Marc Dube

I steam eggs from a cold start and start timing when it starts boiling and steam for 10 minutes. Then into the fridge until cold. I dont have an issue peeling fairly fresh eggs this way.

One big thing I do for broilers is I feed and water them as far apart as I can to force them to exercise. I feel this raises strong healthy birds with some texture in the meat.

Basically I'm doing the opposite of a factory farm which feeds and waters 2 feet apart and that is all those chickens ever move.

Spring was late to get here, finally the majority of snow had melted and it was looking nice, until yesterday when it snowed 2 feet. Luckily it doesn't seem to be long lasting and already on its way out.

I've had an ant hill severely damage the bark of an apple tree. The ants made a nest right beside the trunk and the mound came up maybe 6 inches. I checked it out after maybe a year and a lot of the bark touching the mound was rotting and sluffing off. Similar to burying a tree to deep.

An average year is 3-5 inches May-June, next to nothing July-Aug, and 3-5 inches Sept-Oct.

Snow is hard to measure as it depends where it drifts up 100feet apart can have 3 inches of snow where grass catches it, then 4 feet where it drifts up.

I've listened to Paul and others preach about how glorious Hugels are in dry cold climates. That's exactly where I live and am contemplating building a Hugel 7 feet by digging 3 feet down beside it exactly like Paul describes.

What I'm mentally wrestling with is where exactly does the moisture come from? A lot of our moisture comes from snow melt and if there is a trench 3 feet below the first layer of wood how can that snowmelt be utilized?

I'm concerned that it will become a bone dry berm without irrigation, especially in the windy area I live in.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Hi all. We found a few packages of ground venison in the back of the freezer. It's probably 3 years old. No sign of freezer burn.

I was thinking about browning it in an oily pan first, with onion and garlic, to see if it smells fresh enough to eat. No salt. If it seems edible, I'll use it as a base for something in a sauce. If not, the hounds will get a little extra on their meals (hence no salt).

What do you think?

I think your plan is sound. I wouldn't hesitate to eat it.

We cut up all the chickens we butcher so we end up with large amounts of drumsticks too.

Place in crockpot with bbq sauce and put on low for 6 hours. Meat is falling off the bone and the sauce soaks right in.

Coat with homemade bread crumbs spiced with whatever you like, we go with a chicken spice heavy with paprika, bake until crispy and done.

Smoke at around 250 for 2 hours, wrap in foil with bbq sauce and go another 2 or 3 hours.

The best piece for soup.

Awesome! Thanks for keeping us updated and I'm looking forward to your final results!

The last couple years we have managed to grow and keep enough to keep eating our own for 9-10 months.

We have been doing ten 30' rows every year mulched heavily with the deep bedding from the chicken coop. They store from October to June in a cold room in the basement.