Duck Eggs vs Chicken Eggs If you’ve never had access to duck eggs, you might be wondering how different they can be from chicken eggs. Some differences will depend on the breed of duck that laid the egg. An egg from a Muscovy will be somewhat different from a Pekin…
-
-
Homemade Applesauce Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
How to Make Applesauce Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting I recently came across a ‘windfall’ of unwanted apples and make a big batch of applesauce. I canned most of it, froze some when I got tired of canning, dehydrated apple slices, and put the rest in the refrigerator to use…
-
How to Butcher a Duck with Complete Instructions
Step by step instructions show you how to butcher a duck. Preparation to plucking - a detailed description with photos to walk you through the process.
-
Losing Power in the Barn and Brooder
Barn/ Garage/ Chicken Coop Our ‘barn’ is actually a garage and chicken coop all rolled into one. We keep our lawn mowers, shovels, rakes, and implements of destruction, some hand tools, tarps, chicken feed, hay, and our poultry all in the same building. It’s not an ideal situation, but…
-
Canning Grape Juice and Jelly
Concord Grapes! Our friends Rich and Terri live just beyond the Cheddar Curtain (aka the Wisconsin border), about a block from Lake Michigan. They have a wonderful property almost completely surrounded by native prairie and the growing conditions are amazing! Their garden is protected from our super hot Midwest summers…
-
Atomic Red Carrot
Atomic Red Carrot from Mary’s Heirloom Seeds This post contains affiliate links or advertisements. You won’t pay extra but I may earn a small commission if you purchase products through those links. Thank you for supporting The Self Sufficient HomeAcre! I received free packets of seeds to review. All opinions…
-
Are Hatcheries Humane?
Raising Humanely Treated Poultry One of the main reasons I started raising my own poultry for meat and eggs is because I care about the humane treatment of animals. It may seem strange to hear that, as an animal lover, I raise and butcher my own birds. It isn’t an…
-
Tigerella Tomatoes
Tigerella – Heirloom Salad Tomatoes Do you have one of those ‘tried and true’ tomato varieties that you plant every year? I’ve tried a lot of different tomatoes over the years, with varying degrees of success (and failure!). The large beefsteak types never seem to do well for me. This…
-
Can You Save Money on Chicken Feed?
Can I Raise My Own Chicken Feed? This is a question I’ve asked myself frequently since I started keeping chickens. I really didn’t like buying the conventionally grown feed, knowing that it was likely filled with GMO grain raised with pesticides. When I decided to switch to organic chicken feed…
-
Black Beauty Zucchini
Black Beauty Zucchini – Mary’s Heirloom Seeds This page contains affiliate links. You will not pay any extra when you purchase products through these links, but I will receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting The Self Sufficient HomeAcre! Mary’s Heirloom Seeds (#ad) sponsored a review and giveaway on…
-
Freezing Tomatoes
Save Your Extra Tomatoes for Later! Who doesn’t love a fresh ripe tomato, right off the vine?! Well, I sure do. Our family has been enjoying Pink Oxheart tomatoes this summer. But I can only eat so many tomatoes in season. I always plant extras so I’ll have some to…
-
Pink Oxheart Tomato
Pink Oxheart Tomato – A Tasty Heirloom! This page contains affiliate links. You will not pay any extra when you purchase products through these links, but I will receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting The Self Sufficient HomeAcre! I received Pink Oxheart Tomato seeds to review for free…
-
How to Freeze Mixed Vegetables
Freezing Your Own Homegrown Veggies It isn’t difficult to freeze mixed vegetables! If you can freeze the produce from your garden, you can mix it up and preserve combinations of veggies that are harvested at the same time. Growing your own fresh veggies for the summer table is a wonderful…
-
Sunflowers and Squash Blossoms
A Blue Sky and Pretty Yellow Flowers The last day we spent at my parents’ house in New York was gorgeous, with vivid blue skies and wonderful sunshine. I took my camera and headed out to my Dad’s garden to snap a few photos before taking my sister, Beth, to…
-
A Basket Full of Autumn!
It Feels Like Autumn I’ve been watching the pumpkins, squash, and gourds mature in the garden, waiting patiently for the vines to die back. Well, this morning I got a little impatient! Here is a basket of pie pumpkins, Red Kuri squash, and gourds I picked for my friend Maria…shhh,…
-
Switching to Organic Chicken Feed
Feeding Your Chickens Organic Feed When I began raising chickens again three years ago, I was struck by how much even conventionally grown feed cost. Of course prices have gone up a considerable amount since then. With drought becoming more common, there is less feed and the price is higher.…