decided on a day spent with my husband fixing fence.  Well, he would have none of that and it's probably for the best.  One of us would have probably been in jail.  Anyone that lives on a farm or ranch and tries to work with their spouse knows what I am talking about.  So, we will leave that topic alone and go on to something much more exciting; tomato sauce!  Not just tomato sauce but fresh tomato sauce.  Nearly everything from my garden.  The only thing I did not grow was the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sugar.  Every other ingredient came from my back yard and nothing could be better.  So here we go.  First you start with about 20 lbs of fresh tomatoes.  Some people say you need to use the plum tomatoes and they may be true, but I like to mix them up and use a variety of types.  Basically, if I grow it, it goes into my sauce.

The first thing you need to do is peel these babies.  That is done by dipping them in boiling water for a minute or so and then putting them in ice cold water.  I core them and the skins just slide off.  While doing this check for any bad spots and remove them also.  You want only the best quality for your sauce.

You can see in this picture the skins starting to crack and pull away from the tomato.  This means it is ready to go to the cold water.

The tomato peeled and cored is now ready to go into the food processor to be chopped up.  Save the skin and core for dehydrating and making a powder for flavoring other foods.

How chunky you want your sauce depends on how long you let it process.  Simply a personal preference.  I like mine pretty smooth.

Next come the fresh herbs.  I use sweet basil and oregano.  These also go to the food processor for chopping.

While you are getting everything ready, it is a good idea to also be getting your jars ready.  I put mine in the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle and let them wash while I am cooking the sauce.  You want your jars to be hot when you are filling them or they will crack.

The lids also have to be sterile.  I usually boil them for 10 - 15 minutes right before I need them.  Again, they need to be hot when you put them on the jars.  The rims don't need to be sterile, but do need to be free from rust and dings.

Here is the completed sauce cooking down.  To the tomatoes, peppers, onions and herbs I added sugar, salt, lemon juice and olive oil.  The complete recipe will follow at the end.

While the sauce is cooking, I also get the pressure cooker ready.  I have a All American and I cannot say enough about it.  Make sure that you put the tray in the bottom and fill with about 3" of water.  This tray keeps your jars off of the bottom of the cooker and allows water to circulate under the jars.

The rest of your prep includes having a clean area to fill the jars with a funnel to reduce the spills.  I like to put everything on a clean towel and my hot pan close by on a cutting board.  It is very hot!

Fill the jars leaving about and inch of head space.  Wipe the rims with the clean towel and place a lid on them.  Hand tighten the metal band on and you are ready to place in the pressure canner.

The finished product after processing for 25 minutes at 15 lbs.  The poundage depends on the altitude where you live.  Consult your product manual for the correct time and pressure to process.  This sauce is great as a base for soup, stews and also to use on pasta.  You can thicken to your liking by adding tomato paste.  I prefer to use as it is, as I find it thick enough for what I need.  We love it as the base sauce for lasagna.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

20 pounds of fresh tomatoes
8 green peppers
4 jalapeno peppers (optional)
4 lg onions
8 cloves garlic
2 Tbls salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
Large bunch of basil (1 cup ground up)
Fresh oregano (1/2 cup ground up)
1/2 cup olive oil

Grind up everything in the food processor after peeling tomatoes and cleaning seeds from the peppers, and skins from the onions and garlic.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Stir frequently.  Let boil for 1 - 2 hours depending on how thick you want it.  Add to clean hot canning jars and process according to your products recommendations.  Makes 9 -10 quarts.  Can be divided down to make less but I prefer to get as much as I can as it is a job getting everything ready.
         

Don't forget to dry the peelings and cores if you have a dehydrator.  Makes a great powder for flavoring.