Nevadans?

[VCfeathers]

Hey Sunny, My place used to be a full on guest ranch, with guest house and bunk house, horse stable, long horn cattle, kitchen, and live cowboy music. They did take all of the commercial appliances, but left the vent system. You'll have to come take a look. I thought maybe the next time you were headed to Reno I could pick up you and Missy and you gals could come take a look and help me prioritize what we need done to make things happen. As for selling eggs in VC. I sell my 8 dozen a week to the planning department. So I think we're good

Missy your green house looks great! I plan to build one here, but I want to make it out of free windows. I just don't think plastic sheeting will stand up to our wind. If it looks like everything will work out for the market I can get a story with pics to the RGJ. We have contacts there.


OK so here are tonight's pics. You tell me, Devoted chicken sitter or hard core gamer? LOL




And proof that we all help out. My son Galen discovering that chicks will indeed steal your captin crunch

 

[SunnyDawn]

Hahaha!!! Great pics!

Good to know selling eggs is not a problem! I think $5 a dozen at a farmer's market is a good price for fresh eggs. Not like selling to friends and neighbors.

What all are you wanting to do with your property? I think the first step would be to decide what you would like to do with it then start figuring out the costs, including taxes, licenses, etc, etc, then calculate potential profits. Then you'll know if it's a viable option. For just a farmer's market I doubt the profits would justify the expense of getting the kitchen ready to be certified. Hopefully you have a lot more in mind for the kitchen than just that. The more you use it, the more you could justify the expense.

Also you need to know if it can pass current fire codes and health inspections. Any food prep business takes a lot of initial costs to start up so the time it takes to start making profit is longer so keep that in mind too. Very few folks make a lot of money in the food industry but it is an honest living and feeding folks is a long time passion of mine, so I get it! If you have the capitol to be able to do it and survive the time it takes to start showing profit then you've got a base to work from. Be realistic about the amount of time and energy you will be putting into this and make sure it's really what you want to do.

Whew, the planning part often seems like the most work and not nearly as fun as the rest of it but hey! If that's your passion and you have a sound plan in place why not?!! Oh the possibilities are sooo exciting!!!!!

 

[NevadaRon]

Mandy, in your area I know you have wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, bears, racoons, hawks and I can't remember what the animal was last year that Ron identified for someone on here, it's related to the weasel or something and I think you're in the range too but it was closer to Tahoe so perhaps not? If you don't have any outside signs though it's hard to say on your hen. Was this one of your leghorns? I'm sorry to hear you lost one though.

It was an American Marten. I haven't heard of them being as far from the Sierra as Virginia City but it wouldn't surprise me.
Sheryl the guy that incubated my eggs sold 10 of them to one of his wife's friends and unfortunately they were all the one's that hatched from blue/green eggs.

But I also gave him antoher load and told him I needed some of the EE crosses for you and another friend.

Maybe between all of us we could get enough eggs to sell. I know fresh eggs go really fast and that was our concern before. Having enough eggs to even bother selling eggs. However a friend of mine was saying that VC was really strict about selling eggs? IDK this person said a lot of things that were just here-say though.

Enough eggs?

You're joking, right? Im getting 2 dozen + per day right now. My problem is finding enough people to sell them to!
How's the hatch going? I assume that's why you are so tired...

I think this farmer's market idea could really work. Especially if we can talk a reporter into writing an article... or one of us could write freelance and submit it.

Becky Bosshart is (was?) the business reporter for the Nevada Appeal. She is really nice and is always looking for new businesses to write about. She wrote about a couple of friends' businesses. BTW your garden pics are awesome, as usual! I'm still in the preparation stage but this weekend I'm going to get some seedlings started.

Well I picked up my beehive starter kit today from LS Bees.

My bees will be here next Tuesday. I can't wait - I've been wanting to do this for quite some time now. I'm hoping it causes my garden yield to go up significantly this year!

 

[HighNDryFarm]

You can get a list to submit press releases (usually includes deadlines and contacts) and if you write the story and submit pictures to the local paper there's good chances of getting it in since they often have extra space that they'll fill with a prewritten story. Just don't make it too long.

