Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

Oats are not GMO (yet!). I eat oatmeal every morning. We buy organic rolled oats in bulk, 25 lb bag, through Azure Standard. Cheaper in bulk. Supposed to be good for you. I put fresh fruit in it from our trees, whatever is in season. Right now we have lots of figs and plums, both are great chopped up in oatmeal. We freeze a lot of our fruit for the lean times. Growing even a little of your own fruits and vegetables really saves big on the grocery bill. More vegetables, less carbs, supposed to be better. Think of what you purchase, there are probably items you can do without. For me, it would be the potato chips. Yummy, yes, good for me, no. I see people struggling with expenses, then they are smoking or drinking beer. Both expensive habits.

You just made me hungry, now I want oatmeal with figs.

X2!! Yum. Figs are in season.. We have two neighbors that haves said to come by anytime for fresh figs..
Next time they trim I will ask for a clipping for you @K9Dave or two. Do you want a few clippings ?

 

[City farm]

Yes to home made mayonnaise! (Try using olive oil!)

We use cold pressed.. Yum.. It's only good for, 4 days.. Farm fresh mayonnaise...

 

[K9Dave]

X2!! Yum. Figs are in season.. We have two neighbors that haves said to come by anytime for fresh figs..
Next time they trim I will ask for a clipping for you @K9Dave or two. Do you want a few clippings ?

That's a very nice offer but I don't like figs I less they're in Newtons. Ha. Don't really like those either. In oatmeal I like apples, cinnamon, butter and nuts. I need more suggestions for oatmeal toppings.

 

[K9Dave]

We use cold pressed.. Yum.. It's only good for, 4 days.. Farm fresh mayonnaise...

Cold pressed?

 

[City farm]

What do you think about Harley's new battery operated bike?

Actually, I try not to think about it. 80 cubic inches running on premium gas is the only way to go.

If I wanted a moped, I'd get a classic Cushman scooter.

 

[City farm]

Thank you for this. Have you found it hard to shop for all organic and non-GMO? Expensive? Sucks that you and everyone else has to deal with this stuff.


It sucks getting old.

I'm a Cajun so cayenne is a big part of my diet normally. Only real other chili I eat is jalapeños.

No, we did not find it hard at all or more expensive.  I was apprehensive at first but I looked at it as a necessity.  We had just had a child so eating right was a change we needed to make anyway.  We do most of our shopping at Trader Joes now and occasionally Sprouts.  Sprouts is definitely more expensive.  Trader Joe's makes a statement that any product in there store with their name brand on it is guaranteed non gmo.  There is some controversy about it because they won't allow anyone to verify their claims in independent testing.  In my opinion that would be a company destroying mistake if they were proven wrong so I'm good with it.  If you look hard enough you can find just about anything organic somewhere.  Like desertmarcy said try to avoid the major gmo crops like sugar, soy, corn and others unless labeled organic.  Our eating changes are what got us into chickens.  I think it is very cool to sit down to food I raised in my backyard from birth to processing and know every piece of food that it ate.

Oh yeah, hallelujah! To food that we have on our property..

 

[City farm]

I have several used stock tanks and old wash tubs that I use to garden in and one is a pond with carp and lily ponds.  Have an old windmill that keeps the water circulating so I don't need an electric water pump.  Chickens love to gather round the base where it's cool and make dust baths up close.  Part of it is in the shade.  Because of an abundance of rabbits in my area I need to elevate my garden.  On the one hand I don't have to deal with any chicken predators but, on the other hand, due to the absence of predators, we have an over abundance of rabbits, lots of roadrunners, gophers, mice - which my chickens like to eat - and a lot of bull snakes or gopher snakes - same difference.

Huh, windmill that keeps the water circulating sounds lie a smart blessing.. Egh, mice.. Food for the girls.. we all ave our obsticals.. & snakes are not one of ours, I feel for you.

 

[desertmarcy]

That's a very nice offer but I don't like figs I less they're in Newtons. Ha. Don't really like those either. In oatmeal I like apples, cinnamon, butter and nuts. I need more suggestions for oatmeal toppings.

Raisins, cranberries, sliced peaches. Try ground ginger or clove as alternative to cinnamon. Ginger goes well with peaches, cinnamon with apple. My fav nut with oatmeal is walnuts, don't really use any other kind. I have mesquite meal that I keep in the freezer from milling years ago. I add a heaping teaspoon of it to the oatmeal before cooking. That adds a different flavor. I always add raw milk also, after cooking, helps cool it down for eating as well as adding nutrition and flavor.

 

[City farm]

I've only made it with Olive Oil. Do others use other oils or something?

Also, just wondering if anyone has paid attention to what crops are planted around town? I'm getting more and more interested in gardening and crops but being a newbie I still don't know the names of most of them. I should e got a pic but this field down the road has some sort of crop that has what look to be little purple/lavender flowers on them. Is it a cover crop or ??? Thanks ahead of time.

Around where I live, the main crops are cotton and sorghum, with a smaller percentage of hay and veggies.

The last batch of mayo I made, I used sunflower oil, but didn't like the taste. Next batch is olive oil again, despite the slight greenish tint. (I don't use turmeric for color). Gonna try adding a pinch of minced garlic, too.

Add a pinch of mustard. Along with h2o if needed.. Add the oil slowly after you mix the yolk, salt & garlic, yeah garlic.. Yum...

 

[K9Dave]

Raisins, cranberries, sliced peaches. Try ground ginger or clove as alternative to cinnamon. Ginger goes well with peaches, cinnamon with apple. My fav nut with oatmeal is walnuts, don't really use any other kind. I have mesquite meal that I keep in the freezer from milling years ago. I add a heaping teaspoon of it to the oatmeal before cooking. That adds a different flavor. I always add raw milk also, after cooking, helps cool it down for eating as well as adding nutrition and flavor.

Yum. Perfect. Thanks again