Japanese Beetles : Cheap Protein for Chickens and Ducks

It's no joke that commercial chicken feed has nearly doubled in price in the last 2 years alone. Even with all the garden and house scraps, the cost of raising meat birds and laying hens is almost making it too expensive to bother with. I've read that chickens, especially those in pens, love japanese beetles and with the damage they have cause on my raspberry plants in just a few days since they have emerged for the year I am all too happy to watch the chickens devour them. Here is a trap we rigged up to capture the beetles for our chickens and ducks. We placed one directly in the chicken pen where they just fall into a shallow rubber feed pan filled with a few inches of water. A second one that is closer to our raspberries, they fall into a 5 gallon bucket that also has a few inches of water in. The goal when placing near a heavily infested area is to get close enough to draw them away from the plants u want to protect or you end up attracting more. The five gallon bucket style one needs to be dumped a few times a day or there gets to be so many that they climb on each other and start flying back out. We seem to be catching an enormous amount. I am hoping between the japanese beetles, duck weed, and garden produce that maybe for at least 2 months we won't have to buy food. Someone suggested freezing them for use at other months, but I just don't think I can stomach bags of dead beetles in my freezers, even an old one devoted to that.

The Haskap

Last year we added Haskaps. They are cultivated versions of the honeyberry. The fruit is elongated in shape and deep purple and basically whatever you can do with a blueberry you can do with a haskap.

We started with 3 tundra plants and 2 pollinators from Jung's. Originally, I had plans to keep them out in the field, but the hard clay soil seemed too much for them. I moved them all very early this spring into a raised bed filled with horse manure compost. They simply took off in the compost. I was even amazed that they flowered very early this spring and put on fruit, despite the flowers being exposed to several frosts. The flowers were a very soft yellow and looked like other flowers in the honeysuckle family. The fruit is said to riped earlier then strawberries and this turned out to be our experience as well. Our first "crop" was small only about 15 -20 berries, but they ripened almost 2 weeks or more ago and the strawberries are just starting to turn. We found the flavor slightly tart, but very similar to a blueberry and good just fresh. I have a feeling no matter how many I plant they won't make it into the house.

Uses for Your Canned Tomato Puree: Salsa

In the middle of winter, I crave fresh tasting salsa. I have tried canning "already made salsa" and found it to be lacking in flavor and it really tasted no better then a quality jar of salsa you would find in the grocery store. The biggest problem is I don't really like the flavor of cooked salsa in general. Store bought "fresh "tomatoes in the winter are however just as gross. What do you do?? I took a quart jar of plain home canned tomato puree from the cellar and to that added lots of fresh cilantro, a medium fresh onion,a green pepper, 3 garlic cloves, lime juice from half of a fresh lime, and salt to taste. Screw the bottom of your blender into the top of the jar....blend until the fresh bits are chopped up nice and small and....Ta-daaaaaaa..... A fresh tasting salsa and another use for those tomatoes you spent all summer saving.

Capturing Life in Plaster

I first tried this in salt dough after seeing it on pinterest, but was very disappointed by the results. The salt dough needs to be put in the oven at 200 degrees F for upwards of 4 -5 hours. If you are trying to do an older childs foot it may take longer. The results were not detailed and didn't cover well with paint. There is also no consensus on how long salt dough anything lasts. I wanted to capture the kids youth for ages, or at least until my older years. All in all...i don't recommend using salt dough for footprints.

I read numerous websites and took a bit of good information from each. After a bit of trial and error, found that plaster of paris was the best medium for capturing life like and detailed foot and handprints. The best technique I have found is as follows:

**Playdough ---I used generic, in fact I tried both name brand and the cheaper generic from the craft aisles at Walmart and the generic was not only cheaper it worked better, The generic playdough peeled away from the plaster much better after the plaster dried and any that remained rinsed away easily in warm water.

**Plaster of Paris - I bought a 25 lb bag for 11$ at the local hardware store.

**2 foot long length of 1 inch wide cardstock covered in packing tape to "laminate" it

**Paint

1.)I used 3 standard size playdough containers and rolled it out so that it was at least 3/4 of an inch thick and dimensions large enough to house the foot or hand with plenty of space around it.

You can have the print have a slight irregular edge of plaster (skip to step 5) or it can be made so the entire piece has a circular shape with the print protruding from the center (Follow steps 2 to 4)

2.)Place the cardstock strip in a circle around the impression. Use a paper clip to hold the paper at the proper length.

3.)When you have the paper centered around the print the way that you like it then press it into the playdough enough to so it stays in place.

4.) If you want a hole in the final product to hang it up, then take a straw or a plastic standard pen and stick the end of it into the playdough where you want the hole to be.

4.) Mix the plaster. I use about 1 cup of plaster to 1/2 cup of cold water per small size impression. Stir the plaster to remove the lumps and as many air bubbles as possible.

