Building New Coop/Barn...Phase 5 Great Barn Build, OCCUPIED! 3/6/16

[speckledhen]

Oh my goodness! How did I miss this? How amazing and wonderful!! I just caught up on 15 pages, and I am so stinkin' excited for you!! I can't wait to see more!!

About those pawpaws… I just planted 4 different cultivars near the house and have about 7 native trees growing out back in the woods. How about we do a swap in… oh… 9 years? I'll bring you some young paw paws for some hatching eggs?

Gotta be careful with them, though. Long taproot like a magnolia, so planting and transport can be tricky!

Congrats on your layers! I got a whopping 0 eggs yesterday from 13 layers. Not good, considering I eat two eggs for breaky each morning. I had to resort to month old eggs in the fridge! Still, could be worse… I could have had to buy eggs from the grocery store!

Fingers crossed you get the call soon!!

I've always wanted pawpaws! Do you think they'll grow well here? 9 years is a date!

I've been getting one egg a day, not counting Ro's days off on occasion when I got zero, for weeks and weeks. That's from, gosh, maybe 25 hens? I'll have to count again, can't remember exactly. We did have to buy about 3 dozen eggs, nasty expensive anemic eggs, because DH likes to eat 4 a day and when I eat them with him, that adds two. He's cut back but can't cut them out.

 

[1muttsfan]

What good old girls! None of my older (3-and-up) girls are laying right now, but I get a half dozen eggs each day from my 12 youngsters, pretty pullet eggs. The light brown one is from one of my 2 Delawares - they are really nice girls from Bargain. One is the bossiest hen I haveever seen, she growls at me whenever I upset her Queenliness

 

[MistyMountain]

I've always wanted pawpaws! Do you think they'll grow well here? 9 years is a date!

I've been getting one egg a day, not counting Ro's days off on occasion when I got zero, for weeks and weeks. That's from, gosh, maybe 25 hens? I'll have to count again, can't remember exactly. We did have to buy about 3 dozen eggs, nasty expensive anemic eggs, because DH likes to eat 4 a day and when I eat them with him, that adds two. He's cut back but can't cut them out.

If the three they planted in Gainesville grow well, they certainly should grow well there!! Gainesville might be a stretch on the hot weather, but if anyone can make them grow, it would be Dh's Aunt and Uncle.

The absolute most fantastic thing to me about paw paws is that they are native and you just gotta let them grow! No work necessary, unless you want to get your paintbrush out and help with pollination. They are an understory tree, so lots of shade is no problem and even preferred in their younger stages. Naturally, more sun=more fruit. And, get this, they tolerate black walnut trees!! Where nothing else will grow!!

Forgive me, I am a bit obsessed. I have about 3 lbs of paw paw in the freezer, maybe I should try to make some bread this weekend!

 

[speckledhen]

If the three they planted in Gainesville grow well, they certainly should grow well there!! Gainesville might be a stretch on the hot weather, but if anyone can make them grow, it would be Dh's Aunt and Uncle.

The absolute most fantastic thing to me about paw paws is that they are native and you just gotta let them grow! No work necessary, unless you want to get your paintbrush out and help with pollination. They are an understory tree, so lots of shade is no problem and even preferred in their younger stages. Naturally, more sun=more fruit. And, get this, they tolerate black walnut trees!! Where nothing else will grow!!

Forgive me, I am a bit obsessed. I have about 3 lbs of paw paw in the freezer, maybe I should try to make some bread this weekend!

If I remember correctly, they taste a little like bananas, right? I'd love to have a few around here.

 

[MistyMountain]

If I remember correctly, they taste a little like bananas, right? I'd love to have a few around here.

Banana, mango, pineapple, to me! There is one cultivar that tastes more like mango. Making a mental note, if I come across any more out back, I will mark them and bring them to you if we ever go down that way again!

 

[aart]

Quote: I didn't think you could freeze it...or preserve it any way?
Bread?

I actually live near Paw Paw Michigan...lots of those trees around here...tho unfortunately I do not care for the Paw Paw fruit in the least.
The texture of it is yuk on my tongue, mangoes too.

 

[MistyMountain]

I didn't think you could freeze it...or preserve it any way?
Bread?

I actually live near Paw Paw Michigan...lots of those trees around here...tho unfortunately I do not care for the Paw Paw fruit in the least.
The texture of it is yuk on my tongue, mangoes too.

Fully ripe pawpaws last only a few days at room temperature, but may be kept for a week in the refrigerator. If fruit is refrigerated before it is fully ripe, it can be kept for up to three weeks, and can then be allowed to finish ripening at room temperature. Ripe pawpaw flesh, with skin and seeds removed, can be pureed and frozen for later use. Some people even freeze whole fruits.

Taken from:
https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ksu-pawpaw/cooking.html

I just mashed it up and put it in ice cube trays, then popped them out into their own freezer bag. That way I don't have to use it all at once and can easily pop a cube or two into the blender with other fruit for a smoothie.

 

[aart]

Well, you can put about anything in a smoothie!

Did you make bread with them?

 

[speckledhen]

Interesting. I like mangoes, but I despise avocadoes. Texture alone can sure turn you off something, can't it? (though I also don't like the taste of avocadoes).

 

[DiamondSwan]

Interesting. I like mangoes, but I despise avocadoes. Texture alone can sure turn you off something, can't it? (though I also don't like the taste of avocadoes).

If you tried guacamole chip dip you might change your mind! it's so addicting! I'm not a fan of avocados either, but guacamole...........yummmmm.