Can you color Brown Eggs?

A question we often get is, "can you color brown eggs for Easter?"  The answer, "absolutely."  In fact, I think brown eggs make far better Easter eggs.  When white eggs are colored the colors often appear harsh and fake.  Brown eggs tend to produce a softer, more natural color.

Anyway, here's how we color our brown eggs...

Hard cook your eggs.  There are multiple ways to accomplish this task but we prefer steaming.  We have a sauce-pot steamer that will hold a dozen eggs perfectly.  Put about two inches of water in the bottom of the pot and bring to a boil.  Once the water is boiling, place the eggs in the steamer, put the steamer on the pot, and cover.  Set your timer for 18 minutes and move to the next step.  (We place the eggs in the steamer right out of the refrigerator).

Once the timer goes off, give those cackle-berries an ice bath.  I usually stir them a little to help dissipate heat then let them set in the ice water for about 15 minutes or until the next batch is ready when doing large amounts.

Once cooled, placed them on a wire rack to dry or hand dry them.  Don't put them in the carton wet or you may never get them out!  When you put them in a carton wet, especially Styrofoam cartons, they dry and stick to the carton.  We learned this the hard way with raw eggs, big mess.

Fixing eggs this way makes beautiful yolks and eggs that are extremely easy to peel.

I got some professional help when preparing to color these eggs.  Daniel and Bella are skilled at dropping the eggs into the coloring cups and making them splash dye all over the place.

This was our first batch.  We learned that the longer you leave them in the dye, the richer the color.

As you can see, brown eggs do make a beautiful Easter egg.  Not only do our eggs make beautiful Easter eggs, they are good for you.  Contact us today to get a few dozen of our pastured eggs fresh from our farm to your Easter Basket.  740-324-0702

Life, Death, Destruction, and Beauty on the Farm

 Yesterday, July 7th, 2017, a series of severe storms rolled through the area knocking out power, downing trees, and flooding roads.

As the storms raged on my family watched helplessly as the eggmobile began to rock back and forth in the gale.  The winds, some as strong as 60 mph proved too much for the mobile coop.  Daniel, 7, watched in horror as it rolled on to its side with about 100 chickens both inside and out.

We built the eggmobile a little over a year ago and it has served us well since.  As of this writing we are still trying to figure out how to set it back upon it's wheels.  Once that's done the repairs will begin.

Anthony and Samuel, who run the egg production, are taking the hit pretty hard.  They've invested countless hours and a good bit of money into these hens.  Anthony was wondering if things could get worse.  They can....and did.

Since the eggmobile was unusable the chickens were basically left to fend for themselves overnight.  We knew that the electric fence and the dogs would deter most larger animals like raccoons and coyotes but we also knew of one predator, sighted earlier in the week, that could wipe out all 100 chickens in a night.  This predator makes a sport of killing birds, especially chickens.  He often kills, drinks the blood and leaves his victims lined up nicely on the floor of the coop.

Last night while we slept and the chickens stood in the open field or in what shelter they could find, a mink decimated 17 of the helpless birds.  16 hens and a rooster were killed.  Thankfully, most of the hens were older and ones that needed to be culled but it's still a loss.

Life on the farm is a constant cycle of life and death.  It's something you are keenly aware of even if it is often difficult to witness.  This ebb and flow, like the ocean tide, is a way of life.  It's natural.  It's real.  It's often raw.

You realize quickly that getting angry or trying to lay blame does no one any good.  It's just the way it is.  You plan, work hard, and hope for the best.  The best often comes.  It comes more often than not.  The fact that this is a single post about tragedy among so many post that never touch that reality is a testament to the fact that we are surrounded by the best, the good, the true, and the beautiful.  It's why the tragedy stings.

The only response is to work, pray, and hope.  Worrying, being angry, or giving up are not options, they are distractions.

The eggmobile will return to it's wheels, it's a fact.   The boys will replace the chickens lost.  The dairy cows will once again mingle with the birds as they make their way back and forth across the hill as they do each year.  The event will seem a distant memory relived and retold in stories told around the fire or kitchen table.

That's the way it is on the farm.  There is life.  There is death.  There is destruction and there's oh so much beauty.




"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.  That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God." Ecclesates 3:11-13

Spring has sprung!

Spring has sprung around Amazing Grasses and not a moment too soon.  The chickens have been needing more and more fresh grass and only now has Mother Nature provided enough to keep up with these hungry ladies.

They've been in the hoop-house since late fall and I think they'll be glad to get back on to pasture.  Plenty of fresh water, sunshine, and available greens, worms, and bugs make the hens happy and our customers happier!

If you look closely at the pictures above you may notice that some of our hens sport stylish red anklets.  These plastic bands tell us that the hens wearing them are nearing two-years-old and theoretically their laying will begin to slow.  We haven't seen it yet but it will happen.  When it does, we'll sell these hens to folks who just want to have chickens or a few eggs now and then.

This morning the boys moved the eggmobile within the confines of the electric poultry netting and began preparing it for the season.

The eggmobile is a mobile chicken coop that allows us to move our hens to fresh grass every 7-10 days.  This is good for the hens since they get a fresh area to pick, find bugs, and play.  It is good for the ground since it won't be picked bare and won't be overloaded with nitrogen from their manure.

Over the next day or so they will allow the hens to get accustomed to the eggmobile again.  Once they are roosting in there rather than the hoop-house, we'll move them out into the lush green field and they'll forget all about that plastic winter home.