Oh, and you can rent certified kitchens to cook your goods in. That's what everyone does around here.

Good luck! Wish I was close enough to participate!

 

[sherylreno]

Mandy, I know exactly where your ranch is. I remember it well when John Tyson lived there along with the dude ranch we had. I didn't know he sold it though. I love your idea with the Farmer's Market. I would love to package up homemade pasta and sell it. Sorta a dream of mine to open a deli but not what people think a deli is. I'm thinking more like what you find in the North Beach District of San Francisco. I miss it so much but I do make good pasta. I love your pics as well.

Ron, now that you mentioned it again I do remember what it is now. That's okay Ron on the hatching, I'll wait until next time. I still have 17 days for this next set to hatch. I don't know what I'll do if they all end up hatching.

Elizabeth, how's the kids doing?

Sunny, I'm so glad the little chickie made it. What happened with the yoke?

Oh WOW Missy, you did it again with you handy dandy work. I just love all the stuff you do and enjoy it even more when you so the pics.

Has anyone heard from Gitlost? I wonder how she's doing with her pregnancy?

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Mandy, I know exactly where your ranch is. I remember it well when John Tyson lived there along with the dude ranch we had. I didn't know he sold it though. I love your idea with the Farmer's Market. I would love to package up homemade pasta and sell it. Sorta a dream of mine to open a deli but not what people think a deli is. I'm thinking more like what you find in the North Beach District of San Francisco. I miss it so much but I do make good pasta. I love your pics as well.

Ooh, Sheryl's pasta is sooooo good! I'd spend big bucks on it!

Enough eggs?

You're joking, right? Im getting 2 dozen + per day right now. My problem is finding enough people to sell them to!
How's the hatch going? I assume that's why you are so tired...

Becky Bosshart is (was?) the business reporter for the Nevada Appeal. She is really nice and is always looking for new businesses to write about. She wrote about a couple of friends' businesses. BTW your garden pics are awesome, as usual! I'm still in the preparation stage but this weekend I'm going to get some seedlings started.

Well I picked up my beehive starter kit today from LS Bees.

My bees will be here next Tuesday. I can't wait - I've been wanting to do this for quite some time now. I'm hoping it causes my garden yield to go up significantly this year!

Again, we almost have enough eggs for our family. My daughter has 4 customers... 2 standing weekly, and 2 on-call for the extras. We bought white eggs to color for Easter, leaving some uncolored for us to eat so Sahara could fill her orders. She's mostly selling to my clients, but she has a waiting list of 14 people that she may never get to.

Bees are tempting, but I've been afraid of them since I was a kid. People all over this neighborhood have mini-beehives. With the lavender and hyssop in my yard, I'm not too worried about attracting pollinators. But I'm probably one of the few people that can say that. Ron, have you thought of expanding enough to rent out your hives to farmers?

A newspaper article would be such great publicity and guarantee business! There are so many things I've never heard of, until someone takes the time to give it a good article.

See, Mandy? With this awesome group of people, you could have your Farmer's Market and enjoy it, too.


Today, Sahara brought me more duck facts to try to convince me to get some. They make the pond healthier. They eat weeds. My husband and I started teasing her, telling her that we'd consider it if she stopped a certain annoying social faux pas that she always seems to do in the worst situations. (To those who don't know, I have some on order that are due to arrive around Friday. And Sheryl has some in the incubator that I'm crossing my fingers for.)

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
Oh hahaha! I don't think you'd have a problem selling them at a Farmer's Market. Steve took 6 dozen of Genny's eggs to his work and they were all gone in a couple of hours! Some folks were mad that they didn't get any so we have a bunch more to take tomorrow. We charged $4 a dozen. I'm thinking we could sell 10 dozen an hour at $5 a dozen but we won't know til we try! Are you game to sell your eggs there?

Finally!!! Can't wait to buy honey from you! I know it will take some time but unless we move far away we will wait for it!

