How things did or are doing! How's that for a gripping title!

 Good morning all!  It is a tad cool here, around 48 degrees at the moment, but windy.  Really windy.  I hear it whistling  against the house. Makes me want to read "The Long Winter"!  My tomatoes plants are out on the patio table, scrunched together to help block the wind.  It's one things for them to get used to wind blowing.  It's another to have them saying " what in the world!"! (Smile)  Anyway, I thought I'd take a bit and update how some of my trials succeeded or not.  

First off, the broody mama hen is still a wait and see.  All but one of our full sized hens are black so it's hard to tell them apart.  I suspect the broody hen is trying to decide which laying box is the one she wants to be in.  So we are just gathering whatever eggs are available and we'll see if we have baby chicks in a couple of weeks.  I've been told that commercially bought hens have had the instinct to brood bred out of them and so it takes a bit of trial and error before they get it right.. Most people that buy hens want eggs, not more chickens.  Some of our hens were commercially bought, and some were home grown (as in born here).  One of our Bantum hens, we affectionately call "Big Mama", broods very easily.  She actually has hatched out a few full size chickens for us.  Some were roosters, but I think we got about 3 full size hens from her last year (as well as some bantum hens).  I have to say it's very entertaining to see her giving a full size chicken, twice her size,  the "what for" as mothers often do; and they listen!  lol.

We're getting about a Dz eggs A DAY!  We had almost 8 Dz in the fridge that needed addressing.  I froze 2 DZ.  Which means I greased a 12 cup muffin tin, beat 2 dz eggs and poured them into the muffin cups equally.  It filled them to the top.  Then I put a silicone baking mat (these things are so versatile!) over them to cover and placed them in the freezer.  Once frozen, I will dip the bottom of the pan in water to loosen the eggs, pop them out, and put them in a gallon size freezer bag to keep stored in the freezer for the winter months when the hens aren't laying.  3 Dz were washed for our everyday use.  The rest will be taken care of later.  That was all I could do today.  May try my hand at pickled eggs.  Haven't decided yet.

The buttermilk experiment was a smashing success!  I even tried the cream cheese, but I don't think I let it culture long enough for the cheese.  I will try again.  It's worth it.

Not overly impressed with the heirloom yogurt culture.  I followed their process to the letter.  It set up, but the yogurt ended up watery.  I am in the process of straining it to make it Greek yogurt, but I'm getting a lot of whey and not as much yogurt as I would like.  I set aside some of the yogurt as "Seed yogurt" for the next batch.  I'm going to try it again and see how it does.  If I get similar results, I may just go back to buying a 5 oz container of good yogurt at the store and making it that way.  I do love having the whey.  You can use the whey in smoothies and baking, but you also use this to soak beans or grains before cooking them.  It helps the beans or grains break down before cooking.  Makes it easier to digest.  Also Whey is full of nutrients and enzymes that are beneficial for you!

According to Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions", a TBS of whey taken three times a day can help keep ligaments tight , muscles strong, and in joint health.  At my age, joint health is a good selling point.  Check out her Blog here.  She's way more knowledgeable than I and can explain things much better.  I will say she is the reason I started using only whole milk! (smile).

I need to bake bread today, as well as maybe a few other things.  I also plan to get out in the garden.  I need to pick spinach, and still reclaim some beds before planting.  

Also, before the leaves get too big and they're obscured, I plan to go, with a saw, into the woods behind our house and cut the large Kudzu vines currently plaguing the better trees ( and my apple trees).  I need to take a picture back there to show you guys something neat.  I'll do another post on that pic later.   Stay tuned.

So if anyone has any yogurt or cheese making tips, I'm all ears.... or eyes as the case may be.  So what's happening on your homestead?  Are you trying something new?  Have you finally acquired a knack for a certain skill!  Please share!