Hoop-house B.C. (Before Chickens)

Once the chickens are out of the hoop-house, we'll start seed beds in there for the summer garden.  The hoop-house and the area to the left of it in the picture will all be garden filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and more.

Hershey at 6 months.

Hershey is now 6 months old and Josie is still giving about 2 gallons a day for our family.  The cream has really started to increase as she has access to more and more fresh grass.  Hopefully we can get back to making our own butter once again!

That's all for now, enjoy the weather and stay tuned to more great stuff from Amazing Grasses including some Pastured Pigs this year!

First Farm Tour

Our 1st Farm Tour was a huge success and a huge amount of FUN!  Our first tour was also a fundraiser for the St. Martin de Porres Family Retreat Center that friends of ours are working hard to make a reality.  It will be a place away from the fast-paced, technology driven world, a place where families can rest in the Lord.

Our day began with a visit to our broiler pen where the kids and broilers were equally excited about all of the activity.  Anthony held a hen for the kids to pet while others gave the birds extra food to eat.  We call the broilers "pigs with beaks" because they love to eat!  We also explained how the chickens get fresh grass and bugs each day because we move their home to keep them clean and happy.

Our second stop was the bee hives.  Here we talked about how important the bees are to humans and why we must do everything we can to help the bees survive and thrive.  

The kids were excited to feed and hold the rabbits.  Here at the farm house they also had a chance to play with the dogs, feed the pigs, and visit Josie the Jersey and her calf Hershey.

Homemade pumpkin cookies were enjoyed at the farm house before the group hiked out into the field to visit the eggmobile and the hens.  There they fed the layers and collected eggs.

After the eggmobile visit the hike continued to the picnic area.

After lunch the kids enjoyed making butter with Josie's cream and a scavenger hunt that took them all over the farm.

As they say, a great time was had by all.  The cool fall day, the smell of wood smoke, and the shade of the slowly changing leaves made a perfect spot for a Saturday afternoon nap.  I hope you can join us next time...

My Chicken and Noodles

Practically everyone in the house has had some sort of cold or fever over the past two weeks.  That's the one thing big families like to share, illnesses.  So, I offered to make some chicken and noodles.  Here's what I did step by step with pictures...mainly so I have record and recipe that I don't have to look up again!

For the noodles I combined 2 Cup of flour, 1 teaspoons of salt, an egg (pasture raised of course), and a teaspoon and one half of water.

I kneaded it into a ball...

I then rolled it flat, like almost transparent.  After that I cut it in half and laid one half on another and cut it in half again. Then, yeah, cut it in half again then I began slicing into noodles.

Cut and floured noodles.  I then let them dry on a cookie sheet.

While all of this was going on, little did you know I was boiling my chicken in a pot.  It was one of our broilers from this spring.  I put the whole bird in still frozen.  After the water came to a boil I reduced it to a simmer and let it cook for an hour.

I then separated the meat from the bones and put the carcass in the freezer for stock later.  After removing the chicken from the pot I added - 1 onion, 1/3 cup of celery, 1/3 cup of carrots, 2 Tbsps of Chicken Base and brought it to a boil for 15 mins.  Then I mixed 5 oz of evaporated milk and 2 Tbsps of Corn Starch and added and the noodles to the simmering mix.  After the noodles had simmered for about 15 mins, I added the chicken for 5 and then served over mashed potatoes.

Birthday, Anniversary, and more...

It was another busy weekend on the farm.  By weekend I mean Friday and Sunday.  My Saturday's are still out to pasture at this time while I continue to work at the car lot.  Sunday was my parents 45th Wedding Anniversary.  We also celebrated Catherine's 8th Birthday and my brother's return from his trip to Israel.

This is my first attempt at a cake from scratch.  Why in the world would anyone buy some box mix?  It was fairly easy and turned out very good.  Frosting is from scratch too.  In the end, the taste is really what matters, right.  Oh and a pet peeve, don't make me read your life story before I can have access to a recipe, that's just cruel!

We have about 6 baby bunnies on the farm right now.  Daniel took the opportunity to play (read torture) with many of them.  Yes, he's cute.  YES, he's ornery!  He should really be supervised 24/7.

This cool guy is an Eight Spotted Forester.  It's a pretty cool looking moth with a so-so name.  I bet his friends make fun of him.  Learn more here.

It never fails that some of my favorite flowers are actually invasive species.  Oh well, survival of the fittest, right?  Apparently these are Dame's Rocket and they smell great, especially in the evening.

Oh yeah, we grilled some fresh asparagus from the garden along with some peppers and mushrooms Friday night.  I don't believe asparagus should be prepared any other way.  Just sayin'.

The chicken tractor is certainly making progress.  Dad and Anthony did the majority of the work on Friday with a little help from me.  Most of my attention was devoted to making the nesting boxes that will be attached to the eggmobile and allow us to collect eggs from the outside.

Here's what nesting boxes for 100+ chickens looks like.  I hope to put plans for all of these items, including the eggmobile, on the blog soon.  I know I wish I would have had plans to go on!!

The nesting boxes aren't attached but rather rest on the outside of the eggmobile.  I've done this to allow for easy detachment so that we can move them inside our hoop houses when the weather is no longer conducive for the hens to be out in the eggmobile.

The dynamic duo ready to work!

Overall, it was a productive and enjoyable weekend on the farm.  We are now nervously awaiting our 50 broilers, 35 of which have already been purchased by friends and family.  Nervously awaiting because we have no real home for them since the eggmobile is not finished and the layers are still in the coop (future brooder) until it is finished.  I think they'll end up in the basement for a couple of days...or weeks... yikes!