Oh, are you still willing to raise turkeys and process them for us for Thanksgiving? I keep seeing turkeys poults for sale but have resisted because we had talked about you doing it for us this year. You had mentioned getting some heritage turkeys and Steve and I would love to reserve one of those. We don't get such a huge crowd as we used to and a 40 lb bird (after processing) is just too much! A 20-25 lb bird is just perfect for us. Let me know if you still want to do this and what it would cost. Thanks Ron!

Mandy, I know exactly where your ranch is. I remember it well when John Tyson lived there along with the dude ranch we had. I didn't know he sold it though. I love your idea with the Farmer's Market. I would love to package up homemade pasta and sell it. Sorta a dream of mine to open a deli but not what people think a deli is. I'm thinking more like what you find in the North Beach District of San Francisco. I miss it so much but I do make good pasta. I love your pics as well.

Sunny, I'm so glad the little chickie made it. What happened with the yoke?

You do make great pasta Sheryl! I'd buy some. Even if it wasn't made in the certified kitchen!

OK about the chicky. Well I left it in the shell for another 20 hours after realizing it wasn't ready to hatch. I thought it had died because it was quiet and hadn't made any progress. After the other chicks that had hatched were completely dried off, eating, drinking and happily settled into their new brooder, I decided it was time to clean out the bator.

I reached in to grab the last egg, trying to decide if I should do an eggtopsy when the thing started peeping loudly in my hand! I looked over at Steve and he says "Oh my word that chick is still alive!" I just looked back at him, totally shocked myself! Well I can't see a distressed chick that had hung in there for so long and not try to help so I rushed into the bathroom, turned on the water at the sink. Got it to a nice temperature, barely warm to my hands, and started washing that chick off shell and all. I exposed her head by removing shell and membrane and used a washcloth to get the gunk off of her head but doused the rest of her under running water.

The water was running pretty good, I mean it wasn't beating her to death but it wasn't a trickle either. I wanted her unstuck. After that I tried to get the top of the shell to loosen from the bottom half but it just kinda fell apart leaving me with a large piece of shell stuck to her back and part of her legs. The umbilical cord was still attached to it so I left it on her and put her back into the incubator (the running water had loosened it a lot so I didn't think it would cause a problem).

Well when I checked on her a few hours later she was running around the bator looking like she had a turtle shell on her back. I realized that it had not slipped off like I thought it would so out she came again. The dried yolk sac was stuck to her and the shell. Since it was dried I cut it off the shell leaving a teeny bit of shell attached cause I was afraid of drawing blood if I cut the sac itself. Put her back in again to dry off and after another 2 hours she was dried and the sac had disappeared. I assume she finally absorbed all she could over all that time and was now doing quite well! So I guess they can absorb their yolks well after pipping and still do well!

She is happy and healthy and resting with her hatchmates now. They are all eating and drinking which I always stress about until I see them actually doing it well. So I am very happy she not only survived but is thriving!

Hopefully I'll get pics tomorrow afternoon! I need to mark her because she came from such a dark egg!

 

[SunnyDawn]

You can get a list to submit press releases (usually includes deadlines and contacts) and if you write the story and submit pictures to the local paper there's good chances of getting it in since they often have extra space that they'll fill with a prewritten story. Just don't make it too long.

Oh, and you can rent certified kitchens to cook your goods in. That's what everyone does around here.

Good luck! Wish I was close enough to participate!

I don't know... You are only 2 hours away from Reno so you might have to come by and say "Hi" at least once! It would be very cool to see you again and I know everyone else would just love meeting you!

 

[SunnyDawn]

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!!

 

[VCfeathers]

It was an American Marten. I haven't heard of them being as far from the Sierra as Virginia City but it wouldn't surprise me.

Enough eggs?

You're joking, right? Im getting 2 dozen + per day right now. My problem is finding enough people to sell them to!
How's the hatch going? I assume that's why you are so tired...
Becky Bosshart is (was?) the business reporter for the Nevada Appeal. She is really nice and is always looking for new businesses to write about. She wrote about a couple of friends' businesses. BTW your garden pics are awesome, as usual! I'm still in the preparation stage but this weekend I'm going to get some seedlings started.