5.) Pour the plaster into the paper mold so it is around 1/2 inch thick.

6.) Remove the pen in about 40 mins.

7.) Remove the paper mold in about 60 minutes. Touch the back of the plaster, if it doesn't leave a mark then pick u the plaster and pull the playdough off. It can be reused.

8.) Allow the plaster to dry an additional 20 minutes then wash the surface of the print in warm water to remove the playdough residue. Be gentle.

9.) Allow the print to dry for several hours.

10.) Paint as desired. I love bronze spray paint.

Prepare Ahead :Fish and Fresh Veggies

Prepare Ahead and Toss it in the Oven: Fish and Fresh Veggies

I am so blessed to have a dad with a serious fishing addiction. We basically have an unlimited supply of walleye, blue-gills, and crappies. In fact, I just bought fish for the first time in a long while and was amazed at how much the fish my dad so willingly gives us would cost at the store. Regardless, just about any fish will work for this but my favorites for store bought fish would be either tiliapia or salmon, although each has a completely different flavor.
The recipe is easy. I don't tend to make sides with this dinner because the point is it is supposed to be a super easy, healthy meal so go big when you are considering the size pan. The fish and vegetables tend to "cook down" a lot. I will generally use a 9X 13 pan which equates into 2-3 lbs of fish for our family.

Fresh Tomato, sliced 1/4 inch
Red Onion, sliced
Green or Colored Sweet Peppers, sliced
1/2 Lemon or 1 Lime, sliced
Sliced Mushroom
Optional depending on season
**Zucchini, sliced
**Asparagus
5 Butter Pads
Lemon Pepper to taste
Garlic Salt to taste

Remove the filets from the package and briefly rinse under cold water. Pat them dry and lay all along the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan. I don't grease the pan. Cover with your vegetables slices. I don't tend to do this in a particular order. Sprinkle with lemon pepper and garlic salt to taste. You can store it for several days in the refrigerator before cooking. I usually make it on Sunday and we have it on tuesday nights. Turn oven to 350 F and put the glass container in. I let them warm up to together to prevent cracking the glass dish. I will also cover with tinfoil if i have asparagus in it or a really thick layer of vegetables to help everything get done. In our stove, the fish is done in about 25 -30 minutes. Just check to make sure the fish is no longer translucent if a white fish and flakes apart.

Healthy Low Carb Prepare Ahead Meals - Chicken Mediterranean

We have been actively trying to eat better...specifically more fresh vegetables and a bigger selection of vegetables. The more journals I read the more saddened I am by the amount of disease in this country that is the direct result of our poor nutrition.
The biggest problem is availability and cost. We are spoiled in the summer by simply eating out of the garden, but winter in Iowa doesn't allow for shopping local for fresh produce. So unfortunately the best looking and best priced produce comes from...Sam's club. I feel horrible just saying typing that. Regardless...buying fresh in bulk has it's advantages...it's cheaper?? Yikes, however the locally owned grocery store can be very hit or miss on how the fresh produce and with 3 kids I can't brave a million stores. Coming up with convenient, healthy, prepare ahead recipes that actually use up the bulk produce with little waste is possible. If you can find about an hour on Sunday, you can make several dinners that keep several days in the refrigerator.
Sorry, I hate following the directions for recipes, use it as a guideline, but alter to your families taste.

Chicken Mediterranean

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast ( I figure 1 per person, since we don't have a starch with this meal
Roma Tomatoes, diced
Mushrooms, cleaned sliced (8oz)
Green Onions , diced ( I use about 6)
Black Olives, sliced
Red, Orange, or Yellow Sweet Peppers (1 large, or 4-5 small)
Fresh Kale, chopped finely (2-3 leaves)
Optional : fresh asparagus pieces
Fresh minced garlic (2 tablespoons)
shredded mozzarella
Butter/ or Olive Oil - (4 tablespoons)


Preheat oven to 350 F.
Butterfly chicken breasts if thick, I aim for a thickness of about 1/2 inch. Place them along the bottom of a glass baking pan. Sprinkle mozzarella on top of chicken breasts. Spread the veggies on top of cheese layer, no particular order. Place the pads of butter evenly around the pan. Sprinkle with garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. Cover with tin foil. Bake for about 20 minutes or until chicken juices are no longer pink and vegetables tender.

Things for the farm

So after over 4 years since leaving Ames, we finally sold the Nevada house...Thank the heavens!!

Selling the house allowed us to purchase some badly needed items for the farm like a nice snowblower, drill, and saw and a few things to just make life easier!!! Like our super awesome pull behind tiller purchased at Sears. Tilled 6 of our garden beds in less then 30 minutes and most of that was devoted to the learning curve. Can't wait to really test it out next year!!!