Well I picked up my beehive starter kit today from LS Bees.

My bees will be here next Tuesday. I can't wait - I've been wanting to do this for quite some time now. I'm hoping it causes my garden yield to go up significantly this year!

Hey Ron,

Thanks for the info. I know we have them I saw one when we first moved in, but I had no idea they'd kill a full grown chicken. Looks like I'll have to come up wth a fort knox style run for my hens.

I'm so jelous you're getting bees! I wanted to get some but my boys all looked instantly horrified. We eat so much honey that I thought it would be a great idea. My other half is allergic to stings though.

It was an American Marten. I haven't heard of them being as far from the Sierra as Virginia City but it wouldn't surprise me.

Enough eggs?

You're joking, right? Im getting 2 dozen + per day right now. My problem is finding enough people to sell them to!
How's the hatch going? I assume that's why you are so tired...
Becky Bosshart is (was?) the business reporter for the Nevada Appeal. She is really nice and is always looking for new businesses to write about. She wrote about a couple of friends' businesses. BTW your garden pics are awesome, as usual! I'm still in the preparation stage but this weekend I'm going to get some seedlings started.

Well I picked up my beehive starter kit today from LS Bees.

My bees will be here next Tuesday. I can't wait - I've been wanting to do this for quite some time now. I'm hoping it causes my garden yield to go up significantly this year!

Hey Ron,

Thanks for the info. I know we have them I saw one when we first moved in, but I had no idea they'd kill a full grown chicken. Looks like I'll have to come up wth a fort knox style run for my hens.

I'm so jelous you're getting bees! I wanted to get some but my boys all looked instantly horrified. We eat so much honey that I thought it would be a great idea. My other half is allergic to stings though.

Mandy, I know exactly where your ranch is. I remember it well when John Tyson lived there along with the dude ranch we had. I didn't know he sold it though. I love your idea with the Farmer's Market. I would love to package up homemade pasta and sell it. Sorta a dream of mine to open a deli but not what people think a deli is. I'm thinking more like what you find in the North Beach District of San Francisco. I miss it so much but I do make good pasta. I love your pics as well.

Hey Sheryl,

Thats makes you one of the only people to actually know where I live. Most people can't find the place at all. What with all the signs gone and everything. Did I read that wrong or did you say you lived here? I only know bits of the story about this place, and what I get from the locals all seems to contradict other info. Carol Harrison (used to be Tyson) still owns the little guest cabin. She took it back when the last owners lost this place to the bank. From what i gather, if you were here in it's hayday you may not recognize it. Most of the flowers and grass are gone, and its had no maintenance. I love this place, and I never plan to sell. It's perfect for my boys and I. I'm a trained chef, and I used to rescue and train mustangs for the state. Although I'll probably only be keeping our horses now.


I love fresh pasta! I am not ambitious enough to make it to sell however. It would be great to have at the market though.

It was an American Marten. I haven't heard of them being as far from the Sierra as Virginia City but it wouldn't surprise me.

Enough eggs?

You're joking, right? Im getting 2 dozen + per day right now. My problem is finding enough people to sell them to!
How's the hatch going? I assume that's why you are so tired...
Becky Bosshart is (was?) the business reporter for the Nevada Appeal. She is really nice and is always looking for new businesses to write about. She wrote about a couple of friends' businesses. BTW your garden pics are awesome, as usual! I'm still in the preparation stage but this weekend I'm going to get some seedlings started.

Well I picked up my beehive starter kit today from LS Bees.

My bees will be here next Tuesday. I can't wait - I've been wanting to do this for quite some time now. I'm hoping it causes my garden yield to go up significantly this year!

Hey Ron,

Thanks for the info. I know we have them I saw one when we first moved in, but I had no idea they'd kill a full grown chicken. Looks like I'll have to come up wth a fort knox style run for my hens.

I'm so jelous you're getting bees! I wanted to get some but my boys all looked instantly horrified. We eat so much honey that I thought it would be a great idea. My other half is allergic to stings though.